Legacy
Charles de Foucauld died alone, and without the immediate fellowship of others sharing his practice of the life of "Jesus of Nazareth" and hospitality in the desert of Algeria. Yet he was successful at inspiring and helping to organize a confraternity within France in support of his idea. This organization called the Association of the Brothers and Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus consisted of lay and ordained members totaling 48 people at the time of his death. It was this group, and specifically the efforts of Louis Massignon, the world-famous scholar of Islam, and a best selling biography written by René Bazin in 1921 - La vie de Charles de Foucauld explorateur en Maroc, eremite du Sahara - who kept his intuitions alive and inspired the family of lay and religious fraternities that include Jesus Caritas, the Little Brothers of Jesus and the Little Sisters of Jesus among a total of 19 different religious congregations. Though originally French in origin, these groups have expanded to include many cultures and languages on all continents.
He is mentioned several times in Norwegian author Axel Jensen's 1957 novel Icarus.
Read more about this topic: Charles De Foucauld
Famous quotes containing the word legacy:
“What is popularly called fame is nothing but an empty name and a legacy from paganism.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)