Blessed Charles de Foucauld
The intuitions and spirituality of Charles
de Foucauld are at the origins of our way of life.
Born into a wealthy French family Charles
lost his faith and his bearings at an early age. It took
him many years and wanderings before he met the one whom he
called his beloved brother and Lord, Jesus. The more his
prayer became a mystical meeting with Jesus, the more he was
drawn to seek Jesus in others. His belief in this double
presence was a unifying and healing factor in his life.
He came to understand his vocation as
imitation of the life of Jesus at Nazareth. By this he
meant a truly contemplative life rooted in the ordinary life of
the poor.
"It is love which should recollect
you in me, not distance from my children. See me in them,
and like me at Nazareth, live near them, lost in God."
-Meditation of Charles de Foucauld
At the heart of Charles' way of prayer was
a deeply eucharistic spirituality. He saw in the gift of
Jesus' body and blood the sign of God's abiding presence among
us, a love capable of healing and saving our broken humanity
and the image of his own way of presence to others.
Charles lived this out in Algeria among
the Tuareg people. He saw his way of presence and
friendship, as well as his life of prayer, as his mission and
thought of himself as a "missionary-monk".
Among the Tuareg of Tamanrasset
He also understood that it was not a time
for conversions, and felt that his life could be about creating
bonds of understanding and respect with this people.
He extensively studied the language and
culture of the Tuareg, and left us with important linguistic
and litterary documents of their culture.
A French military man who knew Charles de
Foucauld in Tamanrasset in quoted him as saying,
“I am not here in order to convert
the Tuareg people at once but to try to understand them...
I am sure that the Good Lord will welcome into heaven all
those who have been good and honest without them having to be
Roman Catholic. You are Protestant, T. has no religious
faith at all, the Tuareg are Muslim. I am convinced
that God will welcome all of us if we deserve it.”
