The Catechism of the Catholic Church has the following to say about the virtue of charity 1822 Charity is the theological virtue by which we love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God. 1823 Jesus makes charity the new commandment. By loving his own “to the end,” he makes manifest the Father’s love which he receives. By loving one …
Virtues
August 10, 2012
Ecce Homo: Behold the Man We return today to Fr Doyle’s narrative, and get some glimpse of the horror of war, and the comfort that the presence of a priest can bring to the dying. Of particular note is his reference to Pontius Pilate presenting Jesus to the crowd after the scourging with the words: “Ecce homo” (Behold the Man)… These events occurred on this day in 1917. A sad …
August 10, 2012
The Catechism of the Catholic Church has the following to say about the virtue of hope: 1817 Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ’s promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit. “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without …
August 9, 2012
St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), Co-patron of Europe Fr Doyle does not have a specific record for the events of 9 August 1917, so we will instead have one of his typical sayings, and resume his narrative tomorrow. You must bear in mind that, if God has marked you out for very great graces and possibly a holiness of which you do not even dream, you must …
August 9, 2012
Counting today, Fr Doyle’s anniversary is 9 days away. It is traditional for Catholics to reflect on specific themes, or to pray for particular favours, for 9 consecutive days. This is a very ancient tradition and dates back to the earliest days of the Church – the apostles and Mary spent 9 days in prayer between the ascension of Jesus and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. So, …
August 8, 2012
Continuing our narrative today, it is hard not to be struck by the extraordinary good humour of Fr Doyle. The “cathedral” to which he refers was, of course, just another dug out or shell hole somewhere in a battlefield. His final comment about being glad not to be asked to say the rosary with bombs falling around him is classic Irish wit. It is important to remember that these letters …
August 8, 2012
A German gas attack seen from the air Today’s account, from 7 August 1917, gives us some small insight into the horrors of the war, especially when it involved the use of poisoned gas. Of note also is the way in which Fr Doyle accepts spending extra days at the front to cover for a priest who never showed up to relieve him. He doesn’t grumble or complain, and in …
August 7, 2012
WW1 First Aid station The events of August 6 1917 in Fr Doyle’s own words. In particular today we note Fr Doyle’s devotion to the Mass. The following morning, though the Colonel and other officers pressed me very much to remain with them on the ground that I would be more comfortable, I felt I could do better work at the advanced dressing-station, or rather aid-post, and went and joined …
August 6, 2012
A flooded shell hole We once again resume Fr Doyle’s narrative of the events at the Battle of Passchendaele. This is his account of the events of August 5, 1917. In a particular way, his confidence in God’s providence is evident today. All day I have been busy hearing the men’s confessions, and giving batch after batch Holy Communion. A consolation surely to see them crowding to the Sacraments, but …
August 5, 2012
We have no more reports from Fr Doyle until August 5th, and we shall take up his narrative once again on that date. What we do know about these days is that Fr Doyle and his men had a few days rest before facing the trauma of battle once again. This might be an appropriate place to give the following excerpt from O’Rahilly’s biography which includes an excerpt of a …
August 2, 2012