Carlo Carretto was born into an Italian peasant family in 1910. Much of his life he involved himself with work for the youth sector, eventually becoming president of Catholic Action. In 1954 he joined the Little Brothers of Jesus, and spent ten years in the Sahara Desert living a eremitical life of contemplation and prayer. Out of this experience he wrote the book, Letters from the Desert. He died in 1988.

Carlo Carretto at Spello, August 1972. public domain / Wikipedia.