Displaying items by tag: Titus Brandsma

For all of its 60-year history Carmel Catholic High School in Mundelein, Illinois, has been inspired by the heroic witness of St. Titus Brandsma. The Carmelite monastery, which was home to members of the Carmelite Order who taught at the high school and is now converted into classroom space for the students, was dedicated to Titus Brandsma during the early days of his canonization process. The school chapel at the main entrance to the school also carries his name.

To celebrate the canonization of St. Titus on May 15, the school held events on May 19, including a special all-school Mass of Thanksgiving. There was also an evening reception at the school with a viewing of the canonization Mass. During the nine days prior to the Mass, the school focused on a different aspect of St. Titus’ life. These reflections, as well as the school Mass celebrating the canonization, can be found on the school’s Facebook page.

On Saturday, September 10, members of the school community and guests joined together in the school chapel to “rededicate” the chapel to St. Titus Brandsma. Previously commonly referred to as “the Brandsma Chapel,” its name reflected that the Church had not officially recognized the martyrdom of Brandsma in any capacity when it was built.

Among the guests at the renaming of the chapel were members of the Brandsma family. Some of them had attended the canonization events in Rome. They also spent an evening with retreatants at the Carmelite Spiritual Center in July to speak about how their family has continued to live out their cousin Titus’ Catholic faith in the Chicago area. It was at this gathering that they met Michael Poulos from Carmel Catholic who invited them to the chapel rededication.

Two relics from St. Titus were also displayed at the Darien gathering: a large piece of his Carmelite habit and an entire sleeve of his shirt. These were retrieved from the Dachau Concentration camp, along with other items belonging to St. Titus, following his martyrdom in July 1942.

The Price of Truth: Titus Brandsma, Carmelite (in Spanish)
by Miguel Maria Arribas, O. Carm.

The biography of the Church's most recent martyr--a dangerous friar according to the Nazis--Fr. Arribas succeeds in capturing the heart and soul of St. Titus Brandsma's lessons for us today. We all know the life of Titus, but in this book Fr. Arribas explores the documentation behind the canonization process to show why Titus is so important for today.

A simple and cordial Carmelite, a multi-faceted priest who was at times a mystic, a passionate journalist, a university rector and, throughout his life, a driven witness for Christ to the point of giving his own life for the truth.

The author, now deceased, traveled to the Netherlands and Germany, to the places of birth, life and death of St. Titus, to better understand this "martyr of freedom of expression".

For more information on this book

Also available in English

Recently the Provincial Council of the Betica Province (Southern Spain) inaugurated a temporary exhibition hall dedicated to St. Titus Brandsma, the Dutch Carmelite and recognized journalist in a provincial museum located in Jerez de la Frontiera. Brandsma's martyrdom in the Dachau Concentration camp in July 1942 resulted in his canonization on May 15, 2020 by Pope Francis at St. Peter's Square.

The exhibit contains sculptures, writings, and paintings by various European artists. It is a unique opportunity to learn more about the life and the gift of St. Titus to the Church.

The exhibit is located on the first floor of the Carmelite Museum. The museum is open to the public Thursday through Saturdays from 11 am until 6 pm and Sundays from 10 am until 2 pm. The display is open until November 26.

For more information on the museum (in Spanish) ...

The General Congregation of the Order of Carmelites, meeting in Rome since Sept. 5, traveled to the Basilica of St. Bartholomew on the Island (San Bartolomeo all’Isola) on Friday, September 16, the final day of the meeting, to deliver an autographed letter from St. Titus Brandsma. The relic from the new saint was placed in the Sanctuary of New Martyrs in the church.

The Sanctuary of New Martyrs (Santuario dei Nuovi Martiri), was established following the Jubilee Year of 2000. The year before the jubilee, St. John Paul II established a "Commission of the New Martyrs" to investigate Christian martyrdom in the 20th century. The commission worked for two years on the premises of St. Bartholomew's Basilica, collecting some 12,000 files.

Andrea Riccardi, founder of the Community of Sant'Egidio, says, "I entered the great archive of the New Martyrs Commission, where letters, reports, memoirs are collected that, in recent years, have arrived in Rome from all over the world. I began to leaf through them. They were official letters from bishops' conferences around the world. But also memoirs from simple groups of religious. I read and got hooked. There were thousands of stories of contemporary men and women: Christians who had been killed as such."

