Blessed Charles de Foucauld is another one of my favorite and early-on hermits of whom I was introduced by a neighbor from my high school and after years, who lived next door to my parents' (our family) home. I ought write about the late and great Dale Francis at some point, but today I am reminded of him due to his daughter giving me a small slip of paper when her dad was dying, upon which was printed the Prayer of Abandonment by "Charles of Jesus." She said her dad wanted me to specifically have this prayer which was sent him by a Benedictine monk of St. Joseph's Abbey, Collegeville, MN.
Anything given to me by Dale Francis had meaning and message. Simply a Holy Spirit thing, in our relationship, although I was the age of his daughter, with whom I had a fascinating Holy Spirit occurrence when we were in high school. She does not know what it was, as is private within me how God stirred in me a prescient sign of my future conversion. Another story, for another time, that.
I still have the slip of paper which the old monk had sent Dale as he lay dying in hospital I memorized it and used to pray it daily--a good habit that I will resurrect today. Many of you may be familiar with Bl. Charles de Foucauld's Prayer of Abandonment:
I still have the slip of paper which the old monk had sent Dale as he lay dying in hospital I memorized it and used to pray it daily--a good habit that I will resurrect today. Many of you may be familiar with Bl. Charles de Foucauld's 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.
Amen.
My late godmother, a religious sister of a religious community whose charism was that of catechesis, of teaching the Catholic faith to, especially children, in sparsely populated western and southwestern United States as well as in Bolivia, South American, allowed me to use the convent library early on in my conversion. One of the first books that caught my eyes'-and-hands' attention happened to be a biography of Charles de Foucauld, then I believe a Servant of God, not yet declared a "Blessed."
I was fascinated by this Frenchman's life, his earlier years, his dissolute life until a deeper conversion of Faith, and then his eventuality as a Cistercian (Trappist) monk, then ordained a priest. Yet he was early on as monk and priest, as if immediately called to the eremitic life. Previous to his deeper conversion (or reversion; he was reared a Catholic), Charles was a military man and had spent time in the Sahara Desert of northern Africa. His hermit call included that of returning to the Sahara; his mission within was to be a witness of Christ and His Church, to a silent preaching by his presence, to the Muslims living there.
Many of you readers may be familiar with Bl. Charles de Foucauld's life; I will not go into detail here. But the end of his life is notable, as he was martyred in early December, 1916. World War I was raging in Europe and northern Africa--this latter area including the Sahara Desert and of strong French military presence in that region. Someone, presumably a relative or friends of someone from the nearby village to Charles' hermitage, had reported Bl. Charles as being involved with the French military and was hiding guns and ammunition.
Charles had been reported and suspected as a traitor to the Muslims, and thus he was martyred--shot in back of head execution style--toward evening of the day in which the Lord had forewarned him of his impending death. Of course, the marauding murders found no guns nor ammunition in the hermit-priest's compound.
Compound? Well, it was, of sorts, a rudimentary, sand-bricks and stone hermitage that included additional cells, chapel, and eating area. Charles had the idea that others would join him in the desert, to live their hermit lives in what would now be called a new institute, or a community of hermits. No one came; he had but one young man from the neighboring village as a helper, as a sacristan, of sorts. The Muslim villagers took some time to become accepting of this Frenchman, this Christian; but the light of Christ in Charles put them at ease after awhile, and Charles' hermit mission to be as Christ to those around him in the Sahara, even if just this one small village, was a success.
It was not until after his death that the Little Brothers [and now also Sisters] of Jesus--the name Bl. Charles de Foucauld called the name of the hermit community he hoped would develop, took root and grew, but not in his rudimentary, desert "monastery."
I could go on with various thoughts I've had, and spiritual connections, with Bl. Charles de Foucauld, over the past 25 years or more of my life; I think it was one of the first books I read, from the convent library, as I met who would be my future godmother and Confirmation sponsor a couple years prior to my Confirmation in the Church. But God is rekindling in me an increased fervor and love of the hermit vocation which my angel reminds me of my hermit life that "God has chosen [for me] and values very much!"
Yesterday, the Gospel reading tells of the demoniac whom Jesus healed--the man, a Geresene--but told him to return to his family and village and tell them what the Lord had done for him rather than leaving them to follow Jesus right then and there. I also read a commentary that is Bl. Charles de Foucauld's thoughts on this particular miracle of Jesus' exorcism of the legion (demons), from the demoniac and into the swine, of the region of the Gerasenes (as written in Mark 5:1-17).
"When we want to follow Jesus, don't let us be surprised if he doesn't allow us to do so straight away or even if he never allows us to do so.... Indeed, his eyes see further than ours: he doesn't just want our own good but everyone's....
