Because of Brother Charles of Jesus
To all who may be called to the community of the Little sisters of Jesus because of Brother Charles of Jesus Little Sister, You want to give your life to our Lord following the example of Brother Charles who was called the “Little Brother of Jesus” and who chose to call Jesus “his beloved Brother and Lord.” Perhaps you are wondering if our community really corresponds to your ideal and to the ideal of Brother Charles, whom you have chosen to lead you to the Lord. “Come and see,” said Jesus to those he called. So you also, Little Sister, come and see. We are not the only group inspired by Brother Charles of Jesus (Father de Foucauld). Another congregation already existed when we began and many other groups could follow. A new family is growing up, which the Lord has willed to answer new needs in a new century. We chose Brother Charles of Jesus on purpose to be our father. He really is our founder, even if he died completely alone. In his suffering and solitude he was like Christ, and his death became a new seed of life. "Unless a grain of wheat falls o the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain; but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest." (Jn. 12:24). Brother Charles did not found us through a written rule but rather “by interceding prayer, self-sacrifice, dying, becoming holy – in short, by loving.” (Brother Charles of Jesus to Suzanne Perret, Dec. 15, 1904) He alone is our founder, I am only trying to understand his thought and pass it on to you, looking more at the lessons of his life and of his death than at his rule. Brother Charles of Jesus cannot be confined or limited by a rule that he never actually lived himself, alone or with others. In is first rule he spoke about strict enclosure, while he lived in the Sahara with only the desert as enclosure most of the time. In this rule he planned that the Sisters should be cloistered, leaving their monastery only to go from one community to another. He, on the other hand, was above all a nomad, traveling all over the Sahara, going from tent to tent and showing us how to be totally available. He also left us an example of very generous and fraternal hospitality. "The fraternity is a beehive from 5 to 9 a.m. and from 4 to 8 p.m…". (Brother Charles of Jesus to Mme. De Bondy, July 12, 1902) "I never stop meeting people and talking to them; slaves, poor people, soldiers, travellers, those who are ill or who come out of curiosity." (Ibid., August 29, 1902) There was no limit to his love, and he was always ready to help or to listen to anyone without distinction. It is this love which I want to try to bring you to understand so that you can see if you can follow humbly after him.
From the Green Booklet, 1948 The vocation of a Little Sister of JESUS