The pope wanted the basilica to become the Memorial Site of the New Martyrs. The proclamation was solemnly celebrated on Oct. 12, 2002. The Orthodox Patriarch of Romania, Teoctist, witnessed the placement large icon dedicated to the Witnesses of the Faith of the 20th century was placed on the high altar.

On April 7, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI honored the memory of the Witnesses of the Faith of the 20th and 21st centuries with a visit to the Community of Sant'Egidio on its 40th anniversary. The six altars, the pope explained, "Remember the Christians who fell under the totalitarian violence of Communism, Nazism, those killed in America, in Asia and Oceania, in Spain and Mexico, in Africa. We ideally retrace many painful events of the past century. So many fell while fulfilling the Church's evangelizing mission: their blood mingled with that of native Christians to whom the faith had been communicated."

In his role as spiritual director of the National Union of Catholic Journalists, Brandsma encouraged publishers to oppose the publication of Nazi propaganda in Catholic newspapers. The refusal of Catholic newspapers to print Nazi propaganda sealed Titus's fate.

He had agreed to personally deliver to each publisher a letter from the Catholic bishops. This letter instructed the publishers not to comply with a new law requiring them to publish official Nazi announcements and articles. Titus met with fourteen publishers before being arrested by the Gestapo in Nijmegen on January 19, 1942.

Interned in Scheveningen and Amersfoort, Holland, he was deported to Dachau in June of that year.

Under that harsh regime, his health deteriorated rapidly and he was transferred to the camp hospital as early as the third week of July. He was subjected to chemical experiments before being killed by lethal injection on July 26, 1942. On the day of his death, the Dutch bishops published a pastoral letter strongly protesting the deportation of Jews from Holland.

Before his execution, Titus had prayed that God would help the nurse who would give the injection to repent of her actions in the camp. He also gave her his rosary beads, although she protested, saying she was a non-practicing Catholic. A few years later, the same woman went to a Carmelite priory to ask for forgiveness and was a witness in the beatification trial, which took place in Rome, Nov. 3, 1985.

Brandsma was canonized by Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square on May 15, 2022.

St. Titus’ letter is on loan to the church.

Titus Brandsma Congress
October 3-7, 2023 | Radboud University | Nijmegen, Netherlands

The organization committee of the Titus Brandsma Conference to be held at Radboud University in Nijmegen, Netherlands on October 3-7, 2023, is happy to announce that five grants for participation in this conference are available. The grants cover the travel and accommodation costs as well as expenses for lunch, dinner, coffee / tea, and participation in the program of the conference.

Those who wish to apply need to send their application in accordance with their provincial via email to Dr. Elisabeth Hense: Questo indirizzo email è protetto dagli spambots. È necessario abilitare JavaScript per vederlo.

Grants can be awarded for those

• who cannot receive financial support for participation from their provinces (Asia, Africa, South America), and
• wish to actively spread Titus Brandsma’s body of thought and his spirituality in their countries and therefore will organize a Titus Brandsma activity in their own country and language reaching out to a group of interested people (students, pupils, members of the Carmelite Order, members of a parish, etc.). The activity might consist in a lecture, (series of) lessons, a publication, the formation of a reading and discussion group, liturgical celebrations, a retreat program, a societal activity etc. A concrete plan for the activity in mind (described in 200 words) should be included in the application.

The deadline for applications is December 1, 2022.

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. I jumped at the chance. It was titled the “Titus Brandsma Journalism Class.”

As an eighth grader. I had no idea who Titus Brandsma was. I would soon find out. Our instructor, Father Kevin Shanley, O. Carm., made Titus’ life story required reading.  It was a compelling read. I was struck by how one man dared to stand up to the Nazis, their ideology and their inhumane treatment of those who stood in their way.

Most impressive to me, was the fact that those persecuted shared little in common with Titus other than their humanity. He needed no other reason to stand up for them, those without a voice. Given multiple opportunities to walk away, he chose to stand by his beliefs.

Father Kevin focused our attention to Titus the journalist. Even while founding the Catholic University of Nijmegen, he still edited a newspaper. He championed freedom of the press and freedom of educational well before the start of World War II. He hailed his heroic efforts to bring a letter, written of his urging, from the Council of Bishops of Holland to the editors of 17 Catholic publications. It detailed how they were to deny the Nazi efforts to add content to and censor their publications. These letters were hand delivered by Titus.

His continued ministry while imprisoned in Dachau has been well documented, as have his mistreatment and murder. His life and death as a martyr for the freedom of the press led to his beatification and canonization.

