But remember the devil will spoil the work if he can and by every means in his power turn you from your life of immolation. COMMENT: In today’s snippet, Fr Willie reminds us that we are contending not only against our own weakness in the spiritual life, but that the devil also wishes to distract us from closer intimacy with God, and that he will use “every means in his …
Saints
July 12, 2022
God wants you to suffer willingly. Many rebel and fight against what God gives them; many more take their cross in a resigned “can’t be helped spirit”; but very few look upon these things as real blessings and kiss the Hand that strikes them. COMMENT: Mystical experiences, miracles and harsh penances are often associated with the lives of the saints. But these are not the essence of holiness. They are …
July 9, 2022
Lord, give me grace and strength of character to tear myself away promptly from what, if not bad, is less good, and to give myself earnestly, self-denyingly, perseveringly, to the better and the best. COMMENT: Fr Willie always wanted to choose the hard thing, he always wanted to do the best thing. Thus, his prayer doesn’t just refer to tearing himself promptly away from bad things, but even from things …
July 8, 2022
As a boy He gave me something of the kind, so that a passing glance at an immodest picture used to make me shudder; and until I began my theology at 31 I was quite ignorant of most sexual matters. That was His goodness, not mine. COMMENT: Today is the feast of St Maria Goretti, the great champion of purity. She died at age 11 in defence of the virtue …
July 6, 2022
Today is the memorial of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. Amongst other things, Blessed Pier Giorgio was renowned, as a very young man, for his heroic charity towards the poor of Turin. Reading the life of Fr Willie instantly reminds one of Blessed Pier Giorgio, for he too served the poor of Dalkey while he was himself was just a child. In both cases, very few knew of their hidden charity …
July 4, 2022
As a child I was convinced that one day God would give me the grace of martyrdom. When quite small I read and re-read every martyr’s life in the twelve volumes of Butler’s Lives of the Saints, and longed and prayed to be a martyr, and I have often done so ever since. As years went on, the desire grew in intensity, and even now the sufferings of the martyrs, …
July 1, 2022
Peter, the favoured one, denies his Master and turns his back on Him who loved him so; and Peter’s heart is won, even in his sin, by one loving look of mercy and compassion from the Saviour whose mercy is without end. COMMENT: The denial of St Peter, and Christ’s subsequent forgiveness, was a frequent theme in Fr Willie’s notes. The image of a favoured apostle denying his Master seemed …
June 29, 2022
If an aspiration, on the authority of the Blessed Cure d’Ars, often saved a soul, what must you not do each day you suffer so bravely! This thought certainly will help you and make the pain almost nothing, and will add to its merit, since the motive for bearing it will be all the higher. COMMENT: Today’s quotation comes from a letter of spiritual direction Fr Willie wrote to somebody …
June 28, 2022
Today is the feast of St Josemaria Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei. Instead of a message from Fr Willie, we have a message from a saint, ABOUT him. From point 205 of St Josemaria Escriva’s The Way: We were reading — you and I — the heroically ordinary life of that man of God. And we saw him fight whole months and years (what ‘accounts’ he kept in his …
June 26, 2022
“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 life. …
June 22, 2022