Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) on the right, on his ordination day 60 years ago. On his left is Georg Ratzinger, his brother, also ordained on the same day Feast of St Peter and St Paul Jesus during His mortal life practised many virtues; but none is more conspicuous, none appeals more strongly to us, than His infinite mercy, His tender forgiveness of all injuries. A vile sinner is brought …
Saints
June 29, 2011
The feast of St Josemaria Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei, falls on June 26. However, this year the feast falls on a Sunday, and in particular it falls on the day on which many countries celebrate Corpus Christi. Thus it seems more appropriate to remember St Josemaria today. Instead of a message from Fr Doyle, we have a message from a saint, ABOUT Fr Doyle. From point 205 …
June 25, 2011
The Birth of St John the Baptist Today the Church celebrates the feast of the birth of St John the Baptist. Fr Doyle does not seem to have written about St John very much, but in one letter to his sister, a nun, written on 19th December 1916, he alludes to the similarities between the harshness of his own life and that of St. John’s. The letter is worth …
June 24, 2011
“No evil shall come upon you”, (Jerem. 23. 17). It is a consoling thought that God watches over us with unceasing care; that no matter where we may be – alone in our humble cell or passing through the crowded streets of the feverish panting city – the hand of God is over us and sheltering us from a thousand unknown dangers, guiding us safely along the path of …
June 22, 2011
Blessed Margaret Ball, one of the Irish martyrs whose feast we celebrate today I have long had the feeling that, since the world is growing so rapidly worse and worse and God has lost His hold, as it were, upon the hearts of men, He is looking all the more earnestly and anxiously for big things from those who are faithful to Him still. He cannot, perhaps, gather a large …
June 20, 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
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
I will strive ever to perform each action as perfectly as possible, paying special attention to small duties e.g. saying grace, odd Hail Marys, etc. It seems to me God is asking this particularly from me, and by this means I am to find the chief road to sanctity. COMMENT: The chief road to sanctity for all of us is found through the careful performance of our daily duties. Perhaps …
June 4, 2011
To Mary’s feet in heaven today the angels come in never-ending stream to lay before her the offerings of her loving earthly children. To their Queen they bear fair wreaths of lovely roses. In many a lonely cottage or amid the bustle of the great city have these crowns been formed. Little ones and old folk, the pious nun and holy priest, the sinner too and many a wandering …
May 31, 2011
Dear Sir — One is often struck, on glancing over the papers, at the numerous appeals made to provide ‘comforts for our troops,’ but no one ever seems to think that the souls of those who have fallen in battle may possibly be in need of much greater comfort than the bodies of their comrades who survive . With all the spiritual help now at their disposal, even in the …
May 26, 2011