All of the above are well documented facts but what impact did this have on me? What impact should this have on all of us.

Personally, I witness daily those in need, the homeless, the hungry, those battling substance abuse and personal demons, they too need a voice. I have found numerous agencies in my area to work with such as Habitat for Humanity and the Northern Illinois Foodbank. I hope to provide a voice for my neighbors in need. I do not pretend to have the personal courage of Titus; I am not sure if I have the conviction of faith to give my life for a cause. That does not mean that, inspired by Titus and others, I cannot make a difference in the lives of others. The impact may not be as significant, the results as momentous, but nonetheless an impact.

All of us can benefit from the inspiration of Titus, whether it be in our community, nationally or internationally, life presents us with limitless opportunities to follow his lead.

This leads us to the legacy of Titus. We need to tell his story to our children. We live in a world where the truth can, at times, seem elusive. Our young students would be well served hearing the story of one man. Committed to the truth, compelled to share that truth and show the conviction of his principles.

The lesson of the true costs of freedom and what one man was willing to sacrifice need to be shared with future generations. If not for Father Kevin, I can truthfully say that I would know little of Titus’ legacy. His veneration to sainthood would have gone almost unnoticed. All in spite of receiving my high school education at a Carmelite high school.

While we have all read of the heroic efforts of soldiers on D Day and at the Battle of the Bulge, little time is spent passing along the narrative of lives such as Titus. It was no less heroic than the afore mentioned. He also provides an example of how all us can and should resist crimes against humanity. He provides a wonderful narrative of a human being who was willing to fight for those who shared neither a common faith, ethnic origin or national roots. Most Importantly, they shared humanity and needed to be protected and their story needed to be heard.

If we hope to find a Titus in among us, his story needs to be told, unedited. It is easy to ignore crimes against humanity when we are not personally affected. History, specifically Titus’ story, shows us this is not a good idea.

As we celebrate the legacy of Titus at occasion of his canonization, there is no better way to do so than by telling his story.

Zelo zelatus sum pro domino deo exercituum.

Bill Bayci

“Joliet Catholic High School - Class of 1974"

During a press conference organized by the Communications Office of the Carmelite Order for the canonization of Titus Brandsma, a Dutch journalist presented the prior general, Míceál O’Neill, a copy of a letter from Catholic Journalists to Pope Francis. The letter outlines why the newly canonized saint should be designated patron of journalists by the Church. 

The four principle signers, from the Netherlands and Belgium, are joined by many others from around Europe and the United States of America.

Here is the copy of the letter from the journalists:

An open letter from Catholic journalists to Pope Francis on the occasion of the canonization of Father Titus Brandsma on May 15, 2022

Your Holiness,

In 2018 you asked us, journalists, loud and clear, “to promote a journalism of peace”, a “journalism that is truthful and opposed to falsehoods, rhetorical slogans, and sensational headlines. A journalism created by people for people, one that is at the service of all, (…) a journalism committed to pointing out alternatives to the escalation of shouting matches and verbal violence” (“The truth will set you free” (Jn. 8:32), Fake news and journalism for peace. Message of His Holiness Pope Francis for World Communications Day, 24 January 2018).

We wholeheartedly endorse your call to action and in it we recognize a mission statement for the whole of the journalistic enterprise: for old and new media, for editors of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations, and internet platforms - and not only for journalists of Catholic origin, but for all journalists of good will.

On 15 May, in Rome, you will canonize a man who embodied these crucial journalistic values until his dying day: the Dutch Carmelite Father Titus Brandsma (1881 - 1942). 

Titus Brandsma has meant a lot to the Catholic community in the Low Countries, but his journalistic work stands out among all his other activities. He was editor-in-chief of a newspaper, devoted himself to the modernization and professionalization of the Catholic daily press in the Netherlands, and strove for better working conditions and the establishment of a professional training for journalists.

Father Brandsma did his work in the context of the rise of fascism and Nazism in Europe. In word and deed he opposed the language of hatred and division that was becoming common at the time. In his view, what we now describe as ‘fake news’ was not to be tolerated in the Catholic press; he successfully argued for an episcopal ban on the printing of National Socialist propaganda in Catholic newspapers. 

He paid with his life for this courageous actions: in early 1942 Father Titus was arrested by the occupying forces and consequently sent to the Dachau concentration camp. There, on July 26 of the same year, he was killed by an injection, on the Sunday that the Dutch bishops had their courageous protest against the deportations of Jews read out in all the churches.

