There are two patron saints to whom I have a tremendous devotion: a sheet of paper and a lead pencil. Mark down at least once a day everything you do and every time you do it. It will not make you proud to see all you do; but it will humble you by showing you all you don’t do. COMMENT: Fr Doyle was extremely methodological in his spiritual life. …
Eucharist
August 21, 2012
The conviction has been growing that nocturnal adoration will be established only if I spend much time myself before the Blessed Sacrament at night. I know well that Jesus not only wants me to sacrifice much of my sleep, but also to rise sometimes during the night to adore and console Him in the Tabernacle. The repugnance (and yet attraction) to this is extraordinary. COMMENT: Fr Doyle wrote these words …
July 2, 2012
The miraculous catch of fish by Gaspar de Crayer Do nothing without consulting Him in the Tabernacle. But then act fearlessly, if you see it is for His honour and glory, never minding what others may think or say. Above all, “cast your care upon the Lord and He shall sustain you”, (Psalm 54. 23). Peace and calm in your soul, prayer ever on your lips, and a big love …
June 25, 2012
St Aloysius Gonzaga Jesus told me today that the work of regeneration and sanctification is to be done by leading souls to Him in the Blessed Sacrament. COMMENT: Fr Doyle wrote these notes in his diary on June 21, 1917, slightly less than two months before his death. Was this based on an actual vision or a locution or just a simply inspiration? We do not know, but ultimately it …
June 21, 2012
Real devotion to the Blessed Sacrament is only to be gained by hard, grinding work of dry adoration before the Hidden God. But such a treasure cannot be purchased at too great a cost, for once obtained, it makes of this life as near an approach to heaven as we can ever hope for. COMMENT: Today we celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi. While the feast properly falls on …
June 10, 2012
Today we continue with Fr Doyle’s narrative on the battle for Messines Ridge with the events that occurred on June 7 1917. It was a day of devastating losses for the German side. In fact, the explosions underneath the German trenches were the most powerful in history at that time. Fr Doyle did not glory in this loss of life. We see him today praying for the many thousands of …
June 7, 2012
I had not the heart to wake up the poor nuns, and after all when one is fast asleep, is not a hard plank just as soft as a feather bed? You see I am becoming a bit of a philosopher! The next morning, I had Mass in a field close to the camp. I wish you could have seen the men as they knelt in a hollow square round …
June 4, 2012
On Monday, June 11, during the week of the International Eucharistic Congress here in Dublin, I shall be giving a talk entitled “Apostle of the Trenches: The Life and Spirituality of Fr William Doyle SJ” in parish hall of St Kevin’s Church, Harrington Street, Dublin 2. St Kevin’s has been especially designated as the Congress host church for the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. The talk will take place …
May 21, 2012
I feel ashamed at times that I do not profit more by His nearness, but I know that he makes allowances for weak, inconstant nature. COMMENT: Fr Doyle occasionally wrote about what he called the “abuse of grace” – the idea that we fail to profit from all of the graces that God gives us. We are all almost certainly guilty of this failing to one degree or another. In …
May 15, 2012
St Leopold Mandic I find the temptation growing stronger every day to leave aside all work that is absolutely necessary and to spend the time with Jesus. Why does He make me realise so much His loneliness in the Tabernacle and His longing for ‘one to console Him’ and at the same time fill my hands with so many things to do? My room here is opposite the little oratory, …
May 12, 2012