Editor ROBERT ELLSBERG
Publisher ORBIS BOOKS
ISBN 1-57075-244-3
Born in France in 1858 and done to death as a martyr for the Lord Jesus in Tamanrasset, North Africa in 1916 the life of Charles De Foucauld was one that seemingly ended in abject failure. He had been, in earlier years, a soldier and an explorer and then, as God got hold of him became a monk and then a desert hermit.
He died violently and at that time none of his spiritual writings had been published and he had no congregation and no one who was following his example and teaching. It is therefore to others that we can attribute the responsibility for bringing him and his central message into the light. Perhaps two things he embodied, firstly the value of time spent alone with God and its true fruit, which loves our neighbor as ourselves and his belief that, in contrast to the triumphalistic ideas of bringing the message of Christ to the world, true evangelism lies in an evangelism of presence. He was thoroughly ‘in the world’ though ‘not of it’ and lived amongst the poor and forgotten Muslim people of Algeria serving them and loving them believing that as he in private contemplated and enjoyed the presence of the Lord Jesus He thus brought that presence into the dark alleys and squalor of the poor.
As I have said, on the surface of things he died a failure as regards that mission not having made one convert to Christ. However, some twenty years after his lonely death his spiritual vision was discovered and exemplified by one man and one woman who established the Little Brothers and the Little Sisters of Jesus. A number of congregations have been formed throughout the world and perhaps one of the more famous writers who became a part of one of them was Carlo Carretto. It is in this way that the journal writings and the notes of his retreats in which He sought to meet the Lord Jesus came into the public domain. They have now been translated into English and this small book, as its title suggests brings together ‘the essential writings.’ His emphasis is simple; he concentrates on the life of Jesus as being the pattern for all Christian discipleship and spirituality. There is plenty to feed on in these snippets from a man who died almost one hundred years ago.
His complete abandonment to Christ and His service among the poor primarily is challenging. His enjoyment of menial work, living amongst those in profound need and creating a sanctuary where the presence and peace of the Lord Jesus was the ‘real presence’ points us where not so many of us might be prepared to go. It is a rigorous discipline but one charged with the joy of the Lord. There is truth here, good food, exhortation and prophetic, revelatory directives that focus the teachable heart.
