Assigned to St. Mary's Seminary on Paca Street, Father Martin no longer had any assignments or classes, nothing to do anymore. He felt useless. He stayed in his darkened bedroom and became increasingly reclusive and depressed. He turned to Mae. "I'm 45 years old, and all I have to show for my life is the blackboard talk," he told her on the phone in 1970.
They had all become close friends - Father Martin, Mae, her son, Alex, then 14, and Tommy - Father Martin especially liked the babaghanouj Tommy made at his restaurant. So, it wasn't unusual when Tommy and Mae asked Father Martin if he would like to come out to their home in the country and spend a few days resting.
That was 38 years ago.
"He's the man who came to dinner, and he's still eating," she says.
He moved in with his German shepherd, Casey. Mae and the dog did not get along, so she sent both dog and priest to canine-training class. That got Father Martin driving and out of the house again. Next, her house guest needed, well, a job. Father Martin went to work for the state of Maryland's new Division of Alcoholism Control. Mae suggested that he also travel the country to give his chalk talks. They started their own production company, Kelly Productions, which offered nearly 40 Father Martin film titles. (In 2007, Mae and Father Martin sold the rights to his books and films.)
In 1978, Mae suggested they open a treatment center.
"You're going to die, and everything you have done will die with you," she told him.
After an initial $1 million grant, it would take another seven years to raise enough money to open Ashley - named for Mae's father, the Rev. Arthur Ashley. In 1983, the 22-bed facility opened on Oakington Farm, the former estate of Millard Tydings, a native son of Havre de Grace and U.S. senator from Maryland. Six staff members hovered and fussed over all five patients. Expenses were paid from the film profits. And over much time, Ashley built a national reputation as it grew donation by donation, building by building.
Father Martin became a celebrity - his picture was taken with former first ladies Betty Ford and Nancy Reagan. In 1993, he was invited to the Vatican. Father Martin, then 65, helped celebrate Mass with Pope John Paul II. "The most profound experience of my life," he says.
Before he left, the priest from Harford County handed the pontiff a brochure from Ashley.
Retirement years