We, Catholic journalists, recognize in Titus Brandsma a professional peer and fellow believer of considerable standing. Someone who shared the deeper mission that should drive journalism in modern times: a search for truth and veracity, the promotion of peace and dialogue between people.

We therefore see him as a friend and advocate for our entire profession, indeed a patron saint of journalism. We would therefore like to boldly ask you to make this patron saint’s office official. 

The current patron saint of journalism is Francis de Sales. He is undoubtedly a holy man of faith and of great merit, but he was not a journalist in the modern sense of the word. Titus Brandsma was.

And as we said, he gave his life for it. In our view, this makes him particularly suitable for this patronage. According to UNESCO, in 2021, no less than 55 journalists died worldwide while carrying out their work. Many more had to deal with violence, threats, repression, censorship and persecution. The commitment to truth and humanity is extremely dangerous in these times of disinformation and polarization. This urgently requires a holy intercessor who has experienced this personally - and passed the ordeal with flying colors.

We thank you for your kindness in considering this request.

A limited supply of these books (and more!) will be available at the Titus Brandsma Center during the days of the canonization (Hours of operation to be announced). The center is located in the parish hall in the Carmelite church on the Via della Conciliazione, the street leading into the Vatican. The hall is easily accessible from Borgo S. Angelo (across from the Passetto, which connects the Vatican to Castel San Angelo).

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JUST PUBLISHED THIS WEEK IN ENGLISH!

Fernando Millán Romeral. Truth in Love – Titus Brandsma, Carmelite.

Printed Edition ISBN: 978-1-936742-29-5 - 138 pages.  Euro US$19.95. Also available as an e-book on Apple Books and Amazon for US$10.99

The English translation of Fr. Fernando’s well-documented research into the life and spirituality of Titus Brandsma and its effect today. As a vice-postulator for the cause for canonization of Fr. Titus and former prior general of the Carmelite Order, Fr. Fernando is extremely knowledgeable about the Fr. Titus’ spirituality and draws out connections not found in other works on Brandsma. This volume in English has been amplified with recent information uncovered by Fr. Fernando which is not in previous translations. Written in a very familiar storytelling style, the reader will find the rich spirituality of this Carmelite saint very accessible.

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Titus Brandsma: Letters to the Family
Collected Works, vol 2

Edited by Elisabeth Hense and Joseph Chalmers. Published by Edizioni Carmelitane – 2021 – 526 pages. Euro 46,00 - US$55.00.  Also available as an e-book on Apple Books and Amazon for US$27.99

This second volume of the collected works of Titus Brandsma brings together his numerous writings to his parents, siblings, and other family members. While much of his correspondence has been lost, this collection shows the depth of Blessed Titus’ attachment and concern for his family. He discusses many of the important family matters as well as shares in their joys and sorrows, advises the family on difficult decision, and also writes about his own life and his concerns. He never forgot a birthday, name day, profession day, wedding day, or religious feast day of his relatives— all remembered with a letter or card.

The cards and letters also give a sense of how well-travelled Blessed Titus was due to his work for the Dutch province of the Order as well as his many civic, educational, and Church commitments.

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Titus Brandsma: Mysticism in Action
Collected Works, vol 1

Edited by Elisabeth Hense and Joseph Chalmers. Published by Edizioni Carmelitane – 2021 – 273 pages – Extensive bibliography. Euro 25,00 - US$30.00. Also available as an e-book on Apple Books and Amazon for US$15.00

This is the first volume of a multi volume series, containing the translations into English of Fr. Titus Brandsma’s writings. This book gives an insight into his scholarly work, his social commitment, and his personal relationships. The texts selected here date from the period 1904 to 1942.

Brandsma resolutely opposed the National Socialist (Nazi) movement. He developed an explicitly Christian perspective on the themes of mysticism and spirituality, social teaching, peace and disarmament, heroism, journalism, and education, the fight against poverty- all issues in Dutch society at the time.

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Miguel Arribas, O. Carm.  The Price of Truth: Titus Brandsma, Carmelite.

2021. Printed Edition ISBN: 978-1-936742-26-4 - eBook ISBN: 978-1-936742-27-1. 331 pages - Extensive bibliography. Also available as an e-book on Apple Books and Amazon for US$12.99

An extensive biography of St. Titus Brandsma, Carmelite and martyr for the Catholic faith. Fr. Arribas wrote this biography based on the acts of the process of canonization as well as biographies in various languages. To better understand Brandsma’s spiritual journey, the author visited The Netherlands and Germany, in pilgrimage to the places of birth, life, and death of this “martyr for freedom of expression.”

