We are still rejoicing at the very recent canonization of Brother Charles of Jesus, Saint Charles
de Foucauld, celebration that took place in Rome, presided over by Pope Francis, on May 15, 2022.
Charles (1858-1916), after years of a very
rich, but also turbulent and sometimes disorderly, lived a radical conversion in 1886, following a confession to Father Huvelin, in the church of Saint Augustin in
Paris. His great spiritual thirst now: to be “ Hermit
of the Sacred Heart”, in the desert, with the various populations of Morocco, Algeria, and after a stage lived
at the Poor Clares of Nazareth, where he contemplates
intensely the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word, which
wanted to live in poverty and in the landfill
of a hidden life, the humble daily existence for 30 years precisely in Nazareth. It’s that deep
rooted in the mystery of the Incarnation which aroused in Charles such sensitivity and such devotion
to the human and divine Heart of Jesus. He bore the image of this
Heart, in red, surmounted by a cross, on his religious habit. Her devotion to the Heart of Jesus was like fire
ardent which set him ablaze day and night. The representation of
Brother Charles on the large mural in the Chapel of the Apparitions, in Paray-le-Monial, bears witness to
his commitment became historic for the Sacred Heart.
“How You love us, O Heart of Jesus! He didn’t have you
sufficed to contain all the men, all these men so
ungrateful, throughout your life, you still wanted
to be open to them and to be wounded for them after Your death.
To all, even to the most unworthy, your Heart is either green; for all, He was pierced! You all love
the living, You call them all to You,
You offer them all salvation until their last hour, their last moment. You came to bring Love on earth;
You came to put in our midst the Flames of your Heart. That you are good! Have great devotion to
this Sacred Heart of Jesus, by which God lit fire on the earth! Oh my God, burn this Fire in my heart and
in that of all men! Thereby be it. (Brother Charles).
Naturally, he is very attached to the Sanctuary of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris, where
Perpetual Adoration of the Saint Sacrament in Honor of the Heart of Jesus; and history as well as
the message from Paray-le-Monial are strongly imprinted in its
memory and in his heart: “ I put the evangelization of Morocco and Morocco itself under the protection of Blessed
Marguerite-Marie, giving her, as far as I can, as patroness, in Morocco ”.
This ardent devotion to the Sacred Heart quite naturally led Brother Charles to a devouring passion for
the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and in the Blessed Sacrament exposed. Perpetual Adoration will be
as at the heart of his contemplative life project and apostolic. “My God, how good you are! I am before the Blessed Sacrament, and the Blessed Sacrament exposed! What bliss! That I am close to You, against You,
my God!… Sacred Heart of Jesus, thank you for exposing yourself in our eyes, to give you to us, to give us the gift
infinity of your presence, in your Holy Host, on the Holy Altar”.
Of course, these words resonate strongly here in Paray-le-Monial, the City of the Heart of Jesus where
permanent adoration has been practiced for several years. “Thank you for giving yourself, for introducing yourself, for
stay with us like this all day, all night, at all hour, our whole life, turning our life into a life
all divine. Thank you, Sacred Heart of Jesus, for this excess of goodness, of this excess of happiness! “.
This thirst for intimacy, burial and immersionin the burning Love of the Heart of Jesus can only
arouse an unquenchable thirst so that the desires of this
“ Heart that loved men so much ” (Jesus at Sainte-Mar guerite-Marie, June 1675) come true; Jesus is thirsty
his “ Passionate Love ” for each of us is spread and known (cf. first great Apparition of Jesus
at Sainte-Marguerite-Marie). Didn’t Jesus tell us
“ I came to cast fire on the earth, and as I already
would like it to be lit” (Luke 12)? Charles will be consumed by this desire. And, from her loneliness in the desert
and through his humble encounters imbued with charity
and tenderness with the natives, he will literally want to embrace all his fellow human beings and lead them
towards the knowledge of this Love of the Heart of the Redeemer. He becomes the “ Universal Brother ”.
“ You have come to bring Love to earth; You came to put in our midst the Flames of your Heart.
Let us have a great devotion to this Sacred Heart of Jesus, by which God lit fire on the earth!
O my God, burn this Fire in my heart and in that of all men!
So be it. »
Saint Charles de Foucauld, pray for us. Amen.
Source: Father Jean-Rodolphe Kars https://www.sacrecoeur-paray.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/revue-sacre-coeur-actu-juin-2022-web-pdf
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