St. Charles de Foucauld Prayer Card (PC-39)
Pickup available at 7118 Beech Ridge Trail
Usually ready in 2-4 days
PC-39 — St. Charles de Foucauld Prayer Card
From dissolute soldier to desert hermit — the saint who found God in the Sahara
Few conversion stories in the history of the Church are as dramatic as that of Charles de Foucauld. Born into French aristocracy in 1858, he was orphaned at six, inherited a fortune, and spent his youth in a blur of excess, expelled from military school for indiscipline, reinstated, and then sent to Algeria — where his genuine courage in battle earned him back his commission. But beneath the reckless surface, something in him would not be satisfied. He began praying a prayer that was itself an act of faith: "O God, if you exist, let me know it."
In 1886, kneeling in a Paris confessional, his prayer was answered. His conversion was total and permanent. He spent years as a Trappist monk, then as a servant in Nazareth, trying to live the hidden life of Christ. Eventually he was drawn to the Sahara Desert in Algeria, where he was ordained a priest and lived alone among the Tuareg people — not preaching, not converting, simply being present with the love of Christ among those who had never heard His name. He called his vocation "universal brotherhood."
On December 1, 1916, Charles de Foucauld was killed by desert bandits. Not one person had joined his religious order during his lifetime. Yet today, the Little Brothers and Sisters of Jesus — inspired by his example — serve the poor on every continent. He was canonized by Pope Francis in 2022. His feast day is December 1st.
His most famous prayer — the Prayer of Abandonment — begins: "Father, I abandon myself into your hands; do with me what you will." It is the distilled essence of his life.
Perfect for: Missionary outreach, men's retreats, spiritual direction, interfaith ministry, December 1st feast day, anyone discerning a vocation, and those drawn to contemplative or desert spirituality.