The Father Willie Doyle Association

Father Willie Doyle Association

Official site for the canonisation cause of the Servant of God Fr Willie Doyle SJ

Official site for the canonisation cause of the Servant of God Fr Willie Doyle SJ

Father Willie Doyle

Association

Fr Doyle’s letter, 5 January 1916

Before I thank you for your letter which was doubly welcome in my exile, I want to tell you the New Year’s gift our Lord gave me. We had an awful time of storm and rain coming over here, but the first thing I saw on reaching the barrack square was a hut marked R.C. Church. I took it for granted that it was just the usual hut set apart for Sunday Mass, but on trying the door you can imagine my delight to find a small but beautifully furnished chapel with lamp burning before the altar, which made my heart leap with joy. I felt as if all the hardships of my life had vanished, for I had found Him again who makes the hard things easy and the bitter things sweet….. But His goodness did not stop here; the other priest who had the key gave it to me without my even suggesting it, so I can go to Him at any hour of the day or night if I want to – do you think I shall?

Is He not good to have put the little chapel where He did, as it might have been in any other part of the camp, miles away? I do not think there is a happier man in England than I today. I am writing this, sitting on a piece of wood – no chairs in our quarters. There are about 1,200 Catholics in our brigade now. I get a few ‘big fish’ each evening.

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January 5, 2019

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