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Charles de Foucauld was captivated by the hidden life of Jesus in
Nazareth, that is, the thirty years Christ spent in
obscurity, growing up and working as a carpenter. The silent
preaching Jesus did in His ordinary, day-to-day activities
became something Charles wanted to emulate. It grew to be
the context of his discipleship.
We, too, strive to live a life of simplicity, being little
and joyful, doing ordinary things out of
love for God. The legacy of Charles offers much
encouragement.
From the writings of Charles de Foucauld:
Jesus came to Nazareth, the place of the hidden life,
of ordinary life, of family life, of prayer, work,
obscurity, silent virtues practiced with no witness
other than God, his friends and neighbors. Nazareth, the
place where most people lead their lives.
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I think we can live the life of Nazareth anywhere,
sink ourselves into hiddenness, live in obedience, and
embrace the Cross.
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The life of Nazareth can be followed anywhere; follow
it in the place where it is most helpful to your
neighbors.
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Nazareth is anywhere we work with Jesus in humility,
poverty, and silence.
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Jesus speaks:
After My presentation and my flight into Egypt, I
withdrew to Nazareth,. There I spent the years of My
childhood and youth, till I was thirty years of age.
Once again, it was for your sake I went there, for love
of you.
What was the meaning of that part of My life? I led
it for your instruction. I instructed you continually
for thirty years, not in words, but by My silence and
example.
What was it that I was teaching you? I was teaching
you primarily that it is possible to do good to men --
great good, infinite good, divine good -- without using
words, without preaching, without fuss, but by silence
and by giving them a good example.
What kind of example? The example of devotion of duty
toward God lovingly fulfilled, and goodness toward all
men, loving kindness to those about one, and domestic
duties fulfilled in holiness. The example of poverty,
lowliness, recollection, withdrawl: the obscurity of a
life hidden in God, a life of prayer, penance, and
withdrawl, completely lost in God, buried deep in Him.
I was teaching you to live by the labor of your own
hands, so as to be a burden on no one and to have
something to give to the poor. And I was giving this way
of life an incomparable beauty -- the beauty of being a
copy of Mine.
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Luke 2:50-51: "And He went down with them, and came
to Nazareth and was subject to them."
"He went down": His whole life was spent in "going
down." He went down in the Incarnation, going down to be
a small child, going down in obedience, in becoming
poor, abandoned, exiled, persecuted, tortured, in always
putting Himself in the lowest place.
"When thou art invited, go, sit down in the lowest
place": it is what He did Himself from the time of His
coming into the feast of life till the time of His
death. He came to Nazareth, the place of the hidden
life, of ordinary family life: a life of prayer, work,
and obscurity, the silent virtues, practiced with God,
His close relations and His neighbors as its only
witnesses. It was a humble, holy, obscure life of
well-doing -- the life of most human beings. For thirty
years, He was our example of it.
"He was subject to them": He, God, was subject to
them, human beings, so becoming our example of
obedience, humility and, in the real sense of the word,
renunciation as infinite as His divinity.
The Visitation
The Feast of the Visitation, which commemorates when Mary
went to visit her cousin Elizabeth (Luke 1: 39-56), was very
meaningful to Charles.
It signified the moment when Mary brought Jesus out into
the world, and though He was hidden in her womb, His silent
presence was sanctifying to Elizabeth and her unborn child,
John.
This event gave Charles insight regarding how he should live
his life.
From his writings:
Jesus speaks:
Even before I was born, I was working on this mission,
the sanctification of man ... and I urged my mother to
work at it with Me.
Here and now I am saying to other souls -- to all
those who have been given Me and now lead hidden lives,
possessing Me without having been given a mission to
preach -- I tell them to sanctify souls by silently
carrying Me among them.
To souls in silence, leading the hidden life in
solitude far from the world, I say: Everyone, work
toward the sanctification of the world, work at it as my
mother does; silently, without words, go establish your
prayerful retreats in the midst of those who ignore Me.
