As you know I am very anxious to see these retreats started in Ireland, for I believe they would do a world of good and be the means of checking the dreadful irreligious spirit which is beginning to creep in even here in holy Ireland, especially among our uneducated men. … I am very grateful to you all for your good prayers; you must ask St. Joseph to find a …
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May 1, 2023
What is it to be a saint? Does it mean that we must macerate this flesh of ours with cruel austerities, such as we read of in the life-story of some of God’s great heroes? Does it mean the bloody scourge, the painful vigil and sleepless night, that crucifying of the flesh in even its most innocent enjoyment? No, no, the hand of God does not lead us all by …
April 29, 2023
We continue today with an excerpt from the original letter detailing some of the work Fr Willie had to undertake towards the end of April, 1916. After these stressful days were ended, Fr Willie was given a few days rest, and he was able to remove and change his clothes for the first time in over two weeks! Such was his exhaustion from serving the soldiers that he slept for …
April 28, 2023
Fr Willie sent the letter below to his father one year after the gas attack of April 1916 (see yesterday’s post). In this letter, he reveals more details of what had happened on April 26-28 1916. It seems to have been an even closer scrape with death than he had let on in the original letter, and he seems to have held off telling his father about it in case …
April 27, 2023
Fr Willie 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 recounts …
April 26, 2023
God sometimes seems to ask the impossible, a sorrow, a cross. Oh! it would crush me! How can this be? How? Lord, I do not know how, but You do. I will trust You always.
April 23, 2023
This morning I lay awake powerless to over come myself and to make my promised visit to the chapel. Then I felt prompted to pray; I said five aspirations and rose without difficulty. How many victories I could win by this easy and powerful weapon! COMMENT: Fr Willie was tough, so it’s a bit consoling to read about his difficulty getting out of bed. But in all of the things …
April 21, 2023
“They forgot God who saved them” (Psalm 105, 21). To how many may not these words be applied today! How many there are who come into this world and pass beyond its bounds and never know the loving God who died to save them. COMMENT: What Fr Willie wrote 100 years ago is even more apt for our world today. How many, even in traditionally Christian countries and even among …
April 20, 2023
If I were put in a dungeon, like the martyrs, with nothing to lie on but the bare stone floor, with no protection from intense cold, bread and water once a day for food, with no home comfort whatever, I could endure all that for years and gladly for the love of Jesus; yet I am unwilling to suffer a little inconvenience now, I must have every comfort, warm …
April 19, 2023
Sanctity is so precious, it is worth paying any price for it. God sanctified souls in many ways, the path of daily and hourly sacrifices in everything and always is mine. Will Jesus be content with only half-measures from me? I feel He will not; He asks for all. My Jesus, with your help I will give you all. COMMENT: Do we really believe that sanctity is worth paying any …
April 18, 2023