I am delighted to announce that EWTN will broadcast a major docudrama about Fr Doyle later this summer! Titled Bravery Under Fire, the programme is 80 minutes long, and features a number of interviews about Fr Doyle, along with re-enactments of many scenes from his life, all the way from his childhood in Dublin, his ministry as a priest, aspects of his spiritual life, and ultimately his service and …
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June 11, 2018
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: As Fr Doyle tells us today, the chief road to sanctity for all of us is found through the careful …
June 9, 2018
Fr Doyle had many incredibly close shaves with death during the almost 2 years he spent as a military chaplain. He has recorded many of these in his diaries and in the letters he sent home to his father. One of these dramatic moments occurred on the night of April 26 and early morning April 27 1916. Here is an excerpt from a letter home to his father which …
April 26, 2018
No one is holy who is not fervent. But the fervour of the holy is not an impetuous, noviciate first-fervour, which does not and cannot last; it is not a fervour that multiplies resolutions and piles up pious practices that bow one to the ground in disgust and despair; it is not a fizzling “ginger-beer” fervour that disappears as soon as it appears, but an ardent zeal inspired by reason …
April 5, 2018
The Tenth Station of the Cross: Jesus is stripped of His garments At last He stands upon the hill of shame to pay the price of our redemption. In the eyes of His Eternal Father, a sinner laden with the crimes of a wicked world; before men, the most abject and abandoned of creatures. A brutal soldier advances. He lays his hand upon the garment of Jesus and roughly …
March 20, 2018
St John Bosco One month of the new year has passed away, leaving behind it the memory of what has been done for God and the unavailing recollection of what might have been achieved. Unavailing regret? No. For the failings and shortcomings of the month that has gone will only serve as a stimulus to a generous soul to spur him on to greater efforts in the service of …
January 31, 2018
Our Lord wants me to give Him all I can give cheerfully, not repining or regretting any sacrifice; not saying, ‘I wish I had not to do this or suffer this cold or pain, etc’, but rather, “I wish I could do more for You Jesus, I wish it were colder’. COMMENT: Fr Doyle was a true Jesuit. In these comments, written on this day in 1912, he shows his …
January 17, 2018
I contrast the obedience of St. Joseph with my obedience. His so prompt, unquestioning, uncomplaining, perfect; mine given so grudgingly; perhaps exterior without interior conformity with the will of the Superior. I realise my faults in this matter, and for the future will try to practise the most perfect obedience, even and especially in little things. “An obedient man shall speak of victory.” (Proverbs 21, 28.) COMMENT: Joseph was …
January 6, 2018
Let us love silence and recollection. When we are at home with silence we are at home with God. Silence seems impossible to busy people. But “silence of the heart”, interior silence, is always possible. COMMENT: We live in a noisy world. And that “noise” is made all the louder by the ever present reality of smartphones and social media. This is especially problematic for young people whose concentration spans …
December 9, 2017
Holiness and perfection depend on yourself, not on the actions of others. COMMENT: How easy it is for us to blame others, or the circumstances of our lives, for our own lack of holiness. Yes, we may live or work with annoying and frustrating people, but there is always a choice on our part to control our annoyance or frustration. We may have many distractions to our work and to …
November 16, 2017