Drawn from writings, sermons, and letters and including a brief biography, this collection offers a full introduction to Charles de Foucauld, French aristocrat and soldier in North Africa at the turn of the 20th century, who experienced a radical conversion to Christ.
de Foucauld, who ultimately died a martyr in the desert of Algiers, was, as Richard Rohr says, "one of those rare souls who leaves no one untouched and many transformed." Charles was beautified on November 13th, 2005.
Father, I abandon myself into Your hands; do with me what You will. Whatever You do I thank You. I am ready for all, I accept all. Let only Your will be done in me, as in all Your creatures, I ask no more than this, my Lord. Into Your hands I commend my soul; I offer it to You, O Lord, with all the love of my heart, for I love You, my God, and so need to give myself - to surrender myself into Your hands, without reserve and with total confidence, for You are my Father.
Robert Ellsberg, publisher of Orbis Books, is author of All Saints (Crossroad) and The Duty of Delight: The Diaries of Dorothy Day (Doubleday/Image).