MSI Press Blog

Charles de Foucauld began as a soldier and explorer, restless and self‑absorbed. He sought adventure, not holiness. But in the silence of the Sahara, surrounded by vast emptiness, he discovered a Presence greater than himself. His conversion began in Paris, when he entered a church simply to mock religion — and found himself kneeling instead. Later, in the desert, that moment deepened into vocation. He chose poverty, solitude, and prayer among the Tuareg people, living not to preach but to love. He wrote, “As soon as I believed that there was a God, I understood that I could do nothing else but live for Him.” Charles de Foucauld’s transformation reminds us that faith is not escape but immersion — the desert becomes communion, and silence becomes love.   post inspired by A Believer-in-Waiting's First Encounters with God  by Elizabeth Mahlou. Book description: It begins with a single, transforming encounter with God—one that reshapes everything. What follows is not a return to o...

  André Frossard entered a chapel in Paris one afternoon simply to wait for a friend. He was a journalist, the son of a founder of the French Communist Party, and a convinced atheist. He expected nothing — only silence. But in that silence, something happened. He later wrote that he encountered “a Presence,” sudden and undeniable, a reality more vivid than the world around him. When he stepped out of the chapel, he was no longer the same man. “God exists,” he said, “I met Him.” Frossard’s conversion was instantaneous yet lifelong. He spent the rest of his days trying to articulate what words could barely hold — the shock of grace. His book Dieu existe, je l’ai rencontré (“God Exists, I Met Him”) became a classic of modern spiritual testimony. His transformation reminds us that faith can arrive unannounced. Sometimes, the divine doesn’t argue or persuade — it simply appears , and the heart knows. post inspired by A Believer-in-Waiting's First Encounters with God  by Elizabeth ...

  Jennifer Fulwiler didn’t find God in a moment of emotion or crisis. She found Him through logic — through the steady, rational process of asking questions and following truth wherever it led. Raised in an atheist home, Jennifer approached faith as a skeptic and a thinker. Her conversion began not with a vision, but with a conclusion: that the world made more sense if God existed. She once wrote that this logical foundation gave her confidence — that reason would sustain her even through moments of doubt. And yet, her faith was never abstract. It was lived in the most tangible way possible — amid the joyful chaos of raising six children. Her blog, Conversion Diary , chronicled those early years with humor and honesty. One unforgettable photo showed what she found one morning: a doll, face‑down on a leather chair, lying in a puddle of pee. Real life, unfiltered — and somehow, sacred. Jennifer’s transformation reminds us that faith doesn’t always arrive through thunder or tears. Som...