Charles de Foucauld (Modern Spiritual Masters)

Charles DeFoucauld, part of the Orbis Modern Spiritual Masters Series, collects notebook and journal writings by the French soldier, explorer, monk, and hermit who lived among Muslims in Algeria in the early part of the 20th century. His ministry later inspired the founding of the Little Brothers and the Little Sisters of Jesus, which have made him an extremely influential figure for many Catholics around the world. The mandate of DeFoucauld's ministry was not rhetorical persuasion; he sought simply to be present and available to help poor people in the communities where he lived. His writings, which contain some poignant and loving descriptions of the people he lived with, are concerned primarily with advancing his struggle to imitate the person of Christ, and summoning the courage to share in Christ's sacrificial death. "We cannot possibly love him without imitating him," DeFoucauld wrote. "Since he suffered and died in agony, we cannot love him and yet want to be crowned with roses while he was crowned with thorns.... We must love him just as he loved us, in the very same way." --Michael Joseph Gross