Vigils Reading – Bl. Christian de Cherge

CHRISTIAN DE CHERGÉ

MONK, MARTYR, AND MYSTIC

By Dom Bernardo Olivera

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In its early stages, monastic life was interpreted in various ways. Not a

few understood monasticism as an authentic martyrdom. The martyr, the monk

and the mystic are people who have oriented their lives toward mystery and

entered deeply therein. They long for one thing only: to enter into communion

with their Lord in death in order to be joined with him in the Resurrection.

Christian de Chergé was born on January 18, 1937 at Colmar into a

distinguished family of eight children. His father was a military man, as would

be his older brother later on. During his childhood he spent three years in

Algeria during the Second World War. From the time of his childhood he always

remained impressed by the Muslim’s way of approaching God.

On October 6, 1956, at the age of nineteen he entered the seminary of the

Carmelites in Paris. His studies were interrupted in 1959 when he had to report

for military service. Set on becoming an officer, he took the required courses

and in July of the following year he was made second lieutenant. That same

month, at the time of the war of independence, he arrived in Algeria at the age

of twenty-three.

An event occurred during this time that left its mark on him for the rest

of his life. He had made friends with an Algerian who worked as a warden under

the French authorities, a position that made him susceptible to the violence of

the National Liberation Army. Mohamed tried to be faithful at one and the same

time to his Christian friend, to his Islamic faith, and to his own people. It so

happened one day that they were involved in a scuffle in the street. Mohamed9

protected his friend and tried to pacify his aggressors. The following day, he was

found dead. This painful episode was never to be forgotten. Christian came back

to it in later years, writing: “I know at least one beloved brother, a convinced

Muslim, who gave his life for love of another, in a concrete way, by spilling his

own blood. Indeed, since then, in my hope for communion of all the elect in

Christ, I can fix my eyes on this friend who lived, even in his death, the one

commandment.”

For Christian de Chergé all of this was a foundational experience and the

seed of a vocation. In the blood of his friend, assassinated for not having wanted

to bargain with hatred, Christian said in 1982: “I knew my calling to follow

Christ would end up living itself out sooner or later in the same country where

I had been given the pledge of the greater love, “shed for you and for many”. On

March 21, 1964, he was ordained a priest and shortly thereafter was sent to

Algeria and to the monastic life. On September 14, 1976, he made his perpetual

vows. In it he expressed his desire to “live in Prayer in the service of the Church

of Algeria, listening to the Muslim soul, God willing, until the final gift of my

death.”

Christian was elected Titular Prior of Atlas monastery in 1984. He was

already deeply involved in the interreligious dialogue. On May 21, 1996, united

with his six brothers of the community, he sealed with his blood the witness of

his life.