Father Charles would often share the story of how he came to possess the brass bell he used to open and close the monthly meditation. Charles de Foucauld’s lifestory, as a solitary Trappist monk hermit in the Algerian desert, had been a significant influence on Charles’ pursuit of hermit life and his decision to take the name Charles as his new Christian name, upon becoming a novice at the Trappists’ New Melleray Abbey, on Nov 11, 1956.
De Foucauld’s bell, used to call the desert peoples to Mass, was found by a member of the French Foreign Legion in Tamanghasset, Algeria, after de Foucauld’s life had been taken as part of a rebellion in 1916. This bell eventually found it’s way to Campbell River, BC, into the hands of a family member by the name of Bernard Leclerf, who was a fellow fly fisherman and friend of Charles. As they got to know one another, Bernard recognized Br de Foucauld’s picture hanging in the hermitage. Since then, Father Charles Brandt had the bell on loan from the Leclerf family to begin and end his monthly meditations, carrying on a 100 year old tradition from his patron Brother of the Algerian Sahara.
Later on, Bernard said, “I thought the coincidence of reconnecting Charles Brandt to de Foucauld’s bell was spiritually guided and so improbable that only a guiding hand could have connected us all.”
Bernard Leclerf recounts the story of how his family came to possess the bell of Br Charles de Foucauld and how it found its way to the Hermitage, to ring in the monthly meditations of stillness.
Charles de Foucauld was canonized by Pope Francis on May 15, 2022. For more information on St Charles de Foucauld see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_de_Foucauld
