Theatre, concert, round table: relive the Charles de Foucauld evening at the Collège des Bernardins

“An evening with Charles de Foucauld” was organized by Le

at the Collège des Bernardins, with the support of Secours de France, Mission Ismérie and NDLS Conseil.

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The figure of Charles de Foucauld does not fail to surprise, to question.

Impetuous orphan, undisciplined soldier, camouflaged adventurer in Morocco, hermit in the middle of the South-Saharan desert and, henceforth, saint of the Catholic Church: an admirable trajectory which nevertheless gives rise to some deformations.

The issue dedicated to him by

corrects these approximations.

In his editorial, Michel De Jaeghere recalls in particular the ambiguity of the admiration of certain disciples of Father de Foucauld who now make this ardent missionary

The evening organized at the Collège des Bernardins finally cleared up some of these misunderstandings.

To the question "how can Charles de Foucauld inspire us today?"

", Father Xavier Lefebvre, parish priest of Saint-Augustin where Charles de Foucauld converted and, as such, distant successor of Father Huvelin, pastor of Saint-Augustin, replied:

The tone of the evening was set: a deep and current evocation of the saint, led on different tables, by intellectuals, but also musicians and an actor.

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Written by the composer and director Francesco Agnello, the only one on stage interpreted by the actor Fitzgerald Berthon, accompanied at the hang by Vincent Comte, exposed in a masterful way the stages of the life of the “universal brother”.

A profound show leaving the essential to the music and the word, from the very texts of Charles de Foucauld, which allowed the spectators to grasp a part of the grace of the great face-to-face between the inhabited solitude of the desert and the soul of the saint.

Following great arias by Brahms (with the impressive Warum), Reinberger, Bruckner, Elgar and even Poulenc, the young singers of the talented Ephata choir moved their audience with a beautiful polyphonic interpretation of Charles's prayer of abandonment. .

An evening with Charles de Foucauld at the Collège des Bernardins

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Isabelle Schmitz, deputy editor-in-chief of

then moderated a round table with guests who each shed valuable light on the knowledge of this new saint and his missionary desire: Laurent Touchagues (President of

), recalled that this character with a big heart had first been

and that the good he had been able to do in the Sahara, he owed it

.

Father Xavier Lefebvre depicted Charles de Foucauld as “

 ”, who for a long time sought the truth to find it in a God

Medhi-Emmanuel Djaadi (actor) spoke of his experience as a convert from Islam, “struck by the living word of Christ”.

he confided, before calling on Christians to

of their faith, regretting having rarely seen a Christian take a day off on Good Friday, when a Muslim

The discussion therefore made it possible to return to the spirituality of the saint, the details of his life, and the depth of his relationship to Islam, a relationship of friendship for

, as Michel De Jaeghere in his opening speech.

The evening ended under the almost thousand-year-old vaults of the Collège des Bernardins, with a Moroccan buffet during which the spectators were able to discuss with speakers, choristers, actors and journalists, as well as the partner associations of the event:

, association of evangelization of Muslims,

which supports the

and more particularly the families of soldiers and harkis of French Algeria, and finally

, which accompanies families in their investments.

“Charles de Foucauld, a voice in the desert”, 164 pages, €12.90, available on newsstands and on the

Evening poster.

Le Figaro Special Edition