Blessed Father Charles de Foucauld

Blessed Father Charles de Foucauld was born on Sept. 15, 1858 in Strasbourg to French nobility. He was orphaned when he was six and raised by his maternal grandparents. At school, he was disillusioned by the different philosophers and became agnostic by 15.

In 1876, he was accepted into the Saint-Cyr Military Academy as one of its youngest students. He came into a large inheritance after his grandfather’s death and lived an extravagant lifestyle as he graduated the academy and went to French cavalry school. He was posted to Algeria but when he was not allowed to bring his mistress with him, he grew bored with his assignment and quit the service. He travelled around to Morocco, the Sahara, and Palestine.

He returned to live a social life in Paris but began studying the cultures of Morocco and Algeria. Inspired by the faith of the Jews and Muslims he had met on his travels, he resumed his Catholic faith. Slowly the practice led to an interior change and his conversion of belief.

In 1890, Charles joined a Cistercian order in France, then on the Syrian-Turkish border. He left it in 1897 to go to Nazareth, still seeking some unspecified path. He returned to France in 1901 to be ordained a priest and then returned to the Sahara. He built a hermitage near the Moroccan border. He wanted to found a community that was open to Christians, Muslims, Jews, or people of no religion, but he gained no companions in his remote location.

He moved yet again to live closer to the Tuareg people in southern Algeria. He studied their customs and language, working on developing volumes on dictionary and grammar. He also formulated a plan to found a new religious institute centered on the Eucharist. He wanted to bring Jesus to the farthest parts of the desert, and he wanted to present Christ in a way that would convert Muslim nations.

On Dec. 1 1916, a group of raiders took Father Charles from his hermitage. They intended to kidnap him but when they unexpectedly ran across two members of the French Camel Corps, they shot them along with Father Charles in the head. A former slave, Paul Embarek, who was a sacristan being instructed by Father Charles, witnessed the event.

The French authorities searched for the bandits for years. In 1944, leader of the group El Madani ag Soba and apprehended and executed.

Blessed Charles de Foucauld is considered by many as both a mystic and a martyr. Pope Francis has announced that Father Charles will be declared a saint later this year. His feast day is Dec. 1.