Charles de Foucauld will be beatified today at the Vatican. He was born in 1858 in Strasbourg, France. He became a soldier, geographer, trappist, linguist, hermit, and a priest. He is famous for writing the Directory which calls for a personal return to the Gospel and a spiritual life centered on the Eucharist.

Charles lived for many years among the Taureg in Algeria. In his apostolate of presence and friendship with Muslims in that part of the world he considered himself as a “missionary monk”. Charles was assassinated in 1916 during an anti-French uprising.

Two others will be beatified together with Charles de Foucauld. They are Maria Pia Mastena and Maria Crocifissa Curcio. Maria Pia Mastena (1881-1951) is the foundress of a religious institute called the Religious of the Holy Face. Maria Crocifissa Curcio (1877-1957) is an Italian nun who founded the Carmelite Missionary Sisters of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus. For more detailed biographies of these three holy people, please click here.

Beatification in the Catholic Church is an act of declaring that a deceased person lived a holy life and is worthy of public veneration. It is a step toward full canonization. But a beatified person can only be canonized as saint after a miracle is attributed to him/her.