Father William Doyle, S.J

[UnionOfHearts]

I’ve looked through the forums and was shocked to find that I couldn’t really find any mention of the writings of Fr William Doyle, SJ on Vocations. I have found them to be a great help to me whilst I discern my Vocation and they were very influential in their time and amongst those that have read them still are. I provide links to his two most relevant writings below and hope they shall be of some use to those discerning a Vocation.

His tract ‘Shall I be a Priest?’ can be read here

His tract ‘Vocations’ can be read here

For those that don’t know anything about Fr William Doyle, SJ I provide a quote from a CTS of Ireland tract ‘The author, Fr William Doyle, is regarded by many as a saint. From 1908 to 1915, he gave no less than 152 missions and retreats. His fame as preacher, confessor and spiritual director spread wide and far, and he had “a special gift to hunt out the most hardened and neglected sinners and to bring them back with him to the church for confession.” He was appointed during World War I chaplain of the 16th Irish Division. Having fulfilled his priestly duties in an outstanding fashion for almost two years, he was killed in the Battle of Ypres on 16 August 1917, having run “all day hither and thither over the battlefield like an angel of mercy.” This good shepherd truly gave his life for his sheep’

 

[Benincasa]

Readers will find lots of information on Fr Doyle at this site: www.fatherdoyle.com

In addition to the classic vocations pamphlets, in the writings section of the site you can find his classic pamphlet on scruples and their treatment which thousands of souls have found so helpful.

In relation to Fr Doyle’s impact on vocational discernment, it is true to say that his writings were responsible for untold numbers of priestly and religious vocations. Over 90,000 copies of one of the pamphlets were sold during the last few years of his life alone, and this was 100 years ago, before the phenomenon of mass marketing and mass communication. I recently received a letter from a priest in England who reported that his own army chaplain in the Second World War gave him a copy of Fr Doyle’s pamphlet on vocations and that this helped him to discern his own vocation to the priesthood. Some years later he met this military chaplain again who told him that AT LEAST 11 other soldiers that he had given the pamphlet to had become priests themselves after reading it!

Fr Doyle’s anniversary is this Tuesday, August 16. He was killed while rushing out onto the field of battle to bring spiritual and temporal relief to wounded soldiers.

He should be beatified. Please spread awareness of this saintly man, and follow the daily quotes on his website and direct others to it.

Fr Doyle, pray for us.

 

[UnionOfHearts]

Readers will find lots of information on Fr Doyle at this site: www.fatherdoyle.com

In addition to the classic vocations pamphlets, in the writings section of the site you can find his classic pamphlet on scruples and their treatment which thousands of souls have found so helpful.

In relation to Fr Doyle’s impact on vocational discernment, it is true to say that his writings were responsible for untold numbers of priestly and religious vocations. Over 90,000 copies of one of the pamphlets were sold during the last few years of his life alone, and this was 100 years ago, before the phenomenon of mass marketing and mass communication. I recently received a letter from a priest in England who reported that his own army chaplain in the Second World War gave him a copy of Fr Doyle’s pamphlet on vocations and that this helped him to discern his own vocation to the priesthood. Some years later he met this military chaplain again who told him that AT LEAST 11 other soldiers that he had given the pamphlet to had become priests themselves after reading it!

Fr Doyle’s anniversary is this Tuesday, August 16. He was killed while rushing out onto the field of battle to bring spiritual and temporal relief to wounded soldiers.

He should be beatified. Please spread awareness of this saintly man, and follow the daily quotes on his website and direct others to it.

Fr Doyle, pray for us.

Thanks I will certainly get involved

 

[barb_finnegan]

I just went over onto the website. What a brave and saintly priest Father Doyle was!

I have a book on Little Rose Ferron, the mystic and victim soul from Woonsocket, Rhode Island (1902-1936), called ‘She Wears A Crown Of Thorns’. I remember seeing a brief reference to Father Doyle in there, calling him a mystic.

So his body was never found after his death, then? Wow-I never knew that.

And today is the anniversary of his death…may Our Lady wrap him securely in her mantle!

 

[Benincasa]

Yes, Fr Doyle was something of a mystic. He never really spoke out about this, and we only know about it because of the notes he kept in his private diaries. It is also through his diaries that we learned about his rather severe life of penance and self-denial. He had requested that his diaries be destroyed after death; thankfully this request was not complied with.

The published documentation does not provide a huge amount of information on Fr Doyle’s mysticism. However, he seems to have had locutions in which he was urged to a life of great self-denial, far beyond what is expected of most priests. He was urged to do this in reparation for the sins of priests. He also reports receiving a locution from Ellen Organ (Little Nellie of Holy God), an Irish girl who died at the age of 4. She was given special permission to receive the Eucharist at the age of 4 before her impending death because of her advanced understanding and spiritual sensitivity. In fact, she received the Eucharist 32 times in all before she died. She too was a mystic in her own way, even at this early age.

We cannot really verify Fr Doyle’s mysticism at this remove. What really matters is his total dedication to Christ and to others, the ultimate proof of which was his daily willingness to risk his life to aid wounded soldiers.