We continue the narrative from O’Rahilly’s biography which recounts the events of September 5, 1916. Please note: this excerpt reveals the true horror of war, and those who are a bit squeamish may prefer to skip the first coupler of paragraphs. At last came the expected order to advance at once and hold the front line, the part assigned being Leuze Wood, the scene of much desperate fighting. Fr. Doyle …
Life
September 5, 2010
A German Krupp gun Today we continue the narrative and consider the events of September 4, 1916. Next morning there was a short march over the brow of a hill and down into a valley still nearer to the front line. It was a great change from the trench life of the past six months, since at Loos for days one never saw a soul overground and all guns were …
September 4, 2010
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 …
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
St Raymond Nonnatus By entering religion and taking my vows I have given myself over absolutely to God and His service. He, therefore, has a right to be served in the way He wishes. If then He asks me to enter on a hard, mortified life and spend myself working for Him, how can I resist His will and desire? What is God asking from me now? Shall I go …
August 31, 2010
St Augustine, Doctor of the Church August 28 Feast of St Augustine Doctor of the Church How many wish to belong entirely to Jesus without reserve or restriction? Most want to serve two masters, to be under two standards. A union of wordliness and devotion; a perpetual succession of sins and repentance; something given to grace, more to nature; fervour and tepidity by turns. Such is the state of many …
August 28, 2010
I am truly glad you are looking to the perfection of your daily actions; it is the simplest, yet perhaps hardest, way of sanctification, with little fear of deception. It is the certain following of Christ: “He hath done all things well.” (Mark 7:37) COMMENT: Performing all of our daily actions well, and doing so with love, as a constant theme of Fr Doyle’s advice to others. He is correct …
August 25, 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 Rose of Lima August 23: Feast of St Rose of Lima Look upon the grace God gives you as a talent you must work with and increase. The Master in the Gospel gave his profitable servants twice as many talents. In like manner will God double your grace if you make good use of it. He will give you “grace for grace”. (John 1. 16) COMMENT: Fr Doyle was …
August 23, 2010
Instead of our usual thoughts, today we have a scan from an article about Fr Doyle written by Fr James Brodrick SJ. Fr Brodrick was a well known Jesuit biographer and historian in the early part of the 20th century. He wrote the definitive English biographies of the two Jesuit Doctors of the Church, St Robert Bellarmine and St Peter Canisius, as well as biographies of St Francis Xavier and …
August 22, 2010