Back in 1958, Father Edward J. Hogan of St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore observed, “There are countless souls ripe for sanctity, full of generosity and desire, and needing only the expert advice of a divinely ordained doctor of souls to advance toward sainthood. Yet how often they remain unattended!”
Why would any Catholic priest hesitate to reap such rich harvest of potential saints? Father Hogan has the answer.
Many priests, he writes, suffer from “a feeling of inadequacy and of lack of the requisite knowledge for so sensitive an undertaking.”
That’s where the famed Father Charles Hugo Doyle steps in. He guided a generation of priests in the time-tested methods of spiritual direction. In today’s Church, Fr. Doyle can stand in as a guide for lay Catholics who want to progress in holiness but have yet to find their own spiritual director.
In one volume Father Doyle lays out the classic principles of Catholic spirituality, deriving his own advice from great saints who were also great spiritual directors:
St. Paul * St. Augustine * St. Francis de Sales * St. Teresa of Avila * St. Ignatius Loyola * St. Therese of Lisieux * St. Vincent Ferrer * St. Alphonsus Liguori * St. Bernard * St. Catherine of Siena * St. John of the Cross * St. Gregory the Great * St. Thomas Aquinas * St. Peter Julian Emyard * St. Vincent de Paul * St. Bonaventure
How to advance in holiness
Maintain a devotional spirit all day long by brief prayers and frequent consecrations of body and soul to God
Believe that by God’s grace and the exercise of your own will you can become holy
Understand the differences between pious souls and fervent souls
Learn why identification with Christ is better than imitation of Christ [NOTE: with in italics please]
How to go about your tedious daily duties
How the purgative way helps beginners in spiritual development overcome their passions
Recognize the signs that you have arrived at the second level, the “illuminative” way
The “unative” way -- the crown of the spiritual life -- and how you can achieve it
How to make use of the instruments of perfection
The stumbling blocks to genuine meditation
Tell-tale signs of a right intention
2 greatest obstacles to acquiring the virtue of hope
3 essential preparations before going to Confession and Communion
4 ways to conquer self-will
5 signs of perfect obedience
7 brief prayers that can increase your devotion at Mass
8 hints that you are growing in holiness
10 ways to advance in virtue
“Degrees of contemplation”
The devotional practices which can increase your love for Our Lady
Ways the devil tries to disrupt spiritual progress
How to battle the Seven Deadly Sins -- take them on , one at a time, beginning with your most grievous vice
The danger of scruples and how to overcome them
Why beginners should avoid reading spiritually dangerous or controversial writings
Why small acts of self-sacrifice and mortification can bring great graces to your soul
Proven methods that foster and deepen the virtue of faith
How to replace fear with childlike trust and confidence in God
Practical ways to grow in love for God and our neighbor
Cardinal Merry del Val’s prayer for humility
Why choosing a topic for meditation before bedtime and “sleeping on it” will make your contemplation the next day more fruitful
How meditating daily can ward off sin
“Of great value to serious-minded priests, religious, or laymen who would know more about the higher form of prayer.” -Theological Studies
“[Father Doyle] has gathered together the thought and teaching of all the masters of spirituality, sometimes quoting, sometimes summarizing, yet succeeding in presenting this mass of ascetical doctrine in a logical sequence.” -The Priest
The First Step Toward Holiness Christ says to each one of us: “My son, give me your heart that in you and through you, in a life of union, I may love, or, rather we may love the Father ardently: give me your mind, your eyes, your hands, your whole being. I wish, in you and by you, to live as it were a second life wholly of love....” Ponder well this thought. It can change your life and whenever and wherever it is preached and taught it will change other lives. It is atomic in its force! In every prayer we say, in every action we perform, in every suffering we endure, in our every act of love, we must come to realize that we are a member of Christ and that Christ wishes still to pray, act, love, and suffer in us. As a natural consequence, we shall instinctively try to rid ourselves of our vices and faults, in order to clothe ourselves with the mind and desires which animated Christ in His actions, sufferings and prayers during His life on earth. This is what St. Paul had in mind when he told his followers to: “Put ye on Jesus Christ.”
French nobility. At age 22, fearing the ways of the world, he, four of his brothers, and 25 friends joined the abbey of Citeaux; his father and another brother joined soon after. Benedictine. Founded and led the monastery at Clairvaux which soon had over 700 monks and 160 daughter houses. Revised and reformed the Cistercians. Advisor to, and admonisher of, King Louis the Fat and King Louis the Young. Attended Second Lateran Council. Fought Albigensianism. Helped end the schism of anti-Pope Anacletus II. Preached in France, Italy, Germany. Helped organize the Second Crusade. Friend and biographer of Saint Malachy O'More. Spritual advisor to Pope Eugenius III, who had originally been one of his monks. First Cistercian monk placed on the calendar of saints. Proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius VIII.
Every morning Bernard would ask himself, "Why have I come here?", and then remind himself of his main duty - lead a holy life.