Brandsma led a simple life even though he was a multifaceted priest, mystic, a passionate journalist, “rector magnificus” of the Catholic University of Nijmegan, and a courageous witness for Christ, even to the point of giving his own life for the truth.

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Titus Brandsma: Carmelite Educator - Carmelite Mystic - Carmelite Martyr - Spiritual Guide
Boxed Set of Four Books

Published by Carmelite Media. Euro 23.00 - US$25.00

A four-book boxed set contains writings by and about Carmelite Titus Brandsma that explore Titus' experiences as an educator, mystic, martyr, and spiritual guide. Set includes:

• Carmelite Mysticism-Historical Sketches by Titus Brandsma, O. Carm., (85 pages)
• Friar Against Fascism by Leopold Glueckert, O. Carm. (24 pages)
• Meditations with Titus Brandsma by Jane Lytle-Vierira (25 pages)
• Meditations on the Way of the Cross of Albert Servaes by Titus Brandsma, O. Carm. (56 pages)

Each book is also available individually (only directly from Carmelite Media [carmelites.info/publications]).

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Tito Brandsma, O. Carm. Bellezza del Carmelo:
Appunti storici di mistica carmelitana. Via Crucis. Pace e amore per la pace.

Published by Edizioni Carmelitane (In Italian) - First Reprinting: 2015 - 161 pages.

This book is a brief description of Carmelite spirituality, with historical notes and links to the prominent figures of Carmelite spirituality. The second part of the book contains the Stations of the Cross in the form of a dialogue and a description of the scenes. Written by St. Titus Brandsma with his exposition and spirituality as a teacher and journalist during World War II.

The book contains three writings of Blessed Titus Brandsma: Beauty of Carmel, historical notes of Carmelite mysticism, which constitute the first attempt at a historical synthesis of the spirituality of Carmel. Way of the Cross, contemplative meditation of the fourteen stations of this traditional exercise of piety, so dear to the Christian heart. Peace and Love for Peace, an impassioned lecture given by Prof. Bransma in 1931, but with content very applicable to today.

Nature and Nurture

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. There was no escape. Consequently, in 2001, I became a member of the Carmelite family as a Third Order Carmelite: my ‘genetic print,’ my nature.

Father Titus and My Hometown

It all started in Oss, a small industrial town in the southern Dutch province of Brabant. I was born in 1957 in Oss. From 1909 till 1923 Father Titus lived in Oss in a Carmelite monastery and taught philosophy. He founded a secondary school, the Carmel College, where I studied for 8 years. A statue of Father Titus stood prominently in front of the college.

So there I was in Oss, 15 years after father Titus Brandsma was murdered in Dachau. We both have this connection with that small town called Oss. I grew up there. The old and new Carmelite monastery were a daily fact of life, a part of life, my family’s life, as well as the old and new friar’s church, the cemetery, and the schools.

Father Galema, who I knew as one of the Carmelite teachers at my college, was buried next to my sister Marike. She unfortunately passed away in 1978 after a long struggle with cancer at the age of 18 years. The local Carmelite community and Father Falco Thuis, the prior general from 1971-1983, were of great consolation for my parents who had just lost a child. Marike was a faithful young woman.

Facing death, she was full of hope and resigned herself to her destiny, believing she would be with God, with Jesus. My sister Marike gave me a spiritual boost at the time. Now, when I read his poem, she reminds me of Father Titus and how he suffered and kept his faith, experiencing Jesus as his good and close friend.

 “Sweet Jesus, I in Thee and Thou In me shall never part……No grief shall fall my way but I Shall see thy grief-filled eyes; The lonely way that Thou once walked Has made me sorrow-wise.”

A Call

Together with my brothers and sisters I grew up in a Catholic family with loving and caring parents. Our mother made our house a home, warm and secure. Our father, who was a lawyer and later in life a judge at a Criminal Court, taught us about solidarity with the less fortunate and about justice and righteousness as the essence of our faith.

“Many and varied are the ways in which our saintly forefathers laid down how everyone, whatever his station or the kind of religious observance he has chosen, should live a life of allegiance to Jesus Christ — how, pure in heart and stout in conscience, he must be unswerving in the service of his Master.”

