About the Book
A much loved Friar, theologian, lecturer, speaker, broadcaster, writer and spiritual director of the English Province of the Immaculate Conception, Eric Doyle OFM (1938–1984) died at the age of only forty-six, leaving a corpus of valuable unpublished material spanning his many interests. This first volume, to mark the fortieth anniversary of his death, brings together prayers, reflections and talks revealing a wealth of material both for meditation and discussion. Future volumes will cover Eric Doyle’s other areas of theological interest.
Table of Contents:
Contents
Foreword iii
On Prayer: From Saint Francis and the Song of Brotherhood and Sisterhood 11
A Litany of God 19
The Franciscan’s Way: An Editorial Article from Lampas 21
Praying in Community: Praying Is Being Someone 27
A Prayer to God for Integrity 31
What Are Human Beings That You Are Mindful Of Them?
A Reflection on Psalm 8:4 33
Creatio ex nihilo 47
A Prayer to the God of the Living 49
Prayer for the Day
Monday 2nd January 1978 51
Monday 9th January 1978 53
Monday 16th January 1978 55
Monday 23rd January 1978 57
Monday 30th January 1978 59
The Glance 61
At the Beginning of a Retreat 63
‘God’s Ways Are Not Our Ways’ 65
Silence Broken 67
The Priesthood: Eternal Paradox 69
A Prayer in Thanksgiving for the Presence of Christ 71
Priest of Jesus Christ: A Meditation and a Prayer 73
God’s Loving Kindness 81
A Prayer of Thanksgiving at the End of a Retreat 83
From St Francis to the World of Today 87
The Canticle of Brother Sun 105
The Song of Sister Energy 107
St Clare, St Francis and Spiritual Motherhood 109
A Litany of St Clare 127
The Stimulus Amoris of James of Milan 129
A Prayer for Faith 133
The Way of the Cross according to ‘The Little Prince’ 135
Hiddenness 137
The Cross of Hope 139
The Eucharist and Redeeming the Time 141
Real Time 145
Prayers to Our Lord Jesus, Son of God and Son of Mary 147
Litany of Mary: Dedicated to Our Lady of Walsingham 151
A Prayer of Thanksgiving on Pentecost Sunday 153
The Love of my Lord 157
Four Homilies: St Lawrence of Brindisi 159
In Thanksgiving for the Incarnation 163
Four Homilies: The Blessed Sacrament 165
A Prayer on Visiting a Church 171
Four Homilies: The Mustard Seed 175
Prayers to the All Holy, Blessed, Infinite and Merciful God 181
Four Homilies: St Alphonsus Ligouri 187
Terra Tremuit 191
Our Lord’s Sense of Humour 193
A Prayer to God 195
Appendix: Quam Bonum et Jucundum 196
About the Author :
Eric Doyle OFM (1938–1984) was a Friar of the Province of the Immaculate Conception in Great Britain. A gifted scholar, theologian, orator and writer, his prime concern was always to bring the Franciscan message to the world at large, a task at which he excelled. These hitherto unpublished talks offer something for everyone interested in Franciscan Spirituality, be they Religious, Secular Franciscans or others. The Franciscan Christology which Doyle so ably elucidates is not only for Franciscans and the Church, but indeed for the ‘universal friary’, as he called it.
Born in Bolton on 13 July 1938, the son of a mill-worker, Martin William Doyle was educated at St Joseph’s R.C. primary school and then, having obtained an academic scholarship, at Thornleigh Salesian College. He entered the Order of Friars Minor at the age of 16, having been inspired to do so by a book on the life of St Francis (probably G. K. Chesteron's Francis of Assisi). He made his solemn profession the day after his twenty-first birthday and was ordained to the priesthood on 16 July 1961. This was followed by studies in Rome, 1962-64, where Doyle trained as an ecclesiastical historian and where he received his doctorate summa cum laude.
Inspired by the Second Vatican Council, Doyle was at the forefront of the renewal process and was tireless in his efforts to put the teaching of the Council into practice. The breadth of Doyle’s learning was immense and his vision wide, so that he brought astute and far-sighted observations to bear on many areas of theology including Christology, Ecclesiology, Franciscan Spirituality, Ecumenism, Ecology, Eschatology and Religious Life. He was a founding father of the Franciscan Study Centre in Canterbury, where he introduced Franciscan Studies, and a pioneer of the newly established ‘group-style’ of community living there. He lectured at home and abroad, gave many retreats (principally to priests and religious), took part in ARCIC I debates, and made over 500 programs for Anglia TV’s The Big Question and BBC Radio 4’s Prayer for the Day. He was a participant at the Second Scotistic Congress in Oxford/Edinburgh, at the first International ‘Terra Mater’ Seminar in Gubbio, an International Bonaventurian Congress in Rome, as well as numerous conferences on the work of Teilhard de Chardin, of which Association he was also vice-president. In addition, his enormous capacity for work enabled him to publish over 100 articles and two books during the course of his career.
Recognized as an international scholar and lecturer, this theological multi-tasker’s focus was always on the present moment, ‘doing theology’, because standing as he did in the Franciscan intellectual tradition, theology of necessity always included a practical dimension, and for Doyle, also demanded contemporary relevance. Much of his work was ahead of its time, prophetic even. Doyle was a humble and self-effacing man who did not seek his own aggrandizement; his was always a life of service. Extremely likeable and memorable, his irrepressible character, gentle humor and great kindness won him many friends and admirers, including some amongst the hierarchy of both the Catholic Church and Anglican Communion. A gifted speaker, he became the first Roman Catholic to address a huge congregation in Canterbury Cathedral since the Reformation.
After Doyle’s sudden death at the early age of 46, Conrad Harkins OFM commented:
Friends of St Francis throughout the English-speaking world, to whom perhaps he was most familiar, know that in Eric’s transitus has departed one of the most vibrant Franciscans of this century. Doyle was buried at the Friary in Chilworth on 31 August 1984 where the church was full to overflowing, and where over 100 priests concelebrated his Requiem Mass.
Review :
When I opened this book, I realised that it was not a book to read but a book to treasure, bringing it to our friary chapel or the adjoining garden or simply sitting alone in my room. I want to slowly and prayerfully be in the presence of our brother Eric who, though long departed from this world, is present to teach us what it means to be a genuine Franciscan. He was that. I hope this treasure will help me on the way to be more genuine as well.
Anthony M. Carrozzo OFM, author of Possessed by Love: Endeavours in Franciscan Living, served his Province in many roles as educator, formator and Minister Provincial
This volume is a collection of prayers authored by Eric Doyle OFM, but it is far more than that; by using passages from his various writings it sets these prayers in context and gives some idea of the depth and breadth of his theological vision, his quirky sense of humour and the delightful personality which made him so popular as a preacher, teacher and retreat giver. In these pages Eric comes alive and lives again.
Patricia M. Rumsey OSC, Hon. Associate Professor, University of Nottingham
