December 1, Blessed Charles de Foucauld, history and prayer

Tomorrow, Wednesday 1 December, the Church commemorates Charles DeFoucauld.

"Non-Christians can be enemies of a Christian, a Christian is always a tender friend of every human being".

These words summarize the ideal of love that shaped the life of a great little man, Charles de Foucauld, born in Strasbourg on 15 September 1858.

Become an officer in the French army. He converts after an adventurous research trip to Morocco at the sight of a group of Muslims in prayer.

In the years of Brother Charles' maximum commitment to dialogue, as happened for Gandhi and as happens for all the prophets of encounter and tolerance, he was killed on 1 December 1916.

Charles had always wanted to have disciples join him, and he had already prepared a draft rule for a congregation. In 1916, however, he was still alone. Only in 1936 did the followers found a real religious institute. Today the family of Charles de Foucault is made up of 11 congregations and various lay movements, present all over the world.

On November 13, 2005, he was proclaimed blessed by Pope Benedict XVI. On May 27, 2020, the Holy See attributed a miracle to her intercession, which will allow her canonization, scheduled for May 15, 2022.

Prayer to Charles De Foucauld

Great and merciful God that you entrusted to Blessed Charles De Foucauld the mission of announcing to the Tuareg of the Algerian desert the unfathomable riches of the heart of Christ, through his intercession, grant us the grace of knowing how to place ourselves in a new way before your Mystery, because instructed by Gospel, supported and encouraged by the testimony of the saints, we know how to communicate the reasons for our hope to anyone who asks for it, through a faith capable of taking on the questions, doubts, needs of our brothers. We ask you for our Lord Jesus Christ who is God and lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit ...