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Charles de FOUCAULD

Lettre autographe signée depuis son ermitage du Hoggar : "Votre très respectueusement et affectueusement dévoué dans le coeur de Jésus"

(Hoggar) 17 matin (1909), 10,2x15,8cm, un feuillet remplié.

Autograph letter signed from his desert ermitage: “Jesus Caritas”
[Hoggar] 17 matin [1909] | 10,2 x 15,8 cm | one folded leaf
Precious autograph letter signed by Saint Charles de Foucauld, 4 pages in purple ink on a folded sheet. At the top of the first page is a handwritten version of his famous motto "Jésus Caritas", accompanied by a drawing of the Sacred Heart of Jesus surmounted by a cross, which he wore on his habit. He repeats this sketch accompanied by the word “Jesus” at the head of each subsequent page of the letter.


This long and admirable letter, written in Algeria (probably from the Assekrem plateau in the Hoggar mountains, where his hermitage was located), dates from 1909, according to Georges Gorrée, who published the letter in Les Amitiés sahariennes du Père de Foucauld, 1946 (vol. 2, p. 183). This was the year in which Foucauld presented the statutes of his fraternity, which would be emulated by so many others around the world. In the letter, Foucauld is probably helping a French officer preparing a camel trek across the Sahara, and informs him of the number and condition of the camels he had personally ordered for him. Foucauld acts as an intermediary with two Tuareg tribal leaders: a member of the Dag Rali tribe, Abahag ag Ourar, and Aflan ag Douwa, representative of the amenokal (tribe chief) Moussa Ag Amastan to whom he was very close : “During the night I was brought back the letter sent yesterday evening, the bearer having learned on the way that Aflan is not at home and that Abahag having learned of Aflan's absence had not stopped at his tents. He had chosen to ignore them. I'm sending someone to Aflan's house to tell him to come and see me as soon as he gets back. But when will it be? I am told it's quite far away at the home of the Agouhs in Tehlé.”
 
Throughout the letter, we sense the life of deprivation that Foucauld shared with the Tuareg, a region regularly hit by famines and conflicts : “There are 53 camels ordered, the 1st arrivals are from Dag Rali Agouh in Tehlé, close to Tamanrasset Klan in Taourit ; they are, I fear, in poor condition, for here there is nothing to eat as in the Kouira, but there is reason to hope that you will find camels in good condition among those of the Kel Tazoulet and Aït Loaien who, due to the distance, should arrive a little later than the others”. In the letter, he also pays tribute to several members of the military convoy he met in the Sahara, including Marshal des Logis Lafont, who a few years later would treat a Tuareg and thus earn the gratitude of the holy man: “please thank Lafont for repairing my scrapers”.
 
 The missive ends with these words: “Yours very respectfully and affectionately devoted in the heart of Jesus”.
 
A superb letter from a humble servant of God canonized in 2022, featuring on every page his immortal symbol of the love with which Christ loved humanity - embroidered on his tunic, it also preceded each of his meditations, letters, and writings.
These lines full of kindness are an exceptional testimony to his dedication and his deep knowledge of the Sahara and its inhabitants.

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