As a teenager, my dream was to become a priest and a missionary to live and work in Africa. I soon discovered celibacy was not my call. Instead of the seminary and monastery, I choose the university in Amsterdam and became a medical doctor. I married my Marlène and we moved to The Hague. We were both with busy jobs in a busy city with a busy family life. We hungered for silence, prayer and community.

During the early years of our marriage, Father Jos Boermans, also one of my former teachers at the Titus Brandsma college, has been a great support and inspiration for Marlène and myself developing our mutual Carmelite marital spirituality. In our correspondence and meetings, we teasingly referred to him as brother B. as in the first chapter of the Rule of Saint Albert.

“Albert, called by God’s favour to be Patriarch of the Church of Jerusalem, bids health in the Lord and the blessing of the Holy Spirit to his beloved sons in Christ, B. and the other hermits under obedience to him, who live near the spring on Mount Carmel.”

Catholic values, such as human dignity, solidarity, and service in the community for the common good, defined Father Titus’ life. In my own spiritual development, I realized more and more that the same values defined my life, in my choices as a medical doctor as well as my activities in the Church. Therefore, I decided (actually my wife came up with the idea) to start the diaconate formation program and was ordained as a deacon in 1995. In the diocese people joked: “Did God call Paul? We thought it was Marlène.”

“What makes society enjoyable, rather than organised rights and duties, are patience, mutual tolerance and mercifulness. In short: love.”

My Daily Focus and Inspiration

When choosing a password one tends to include a personal reference. For me a password helps me to focus whatever activity I perform. My many digital passwords for computer, apps, social media, websites, work related domains, and God knows what else, all of which are too complicated to remember properly, include a reference to Father Titus.

“Each one of you is to stay in his own cell or nearby, pondering the Lord’s law day and night and keeping watch at his prayer unless attending to some other duty.”

City of International Justice and Peace

During my study of medicine, my wife and I moved to The Hague, the city where the International Court of Justice for arbitrage in conflicts between countries (the Peace Palace) is located.

“The Nazi movement is regarded by the Dutch people not only as an insult to God in relation to his creatures, but a violation of the glorious traditions of the Dutch nation. God bless the Netherlands. God bless Germany. May God grant that both nations will soon be standing side by side in full peace and harmony.”

At the Nuremberg trials after the Second World War, individuals were tried for crimes of conspiracy, crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. In the 1990s the Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia was erected under the auspices of the United Nation’s Security Council.

At that time, I just started my medical practice as a general practitioner. With only a few patients my income was not sufficient to cover all expenses created by life in the city and a young family. Looking for a job to earn some extra money on the side, I began working as a prison doctor at the Scheveningen prison. In the early years I worked in the detention unit were Father Titus Brandsma had been held prisoner by the Nazis. A nickname for this prison during the Second World War was “the Orange Hotel” a reference to it as the prison of the resistance fighters in support of the Oranje, the Dutch royal house. During my rounds to visit detainees, I often passed the original “death” cell in which Father Titus must have stayed and wrote his poem.

During lock-up time I managed to visit the original death cell a few times. The most memorable visit was with Carmelite Father Constant Dölle [ed note: author of Encountering God in the Abyss, who met Fr. Titus when his family hosted Brandsma on several occasions at their home.] and a few other Carmelites. Later in life, Father Constant became seriously visually impaired. I took him by the hand and described to him the images I saw and red the texts on the wall. Thereafter, I brought his hand towards the subjects, he touched them and told me how he recognized Father Titus’ descriptions of his cell. Father Constant also spoke about the phrases carved into the walls such as “God is faithful” and “Stay courageous.”

Not in my wildest dreams could I have guessed that years later I would work for several International Criminal Tribunals as a fully trained penitentiary physician. Individuals, detained and accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, are my patients. To be able to perform my duty as their doctor I have to set aside my knowledge about the accusations, their violence, and the victims. First of all “innocent until proven guilty” but more importantly is what Father Titus taught me:

God is present, hidden, in every human being and in all of creation. Every moment God creates everything that is, out of nothing. All is in God and God is in all.

And “Evil and unjust are temporarily. Finally, good wins through good choices and deeds by inspired people.”

In Summary

Walking my path in life, Father Titus Brandsma has always walked beside me. There were times I was not aware of his presence – like the disciples heading to Emmaus – although his influence and the presence of the Carmelite community moulded and sculpted my spirituality and my choices; At other times, and definitely later in life, Father Titus and the whole Carmelite community supported me in coming to recognize God’s face and how to stand before God.

