FD of Bd Charles de Foucauld, shot by Tuareg rebels in Algeria on Dec 1 1916. A spoiled playboy and soldier until his experience of Muslim piety prompted his conversion: “As soon as I believed that there was a God, I understood that I could not do anything other than serve him.”
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A pilgrimage in the Holy Land impressed him with the realization that Jesus had spent most of his life as a carpenter in Nazareth. He conceived a new form of religious life based on this “hidden life.”
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He set out for Algeria to put this vision in action, seeking to live a contemplative life among his poor neighbors. “The whole of our existence, the whole of our lives should cry the Gospel from the rooftops . . . not by our words but by our lives.”
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“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....
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He waited for followers who never came. When he died it seemed his entire was an utter failure. Yet 20 years later new communities of men and women, inspired by his message, would set out to fulfill his mission.
Dec 1, 2019 · 1:46 PM UTC
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