On 27th July, we celebrate our annual memorial of a famous Carmelite martyr.
Anno Sjoerd Brandsma was born at Bolsward, The Netherlands, in 1881, and joined the Carmelite Order in 1898 taking the name ‘Titus’, being ordained priest in 1905. In time he became a professor and then Rector Magnificus at the Catholic University of Nijmegen. He was also a journalist.
During the 1930s he gave a famous series of lectures in the United States on Carmelite mysticism. Throughout the 1930s Nazi propaganda was on the rise but Fr Titus refused to support or print anything in support of the Nazi regime.
Fr Titus was arrested by the Gestapo on January 19, 1942, and imprisoned in his native country before being sent to the concentration camp at Dachau where he brought comfort and peace to his fellow prisoners. In Dachau he was experimented on in the medical wing and was finally put to death by lethal injection on July 26, 1942.
He was beatified in 1985 and the cause for his canonisation continues which, we pray, will soon be successful.
Please avail yourself of the resources prepared for the celebration of Blessed Titus Brandsma on July 27th.
Liturgical Resources Blessed Titus Brandsma
- pdf Letter to the Carmelite Family (400 KB)
- pdf Mass Leaflet (287 KB)
- pdf Prayers of the Faithful (216 KB)
- pdf Homily Notes (81 KB)
- pdf Newsletter/bulletin insert (253 KB)