“Search God in the depth of our own existence; resign in silence and peace… God, the Source, will approach us in ordinary things; We only need to open ourselves….. We only need to do ordinary things in an extra-ordinary way.

About the Author:

Paulus Falke is a medical doctor, a deacon of the Catholic Church, and a member of the Third Order of the Dutch Province of the Carmelite Order. He and his wife Marlene have four biological children: Marike (Maria), Guus (Gus), Sarah, and Zwaan (Swanny) and 5 “foster children” whom they looked after and are still in contact with: Monica, Max, Marilyn, Jamie and Sonja. The couple founded Saint Jacob’s Hospice for terminal ill patients in 1995. The hospice, located in The Hague, has the motto: “Every life is worth living, how vulnerable or disabled it may be.” In the Holy year 2000, two television documentaries were made about the family. One focused on Falke’s work as a family doctor and deacon. It was titled “Doctor Amongst the Poor.” The second told the story of the family—how they as parents were raising the children in a inner city are with many social problems and how faith was an essential part of their lives.

Letter to the Order on the Occasion of the Fourth Centenary of the Canonization of St. Teresa of Jesus

Dear brothers and sisters, I believe we are living through a moment of great grace in our Order. The news that Titus Brandsma will be canonized very soon has moved hearts and minds in every Carmelite community. The next few weeks will be filled with the life and thoughts of this very saintly man. As I write this letter, I am conscious of a part of the life and thinking of Titus Brandsma that enriches the Carmelite Family in a very notable way, namely, his great interest in the life, experience, and writings of St. Teresa of Jesus.

On the 12th of March of this year, the Church will celebrate the fourth centenary of the canonization of Teresa of Avila, who was canonized on the same day as Ignatius of Loyola, Francis Xavier, Philip Neri and Isidore the Farmer. On that day, on the initiative of the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, there will a celebration of the five saints in the church of the Gesù in Rome. The new Superior General of the Discalced Carmelites, Fr. Miguel Márquez Calle, O.C.D., and myself have been invited to take part and to concelebrate with Pope Francis, as representatives of the Carmelite Family. Other members of our General Council will also participate.

This happy event is a very good occasion for building relationships with the Society of Jesus, whom I thank for their invitation, and it is also an occasion within the Carmelite Family itself, to reflect on the gift of our saints. Here, in this letter, through the eyes of Titus Brandsma, I would like to reflect on the gift of Teresa of Jesus to our Order and to the whole Church. Titus Brandsma shared some of the ways we have today of thinking about the Carmelite Family. He was aware of how the Carmelite charism is given to many people in the Church. In writing about Bl. John Soreth, he recognized the great work that Soreth had done by opening up to women the gifts of Carmel that only men had enjoyed up to then.^[1] It is in this same spirit that he recognizes the great gift of Teresa to our Order because of the way that she helps people to a fuller appreciation of the Carmelite charism by helping people to come to a knowledge of the mystery of God in their lives.

Titus made no secret of his regard for Teresa of Jesus. His mother’s name was Teresa (Titjsie). Each year on the feast of Teresa of Jesus, Titus would write a special note to his mother for her feast day. Throughout his life, he prayed with Teresa’s Bookmark, “Let nothing disturb thee”. He began the translation of her works into Dutch with the help of other Carmelites, but did not complete the work, which was a source of great regret to him. Likewise, the biography that he was writing was on his mind right up to the end, so strong was his desire to make this saint known among the Dutch. When commenting on the translation with his great friend and mentor Hubertus Driessen, they surmised how much the translation of the works of Teresa, that they had published at that time, had “given again to the name of Carmel in Holland a good reputation as an Order of prayer and mysticism”^[2].

There are two lectures of Titus Brandsma that might help us in a particular way to see the link between him and Teresa of Jesus. In the lecture that he delivered to the University of Nijmegen, under the title Godsbegrip (The Idea of God)^[3] we find that the idea of God that most appeals to him is the idea of God who enters the life of every human being and will enter more and more into the person who by their way of living and believing make space for him to enter. In his words:

What I thus defend and consider to be indispensable for our time is the contemplation of all being in its dependence on God and its emergence from God whose work we have to see in everything and whose being we have to discern in everything. We also have to recognise and venerate God in all things, and first of all in ourselves. God is revealed to us in the depths of all things and in our own depths. God wishes to be seen and to be known. Nowhere is God to be known better than in the very depth of our being. If the thought about God’s indwelling, about the total dependence of all human nature on God, on God’s guidance and revelation was alive in everything, we would act quite differently and would adjust our behaviour to be in tune with God’s revelation.^[4]

