The Life of St Charles de Foucauld

by Admin · December 1, 2022

Blessed Charles de Foucauld is pictured in an undated photo. (CNS photo/courtesy of I.Media)

St Charles de Foucauld was born in Strasbourg, France, in 1858. He strayed from the faith during his adolescence, but during a trip to Morocco, he saw how devoted Muslims were to their faith, which inspired him to return to the church and, eventually, to join the Trappists.

But he was not content. He had an ardent love for his Lord, and so moved to the Holy Land and settled in Nazareth, the town where Jesus was brought up. There he lived as a hermit. His presence in the very place where the Holy Family had lived stirred his imagination deeply. As he moved around the little town, he wondered what Jesus might have been doing as a boy and young man during his “hidden life”, which the gospels disappointingly neglect to tell us. He decided to build his spiritual life in imitation of the humble life of Jesus. He wanted only to live as God lived on earth, not depending on worldly possessions, happy with his circumstances and doing daily tasks as acts of service and love for God the Father and neighbour.

Ordained to the priesthood in 1901, he finally settled in Tamanrasset, Algeria, which was then under French occupation. He intended to reside where there were few people, to demonstrate that a simple kind of “hidden life” could be discerned by them as a truly Christian life, unlike the bad impression the local Muslims got from the officious French colonists. He is remembered for this courageous consistency and for his martyrdom during political unrest — he was shot dead by raiding tribesmen in 1916, aged 58. His writings inspired the foundation, after his death, of the Little Brothers of Jesus and the Little Sisters of Jesus.

St Foucauld was made a saint by Pope Francis in May 2022