The reformation of one’s life must be the work of every day. I should take each rule and duty, think how Jesus acted, or would have done, and contrast my conduct with His. COMMENT: Fr Doyle’s words today are direct and relevant for us all. The daily reformation Fr Doyle recommends must be immensely practical. We do not reform our lives in the abstract by imagining great things we would …
WWI
July 17, 2018
Fr Doyle in the pulpit during his last homily, July 1917 Fr Doyle gave his last homily 101 years ago today. Here is Alfred O’Rahilly’s account of this last sermon, complete with valuable first hand testimony from the famous Fr Frank Browne SJ: The 48th Brigade was at rest or rather down for a rifle shooting course near St. Omer. The 2nd and 8th Dublins were in and around the …
July 15, 2018
Today the Church celebrates the feast of the birth of St John the Baptist. The Church only celebrates the birth of Jesus, Mary and St John the Baptist. It is a great testament to the sanctity and importance of St John that he is in this elite group and that he has two feasts – his birthday and his beheading. Fr Doyle does not seem to have written …
June 24, 2018
The trailer for the EWTN docudrama Bravery Under Fire is now available. The programme will be aired on EWTN in August and again in November. Congratulations to Campbell Miller and all others who were involved in the production of this programme which is so important in creating awareness about Fr Doyle. Please share and spread the news, so that more people can learn about Fr Doyle’s physical and spiritual bravery …
June 19, 2018
Today we continue with Fr Doyle’s narrative on the battle for Messines Ridge with the events that occurred on June 7 1917. It was a day of devastating losses for the German side. In fact, the explosions underneath the German trenches were the most powerful in history at that time. Fr Doyle did not glory in this loss of life. We see him today praying for the many thousands of …
June 7, 2018
Today we have a small excerpt from one of Fr Doyle’s letters which describes his preparations for the Battle of Messines. It was a truly devastating engagement. We shall read Fr Doyle’s description of the events tomorrow, though in preparation you may be interested in reading a description of the attack here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Messines For today, we will focus on Fr Doyle’s spiritual preparations. Here is Fr Doyle’s description of this night …
June 6, 2018
I have not told them at home, and do not want them to know but we have had a terrible time for the last three weeks, constant and increasing shelling, with many wonderful escapes. We are on the eve of a tremendous battle and the danger will be very great. Sometimes I think God wishes the actual sacrifice of my life — the offering of it was made long ago. …
June 5, 2018
I had not the heart to wake up the poor nuns, and after all when one is fast asleep, is not a hard plank just as soft as a feather bed? You see I am becoming a bit of a philosopher! The next morning, I had Mass in a field close to the camp. I wish you could have seen the men as they knelt in a hollow square round …
June 4, 2018
Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh, the Prime of All Ireland, is currently on a visit to some of the war sites and graves in Belgium. Today he mentioned Fr Doyle and read a quote about him from To Raise the Fallen. Here he is with a copy of the book beside Fr Doyle’s name at the Tyne Cot Memorial: And here is a video of him speaking about Fr Doyle …
June 1, 2018
Fr Doyle wrote the following letter to his father on 29 May 1917 – 101 years ago today. In this letter he outlines what a “raiding party” is. He firstly gives a humorous example of what a raiding party could be like (using a witty example) followed by a very serious account of an actual raising party he recently witnessed. In today’s excerpts we once again see Fr Doyle’s …
May 29, 2018