Born 1090 at Fontaines-les-Dijon, Burgundy, France
Died 20 August 1153 at Clairvaux
Canonized 1170 by Pope Alexander III
Born - 1090 at Fontaines-les-Dijon, Burgundy, France Died - 20 August 1153 at Clairvaux
Youngest child in a large family. At the age of 6 she had a vision in which Jesus appeared and blessed her. Her parents wanted her to marry, but she became a Dominican tertiary. Mystic. Stigmatist. Received a vision in which she was in a mystical marriage with Christ, and the Infant Christ presented her with a wedding ring. Counselor to Pope Gregory XI and Pope Urban VI. Proclaimed Doctor of the Church on 4 October 1970.
Born 25 March 1347 at Siena, Tuscany, Italy
Died 29 April 1380 of a mysterious and painful illness that came on without notice, and was never properly diagnosed
Profile Born in a castle to a well-placed family, his parents intended that he become a lawyer, enter politics, and carry on the family line and power. Studied at La Roche, Annecy, Clermont College in Paris, and law at the University of Padua. Doctor of Law. He returned home, and found a position as Senate advocate.
It was at this point that he received a message telling him to "Leave all and follow Me." He took this as a call to the priesthood, a move his family fiercely opposed. However, he pursued a devoted prayer life, and his gentle ways won over the family.
Priest. Provost of the diocese of Geneva, Switzerland, a stronghold of Calvinists. Preacher, writer and spiritual director in the district of Chablais. His simple, clear explanations of Catholic doctrine, and his gentle way with everyone, brought many back to the Roman Church.
Bishop of Geneva at age 35. Travelled and evangelized throughout the Duchy of Savoy, working with children whenever he could. Friend of Saint Vincent de Paul. Turned down a wealthy French bishopric. Helped found the Order of the Visitation with Saint Jeanne de Chantal. Prolific correspondent. Doctor of the Church.
Born 1567 at Chateau of Thorens, Savoy
Died 28 December 1622 at Lyons, France; buried at Annecy
Feast Day:
Roman Rite Calendar - 10/01
Tridentine Calendar - 10/01
Roman Rite Calendar - 01/10
Patron Of:
African Missions, AIDS Sufferers, Air Crews, Aircraft Pilots, Aviators, Florists, Flower Growers, France, Illness, Loss of Parents, Missionaries, Missions, Domestic, Tuberculosis
Also known as
Teresa of the Infant Jesus;
Therese of the Child Jesus;
the Little Flower;
the Little Flower of Jesus
Profile Born to a middle-class French family. Her father, Louis, was a watchmaker, her mother, who died of cancer when Therese was 4, was a lace maker, and both have been declared Venerable by the Church. Cured from an illness at age eight when a statue of the Blessed Virgin smiled at her. Carmelite nun at age 15. Defined her path to God and holiness as "The Little Way," which consisted of love and trust in God. At the direction of her spiritual director, and against her wishes, she dictated her famed autobiography Story of a Soul. Many miracles attributed to her. Declared a Doctor of the Church in 1997 by Pope John Paul II.
"For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy." - Saint Therese of Lisieux
Born 2 January 1873 at Alcon, Normandy, France
Died 7pm Thursday 30 September 1897 at Lisieux, France of tuberculosis
Angelic Doctor;
Doctor Angelicus;
Doctor Communis;
Great Synthesizer;
The Dumb Ox;
The Universal Teacher
Profile Son of the Count of Aquino, born in the family castle in Lombardy near Naples. Educated by Benedictine monks at Monte Cassino, and at the University of Naples. He secretly joined the mendicant Dominican friars in 1244. His noble family kidnapped and imprisoned him for a year to keep him out of sight, and deprogram him, but he rejoined his order in 1245.
He studied in Paris from 1245-1248 under Saint Albert the Great, then accompanied Albertus to Cologne. Ordained in 1250, then returned to Paris to teach. Taught theology at University of Paris. He wrote defenses of the mendicant orders, commentaries on Aristotle and Lombard's Sentences, and some bible-related works, usually by dictating to secretaries. He won his doctorate, and taught in several Italian cities. Recalled by king and university to Paris in 1269, then recalled to Naples in 1272 where he was appointed regent of studies while working on the Summa Theologica.
On 6 December 1273 he experienced a divine revelation which so enraptured him that he abandoned the Summa, saying that it and his other writing were so much straw in the wind compared to the reality of the divine glory. He died four months later while en route to the Council of Lyons, overweight and with his health broken by overwork.
His works have been seminal to the thinking of the Church ever since. They systematized her great thoughts and teaching, and combined Greek wisdom and scholarship methods with the truth of Christianity. Pope Leo VIII commanded that his teachings be studied by all theology students. He was proclaimed Doctor of the Church in 1567.
Born c.1225 at Roccasecca, Aquino, Naples, Italy
Died 7 March 1274 at Fossanuova near Terracina of apparent natural causes; relics interred at Saint-Servin, Toulouse, France; relics translated to the Church of the Jacobins, Toulouse on 22 October 1974
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