"Charles de Foucauld (Brother Charles of Jesus) was born in Strasbourg, France on September 15, 1858. Orphaned at the age of six, he and his sister Marie were raised by their grandfather in whose footsteps he followed by taking up a military career.
He lost his faith as an adolescent. His taste for easy living was well known to all and yet he showed that he could be strong willed and constant in difficult situations. He undertook a risky exploration of Morocco (1883-1884). Seeing the way Muslims expressed their faith questioned him and he began repeating, 'My God, if you exist, let me come to know you.'
On his return to France, the warm, respectful welcome he received from his deeply Christian family made him continue his search. Under the guidance of Fr. Huvelin he rediscovered God in October 1886. He was then 28 years old. 'As soon as I believed in God, I understood that I could not do otherwise than to live for him alone.'
A pilgrimage to the Holy Land revealed his vocation to him: to follow Jesus in his life at Nazareth. 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 of the Hoggar. He wanted to be among those who were, 'the furthest removed, the most abandoned.' He wanted all who drew close to him to find 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 God 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?'
On the evening of December 1st 1916, he was killed by a band of marauders who had encircled his house.

"He 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."

-Biographical sketch published by the Vatican

The following is an excerpt from Pope Benedict’s talk at the beatification:

"Let us give thanks for the testimony of Charles de Foucauld. Through his contemplative and hidden life at Nazareth, having discovered the truth about the humanity of Jesus, he invites us to contemplate the mystery of the Incarnation. There he learned much about the Lord whom he wished to follow in humility and poverty. He discovered that Jesus having come to us to join in our humanity, invites us to universal fraternity which he would later live in the Sahara with a love of which Christ gave the example. As a priest he put the Eucharist and the Gospel at the center of his existence, the two tables of the Word and of Bread, the source of Christian life and mission."

And another excerpt from Cardinal José Saraiva Martins:

"Charles de Foucauld has had a renowned influence on spirituality in the 20th century and continues at the beginning of the Third Millennium to be a fruitful reference, an invitation to a style of life radically evangelical, and not only for those of the different, numerous and diversified groupings who make up of his spiritual family. To receive the Gospel with all simplicity, to evangelize without wanting to impose oneself, to witness to Jesus through respect for other religious experiences, to affirm the primacy of charity lived in the fraternity…these are only some of the most important aspects of a precious heritage which incites us to act so as that our own life may be like that of blessed Charles and "cry out the Gospel from the rooftops"…crying out that we are of Jesus."

"Father,
I abandon myself into your hands;
do with me what you will.
Whatever you may do, I thank you:
I am ready for all, I accept all.
Let only your will be done in me,
and in all your creatures -
I wish no more than this, O Lord.
Into your hands I commend my soul:
I offer it to you with all the love of my heart,
for I love you, Lord, and so need to give myself,
to surrender myself into your hands without reserve,
and with boundless confidence,
for you are my Father."

Quotes from Blessed Charles:

"Let us be persons of desire and of prayer. Let us never believe anything to be impossible: GOD CAN DO ALL."

"It is impossible for me to understand how people can love and not seek to be like the beloved, not want to share all his sorrows, not desire ardently to pattern their life on him."

"Pray for me above all that I may have that burning, generous, passionate love that makes one love Jesus above all things. I don’t ask to feel that love, nor to feel that Jesus loves me, as long as I love him with all my soul, passionately and forever."