from Bl. Charles de Foucauld before his conversion (feast day is December 1st)

As soon as I believed there was a God, I understood I could do nothing else but live for him, my religious vocation dates from the same moment as my faith: God is so great!  There is such a difference between God and everything that is not.

PRAYERS OF CHARLES DE FOUCAULD AT THE TABERNACLE:

Lord Jesus, You are in the Holy Eucharist. You are there a yard away in the tabernacle. Your body, Your soul, Your human nature, Your divinity, Your whole being is there, in its twofold nature. How close You are, my God, my Savior, my Spouse, My Beloved!

You were not nearer to the Blessed Virgin during the nine months that she carried You than You are to me when You rest on my tongue in Holy Communion. you were no closer to the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph in the caves at Bethlehem or in the flight into Egypt or at any moment of that divine family life than you are to me at this moment – and so many others- in the tabernacle.

Mary Magdalene was no closer to you when she sat at your feet at Bethany than I am here at the foot of this altar. You were no nearer to your apostles when you were sitting in the midst of them than you are to me now, my God. How blessed I am I!

ON PRIESTHOOD:

The priest is a monstrance. His role is to show Jesus. He must disappear and make Jesus seen. I must leave a good impression on all who come to see me. I must be everything to everyone. I must laugh with those who laugh, cry with those who cry to lead them all to Jesus.

-December 1909

My apostolate must be one of goodness. I must make people say this when they see me: “This man is so good that his religion must be good.” If someone asks me why I am gentle and good, I must reply, “Because I serve One who is much better than I am. If only you knew how good my Master, Jesus, is. I want to be so good that people will say, “If that is the servant, how, then, is the Master?”

Be kind and compassionate, and do not be insensitive to any misery. See Jesus in all people. Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. In light of the love and the virtue of the saints, we must humiliate ourselves and convert ourselves: what they have done we can do. God has never forsaken man. At every opportunity, enlighten your neighbor and bring good to him. Be firm but gentle, Keep severity for yourself. Be prepared to sacrifice all to help your neighbor: “What you do unto one of these children, ye have done unto me.”

ON MARTYRDOM:

To prepare oneself constantly for martyrdom, and accept it without a shadow of reluctance, like the Divine Lamb-in Jesus, through Jesus, for Jesus- I must try and live as if I were to die a martyr today.  Every minute I must imagine I am going to be martyred this very evening. 

OUR LORD TO BL. CHARLES IN PRAYER ON HIS WISH TO BE A MARTYR: 

“This life will be followed by death.  You wish for a mar­tyr’s death. You know how cowardly you are, but you know too that you can do all things in Him who gives you strength, that I am all powerful in My creatures. Ask day and night for it but always with this condition, that it be My will, and for My glory and my pleasure which I know you desire and pray for above all things. And have confidence; I will grant what you ask, that which is for My greater glory.  It is good to ask for this, for ‘there is no greater love than to give your life for the beloved,'” and it is right to wish to give Me this ‘greatest love of all’ “’

MORE WORDS FROM JESUS:

Here and now I am saying to other souls – to all those I who have been given me and now lead hidden lives, possessing Me  without having been given a mission to preach, I tell them to sanctify souls by silently carrying Me among them.

To souls in silence, leading the hidden life in solitude far from the wor1d, I say, “All of you work for the sanctification of the’ world; work in the world as My Mother did, wordlessly, silently; go and set up your devotional retreats in the midst of those who do not know Me, carry me among them by setting up an altar among them, a tabernacle, carrying the Gospel to them not by word of mouth, but by the persuasive force of example, not by speaking, but by living: sanctify the world, carry Me into the world, all you pious souls living a  hidden and silent life -as Mary carried Me to John.’ ”

Charles de Foucauld was born on September 15, 1858 in France. He was attracted to the military life and entered the Saint-Cyr Military Academy, he later joined the 4th Hussar regiment; in 1880 his unit was sent to Setif, Algeria.  He would later be discharged from the service for misconduct, including passing off his French mistress as his wife. But Charles had became so fascinated with the Arabs that he had met that he spent 15 months learning Arabic and Hebrew, and then traveled into Morocco. In May 1885 he received the Gold Medal of French Geographic Society He explored  Algeria and Tunisia, returning to Paris to work on his book.  But at the age of 28, he would have a profound conversion and from that moment on, all of his life was fixed on living the Gospel and his love for Jesus.

After a variety of experiences as a Trappist monk and a time spent in the Holy Land, he conceived of a new form of religious life, a life closer to the daily lives of the poor. As Jesus at Nazareth, he wanted to live amidst the people, rooted in a culture, sharing the condition of those who live from day to day by the work of their hands– of those who have no security at all and who are the poorest of the poor. He did not envision preaching the Gospel in words as such, but by crying it out with the witness of his whole life; a life lived in shared friendship, silence and prayer. He wanted to go beyond all of the boundaries of religion and race and to become known as a “universal little brother”; the little brother of his beloved Jesus. Most of all, he wished to bring the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament into the desert place. And this he did until his martyrdom on December 1, 1916.

