AVE MARIA, Vol. 54: 354-355, September 20, 1941
Alcoholics Anonymous
Many of our readers have heard of that admirable organization of former alcoholics who have dedicated their lives to helping others in their fight against the drink habit. Here are the steps which have brought victory to hundreds of addicts, as testified to by a Catholic member of “Alcoholics Anonymous.” He writes:
1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol – that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God, as the individual, be he Catholic, Protestant or Jew, understand Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being (a catholic to a priest) the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we harmed, and were willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and, when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry them out.
12. Having had a spiritual experience as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
A program which leans so sincerely upon God and religion was bound to succeed, as the records of this unique organization so amply prove.