The Priest Who Challenged Me to Be a Better Priest

Fr William "Willie" Doyle, SJ, MC, was killed whilst administering the Last Sacraments to his fallen comrades. He was recommended for the VC and DSO, but anti-Catholicism kept them from being awarded

From Crisis

By Fr Edward Looney, STL

The wisdom and witness of Fr. Willie Doyle challenged me personally and both enriched and renewed my priesthood. Fr. Doyle has made me a better priest.

As a user of 𝕏, I have been a longtime follower of a social media account dedicated to the memory of Fr. Willie Doyle, S.J. The account posts quotes from Doyle to inspire readers and to raise awareness of this saintly priest for the sake of his cause for canonization. I wanted to learn more about Fr. Doyle and feature his story on my podcast, Hey Everybody! It’s Fr. Edward. 

That led me to reach out to Fr. John Hogan, who has been a passionate promoter of Fr. Doyle. The conversation that we had for our podcast was incredibly impactful to me. As he shared about Fr. Willie’s life, something resonated in my heart and soul, and I knew that I needed to learn more about this priest. I wanted to read his writings and daily began to pray through his intercession. 

Immediately after recording the podcast, I headed over to Amazon and ordered several books. The first one I started reading—or better put, praying with—during my holy hours was To Raise the Fallen: A Selection of the War Letters, Prayers, and Spiritual Writings of Fr. Willie Doyle, S.J., collected and edited by Dr. Patrick Kenny.  The wisdom and witness of Fr. Willie Doyle challenged me personally and both enriched and renewed my priesthood. Fr. Doyle has made me a better priest. 

Fr. Doyle was born in 1873 into a large and devout Catholic family. A brother of his had joined the Jesuit novitiate, and while the young Willie Doyle was apprehensive about the Jesuits, soon his mind would change, leading him to enter the novitiate in 1890. He faced some challenging health situations, but even that could not end his religious vocation. He was ordained a priest on July 28, 1907. 

In the early years of his priesthood, he preached missions and delivered retreats for consecrated religious and founded the Poor Clare convent in Cork. Certainly, his vocational discernment and familiarity with religious life—both male and female—would influence his vocation work, captured in the pamphlet Vocations. 

When the First World War broke out, Fr. Doyle volunteered to serve as a chaplain. During his service, he wrote many letters to family and others, leaving behind a spiritual treasure chest for the faithful today. From his earliest days, Fr. Willie desired to die a martyr. In the middle of battle, following a German shell explosion, Fr. Doyle died on the battlefield while rushing out to administer the sacraments to the fallen. While he did not die a martyr’s death resulting from hatred for the Faith, he did die as a martyr of charity, serving his fellow man. 

I hope the heroism of Fr. Willie Doyle will inspire you. In the remaining reflection, I wish to share quotes and maxims of Fr. Doyle’s life that have impacted how I live my life as a Christian and priest. If you stand in need, I’d encourage you to seek his intercession, as I do on a daily basis.  

Fr. Doyle Renewed My Visits to the Blessed Sacrament

As a parish priest, I take for granted the accessibility of the Blessed Sacrament. Whenever I wish, I can pray before the tabernacle. The Blessed Sacrament was not so near for Fr. Doyle, and he longed to spend time with the Eucharistic Lord. Discovering a chapel and a tabernacle would be a relief and spiritual lifeline for him. He writes, 

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 a 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 found him again who makes the hard things easy and the bitter things sweet. What did anything matter now since I could go and tell him all about it and get help and consolation from Jesus. I really think that this month's privation of the Blessed Sacrament has taught me the true value of the tabernacle. But his goodness did not stop here; the other priest who had the key gave it to me without even my suggesting it, so I can go to him at any hour of the day or night if I want to. 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. (Kenny, 34)

Holy men and women throughout the centuries and decades have emphasized the importance of making frequent visits to the Blessed Sacrament. In His presence, we unburden our hearts and find grace for the present moment. When I feel a nudge to visit the Blessed Sacrament and resist going, I remember the desire of Fr. Doyle, his longing to be with his old friend Jesus. 

