His basic approach can be summed up in the 'formula': loving attention to Jesus. We could add... to Jesus present, and supposing always, Jesus as Love incarnate. This, surely, is in the pure gospel tradition: 'This is my Son, my Beloved, listen to Him', 'Remain in me.. in my Word.. in my Love'(John £5 and the whole of I John). It is also in line with the way of Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross, whom Charles constantly read and recommended. Of course, Charles personalizes this gospel and Carmelite way of praying in his own fashion. It follows that we may wish to express it differently, in a manner personal to each of us. Charles explicitly allows for this (remember he was always expecting others to arrive and join him), saying 'let each be guided by the Spirit'. But contact with Charles, through his writings, may well give us a new insight into the real meaning of praying. Each time I reread him, I feel this renewal in myself.

As Charles' approach to prayer is simple, so are the means that he employs. Firstly the gospel: 'Find the time to read a few lines of the holy gospel each day.. for a certain time (it should not be too long).. meditate for a few moments on what you find.. You should try to soak yourself in the spirit of Jesus by reading and rereading, meditating and remediating the words and examples of Jesus. It should be like the drop of water falling steadily on the same stone in the same place..' (to Massignon, 1914). Secondly the Eucharist: 'The Eucharist is Jesus', Jesus present, Jesus our food, Jesus our sacrifice. An outward 'bodily' sign which Charles found to be 'an extreme delight, a great support and strength'.. (to Marie de Bondy 1914), but which he was ready to give up, if need be, in favor of the reality signified, Jesus himself as always present (he had just received permission to reserve the Sacrament after a long interval). Thirdly, daily life and events: 'Be sure that God will give you what is best for his glory, best for your soul, best for the souls of others.. (to Massignon 1916 1st December). Events, and especially people, are occasions for receiving the coming of Jesus, and for responding in living faith and the Spirit's love..

These great 'means' or 'moments' are basically unchanging and always valid. But the little methods of praying are, for Charles, purely relative, and vary as needed, to suit the variety of situations and the changing spiritual psychology. Always simple, they become as Charles goes forward, simpler still. Always, too, there is a combination of vocal prayers - psalms, rosary, exclamations - with meditation, mainly on the gospel, and with contemplation - simple loving attention to Jesus present. This last, contemplation, is for Charles, prayer in the full sense, the 'end' to which we are aiming. But he readily acknowledges that vocal prayer and gospel meditation are the normal supports of contemplation, and the preparation for it. This approach is at once practical, starting from where we are, and goes to the heart of real prayer in all its depths.

'We should let ourselves be guided by the Holy Spirit' (on John 14, 28-33; see OS 159). How to pray? How to act? In both cases the Holy Spirit is our one guide (on Mark 13,2; see OS 155-157). Not only does he 'inspire' our praying, giving it life and aim, but he guides us to pray in this or that way, at this or that moment of our lives. Charles is convinced of this, and constantly returns to this theme. 'To hear well the voice of the divine Spirit, the help of a wise director is good' Notice the role attributed to the 'director': simply to help a person listen better to the Spirit's voice. For as Charles adds, 'It is for God himself to form for each our interior life, and not for us nor for other creatures: Father into your hands I commend my spirit'. This understanding makes Charles totally free: free in adapting and changing his own concrete way of praying, free also in envisaging whatever form of praying is most appropriate to this or that person at this or that moment. Free finally to have or not to have the help of a director according to availability. Charles had the 'good fortune' to have the Abbe Henri Huvelin as his spiritual guide, a priest supremely conscious of the unique 'work' of the Holy Spirit.

As love, for Charles, is the heart of prayer, so too love is the heart of action. ' The first and last effects of love... are imitation and contemplation' (Nazareth OS204). Why? Because 'love leads to union', union with the Beloved. So 'let us imitate Jesus out of love, contemplate Jesus out of love, act in everything out of love for Jesus'. The tendency to see prayer and life, or faith and life, as in any way separate, is totally foreign to Brother Charles. As he rightly sees, love, 'divine love', is the key; for love, if genuine, 'informs' every other act, and unites all together.

Of course, Charles is, and increasingly, well aware that we don't love as we wish to love. As he writes to his cousin on the day of his death: 'We find that we don't love enough; yes, it's true, we'll never love enough. But the good Lord knows from what clay he has formed us, and He loves us more than a mother can love her child. And He who doesn't lie, has told us that he will not reject anyone who comes to Him'.

The more, in fact, Charles advances in life and faith, the more his prayer simplifies. This is due to an increasing dependence on God: the image of God as 'mother' is frequent: and this leads to a complete naturalness and simplicity.