St Teresa’s pillow – a block of wood. The life of St. Teresa teaches us that we should never despair of becoming saints. As a child she was filled with a strange mysterious longing for martyrdom. But the early years of her religious life found her cold or tepid in the service of God, indifferent to the sacred duties of her state. The call came. Sweetly in her ear …
Saints
October 15, 2013
We continue with the meditations of the First Week of the Spiritual Exercises, and in particular with the meditation on Hell. Here are the thoughts suggested by St Ignatius: First Prelude. The first Prelude is the composition, which is here to see with the sight of the imagination the length, breadth and depth of Hell. Second Prelude. The second, to ask for what I want: it will be here …
October 13, 2013
Solid virtue is so called because it is formed by amassing together a facility in repeated acts. Hence the practice of any virtue is not the less meritorious because it is easy. Quite the contrary. The merit depends on the intention we had when we determined to practise the virtue, and not on the amount of pain it costs. COMMENT: Here we see once again the tremendous balance of Fr …
October 8, 2013
Do I ever say, when an occasion of denying myself comes, “It’s too hard, I am no saint?” Might it not be asked of me in justice, “Why aren’t you? It is your business to be one, God intends you should be one, but you are too lazy, you won’t take the trouble.” Let us remember that we must not drag Christ down to our own level, but rather we …
October 5, 2013
St Francis of Assisi In the end what once caused us pain and tears becomes the source of great interior joy, since we have realised how these things help in our spiritual progress. COMMENT: It is true, as Fr Doyle says, that things that were once disagreeable to us can become a source of peace in our lives. We can see this in today’s saint, Francis of Assisi, who, …
October 4, 2013
A little child is born into this world and as it opens its eyes for the first time to God’s blessed light, swiftly a heavenly messenger descends and unseen how – often too unthought of – takes his place beside the cot of that tiny babe. He hath given His angels charge over us, to guide us, to guard and shelter us from dangers, to lead us safely through …
October 2, 2013
Kneeling at the grave of the Little Flower I gave myself into her hands to guide and to make me a saint. I promised her to make it the rule of my whole life, every day without exception, to seek in all things my greater mortification, to give all and to refuse nothing. I have made this resolution with great confidence because I realise how utterly it is beyond …
October 1, 2013
St Jerome, Father and Doctor of the Church Don’t dwell on what you have not done, for I think that want of confidence in His willingness to forgive our shortcomings pains Him very much, but ratherlift up your heart and think what you are going to do for Him now. You know the secret of making a short life very long in His eyes, and a life of few …
September 30, 2013
St Michael Today is the feast of St Michael, St Gabriel and St Raphael, the archangels. This feast was significant in Fr Doyle’s spiritual life, for he made a vow to the Sacred Heart on this very day 103 years ago. He made the vow during one of his late night vigils, and signed the vow in his blood (this was not uncommon at the time; St Therese is …
September 29, 2013
Don’t let the devil spoil the work by making you fret and worry. COMMENT: This line from Fr Doyle is taken from a much longer letter of spiritual direction, the specifics of which are unlikely to be relevant to many of the readers of this website. But this line, about the father of lies, and his capacity to make us worry, is relevant for us all… One of the characteristics …
September 28, 2013