Charlie de Foucauld

"Nasty Boys!" (Janet Jackson)

This guy was a brat! He was a spoiled, fat, rich boy, who got himself into trouble in the military, while he enjoyed a live-in mistress. How French - huh?

Through the influence of his angelic cousin, Marie de Bondy and her friend, Abbe Huevelin, he gave up his indifference to the Catholic Church, as well as his immoral and frivolous life. He entered the Trappists of Our Lady of the Snow, taking the name Marie Alberic - a pen name I once used as well.

His restless spirit and desire to imitate the poverty and hidden life of Nazareth, led him to leave the cozy security of the Abbey. He went to Jerusalem and worked as a gardener for a monastery of Poor Clares. The Abbess, Mother Elizabeth, a rather persuasive figure - stay away from domineering nuns - convinced him to become a priest.

He returned to la Trappe and was ordained, making his novitiate for his new religious order while there. He found his way to Algeria, the only member of the religious order he intended to found, to live among the Tuareg as a hermit. He was later killed by Islamic rebels, the Eucharist he had been adoring, thrown in the desert sand. This happened on December 1, 1906, I believe. After he was beatified a couple of years ago, his feast was set for December 2 - today!

(Forgive me for lack of dates, etc. - I wrote from memory; and blogger still will not permit me to post pics! I'm a visual artist! How can I exist without visuals?)