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 …
Eucharist
July 2, 2011
The Moment of Benediction. The priest turns and raises aloft the Sacred Host. In loving adoration, in reverent awe, the invisible angels fall prostrate. The bell tinkles softly, fragrant clouds of sweet-smelling incense ascend on high, and in the remotest corner of the vast church every head is bowed in adoration. It is a solemn moment, a moment when the silent streams of grace pour down upon our souls. …
June 13, 2011
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: Fr Doyle shows us that the encounter with Christ in prayer is not primarily emotional, …
June 10, 2011
The Gospel says: “In the daytime He was teaching in the Temple.” S. Luke, 21, 37. How often, and for how long, am I in the chapel? Is the chapel the place where people know I am to be found? What a difference it would make in my visits, if only I realised the real corporal presence of Jesus in the Tabernacle. This is a grace I must earnestly ask …
June 9, 2011
Fr Doyle had many close shaves with death during his time as a military chaplain. One of those adventures occurred on this day in 1916. This incident, and Fr Doyle’s description of it, reveal several things about his character: his trust in God’s protection and especially his faith in the Eucharist, his own personal courage, his willingness to face danger in order to assist the soldiers and perhaps most of …
March 5, 2011
Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, who suffered spiritual desolation for most of her life You seem to be a little troubled at finding yourself cold at prayer and as if our Lord had abandoned you. Were it otherwise I should feel uneasy; for this is one of the best signs that you are really pleasing to God, since He puts your fidelity to the test by sending desolation. There is …
February 12, 2011
Blessed Pius IX Then in addition there is the great privilege and joy of carrying our dear Lord next my heart day and night. Long ago when reading that Pius IX carried the Pyx around his neck, I felt a foolish desire, as it seemed to me, for the same privilege. Little did I think then that the God of holiness would stoop so low as to make me …
February 7, 2011
"Little Nellie" Kneeling there I asked her what God wanted from me, when I heard an interior voice clearly repeating, “Love Him, love Him.” The following day she seemed to rebuke me, when leaving the cemetery, for the careless way I performed most of my spiritual duties, and to say that God was displeased with this and wanted great fervour and perfection in them. COMMENT: Today’s quote recounts Fr Doyle’s …
February 2, 2011
Each look of love to the Tabernacle causes a beat of grace-laden love in the Sacred Heart. COMMENT: The Lord awaits us in the Tabernacle. Fr Doyle drew much strength from regular prayer before the Lord – often he could be found in prayer right through the night. He was one of the first to introduce Eucharistic holy hours in Ireland. He also advocated night vigils every Thursday in …
January 26, 2011
Each morning at Holy Communion invite Jesus, with all the love and fervour you can, to enter into your heart and dwell there during the day as in a tabernacle, making of your heart a living tabernacle which will be very dear to Him. COMMENT: The Second Vatican Council tells us that the Eucharist is “the source and summit of the Christian life”. All of the saints and great …
January 20, 2011