Letter of February 17, 2006

Blessed Charles de Foucauld "He turns religion into love"
Most Reverend Carl F. Mengeling, Bishop of Lansing
During the Rite of Beatification in St. Peter Basilica on November 13, 2005, Charles de Foucauld was declared ‘blessed’.

The last 15 years of his life were spent as an evangelizing presence among the Tuaregs of the Sahara. He was called ‘Universal Brother’. Father Henri Hauvelin, who reconciled him to the church, said of him: "He turns religion into love".

His life journey is a remarkable drama of rebellion and weakness in the face of divine love and grace. The famous poem of a contemporary, Francis Thompson (1907) describes Foucauld’s journey.

In "Hound of Heaven", God is the hound hunting the prey (us): "I fled him down the nights and days. I fled him down the arches of the years. I fled him down the labyrinthine ways".

"Blessed Charles’ life was marked by the heartbreaking loss of parents as a child of six; loss of faith, aimless mediocrity and a decadent life style. He was born September 15, 1858 to a devout family in Strasbourg, France. At the death of his parents in 1864 he was raised by a grandfather, a retired army colonel who guided him toward the military. He lost his faith and became so dissipated that he was at the bottom of his class. He became a Second Lieutenant, but was discharged for disorderly conduct.

He was restored to his rank and served for 8 months in Algeria. When he returned to France he left the army.

He was fascinated by the Sahara and returned there with the French Geographic Society. The desert solitude and his experience of Muslim piety helped him to return to his Catholic faith. With his usual intensity he began to live a life of holiness. After an intense pilgrimage to the Holy Land he became a Trappist in Nazareth.

Seeking a ‘truer’ Nazareth life, he joined an Abbey in Algeria but soon returned to Nazareth and became a servant at the Poor Clare Convent.

After ordination in 1901, he returned to Algeria and became a hermit at Beni-Abbes. He sought to bring Christ to the desert tribes by good example. By a life of prayer and love he aimed to be their ‘universal brother’. In his Sacred Heart hermitage he spent hours in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

When Beni-Abbes became too busy, he moved to Tamanrasset in the mountains near Morocco. There he was slain by a band of fanatic rebels on December 1, 1916 at age 58.

Here a few inspirations from Blessed Charles:

Charles revealed to a schoolmate "the secret of my life": I lost my heart to this Jesus of Nazareth crucified 1,900 years ago and I spend my life trying to imitate him as far as my weakness allows".

"Love of God, love neighbor... this is where all religion is found... How can we reach it? Not in a day, for it is perfection itself: It is the goal for which we must always strive, to which we must constantly draw nearer and nearer and which we will only reach in Heaven".

"I believe that no words of the Gospel could have made such a deep impression on me or so transformed my life as these: ‘Anything you do for one of these little ones you do for me’. If one thinks these words are those of uncreated Truth, words from the lips of the One who said ‘this is my body... this is my blood’, what power impels one to seek and love Jesus in ‘these little ones’, these sinners, these poor people!"

"We shall be asked to account for what we have received... And since I have received so much, a great deal will be asked of me! If I have received more than most people... conversion, a religious vocation, the Trappist Order, a hermit’s life, Nazareth, daily Communion and so many other graces, much will be asked of me..."

Shortly before he died, Blessed Charles described his spirituality: "Jesus came to Nazareth, the place of the hidden life, of ordinary life, of family life, of prayer, work, obscurity, silent virtues, practiced with no witnesses other than God, his friends and neighbors. Nazareth, the place where most people lead their lives. We must infinitely respect the least of our brothers...let us mingle with them. Let us be one of them to the extent that God wishes...and treat them fraternally in order to have the honor and joy of being accepted as one of them."

After the Mass of Beatification on November 13, 2005, Pope Benedict venerated the relics of the three new Blessed’s and addressed the pilgrims: "Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Let us give thanks for the witness born by Charles de Foucauld. In his contemplative and hidden life in Nazareth, he discovered the truth about the humanity of Jesus and invites us to contemplate the mystery of the Incarnation; in this place he learned much about the Lord, whom he wanted to follow with humility and poverty.

He discovered that Jesus, who came to join us in our humanity, invites us to universal brotherhood, which he subsequently lived in the Sahara, and to love, of which Christ gave us the example. As a priest, he placed the Eucharist and the Gospel at the heart of his life, the two tables of the Word and of the Bread, source of Christian life and mission."