I have celebrated Mass in some strange places and under extraordinary conditions but somehow I was more than usually impressed this morning. The men had gathered in what was once a small convent. For with all their faults, their devil-may-care recklessness, they love the Mass and regret when they cannot come. It was a poor miserable place, cold and wet, the only light being two small candles. Yet they knelt there and prayed as only our own Irish poor can pray, with a fervour and faith which would touch the heart of any unbeliever. They are as shy as children, and men of few words; but I know they are grateful when one tries to be kind to them and warmly appreciate all that is done for their soul’s interest.

What a gift Father Doyle was to those men in their time of great need of grace, paternal kindness and care, and of course, the Sacraments. He was their light, their hope, their strength; in other words, Father Doyle was the “alter-Christus” they yearned for, the one they depended on.
Father Doyle, let us be a source of light and hope for others as you were; may we be so close to Christ, that others see Him in us, so as to draw closer to the Lord, the true Light for Whom all seek.