Since the beginning of January, Foucauld's father has seen his state of health deteriorate.
It all started with dizziness.
But on January 20, he was forced to take to his bed and he appealed to Colonel Laperrine to send him condensed milk, sugar, tea and preserves.
From Tamanrasset to Adrar, the road is long.
Only God knows if help will arrive in time.
Charles leaves it to Providence.
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Shortly after, the one whom the Tuaregs of Tamanrasset call Abd Isa, the servant of Jesus Christ, wrote his new prayer in a notebook, although the slightest movement provoked a painful gasp: "
Jesus, Mary, Joseph, I give you my soul , my mind, my life
”, before sinking into unconsciousness.
He does not know, when he regains consciousness, how long this discomfort lasted.
Near him, a woman is wiping a little water on her forehead.
He would like to thank her, but fails to utter a single word.
He smiles and closes his eyes, remembering his arrival in Tamanrasset, where he was not enthusiastically welcomed by the inhabitants in 1905, although the amenokal of the Hoggars authorized him to build a hermitage there.
Charles had bought land on the left bank of the wadi, away from the houses, and he began to build a chapel, sleeping himself in the sacristy, then a straw hut serving as a dormitory, a kitchen and possibly a bed and breakfast.
No one came to see him.
Then a few poor people were bold enough to approach his home, which he had nicknamed the "
Frigate
".
As they left with a few dates, a little milk or alms, others came.
The sick followed.
But he himself took it to heart not to go anywhere without being invited.
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FILE – Charles de Foucauld, a voice in the desert
When he returned to the Sahara after a stay in Béni Abbès, during which General Lyautey visited him at the Fraternité, which he described as a "
hovel
", the welcome was almost warm.
Today, the Tuareg surround him with all the care they can give him.
As most of them have lost four-fifths of their herd due to an extreme drought, they do not hesitate to walk for miles in the mountains, where the grass is still green, to find milk.
They are happy to prove their attachment to him.
Proud to give after receiving.
Little by little, Father Charles is recovering.
He is still weak, but when, on January 31, he receives from Laperrine – the latter will not himself learn of his call for help until February 3, and the dromedaries loaded with food will not reach Tamanrasset until the 29 – l he announces that the pope authorizes him to say mass without a servant, he gets up the next day to celebrate it.
He will now do this every day and thanks God for keeping him alive so that he can still work for him, although he still hasn't succeeded in converting a single Muslim, whether Tuareg or Arab.
He ceased to be sorry.
Because everything, even his own failures, comes from God.
He never forgets what he owes to the inhabitants of Tamanrasset and he writes to his cousin Marie asking her to send him some gifts that he will distribute to those who have helped him.
That is five pairs of toilet scissors, five single-bladed knives, five metal school penholders, five small cylindrical cases with feathers and a necklace for the daughter of the Hoggar amenokal who has just been born.
Little by little, Father Charles is recovering, despite persistent headaches.
But he feels the bite of age – he will soon be fifty – and, more and more, decline.
He doesn't complain about it.
His eyesight had become very weak either.
And he no longer deplores the lack of conversions.
He now sees his role as that of a “
preparer
” through friendship, hospitality, availability, listening.
He gives thanks to the Lord on the vertiginous heights of Assekrem where he has established a new hermitage.
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