I stumbled across the above image by accident a few weeks ago. It was published in an Irish newspaper at the end of 1916. The priest is unidentified, but could it be Fr Doyle? This thought occurred to me not just because it was an Irish military chaplain, but because of the date depicted – 2nd September 1916. Fr Doyle and his men had to suddenly march to the …
Eucharist
September 3, 2010
St Teresa Margaret Redi Reasons why our Communions and Masses do not make us Saints. 1. Want of preparation, through sloth, carelessness, or absorption in other things; no thought of the greatness and immense dignity of the act, no stirring up of fervour. 2. No pains to examine our conscience carefully, to destroy affection to venial sin, and to root out faults often unrecognized for years. A soul filled with …
September 1, 2010
Martyrdom of St Bartholomew August 24 The Feast of St Bartholomew My dear child, as I have a few spare moments before we set out at 10 p.m. for the firing line, I must send you some words of encouragement. What has happened, is God’s happening. He will bring all things out smoothly and pleasantly in the end. Trust Him. You must try to be patient and wait for God …
August 24, 2010
St Pius X August 21: Feast of St Pius X 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: …
August 21, 2010
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, 2010
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, 2010
“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, like a true Jesuit, shows us that the encounter with Christ in …
June 9, 2010
“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 …
June 8, 2010