This is the place where people can have a general discussion about Fr Doyle.
How did you first come to hear about Fr Willie Doyle? What impresses you about him? Have you read Alfred O’Rahilly’s biography or Merry in God? What did you think of them? Have you ever received any favours through Fr Doyle’s intercession? Do you think that Fr Doyle’s cause for beatification and canonisation should be relaunched?
Requests for prayers through Fr Doyle’s intercession are also welcome. The following prayer could be used:
O Jesus, who has given us the example of Your servant, Father William Doyle, graciously grant us the favours we ask You through his intercession…[Make petition.]
Teach us to imitate his love for You, his heroic devotion to Your service, his zeal for repairing the outrages done to Your glory and for the salvation of souls. Hear our prayer and show us the credit he now enjoys in heaven so that we may soon be able to venerate him in public worship.”
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
I would like to ask for prayers for Melinda in Queensland, Australia. She is a young mother with cancer. Please pray through Fr Doyle’s intercession for her recovery.
Prayer said for Melinda in Queensland, for Fr. Doyle’s intercession.
I don’t remember exactly how I discovered Fr. Doyle, but I think it might have been while I was investigating heroic priests who were soldiers. (Four U.S. military chaplains have won the Congressional Medal of Honor since 1940 — every one a Catholic priest, and one has a cause for sainthood.) I found the O’Rahilly biography online and downloaded the PDF version. I appreciated the fact that Fr. Doyle was an early devotee of St. Therese of Lisieux (who has taken care of me for many years), though he did not live even to see her declared Venerable.
It is frustrating that his cause for sainthood is now so obscured and forgotten as to render one unsure whether there even is an official cause. But maybe he is meant to be a saint for the very end times, when martyrs will undergo the horrific sufferings for God that St. Therese envied and longed to undergo herself.
Melinda, what is OPL?
I am very happy to see this blog. I am amazed that Fr. Doyle is not better known, even in his native Ireland. I stumbled upon his name while I was researching a US Army chaplain. I was led to O’Rahilly’s book. I found an old copy for $3.00 on bookfinder.com. It was the best spiritual work I have read. It is substantial but very practical for both religious and laymen. My 1936 copy is falling apart and filled with underlined passages. It really gives you an appreciation of the of the life of this great Catholic priest. He wouldn’t care about either but he is certainly deserving of sainthood consideration and the Victoria Cross. I hope this blog will help with that.
Thank you for this beautiful website. The life of Fr. Doyle is truly inspiring. In high school I read “Merry in God” and the example of Fr. Willy had a great influence on me. When I visited Ireland in 1992 to attend my grandmother’s funeral Mass, I managed to take a side trip to see Fr. Doyle’s place of birth in Dalkey.
If it be God’s will, I look forward to the day when Fr. Doyle is declared a saint by the Pope.
Take care and God bless you.
In the Hearts of Jesus and Mary,
Father Gary Selin
St. John Vianney Seminary
Denver, Colorado
I just discovered your blog via the forums as Catholic.com. Thanks so much for posting about Fr. Doyle. I will certainly be reading his books with interest and visiting this website often. God bless you!
I first heard about Fr Doyle in David Murphy’s ‘Irish Regiments in The World Wars’.I have read ‘Merry in God’ and I think it was a handbook for everyday spirituality.I prayed for his intercession when my mother in law was not expected to live more than a day,she died a year and a half later.His cause should be relaunched now.Congratulations for your welcome website,keep up the good work .God Bless , Dennis
I grew up around a photograph of Fr Doyle which my grandmother had. He had administered the last rites to my grandfather on April 11 1917 in Roeux. Our family were all brought up to revere this real hero. Recently I have had cause to ask for his intercession and indeed I believe a miracle has taken place. I would be interested in finding out about attempts for his beatification.
