While we most often associate Fr. Titus interest in education with his work at the University of Nijmegen, he was also deeply involved in Roman Catholic secondary education. These schools were only beginning to take root in the Netherlands.

Rector Tom Brocks has been governing the former Carmel Lyceum in Oss, founded in 1922 by Titus Brandsma, since 2007. After WWII the school was renamed Titus Brandsma Lyceum. Titus' ideas are alive and well here, permeating the school culture. 

If nature and nurture determine one’s personality, I was predestined to become a Carmelite. Brought up with Carmelite friends of my parents in a Carmelite parish and at a Carmelite school, all of which stands for my upbringing and significant others in my childhood, my nurturing.

In 2018 I had the opportunity to attend the Carmelite formation course on Titus Brandsma in the Netherlands and Germany. Learning more about him made me realise that as an individual and the Order at large, we have a lot to learn from and imitate about Titus.

Titus Brandsma left many writings, either in the form of books, articles or letters, but he never wrote about his teachings on fraternity. In spite of that, he lived a fraternal life.

Not for a minute would I dare to compare myself to Titus Brandsma, Carmelite, about to be canonized a Saint.

As a junior high student at the Cathedral of St. Raymond’s in Joliet, Illinois I was given the opportunity to attend a journalism class at Joliet Catholic High School, run by the Carmelites.