"Certainly, to share in his life with and like the apostles is a blessing and a grace, and we should always strive to come close to this imitation of his life. But that is no more than an outward grace. By filling us with grace interiorly, God can make better saints of us without this exact imitation...than with it. By increasing faith, hope, and charity in us, he can make us far more perfect in the world or in a mitigated [religious] Order than we would be in the desert or in a strict Order....
If God doesn't allow us to follow him we should neither be surprised nor afraid nor saddened about it but say to ourselves that he is treating us like the Gerasene and has very wise and hidden reasons for it. What is needed is that we obey him and throw ourselves into his will. Besides..., maybe Jesus allowed the Gerasene to join the apostles some months or years later.
"Let us always hope, as far as opportunity allows, to lead the life that is most perfect in itself and, for the time being, let us lead perfectly the life Jesus gives us, the one where he wants us to be. Let us live in it as he would live himself if his Father's will placed him there. Let us do everything there as he would do it if his Father had put him in that situation.... True perfection is to do the will of God."
I consider the above meditation of this exorcism by Jesus as stated in the Gospel of St. Mark, to be excellent for lay persons who may wish to be more austere or to want to give more of themselves but are frustrated because they have other responsibilities in their lay single and married lives that they have agreed to and God has allowed and even chosen for them, for a time period.
As for us hermits, Bl. Charles de Foucauld's thoughts remind us to always do the will of God, even within our hermit lives. There may be time periods in which, as I had over a year ago for about four months, to live with others until I could find a hermitage that would also provide a good investment for what I jokingly but seriously call, "my nursing home money."
As we know, we hermits, especially the diocese (public profession of evangelical counsels) and "traditional" (private profession of evangelical counsels) are responsible for our own livelihoods, our health care, our final days on earth if the Lord does not take us suddenly from this life. We have to pay for our health insurance if possible (I was not eligible for health insurance for years until three years ago I could purchase Medicare, for example) and all medical bills, deductibles, and so forth. We must pay our taxes, state and federal.
We may not at all want to have to live with others, or have to relocate, or be in a hospital for a week or more, or rehab center if we break a hip or have a stroke, or eventually in a nursing home when we can no longer fend for ourselves, But we must humble ourselves and submit to whatever the Lord allows, even if we think otherwise would be better!
We may want to give all we have to the poor--all our possessions, all our income--but the Lord lets us find out (or He did me), that doing so as I did back in 2004--cleared out and donated, and made significant monetary donations to Church and charities--came back to "slap me a good lesson" when I ended up financially short of funds as my situation changed.
Now I have to be prudent with my hermitage investment and upkeep, and accept that other than reasonable, prudent donations, my "giving all to the poor" will come through my will and also, if I know my death is pending soon, making more significant donations closer to death. That way, I will avoid not having enough to pay for my infirmities and nursing home. I will not then, hope-in-God, be an imprudent and uncharitable financial or physical burden on others. In the meantime, tithe and monetarily and donate the tangible items.
Or, using us hermits as an example of Bl. Charles' thoughts on doing God's will even if it seems not at all what we want or what we think ought to be for the best, if I find out from my bishop that he prefers only diocese hermits, then I will need to step up to that plate, and hit the ball, do as the "coach" wants and is best for the "team." I would need to enter into a different hermit path, of diocese hermit, rather than the path I've been on for 20 years, that of the traditional, historical solitary hermits.
If, for example, a diocese hermit had a new bishop come to the diocese, and that bishop did not want diocese hermits, the diocese hermit would need to find a diocese in which the bishop was accepting hermits under his direction, and relocate. Or, such as a diocese hermit in the UK, when a serious illness occurred, that hermit had to relocate to be close to medical facilities and practitioners, so has had to ask the diocese bishop of the diocese in which she had to relocate, to accept this hermit's diocese hermit designation. If the bishop of the new diocese would decline, then the diocese hermit would need to accept being a hermit of the traditional, historical type and not be that of CL603.
These are just hypothetical situations and examples, but Bl. Charles' meditation on this particular set of Scriptures does provide much even in the temporal aspects of doing the Lord's will, for us to meditate and apply in our daily spiritual lives, as well as our lived out eremitic, vocational lives. We always must keep in mind that all things are passing; we do not know what God has in Mind for us even in the next 10 minutes. No matter what the situation, of that which is within us in spiritual aspects, or outside us in temporal aspects: "True perfection is to do the will of God."
God bless His Real Presence in us!