The Prayer of Abandonment of Brother Charles of Jesus:

Father, I abandon myself into Your hands;
do with me what You will.
Whatever You do I thank You.
I am ready for all, I accept all.
Let only Your will be done in me,
as in all Your creatures,
I ask no more than this, my Lord.
Into Your hands I commend my soul;
I offer it to You, O Lord,
with all the love of my heart,
for I love You, my God, and so need to give myself–
to surrender myself into Your hands,
without reserve and with total confidence for You are my Father.

The post Make Your Existence Known to Me! first appeared on AirMaria.com.

What, my children, do I want you to learn from my birth? To believe in my love, to believe that I have loved you until now. To hope in me, who have loved you so dearly. I want to teach you to despise the world, which was so unimportant to me. I want to teach you poverty, lowliness, soli­tude, humility, penance. I want to teach you to love me, for I was not content with giving myself to the world in the Incarnation, sanctifying it invisibly in the visitation; no, that did not satisfy my love. From the moment of my birth onward, I showed myself to you, giving myself wholly to you, putting myself in your hands. From then on, you could touch me, hear me, possess me, serve me, console me. Love me now; I am so close to you.

In my unimaginable goodness, I did not merely give myself to you at my birth for a few hours or years: I am still in your hands, and shall be henceforth until the end of the world. Think of the unending good fortune I brought you in my birth: the ability to serve me – to serve me by serving the Church, to serve me by serving your neighbor, to serve me myself, living there near you in the tabernacle. Not only can you serve me, you can also console me …  

How happy you should be to be able to console me at every moment of your lives! By becoming so small, so gentle a child, I was crying out to you: Have trust! Come close to me! Do not be afraid of me, come to me, give me what children need: loving embraces. Do not be afraid, do not be so frightened in the presence of such a gentle baby, smiling at you and holding out his arms to you. He is your God, but he is all smiles and gentleness. Do not be afraid.

Blessed Charles de Foucauld

The Lord Jesus took compassion on us in order that He might call us to Himself and not scare us away. He comes as someone gentle, someone humble.

St. Ambrose

The post With You Always first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Father,
I abandon myself into your hands;
do with me what you will.
Whatever you may do, I thank you:
I am ready for all, I accept all.

Let only your will be done in me,
and in all your creatures –
I wish no more than this, O Lord.

Into your hands I commend my soul:
I offer it to you with all the love of my heart,
for I love you, Lord, and so need to give myself,
to surrender myself into your hands without reserve,
and with boundless confidence,
for you are my Father.

+Blessed Charles de Foucauld

The post A Prayer of Abandonment to the Will of God first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Homily #120805 ( 13min) Play– Fr. Dominic on the Bread of Life Discourse where Our Lord teaches that He is the bread of Life and He gives this bread in the Eucharist where He is present, body, blood, soul and divinity. He uses the example of Bl. Charles de Foucauld for Eucharistic devotion.
Ave Maria!

Mass: 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Sunday – Form: OF
Readings: 
1st: exo 16:2-4, 12-15
Resp: psa 78:3-4, 23-24, 25, 54
2nd: eph 4:17, 20-24
Gsp: joh 6:24-35

Audio (MP3)

+++

The post Aug 05 – Homily – Fr Dominic: I Am the Bread of Life first appeared on AirMaria.com.

As soon as I believed there was a God, I understood I could do nothing else but live for him, my religious vocation dates from the same moment as my faith: God is so great. There is such a difference between God and everything that is not.

Blessed Charles prayed to be a martyr:  To prepare oneself constantly for martyrdom, and accept it without a shadow of reluctance, like the Divine Lamb-in Jesus, through Jesus, for Jesus- I must try and live as if I were to die a martyr today.  Every minute I must imagine I am going to be martyred this very evening.

OUR LORD TO BL. CHARLES IN PRAYER ON HIS WISH TO BE A MARTYR: 

“This life will be followed by death.  You wish for a mar­tyr’s death. You know how cowardly you are, but you know too that you can do all things in Him who gives you strength, that I am all powerful in My creatures. Ask day and night for it but always with this condition, that it be My will, and for My glory and my pleasure which I know you desire and pray for above all things. And have confidence; I will grant what you ask, that which is for My greater glory.  It is good to ask for this, for ‘there is no greater love than to give your life for the beloved,’ and it is right to wish to give Me this greatest love of all“’

Blessed Charles was martyred on December 1, 1916 in  Algeria where he had gone to live in order to bring the Presence of Christ to be amongst the people there.

