Go into the desert ...

I have come into the desert to pray, to learn to pray. It has been the Sahara's great gift to me, and I should like to share it with all my friends. It is immeasurable and contains every other gift within itself. It is the sine qua non of life, the treasure buried in the field, the pearl of great price discovered in the market.

Carlo Carretto was a charismatic figure in Italy following the Second World War. He was the leader of Italy's Catholic Action for twenty years, but then in 1954 resigned to join the recently re-founded Little Brothers of Jesus, inspired by the life and writings of Charles de Foucauld. At the time they represented a revolutionary force in the church, a hope of renewal and re-evaluation.

Carretto moved to the Little Brothers' novitiate in the Sahara Desert. He fell in love with the desert, seeing it as a place of prayer and truth. His first book, Letters from the Desert, was published in 1964 (Darton, Longman & Todd) and was an immediate success. In it he explores his choice of vocation and the meaning of prayer and of his relationship with Jesus. On pp. 12-13 an extract from the book presents some of his ideas on prayer. It offers some inspiring insights as people from around Australia gather for Prayer 2010 in Brisbane.