In another reflection of Fr. Doyle’s, he reminded the reader of the graces that await you at the tabernacle: 

Do we realise the infinite possibilities of grace which lie in the Tabernacle? Jesus only awaits our coming; and even before we have begun to beg his help, he has opened the treasures of his Sacred Heart and filled our hands with priceless gifts. (Kenny, 133) 

Every visit to the Blessed Sacrament is a moment of Jesus pouring out His grace and our reception of that grace. At moments when it is difficult to pray, Fr. Doyle encourages the simple action of kneeling before the tabernacle and receiving the divine rays of Christ, just as one would sit in the sun. Sitting, kneeling, and praying with Jesus does not have to be difficult; all one must do is remain with Him. God is at work. He is speaking. We are receiving. The best thing we can do during this life is to spend our time with Jesus, because it is a training for Heaven, when we will spend all eternity with Him. 

Fr. Doyle Helped Me Appreciate the Anointing of the Sick

The priest is often called at the inconvenient hour to administer the anointing of the sick (known to many as the Last Rites). I hate to admit it, but I’ve been perturbed by requests to anoint. I’ve had it happen when I had to leave holiday celebrations and make an hour and a half drive to anoint someone who was at death’s door, even though the person was in the process of dying for several days previous and no one thought to call sooner. This is the life of sacrifice that the priest makes—leaving commitments to attend to those who need God’s grace. Because I have not yet fully conformed myself to Christ and have room for growth in holiness, I have complained and been annoyed. 

One story about Fr. Willie Doyle challenged this mindset and helped to renew my efforts in anointing—to give and not to count the cost. A solider told Fr. Willie, “Oh! Father, I can die happy now, sure I’m not afraid of death or anything else since I have seen you” (Kenny, 47). A simple story related from the battlefield ministry of Fr. Doyle, and the countless others contained in his life and letters, has forever changed my approach to anointing, realizing that the presence of the priest brings comfort not only to the family members but most especially to the dying themselves. Because of Fr. Doyle, I no longer begrudgingly anoint; instead, I go with haste to bring Christ’s healing and grace. 

Fr. Doyle Reminded Me of the Importance of Daily Mass

Does a priest celebrate Mass every day? Hopefully the answer is yes. But I think we know, too, that the answer is no. I’ve known priests to attend a community Mass and not concelebrate, they may not have celebrated Mass, but the Mass did have primacy in their life. It is easy, too, for a priest to fall into the trap that in a given week he may celebrate 10-14 Masses (daily Masses, weekend Masses, funerals, additional Masses, etc.). With so many Masses already celebrated, it is easy to fall into a mindset that he may not need to celebrate the Mass on his day off because his daily average is high. 

Fr. Doyle reminds the priest about the importance of celebrating Mass daily: 

I held on to my Mass things, but to my great sorrow, for five days I was not able to offer the holy sacrifice, the biggest privation of the whole campaign. One good result at least came from this trial: it showed me in a way I never realized before what a help daily Mass is in one’s life.

Fr. Doyle was not able to offer Mass daily at times because the elements precluded it or a place to do so was not readily available. With a little bit of preparation and planning, celebrating Mass while traveling or on vacation can easily happen, especially as a simple, private Mass for the priest. Let Fr. Doyle’s devotion to daily Mass reinvigorate your love for the daily offering of the holy sacrifice of the Mass. 

Fr. Doyle Willingly Heard Confessions

During my seminary years, an event transpired in a parish sacristy that was etched forever in my memory; and I said I would never be that priest. An individual came to the sacristy and asked to go to confession. The priest went on to talk about scheduling something later in the week rather than walking away from conversing with me for a few minutes to hear the confession. It was after a full weekend of Masses, and perhaps there is something I didn’t know about the person, but it seemed to me that it would have been best to hear the confession at that very moment. The movement of grace compelled that person to ask at that time. It could be a matter of salvation. Who knows if he would come back at the scheduled time. 

Fr. Doyle had the following experience: 

As I marched through Ypres at the head of the column, an officer ran across the road and stopped me: ‘Are you a Catholic priest?’ he asked, ‘I should like to go to Confession.’ There and then, by the side of the road, while the men marched by, he made his peace with God and went away, let us hope as happy as I felt at that moment. It was a trivial incident, but it brought home vividly to me what a priest was and the wondrous power given by God. (Kenny, 86)

Any priest could recount a similar story of a wayward soul seeking out reconciliation. At times, it might come at the precise moment that the priest needed encouragement in his ministry. Notice the delight that Fr. Doyle experienced in doing what the Lord called him to do. Stories like Fr. Doyle’s are lasting reminders to be radically available for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. 