The post Blessed Charles de Foucauld first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Blessed Charles de Foucauld, priest and martyr

(1858-1916)  Feast Day is December 1st

PRAYERS OF CHARLES DE FOUCAULD  AT THE TABERNACLE:

Lord Jesus, You are in the Holy Eucharist. You are there a yard away in the tabernacle. Your Body, your Soul, your human nature, your divinity, your whole Being is there in its twofold nature. How close you are, my God, my Savior, my Spouse, my Beloved! You were not nearer to the Blessed Virgin during the nine months that she carried you than you are to me when you rest on my tongue in Holy Communion. You were no closer to the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph in the caves at Bethlehem or in the flight into Egypt or at any moment of that divine family life than you are to me at this moment – and so many others- in the tabernacle. Mary Magdalene was no closer to you when she sat at your feet at Bethany than I am here at the foot of this altar. You were no nearer to your apostles when you were sitting in the midst of them than you are to me now, my God. How blessed I am I!

Bl. Charles’ thoughts ON MARTYRDOM: To prepare oneself constantly for martyrdom, and accept it without a shadow of reluctance, like the Divine Lamb-in Jesus, through Jesus, for Jesus- I must try and live as if I were to die a martyr today.  Every minute I must imagine I am going to be martyred this very evening.

OUR LORD’S RESPONSE ON HIS WISH TO BE A MARTYR: “This life will be followed by death.  You wish for a mar­tyr’s death. You know how cowardly you are, but you know too that you can do all things in Him who gives you strength, that I am all powerful in My creatures. Ask day and night for it but always with this condition, that it be My will, and for My glory and My pleasure which I know you desire and pray for above all things. And have confidence; I will grant what you ask, that which is for My greater glory.  It is good to ask for this, for  ‘there is no greater love than to give your life for the beloved,’” and it is right to wish to give Me this ‘greatest love of all’ “

The post Thoughts on the Eucharist and on Martyrdom first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Jesus speaks: I was born, born for you in a cave in December, in the cold, homeless, in the middle of a winter’s night, in the unheard-of poverty of the extremely poor, in solitude, in an abandonment unique in this world.

What, my children, do I want you to learn from my birth? To believe in My love, to believe that I have loved you until now. To hope in Me, who have loved you so dearly. I want to teach you to despise the world, which was so unimportant to Me. I want to teach you poverty, lowliness, soli­tude, humility, penance.

I want to teach you to love me, for I was not content with giving Myself to the world in the Incarnation, sanctifying it invisibly in the visitation; no, that did not satisfy My love. From the moment of My birth onward, I showed myself to you, giving myself wholly to you, putting myself in your hands. From then on, you could touch Me, hear Me, possess Me, serve Me, console Me. Love Me now; I am so close to you.

In My unimaginable goodness, I did not merely give Myself to you at My birth for a few hours or years: I am still in your hands, and shall be henceforth until the end of the world. Think of the unending good fortune I brought you in My birth: the ability to serve Me – to serve Me by serving the Church, to serve Me by serving your neighbor, to serve Me Myself, living there near you in the tabernacle. Not only can you serve Me, you can also console Me …

How happy you should be to be able to console Me at every moment of your lives! By becoming so small, so gentle a child, I was crying out to you: Have trust! Come close to Me! Do not be afraid of Me, come to Me, give Me what children need: loving embraces. Do not be afraid, do not be so frightened in the presence of such a gentle Baby, smiling at you and holding out His arms to you. He is your God, but He is all smiles and gentleness. Do not be afraid.

Bl. Charles de Foucauld

The post Sweet Child, Sweet Eucharist first appeared on AirMaria.com.

PRAYER OF BLESSED CHARLES DE FOUCAULD AT THE TABERNACLE:

Lord Jesus, You are in the Holy Eucharist. You are there a yard away in the tabernacle. Your body, Your soul, Your human nature, Your divinity, Your whole being is there, in its twofold nature. How close You are, my God, my Savior, my Spouse, My Beloved!

You were not nearer to the Blessed Virgin during the nine months that she carried You than You are to me when You rest on my tongue in Holy Communion. you were no closer to the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph in the caves at Bethlehem or in the flight into Egypt or at any moment of that divine family life than you are to me at this moment – and so many others- in the tabernacle.

Mary Magdalene was no closer to you when she sat at your feet at Bethany than I am here at the foot of this altar. You were no nearer to your apostles when you were sitting in the midst of them than you are to me now, my God. How blessed I am!

(Bl. Charles was martyred 100 years ago today, December 1, 1916)

The post Bl. Charles de Foucauld: Close to the Lord first appeared on AirMaria.com.