And carry the Gospel with you, not by preaching it
with your mouths, but by preaching it through your
example, not by proclaiming it, but by living it.
Sanctify the world, take me into the world ... as Mary
took me to John.
Universal Brother
Being a "Universal Brother" to everyone was essential to
Charles' understanding of the life of Nazareth.
From his writings:
I want to accustom all the inhabitants, Christians,
Muslims, Jews, and nonbelievers, to look upon me as
their brother, the universal brother. Already they're
calling this house "the fraternity" -- about which I'm
delighted -- and realizing that the poor have a brother
here -- not only the poor, though; all men.
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There is always work to be done by example, goodness,
and prayer. We can enter into closer relationships with
souls that are lukewarm or estranged from the faith, so
as to lead them gradually, by the power of our patience,
gentleness, and goodness, by the influence of virtue
rather than advice, back to a more Christian life or to
the faith itself.
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By entering into friendly relationships with people
totally opposed to religion we can, by our goodness and
virtue, destroy their prejudices and bring them
completely to God. . . . One has to be as much a
missionary in France as in a country of unbelievers, and
being so is the duty of us all, priests and lay people,
men and women.
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I believe that there is no other Gospel teaching that
had a more profound effect upon me and transformed my
life more than the following: "All that you do to the
least of these, you do to Me." If we believe that these
words are the words of the Incarnate Truth, those from
the mouth which said "This is My Body, this is My
Blood," with what strength we are driven to seek and
love Jesus through these lesser ones, these sinners,
these poor, by employing every material way as a means
to soothe their temporal miseries.
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Everyone in the neighborhood must know that the
Fraternity is the house of God where every poor or sick
person is always invited, called, wanted, welcomed with
joy and gratitude by brothers who love and cherish them
and regard their entry as the discovery of a great
treasure. They are in fact the greatest treasure of all,
Jesus Himself: Insofar as you do this to one of the
least of there brothers, you do it to Me.
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We are all children of God: we must therefore see the
beloved children of God in all people, and not just in
the good, not just in the Christians, not just in the
saints, but in all people. They are all children of God
and consequently we must show for all of them, in our
thoughts, words, and actions, the tender, affectionate,
loving behavior that a brother shows for his brother,
behavior that always remains loving, even if the brother
sins, commits evil, or misbehaves.
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Such genuine fraternity among all people, all
children of God, leads to tenderness in feelings,
sweetness in words, and charity in actions that explain
all the precepts of the Gospel concerning charity,
peace, and sweetness. Nothing is more natural than these
precepts if all people are considered brothers and
sisters, the children of the same Father.
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My apostolate must be one of goodness. I must make
people say this when they see me: "This man is so good
that his religion must be good." If someone asks me why
I am gentle and good, I must reply, "Because I serve One
who is so much better than I am. If only you knew how
good my Master, Jesus, is." I want to be so good that
people will say, "If that is the servant, how, then, is
the Master?"
For Charles, Jesus in the Holy Eucharist helped to reveal
the mystery of Nazareth.
Lord Jesus, You are in the Holy Eucharist. You are
there, a yard away in the tabernacle. Your Body, Your
Soul, Your human Nature, Your Divinity, Your whole Being
is there, in its twofold nature. How close You are, my
God, my Savior, my Jesus, my Brother, my Spouse, my
Beloved!
You were not nearer to the Blessed Virgin during the
nine months she carried You in her womb than You are to
me when You rest on my tongue at Holy Communion. You
were not closer to the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph in
the caves at Bethlehem or the house at Nazareth or
during the flight into Egypt, or at any moment of that
divine family life than You are to me at this moment and
so many others -- in the tabernacle.
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"I did not feel myself called to
imitate the public life of preaching, so I had to imitate the hidden
life of the humble and poor workman of Nazareth."
Charles lived in
this shed while working as a handyman for the Poor Clares in
Nazareth.
"Carry the Gospel with you....
not by proclaiming it, but by living it." |
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