The great defect in my character and chief reason why I make so little progress is my want of fidelity. Thus in the past eighteen months I have not marked the ejaculations and acts of self-denial over three hundred times. COMMENT: Fr Doyle refers here to his tendency of keeping meticulous records about numerous aspects of his spiritual life. Many saints kept detailed spiritual records in order to review their …
Virtues
March 24, 2025
I seemed to have lost all strength and courage, and simply hated the thought of the life. Then I ran to You in the Tabernacle, threw myself before You and begged You to do all since I could do nothing. In a moment all was sweet and easy. COMMENT: Courage, more commonly referred to as fortitude, is one of the cardinal virtues. It is impossible to live a holy life …
March 22, 2025
I was struck today by the fact that St Patrick was above all a man of continuous prayer and felt inspired to ask him to help me to do what Jesus wants and be faithful, at any cost, to do the 100,000 aspirations. COMMENT: Fr Willie wrote these words on St Patrick’s Day 1917. He is referring here to Patrick’s reference in his Confessions to his constant prayer; Patrick tells …
March 17, 2025
If I have resolved to nail myself to the cross, let me bear ever in mind that our Lord is on the other side of it. When I am tempted to come down, let me stir up my courage by recalling this scene of Calvary and resolve after the example of my Lord and Master to remain fastened to it unto death. I must beware of listening, or above all …
March 13, 2025
A fierce temptation during Mass and thanksgiving to break my resolution and indulge my appetite at breakfast…Jesus urged me to pray for strength though I could scarcely bring myself to do so. But the temptation left me in the refectory, and joy filled my heart with the victory. I see now that I need never yield if only I pray for strength. COMMENT: Fr Doyle wrote this reflection in his …
March 9, 2025
Don’t be one of those who give God everything but one little corner of their heart on which they put up a notice board with the inscription: “Trespassers not allowed.” COMMENT: Perhaps Fr Willie’s lines today get to the heart of the difference between the saints and the rest of us. We may want to love God and we may try our best, albeit with many falls and weaknesses. Yet …
March 8, 2025
A young Willie Doyle on Ash Wednesday was spotted by an aunt as he spoke to himself in a mirror, waving his little fist: “You villain, you wretch! Not a sweet will you get, not a bit of cake will you get! I’ll starve you!” Even as a young boy he felt the call to self-denial and penance, which would bear so much fruit in his later life.
March 5, 2025
Press on bravely and don’t mind the scratches, even when they come from human nails! COMMENT: We must always push on in our spiritual lives. Often this will involve some difficulty, not least difficulty in overcoming ourselves. But there is also a particular kind of difficulty that comes from others, namely criticism or jokes about religious zeal. An indiscreet or unbalanced zeal should be amended with fraternal correction. But sometimes …
March 4, 2025
It is useful from time to time to pause and ask ourselves if we are, like the child Jesus, growing in wisdom and grace. Does each evening see us farther on the path of perfection? When we lie down to rest, is it with the feeling that the day just passed has been one of progress in the spiritual life, of merit and victory over self? Have we crushed the …
March 2, 2025
Surely, my child, you are not surprised to find that you have broken your resolution, or rather, that the devil has gained a victory over you. I am convinced from a pretty big experience that perfection, that is sanctity, is only to be won by repeated failures. If you rise again after a fall, sorry for the pain given to our Lord, humbled by it, since you see better your …
March 1, 2025