I will strive ever to perform each action as perfectly as possible, paying special attention to small duties e.g. saying grace, odd Hail Marys, etc. It seems to me God is asking this particularly from me, and by this means I am to find the chief road to sanctity. 

COMMENT: The chief road to sanctity for all of us is found through the careful performance of our daily duties. Perhaps some people are called to extraordinary things, but for most of us holiness will be entirely found within our ordinary life. 

Does this mean that we are not called to be great saints, and can instead live a life of mediocrity? Not at all! St Therese is one of the greatest and best loved saints of recent times, and yet she lived a humble, ordinary life with nothing extraordinary in it.

The secret is to inject all of our actions with love. The value of our actions lies in love. Thus, simple household duties performed with love are of greater value than heroic deeds performed with lukewarmness. 

St Francis de Sales tells us:

A very small virtue may be of greater value in a soul where divine love fervently reigns, than martyrdom itself in a soul where love is languishing, feeble, and dull. 

Fr Doyle lived this simple life for many years prior to his heroism in the trenches. Without his simple daily faithfulness it is doubtful that he would have been capable of the heroism he displayed during the war.

St Francis de Sales