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Words of Venerable Charles deFoucauld (Brother Charles of Jesus)
Our Spiritual Founder, "Saint and Martyr".
"One of the things we absolutely owe to Our Lord, is never to be afraid." "Jesus is Master of the impossible." "The moment I realized that God existed, I knew that I could not do otherwise than to live for Him alone... Faith strips the mask from the world and reveals God in everything. It makes nothing impossible and renders meaningless such words as anxiety, danger, and fear, so that the believer goes through life calmly and peacefully, with profound joy - like a child hand in hand with his mother." "It is nearly always faith which Our Lord praises and rewards. Sometimes he praises love, sometimes humility, but this is rare... Faith, though not the supreme virtue - charity holds that place - is nevertheless the most important because it is the basis of all the others, charity included. Also it is the rarest... Real faith, faith which inspires all one's actions, faith in the supernatural which strips the world of its mask and reveals God in everything which makes meaningless the words 'impossible', 'anxiety', 'danger', and 'fear' .... How rare is that!" "Your mind... should be full of the love of God, forgetful of yourself. It should be full of the contemplation and joy of My beatitude, of compassion and sorrow for My sufferings, and of joy at My joys... It should be a mind full of love for your neighbor for My sake, for I love all men as a father loves his children. It should be full of longing for the spiritual and material goods of all men for My sake. It should be a mind free, tranquil, at peace.... Do not be disturbed by little things. Throw all little matters aside and try to live at a very high level, not from pride but from love." "God sometimes allows us to be in such a profound darkness that not a single star shines in our skies. The reason is that we must be reminded that we are on earth only to suffer, while following our gentle Savior along a dark and thorny path. We are pilgrims and strangers on earth. Pilgrims sleep in tents and sometimes cross deserts, but the thought of their homeland makes them forget everything else." "However wicked I may be, however great a sinner, I must hope that I should go to heaven. You forbid me to despair. " "By force of events, you made me chaste... Chastity became a blessing and inner necessity to me. It was you who did that, O God - you alone. I, alas, had no part in it. How good you have been! From what sad and culpable relapses you miraculously preserved me!... The devil is too much the master of an unchaste soul to let truth enter it. You could not, O God, come into a soul where the devil of unbridled passions rules supreme. But you wanted to come into my soul, O good shepherd, and you yourself expelled your enemy from it." "In this sad world there is a joy at the heart of things which is not shared by either the saints in heaven or the angels - that of suffering for Our Beloved. However hard life may be, however long our days of sadness may endure... we must never seek to leave the foot of the cross sooner that God would have us do... our Master having been good enough to let us experience, if not always its sweetness, then at least its beauty and necessity for those who love it." "O God... you gave me a disgust for vice and shame. I did evil, but I never approved of it or loved it. You made me experience a melancholy emptiness, a sadness that I never felt at other times." "How greatly we should long for all men to be in a state of grace! In other words, we should long to see as many living tabernacles, as many bodies and souls animated by Jesus, as there are souls in the world. How greatly we should long to see souls in a state of grace doing the holiest of all possible actions." "When one is in love, one is humble, one sees oneself as very insignificant, as nothing beside one's beloved." "The more we pray, the more we wish to pray. Like a fish which at first swims on the surface of the water, and afterwards plunges down, and is always going deeper; the soul plunges, dives and loses itself in the sweetness of conversing with God." THE PRAYER OF ABANDONMENT 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. by Venerable Father Charles of Jesus (de Foucauld) |
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