As he pronounced these words, it is possible that Titus was thinking about Teresa, from whom he learned about the union of the soul with God and the all-pervading nature of God in the life of the human person. Among the series of ten lectures that Titus Brandsma gave in his tour of the United States of America in 1935, one was dedicated entirely to Teresa of Jesus. In this lecture, in line with his understanding of the idea of God, he showed, relying mostly on the Interior Castle, how Teresa supported the idea of God entering more and more into the lives of people who know about God, accept God, and seek to know his love more and more. In the words of Titus:

St. Teresa paints the mystical life as something which develops in the soul, according to the soul’s natural ability, as the ultimate realisation of human powers. There have been implanted by God in human nature and will be realised when the soul is aware of its possibility to reach that highest degree of perfection and therefore gives up itself wholly into the hands of the Lord who alone is able to carry it to the highest of elevations. For all this, nothing else is asked of the soul than that it accomplish God’s wishes and desires, put its trust in Him, and in Him only finds its happiness. God likes to have an ordered love and he himself will order that love in the soul.^[5]

Titus admired Teresa for the wonder of her experience and doctrine. He also admired her for her work of reform, believing that her reform is of benefit not only to the Discalced Carmelites but to the Carmelites of the Ancient Observance as well. In language that is very much part of the Discalced tradition Titus says:

Certainly, Mary stands foremost in the veneration of her brothers and sisters, but they don’t deem it is derogating from that beloved mother, when they honour the most graced of her children as another mother, a mother who gave them not existence, it is true, but who regenerated them to a new life.^[6]

We now find ourselves is times and circumstances that challenge us to be aware of the true nature of our calling, and to respond to that calling with lives that give authentic witness to that calling. We are to live in a way that is faithful to what we say about ourselves, people called to live in allegiance to Jesus Christ, as contemplative people whose lives are shaped by prayer, fraternity, and service, and who follow in their lives the examples of Mary and Elijah. Titus saw in Teresa a saint who decided to return to the original inspiration of our Order, and to purify the life of the Order of all the accretions it had accrued over the centuries which served to distance its members from their original calling.

In this graced moment, as we rejoice in the prospect of Titus Brandsma being declared a saint, and honour Teresa of Jesus’ canonization, it cannot escape us that we have every reason to give thanks to God, to renew our lives, and to have confidence in the life we have chosen, as God has chosen it for us. With joy and commitment, we will share that life and wisdom with the Church as a whole and with each of our local Churches. For that reason, in the short time available, I encourage our communities throughout the world to celebrate the fourth centenary of the canonization of St. Teresa of Jesus, and to do so, where possible, in conjunction with members of the Discalced Carmelite Family.

May the remembrance and honour we give to St. Teresa of Jesus and our new saint to be Titus Brandsma, strengthen in each one of us our desire to see the face of the living God and do his will in all things.

Míceál O’Neill, O. Carm.

Prior General

5th March 2022

Download the Letter to the Order  pdf here(220 KB)

^[1]  T. Brandsma, A New Dawn, The Carmelite Nuns, Bl. John Soreth, in Carmelite Mysticism Historical Sketches, Darien, Illinois: The Carmelite Press, 1986, 36-43.

^[2]  A. Staring, Fr. Titus Brandsma and St. Teresa of Avila, in Essays on Titus Brandsma, Rome: Carmel in the World Paperback, 1985. p. 207

^[3]  T. Brandsma, Mysticism in Action, Collected Works. Edd. Joseph Chalmers and Elizabeth Hense, Rome: Edizioni Carmelitane, 2021, 95-124.

^[4]  T. Brandsma, The Idea of God, in Mysticism in Action, Collected Works. Edd. Joseph Chalmers and Elizabeth Hense, Rome: Edizioni Carmelitane, 2021, p. 121.

^[5]  T. Brandsma, St. Teresa. The Growth of the Mystical Life, in Carmelite Mysticism Historical Sketches, Darien, Illinois: The Carmelite Press, 1986, p.46.

^[6]  Quoted in A. Staring, Fr. Titus Brandsma and St. Teresa of Avila, in Essays on Titus Brandsma, Rome: Carmel in the World Paperback, 1985. p. 208.