Rev. William Doyle, S.J., M.C.

The Year of Vocations has ended and the Holy Year for Priests is about to begin. In the brief interim, let us pause to remember Fr. William Doyle, of the Society of Jesus, awarded the Military Cross for his work as a Chaplain in the trenches of World War I.

Fr. Doyle is worth remembering not only for his own saintly, 'though some would say imprudent, example, nor for his heroic zeal for souls most especially during the greatest soul harvest that the world had, until then, seen, but also for the depth and richness of his spiritual writings.

In particular, we wish to remember his work entitled: Vocations. This work, while not about traditional vocations in the modern sense, in that it relates not to the traditionalist ghetto but to the soul in relation to Eternity, and, to be fair, it is equally applicable to vocations within the Church but outside of the ghetto. However, for the soul in discernment, it is a spiritual treasure to be consumed and made one's own.

At the same time, Fr. Doyle's Prayer for Priests is surely not only a powerful call upon the Treasury of Heaven for God's Ministers but equally an edifying and enlightening text worthy of much and deep meditation upon the nature of the Catholic Priesthood.

The vita by Professor Alfred O'Rahilly is a spiritual classic. In summary, Professor O'Rahilly writes: "William Joseph Gabriel Doyle was born in Dalkey, a suburb of Dublin, in Ireland on March 3, 1873. He was the youngest of seven children, four boys and three girls, out of which two boys became Jesuits, another died a few days before his priestly ordination and one of the three girls became a Sister of Mercy: four vocations out of seven children."

"He entered the Jesuit Novitiate at the age of 18 after reading St. Alphonsus’ book “Instructions and Consideration on the Religious State”. Soon after his ordination in 1907, his superiors appointed him on the mission staff for five years. From 1908 to 1925, 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."

"In the midst of such an active apostolate, he maintained a fervent spiritual life of union with his Eucharistic Lord, offering himself as a victim for the salvation of souls with the Divine Victim.
He was finally appointed during World War I chaplain of the 16th Irish Division at the front in November 1915 and having fulfilled his priestly duties in an outstanding fashion for almost two years, he was killed in the Battle of Ypres on August 16, 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."

Traditional Communities of France

by Shawn Tribe

If you speak French, someone there has published a book on Les communautés traditionnelles en France -- the religious orders in France that use the classical rite, and that are in union with the Holy See.

The description of the book is roughly as follows:

For the first time, the traditional Catholic communities authorized by the Vatican are the subject of a book. Photo album and beautiful book, this work presents the 17 secular and regular religious communities in communion with Rome. Without taking sides, the author, Thomas Grimaux, invites to come and see what they are really about. Everyone speaks about them but nobody really knows them: the traditional religious communities authorized by the Holy See remain a mystery. However, strong of vocations and faithful young people, they constitute an essential element of the New Evangelization wanted by John Paul II. Better, Benedict XVI has just set up one of them - the Institute of Good Shepherd - and would like to liberalize the use of the “Latin mass”, the mass of Saint Pius V, that of before the Vatican II Council.

The book is a smaller coffee-table sized casewrap hardcover book, and as the title suggests, it goes through the various traditional communities in France (in communion with Rome) -- it also touches into the Institute of Christ the King and their seminary in Italy [and the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter. --Ed.].

The book is in French of course, but I must say, even if you don't speak French, I think many would find this book interesting and worthwhile. The reason for that is the book will first of all introduce you to a number of French monasteries and orders attached to the classical Roman liturgy that you may have less familiarity with. In the book, they include any relevant contact information, or website addresses as well, where they have them.

But in addition to that, what will also make the book interesting (perhaps most interesting to non-French speakers) are the great number of colour photographs of these communities, their day to day activities, and of course various liturgical shots as well.

I was impressed by the fact that the book is up to date enough that they include the Institute of the Good Shepherd.

(reposted with permission from The New Liturgical Movement; many of the communities linked to from here are featured in this book)