Today we have the last of Fr Doyle’s narratives from his letters home to his father in August 1917, less than a week before his death. In this entry in his letter we see his close brush with death in the form of a shell landing very close to him. Close beside us I had found the remains of a dug-out which had been blown in the previous day and …
Fr Doyle links
August 11, 2015
A nun in South Africa wrote the following letter on this day (July 12) in 1922, alleging a favour through Fr Doyle’s intercession: One of our Community had for some time been seriously ill in a sanatorium. One evening I got a telephone message to say Sister was on the point of death and that the doctor declared there was no hope unless a change took place at once. I …
July 12, 2015
This website was launched 5 years ago today. At the time, I wasn’t sure how it would develop or whether anyone would be interested or whether I would have personally have the interest, or material, to keep it going. I honestly never thought that I would still be running it 5 years later. I guess I now know the answer to all of these questions! The last five years shows …
June 7, 2015
I am convinced that generally we reach sanctity of life only through a long series of falls from which we get up. COMMENT: Fr Doyle had a very realistic understanding of our human nature. He too struggled with temptations and with his own defects, but like the saints he realised that we do not battle alone, but rather with the help of our loving God, of our guardian angel and …
February 20, 2015
Lent is almost upon us again. How quickly time passes… Many people adopt the habit of reading good spiritual book during the Lent. I can think of no better book to read than Professor Alfred O’Rahilly’s biography of Fr Doyle. It is a masterpiece on many levels – a psychologically astute review of Fr Doyle’s character, a wonderful history of World War I that reads like a novel and a …
February 12, 2015
The Servant of God Monsignor Bernard Quinn Today is one of the few days in the year when we don’t have a thought FROM Fr Doyle but rather some thoughts ABOUT him. Some time ago I read the Life of Father William Doyle, the Irish Jesuit-Chaplain, who was killed in the late World War. It was made up chiefly from a Diary which he kept, and which, I am sure, …
January 15, 2015
Fr Doyle wrote the following in his diary on 21 December 1913, 101 years ago today. It relates to a recent trip to the cinema – it’s not clear what date he went to the cinema, but presumably it was the same day or at most a few days beforehand. At the end of the performance of “Quo Vadis?” the words of our Lord seemed to go through my soul. …
December 21, 2014
The recent RTE programme featuring Fr Doyle is available here for 6 more days only: http://www.rte.ie/player/ie/show/10350147/ The programme features fascinating footage of some of Fr Doyle’s possessions and of the house in which he grew up. The relevant section starts about 11 minutes in and lasts for about 6 minutes.
December 15, 2014
Fr Doyle was known for his enthusiastic promotion of religious vocations. He wrote a best selling pamphlet on the topic (http://fatherdoyle.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/vocations.pdf) and another on the priesthood http://fatherdoyle.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/shall-i-be-a-priest.pdf During his life he received many letters from around the world from people who had found their vocation, thanking him for these pamphlets. The power of his written word continued long after his death – I know of one chaplain in World War 2 who …
December 8, 2014
I have received a few comments that there are some complexities accessing the link to yesterdays television programme featuring Fr Doyle. As far as I can tell, it is possible to access the programme outside of Ireland. If there are any problems with the link I posted yesterday, go to http://www.rte.ie/player/ie/ and search for “Joe Duffy’s Spirit Level” dated 30 November. The relevant section commences about 11 minutes into the programme. The …
December 1, 2014