Teresa in the desert

I am fascinated by the extent of St Teresa’s continuing influence over souls.  A wonderful example is the Frenchman St Charles de Foucauld (1858-1916), whose feast day is today.  Charles lost his faith as an adolescent.  In his twenties in Morocco he saw the way Muslims expressed their faith and he began repeating, “My God, if you exist, let me come to know you.”  He rediscovered God at the age of 28. He spent 7 years as a Trappist, first in France and then at Akbès in Syria. Later he began to lead a life of prayer and adoration, alone, near a convent of Poor Clares in Nazareth. Ordained a priest at 43 (1901) he left for the Sahara, living at first in Beni Abbès and later at Tamanrasset among the Tuaregs. He wanted to be among those who were, “the furthest removed, the most abandoned.” He wanted all who drew close to him to find in him a brother, “a universal brother.” In a great respect for the culture and faith of those among whom he lived, his desire was to “shout the Gospel with his life”. “I would like to be sufficiently good that people would say, “If such is the servant, what must the Master be like?”  Charles had always dreamed of sharing his vocation with others: after having written several rules for religious life, he came to the conclusion that this “life of Nazareth” could be led by all. Today the “spiritual family of Charles de Foucauld” encompasses several associations of the faithful, religious communities and secular institutes for both lay people and priests.  Charles became a passionate devotee of Teresa.   He recommended her to all those who hungered for spiritual growth.  Later on, he made a resolution to read at least two pages of Teresa each day.  A year before his death in 1916 he wrote to recommend her warmly to a correspondent, saying that everything in her was incomparable – she was one of those authors who became one’s daily bread.  He used to write out his favourite excerpts and passages.  His biographer comments that Teresa was Charles’s favourite guide, the one whose life showed him what God desired of him.  He wrote to his Director in 1898 that he had reread Teresa ten times in the previous ten years, and he told a nun in 1905 that he had been steeping himself daily in the writings of the Spanish saint for fifteen years.  In his Spiritual Autobiography Charles addresses St Teresa on her Feast Day in 1898.  ‘O dear mother St Teresa, how much I need you! How much I need you to fashion my interior life! … St Teresa, strengthen and enlighten me, I am asking only one thing of you … to give glory to our Lord Jesus as far as I am able, and in order to do so, to love him as much as I can.  That is what I am asking of you, dear mother …’. The prayer extends over two pages and includes a grateful acknowledgement of the gift to him of her ‘son’ St John of the Cross.

Intercessions:

Cancer: Brian Davis, Bernard (and wife Angela caring for him), Jacqui, Theresa K, Fr Jon B, Catherine, Roy Seymour

Siena, Elara – sick children

David OCDS – housebound

Sophia – blind infant

Grace – troubling ailments, job difficulties, family (deceased mother and health of father)

Lucia – Overwhelmed by weariness

Mark – brain infection

Defence of the unborn and the elderly

RIP Richard Parker, Martin Gilham, Sue Burton, Wojtek, Joy Smith OCDS