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    Introduction St. Charles de Foucauld (1858-1916) was a French cavalry soldier before deciding to resign from the military in order to go explore Morocco.  After publishing a well-received book about his travels, he returned to France and rekindled his childhood Catholic faith, deciding to join the Trappists in 1890.  His time with the Trappists led him to Syria, but he eventually left the order in order to become a hermit, in 1897.  After being a porter for Poor Clares in Nazareth and Jerusalem, he returned to France for ordination in 1901, then headed back to Africa, this time Algeria, to continue this eremitic life.  Though he hoped to attract others and form a community, none came.  Instead, he remained a hermit, living among the Tuareg people of Algeria, collecting their poems and writing a dictionary of their language.  A bandit raid on his hermitage--considered a martyrdom--claimed his life.  After his death, his writings and example inspired communities like t

  Introduction      The prayers of the Latin Rite Paschal Vigil are ancient, but they were not the only options.  The 8th-century Gelasian Sacramentary from Paris is another source of--often quite different--ancient liturgical prayers.  Among them is the prayer Deus Mundi Conditor , the prayer for the blessing of the Paschal Candle during the Paschal Vigil, somewhat equivalent to the Exultet .  Indeed, the Deus Mundi Conditor may have influenced the Exultet with its "praise of the bee" section, reflected in the Exultet 's description of the candle as "the work of bees" and the wax as "drawn out by the mother bees."  Below is a translation of the Deus Mundi Conditor , as well as the original Latin text. Deus Mundi Conditor   Prayer for the Blessing of the Paschal Candle from the Gelasian Sacramentary      God, the world’s creator, author of light, the stars’ maker, God Who perspicuously rewove with light the world fallen into darkness, God through Wh

    Introduction St. Charles de Foucauld (1858-1916) was a French cavalry soldier before deciding to resign from the military in order to go explore Morocco.  After publishing a well-received book about his travels, he returned to France and rekindled his childhood Catholic faith, deciding to join the Trappists in 1890.  His time with the Trappists led him to Syria, but he eventually left the order in order to become a hermit, in 1897.  After being a porter for Poor Clares in Nazareth and Jerusalem, he returned to France for ordination in 1901, then headed back to Africa, this time Algeria, to continue this eremitic life.  Though he hoped to attract others and form a community, none came.  Instead, he remained a hermit, living among the Tuareg people of Algeria, collecting their poems and writing a dictionary of their language.  A bandit raid on his hermitage--considered a martyrdom--claimed his life.  After his death, his writings and example inspired communities like t