Prayer of Abandonment
Charles de Foucauld, a French soldier turned hermit in the Sahara, wrote this as a meditation on Jesus’ last words from the Cross. It hands everything over to God and thanks him in advance, whatever comes. Foucauld was killed at his hermitage in 1916 and was declared a saint in 2022.
St. Charles de Foucauld, c. 1896; Luke 23:46
Father, I abandon myself into your hands;
do with me whatever you please.
Whatever you do with me, I thank you.
I am ready for anything; I accept everything.
Only let your will be done in me
and in all your creatures;
I want nothing else, my God.
I place my soul in your hands.
I give it to you, my God,
with all the love of my heart,
because I love you,
and because love makes me need to give myself,
to put myself in your hands without holding back,
with boundless trust,
for you are my Father.
Amen.