"When we want to follow Jesus, don't let us be surprised if he doesn't allow us to do so straight away or even if he never allows us to do so.... Indeed, his eyes see further than ours: he doesn't just want our own good but everyone's....
"Certainly, to share in his life with and like the apostles is a blessing and a grace, and we should always strive to come close to this imitation of his life. But that is no more than an outward grace. By filling us with grace interiorly, God can make better saints of us without this exact imitation...than with it. By increasing faith, hope, and charity in us, he can make us far more perfect in the world or in a mitigated [religious] Order than we would be in the desert or in a strict Order....
If God doesn't allow us to follow him we should neither be surprised nor afraid nor saddened about it but say to ourselves that he is treating us like the Gerasene and has very wise and hidden reasons for it. What is needed is that we obey him and throw ourselves into his will. Besides..., maybe Jesus allowed the Gerasene to join the apostles some months or years later.
"Let us always hope, as far as opportunity allows, to lead the life that is most perfect in itself and, for the time being, let us lead perfectly the life Jesus gives us, the one where he wants us to be. Let us live in it as he would live himself if his Father's will placed him there. Let us do everything there as he would do it if his Father had put him in that situation.... True perfection is to do the will of God."
I consider the above meditation of this exorcism by Jesus as stated in the Gospel of St. Mark, to be excellent for lay persons who may wish to be more austere or to want to give more of themselves but are frustrated because they have other responsibilities in their lay single and married lives that they have agreed to and God has allowed and even chosen for them, for a time period.
As for us hermits, Bl. Charles de Foucauld's thoughts remind us to always do the will of God, even within our hermit lives. There may be time periods in which, as I had over a year ago for about four months, to live with others until I could find a hermitage that would also provide a good investment for what I jokingly but seriously call, "my nursing home money."
As we know, we hermits, especially the diocese (public profession of evangelical counsels) and "traditional" (private profession of evangelical counsels) are responsible for our own livelihoods, our health care, our final days on earth if the Lord does not take us suddenly from this life. We have to pay for our health insurance if possible (I was not eligible for health insurance for years until three years ago I could purchase Medicare, for example) and all medical bills, deductibles, and so forth. We must pay our taxes, state and federal.
We may not at all want to have to live with others, or have to relocate, or be in a hospital for a week or more, or rehab center if we break a hip or have a stroke, or eventually in a nursing home when we can no longer fend for ourselves, But we must humble ourselves and submit to whatever the Lord allows, even if we think otherwise would be better!
We may want to give all we have to the poor--all our possessions, all our income--but the Lord lets us find out (or He did me), that doing so as I did back in 2004--cleared out and donated, and made significant monetary donations to Church and charities--came back to "slap me a good lesson" when I ended up financially short of funds as my situation changed.
Now I have to be prudent with my hermitage investment and upkeep, and accept that other than reasonable, prudent donations, my "giving all to the poor" will come through my will and also, if I know my death is pending soon, making more significant donations closer to death. That way, I will avoid not having enough to pay for my infirmities and nursing home. I will not then, hope-in-God, be an imprudent and uncharitable financial or physical burden on others. In the meantime, tithe and monetarily and donate the tangible items.
Or, using us hermits as an example of Bl. Charles' thoughts on doing God's will even if it seems not at all what we want or what we think ought to be for the best, if I find out from my bishop that he prefers only diocese hermits, then I will need to step up to that plate, and hit the ball, do as the "coach" wants and is best for the "team." I would need to enter into a different hermit path, of diocese hermit, rather than the path I've been on for 20 years, that of the traditional, historical solitary hermits.
If, for example, a diocese hermit had a new bishop come to the diocese, and that bishop did not want diocese hermits, the diocese hermit would need to find a diocese in which the bishop was accepting hermits under his direction, and relocate. Or, such as a diocese hermit in the UK, when a serious illness occurred, that hermit had to relocate to be close to medical facilities and practitioners, so has had to ask the diocese bishop of the diocese in which she had to relocate, to accept this hermit's diocese hermit designation. If the bishop of the new diocese would decline, then the diocese hermit would need to accept being a hermit of the traditional, historical type and not be that of CL603.
These are just hypothetical situations and examples, but Bl. Charles' meditation on this particular set of Scriptures does provide much even in the temporal aspects of doing the Lord's will, for us to meditate and apply in our daily spiritual lives, as well as our lived out eremitic, vocational lives. We always must keep in mind that all things are passing; we do not know what God has in Mind for us even in the next 10 minutes. No matter what the situation, of that which is within us in spiritual aspects, or outside us in temporal aspects: "True perfection is to do the will of God."
God bless His Real Presence in us!
No comments:
Post a Comment