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6 - In memory of Rene Voillaume 1905 -2003, Brother Rene Voillaume and Little sister Magdeleine
![]() It was at El Golea, in the middle of the Sahara, that they met for the first time, at the tomb of Charles de Foucauld on March 19th 1938. Little Sister Magdeleine immediately felt full of confidence even though the welcome by Father Voillaume was rather reserved. They were so different! A few years later, Little Sister Magdeleine wrote to him about this: "We have two totally different temperaments, two methods of working. I believe that that is neither your fault nor mine! it is the Lord who wants it this way. We should not want to be like each other, that would be a catastrophe for us both! The Lord has brought us together for something very great." What united them deeply beyond these differences was a deep spiritual communion. In November 1944, at the end of a week spent together at El Abiodh, Little Sister Magdeleine wrote to Father Voillaume: "I have never received such graces since the beginning of the foundation. I believe that it was the soul of Brother Charles that was revealed during this encounter."A month later, it was Father Voillaume who wrote to Little Sister Magdeleine, "It seems to me that, more and more, we need to be deeply united and that our two foundations should support one another, living out the same spirit." Little Sister Magdeleine, who felt the need to give the Little Sisters a spirituality drawn from the source of the life and message of Brother Charles, was convinced that Father Voillaume had the charism to translate it into a modern and evangelical language. So, from 1946 onwards, it was to him that she entrusted the spiritual formation of the Little Sisters, through sessions that took place first in El Abiodh, then in Rome. ![]() In 1953, Little Sister Magdeleine undertook a long journey round the world, in order to start communities in every country, and she invited Father Voillaume to this adventure! He recognised that he was "one who followed and that Little Sister Magdeleine was one who led".He also recognised that he himself would never have dreamed of this trip; however, he added: "It was the concrete expression and the setting up, if I can put it that way, of universality conceived of as an openness to different races and to different peoples." As the years went by, their affection and trust deepened; Little Sister Magdeleine notes at the end of a day spent with Father Voillaume: "It is mainly a question of our plans for new foundations. There is no divergence, except that our two brains are not alike, and brains are well-known to have an influence on the methods used. But Father Voillaume has extraordinary goodness and patience. ![]() A few months before her death, Little Sister Magdeleine, despite her very poor health, envisaged a last journey to the USSR. And at that time it was Father Voillaume who encouraged here to take the step:
This was a path of abandonment which he lived himself, at the end of his long life, in weakness and dependence, an ultimate preparation for the encounter with the Beloved whom they sought passionately all through their lives. |
Inspired by Brother Charles... |