Michael Carlier Soldier Monk

Rebroadcast of the long running radio program, "The Ave Maria Hour", a presentation of the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement. www.AtonementFriars.org

Born Michel Carlier in France, Frater Maxime Carlier, O.C.S.O., was a Trappist monk of Our Lady of Scourmont Abbey at Forges in the municipality of Chimay, Belgium. He entered the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance at Chimay in 1911, having already served two years in the army, and professed simple vows in 1913. In August of 1914, with the outbreak of the First World War, he was once again pressed into military service. He achieved the rank of Lieutenant, and during the intense fighting he often rescued his fellow soldiers without concern for his own safety. Frater Maxime was twice wounded in battle, and he was awarded the Croix de Guerre medal for bravery. After three years of bloody conflict, just before leaving his post to go on furlough, he was killed in action during a German bombardment at the Yser River in 1917, and he died at the age of 26.