I can’t remember when I first heard of Fr Willie Doyle. Growing up in Dublin he would have been mentioned along with Matt Talbot and Fr. Charles of Mount Argus (Blessed Charles as he is now) The Praye Card I have of Fr Willie is very old. I don’t remember where or when I got it. I have read both O Rahily’s book and Merry in God. As a seminarian in Clonliffe (1987 -1992)I used to go to confession to Gardiner St. Many of the old Jesuits lived there and I got yo know some of them. They often spoke of Fr Willie and with a sense of regret that his cause was not pushed. As a seminarian he became for me a great role model for priesthood. I know that the Jesuits were not confortable with his “little follies” but as a seminarian and a priest I have never understood this. Fr Willie fits in very well with the lives of Irish saints. From what we know of them they lead a penitential life. Anyone familiar with Irish shrines will notice that compared to Europeen shrines Irish ones are penitential in nature. Even today one of our most visited shrines is Lough Derg, not exactly for the faint hearted. His so called follies are not extreme in any way when one looks at the lives of many saints. For me personaly the beatification and canonisation would be great for our nation and our priests. Here was a man who gave all for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. He did so in a natural unnassuming way. His death in the trenches came from the many little sacrifices he did everyday. It is a great example to us all of being faithful in little things so that we can be faithful in greater things. Keep up the good work
Yesterday I taught a lesson about Fr Willie to a class of 9 year olds in a non-denominational school in Scotland. This was part of a theme of Notable Christians. Nice to keep the memory alive of the person who administered the last rites to my grandfather in 1917. I hope to keep his story as part of the school curriculum.
That is a very interesting and uplifting piece of information to know that Fr. Willie’s memory has been kept alive by Kathleen in this way. I would be interested also, if Kathleen would like to share it, to know the details of her grandfather’s story. However, I understand if Kathleen would rather the information remained private.
I am delighted to share my grandfather’s story. He, along with all the other hundreds of thousands of young men from all countries, gave his life because he believed it was the right thing to do.
James Murphy was a husband and father of 3 young children living in Kilbirnie in Scotland when he enlisted in 1914. He firstly joined a Scottish regiment but, after his brother joined the Royal Irish Fusiliers, James deserted from the the Scottish regiment and enlisted in the same regiment as his brother. He was caught by the military police at a railway station and was on his way to military prison. A priest witnessing his arrest pled his case and he was released to his new regiment.
He served in Ireland firstly then was posted to France. My mother, although only 2 can remember watching him marching in Dublin on his way to France.
He fought in Arras and was killed on April 11 1917 aged 28.
Father Willie risked his own life to give him the last rites on the battlefield.
Father Willie ensured that my gran was sent the postcard that James had written to his children before going over the top.
‘Dear Bridie, James and Catherine,
The weather here is pretty bad just now. I will be in the frontline before you get this. See and be good children for your mother. Love Daddy.’
I have this postcard.
My Grandmother was eternally grateful to Fr Willie for the comfort he gave her husband. Fr Willie’s photograph always had pride of place in her home.
I too have reason to be thankful for his intercession. Because of privacy of those involved I am unable to give names but I know that Fr Willie’s intercession did cure someone dear to me and gave us joy beyond belief where there had been no hope. I promised I would do all I could to keep his memory alive and hope that by telling the present generation of children about his bravery, I am in some way doing this.
God Bless
I just wanted tio say thank you for this blog – I have just stumbled across it and it is really inspirational. Thank you again. God Bless.
I’m a Protestant and an Orangeman. I came across Father Willie Doyle when researching the 16th Irish Division and I was reduced to tears to read the testimony of the Glasgow Orangemen who said Father Doyle was as willing to risk his life to take water to a wounded Ulsterman as he was to one of his own faith. It reminded me of how Orange stretcher bearers carried Major Willie Redmond out no man’s land to a 36th Ulster Division dressing station where their medics fought to save him as fervently as they would have done one of their own. How did we forget for so many years the respect that our people learned to have for each other as they lived and fought side by side and so often died together. God forgive us all.
We see directly above that spammers are never far away, even on Father Doyle’s special place! Oh, well. Even poor spammers may get some good from reading here. I want to say that I’ve received a great deal of help in a very difficult personal area of my life from my prayers for Father Doyle’s intercession. Our Dear Lord has given me the grace I have been asking for, for years, once I asked Father Doyle to intercede. He is a powerful friend indeed.
I first discovered Fr. William Doyle in the early nineties when I discovered the library at our local Jesuit university and the treasures therein. His biography, along with that of another Jesuit Fr. Paul Ginhac, was one of the first books I checked out.
Every night I pray to him asking for spiritual help. A sentence that he wrote in one of his letters that is always in my head is “The dumps are for the devil!”
Do you or anyone here know if there are any relics and/or prayer cards of him available?