The life of Charles de Foucauld (1858-1916) was intense and consistent. Born into a noble French family, he pursued a military career, distinguished by his indiscipline. In 1882 he left the army in order to explore Morocco. Charles prepared himself thoroughly for this dangerous journey, which was his initiatory journey. With the support of geographical societies in France and Algeria and disguised as a Jewish rabbi, he penetrated the heart of the Maghreb. There he will undergo a vital change when he knows the simplicity and forcefulness of the Islamic religion and the beauty of the desert; both will confront the adventurer with the Absolute.
From February to October 1886 he lived in Paris, where, greatly transformed by his experiences, his conversion to the Catholic faith matured, aided by the teachings of his cousin Marie de Bonty and Abbe Henri Huvelin, who became the guide. spiritual of him. A radical man, Charles could not live his faith by halves and in 1888 he left as a pilgrim to the Holy Land; there he discovers his vocation: to lead a hidden and silent life like Jesus in Nazareth.
A next step leads you to La Trappe. He will be a Trappist from 1890 to 1897, first in Ardéche and then in Syria. But for Friar Marie Alberic, such was his name in religion, even the silence of the Trappist was not enough and he asked to be dispensed from his vows. After this decision he returned to the Holy Land, where he remained until 1900 working as a gardener for the Poor Clares of Nazareth. The abbess of the convent, Mother Elizabeth, realizing the spiritual magnitude of Charles de Foucauld, advised him the priesthood and encouraged him to found a new religious order.
In October of the same year he settled in Béni Abbés and, in 1905, he settled permanently in Tamanrasset, near the Tuareg, in a hut built by himself, where he realized his spiritual ideal until his death: contemplation, humble life and help to the neighbor as "universal brother".
The Unique Model is a text made up entirely of phrases taken from the Gospels. Foucauld wanted the book to be a portrait of Jesus and for him to speak to us and show us his way.
