Our Lady of the Rosary To Mary’s feet in heaven today the angels come in never-ending stream to lay before her the offerings of her loving earthly children. To their Queen they bear fair wreaths of lovely roses. In many a lonety cottage or amid the bustle of the great city have these crowns been formed. Little ones and old folk, the pious nun and holy priest, the sinner too …
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October 7, 2010
A little child is born into this world and as it opens its eyes for the first time to God’s blessed light, swiftly a heavenly messenger descends and unseen how – often too unthought of – takes his place beside the cot of that tiny babe. He hath given His angels charge over us, to guide us, to guard and shelter us from dangers, to lead us safely through …
October 2, 2010
St Jerome in the wilderness Don’t dwell on what you have not done, for I think that want of confidence in His willingness to forgive our shortcomings pains Him very much, but rather lift up your heart and think what you are going to do for Him now. You know the secret of making a short life very long in His eyes, and a life of few opportunities crammed full …
September 30, 2010
Don’t let the devil spoil the work by making you fret and worry. COMMENT: This line from Fr Doyle is taken from a much longer letter of spiritual direction, the specifics of which are unlikely to be relevant to many of the readers of this website. But this line, about the father of lies, and his capacity to make us worry, is relevant for us all… One of the characteristics …
September 28, 2010
You know well that even the smallest cross and happening of your life is part of our Blessed Lord’s plan for your sanctification. It is not easy, I know, to look at things in this light. But one can train the will to look upon the act of others, even their sinful acts in as much as they concern ourselves, as coming from the hand of God. There is so …
September 22, 2010
The Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary by Murillo September 8 The Feast of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary Don’t you know it is our Lady’s feast, and Mary had her mantle spread over us to save us from all harm? COMMENT: Fr Doyle wasn’t speaking of today’s remembrance of the birth of Mary when he made the above comment to a soldier, but the sentiment is just …
September 8, 2010
We continue the narrative from O’Rahilly’s biography which recounts the events of September 5, 1916. Please note: this excerpt reveals the true horror of war, and those who are a bit squeamish may prefer to skip the first coupler of paragraphs. At last came the expected order to advance at once and hold the front line, the part assigned being Leuze Wood, the scene of much desperate fighting. Fr. Doyle …
September 5, 2010
A German Krupp gun Today we continue the narrative and consider the events of September 4, 1916. Next morning there was a short march over the brow of a hill and down into a valley still nearer to the front line. It was a great change from the trench life of the past six months, since at Loos for days one never saw a soul overground and all guns were …
September 4, 2010
I stumbled across the above image by accident a few weeks ago. It was published in an Irish newspaper at the end of 1916. The priest is unidentified, but could it be Fr Doyle? This thought occurred to me not just because it was an Irish military chaplain, but because of the date depicted – 2nd September 1916. Fr Doyle and his men had to suddenly march to the …
September 3, 2010
St Teresa Margaret Redi Reasons why our Communions and Masses do not make us Saints. 1. Want of preparation, through sloth, carelessness, or absorption in other things; no thought of the greatness and immense dignity of the act, no stirring up of fervour. 2. No pains to examine our conscience carefully, to destroy affection to venial sin, and to root out faults often unrecognized for years. A soul filled with …
September 1, 2010