Fr. Doyle Encouraged Me to Listen to the Interior Voice of God

Fr. Doyle had a strong spiritual sense about him. He spoke to the Lord and the Lord spoke to and in his heart. Inspirations would come to Fr. Doyle, and he would have to either follow them or ignore them—whether it was rising in the middle of the night to pray, or the inspiration to make a sacrifice or a penitential act of self-denial. Fr. Doyle taught me to trust the little moments of inspiration that come my way, cooperating with them as movements of the Holy Spirit. 

Fr. Doyle’s Challenging Maxims

Many people are familiar with the little sayings of St. Josemaria Escriva. Little maxims or sayings can become guideposts for one’s life, challenging us to live differently. To me, every time I sat down to pray with a passage of Fr. Doyle’s writings, I encountered a maxim to guide my actions and path to holiness. For example, Fr. Doyle reminded me that I should avoid and root out complaining: “hence we find all complaining, except saints” (Kenny, 130). Saints don’t complain. If I want to be a saint, then I must stop complaining. 

Another challenge: “always choose the worst and the hardest” (136). People would probably choose to run from such counsel. Why choose the worst or hardest when I can choose the best or easiest? Because choosing that which is inconvenient can lead to greater graces or to a greater degree of holiness. 

One last counsel that really made me think: “Jesus knows I have only one wish in this world; to love him and him alone” (Kenny, 148). I read those words and immediately questioned, “Is that really true?” Have I made it my only wish to love Him and Him alone? This is the ideal. It is a lofty one. But how often do I fall short of it? This simple reminder had me resolve to strive to make the Lord the first love and priority of my life. The wisdom of Fr. Doyle is so simple yet so profound, challenging and calling me to be a saint and a holier priest. 

Fr. Doyle Reminded Me to Remember the Dead

As a military chaplain, Fr. Willie witnessed death. He prayed with people before they died, administered absolution, and held their hand as they journeyed from this life to eternal life. Certainly, the people with whom he prayed with at their hour of death remained with him in his heart. I can only imagine that he remembered them at the altar and prayed for their eternal rest often. As a priest, I too have walked with many people on their final journey to the Father’s House. Their words and witness remain with me, and I pray for them often. 

Fr. Doyle had a remembrance also of his deceased Jesuit brothers and devotion to many saints. He wrote, 

The thought of our saints now in heaven should serve as a great encouragement to us to walk bravely in the way of holiness. On earth they led the life that we lead; there was little to distinguish them from the other members with whom they lived. Yet before God what a vast difference. (Kenny, 156-7) 

Just as Fr. Doyle thought of his Jesuit forefathers, I too have thought of fellow priests who have served long before me and those whose priesthood impacted me during my youth and discernment and have gone to their eternal reward. When I visit my hometown and walk the cemetery, I will wander to the graves of four or five priests buried in the cemetery. I never met them, but they served and gave their life to Christ and His Church. I ask them to remember me at the eternal liturgy of Heaven. We all have beloved dead. With faith in the resurrection of Jesus and in the promised life to come, remembering them can spur us on to heavenly victory. 

Fr. Doyle Now Prays for Me, and I Pray He’ll Be Venerated Among the Saints of the Church

I never expected an obscure, Irish Jesuit and military chaplain would have impacted my life so greatly. I strongly believe that the Lord sends us the right people, at the right place, at the right time. I needed the story of Fr. Willie Doyle to inspire me out of priestly complacency and to encourage me to strive for priestly holiness. 

The lives of saints, and holy men and women who have causes for sainthood, are meant to inspire by the lives they lived and by the writings they have left behind. Spiritual reading and meditation around the writings of Fr. Willie Doyle has proved beneficial for my priestly vocation. Just as I have integrated his words and life into my own life, I know that there are saints whose words are calling out to you right now, whose life is challenging you, whose prayers of intercession can aid you at this precise moment. 

Every day, as I make my visit to the tabernacle, I pray the prayer for the beatification and canonization of Servant of God Fr. William Doyle, S.J. In my petition for grace, I ask his prayers to help me be a better and holier priest. My petition may not be the miracle that he needs to advance his cause, but Fr. Doyle is the witness, intercessor, and miracle I needed when I first came across his life and continue to need today. 

You can learn more about Fr. Willie Doyle at https://williedoyle.org.

Pictured: Logo of the official association for the Canonisation cause of the Servant of God Fr Willie Doyle SJ