Titus’ Education

Titus was a good student who understood from early on the value of education. As a child he read widely and had a particular liking for literature and history.
After entering the Carmelite Order in 1898, Titus continued to read widely and began to publish. Taking his doctorate in philosophy at Rome’s Gregorian University, he also took courses in modern sociology.

Catholic Education

Titus reformed the programme of studies for Carmelites in the Netherlands. Education for the laity was a priority for Titus. At Oss a library with attached reading room and lecture hall was established which was open to the general public. Through Titus’ efforts, two Carmelite schools became the very first private schools in Holland to receive government support. He founded the Union of Secondary Schools in 1925, serving as its President.

University Professor

With the founding of the Catholic University at Nijmegen in 1923, Titus was nominated Professor of Philosophy and the History of Mysticism. In 1932 he became its Rector Magnificus. Titus’ courses left an ‘unforgetable’ impression; he was effectively rediscovering the spirituality of their country. Titus was kind and students at the university constantly sought him out. He sought scholarship funding for the less well off. Titus subjected National Socialism to rigorous critique as part of his university teaching. He kept his feet firmly on the ground. Titus was known to assist an old man in pushing his junk wagon up the hill between the university and the Carmel, placing his professorial briefcase on top while he did it.

Education in the Call to Mysticism

Titus was always keen to educate people regarding their call to be mystics. He defined mysticism as: ‘a special union of God with human beings, whereby they become aware of God's presence and also become one with God.’ Titus understood mysticism as a call directed to all and spoke of an everyday mysticism, convinced that God is the ground of our being and can be encountered always and everywhere and in our neighbour. His lectures on Carmelite mysticism, delivered in the United States in 1935, are a true classic of twentieth-century spirituality.

The Journalist as Educator

Titus undoubtedly saw journalism as a form of education. His accessible articles in the Catholic press were effectively ‘short courses’ of their own.

Titus’ Philosophy of Education

For Titus it was important for the educator to respect each student individually: ‘…people are not simply all alike and do not comply with a casual construction or idea. The human being, and even the child, is in each person different in nature and it does not help us when we would like to see beyond all the differences…We must take young people as they are.’ It was important for Titus that students thought for themselves, saying to one group: ‘We do not impart philosophical knowledge to you, because you must first and foremost develop it in yourselves… We do not ram the truth or knowledge of the truth into you, we only draw on the wondrous passion for knowledge of what is true, which lies hidden in you.’

Resourcing Education

Titus was convinced of the importance of the proper resourcing of education. He also underlined the need for the continuous professional development of teachers: ‘a justified ideal for the teacher is continuous further development… A trained teacher is a blessing.’ Titus had a particular concern for providing for children from underprivileged backgrounds: ‘Attention at school to the underprivileged child, that is where true love reveals itself.’

Titus’ care for Jewish Students

Titus took a particular stand on Jewish students, refusing to remain silent when they were excluded from attending Catholic schools, even making enquiries about placing them in the care of the Carmelites in Brazil.

The Apostolate of Carmelite Mysticism - Carmel as School

The Apostolate of Carmelite Mysticism - Carmel as School Titus speaks of ‘the apostolate of Carmelite mysticism’, using the image of a school. Carmelites are to teach people to pray, helping them know they have been found and loved by God. For Titus, Carmel is like a school, ‘a school of mystical life’, and insists: ‘in the spiritual life, no more than in ordinary life, can we dispense with education, with teachers and with guidance.’

Prayer to Titus Brandsma

God our Father, your servant, Titus Brandsma, laboured zealously in your vineyard

and gave his life freely because of his faith in you.

Through his intercession I ask for your mercy and help.

Father Titus never refused when he was asked for help by your people.

In his name, I come to you with my needs...
Lord, help me always to imitate the great faith, generous love and burning zeal of Titus.

Glorify your servant as he strove to glorify you.

Amen.

Mary, Mother of Carmel, pray for us.

Titus Brandsma, Carmelite martyr, intercede for us.

Download the Leaflet 2. Education  pdf here(3.46 MB)

‘In the Blessed Sacrament He gives us Himself again, and not only Himself as the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, no, He tells us that all three Persons will take up their residence in our hearts, if we are united with Him.’

Titus Brandsma

The Eucharistic Life of Carmel

Being of central importance to the Christian life, it is no surprise to find the Eucharist at the heart of Carmelite life from its earliest beginnings. The first Carmelites built an oratory in the midst of their cells on Mount Carmel to facilitate common prayer and common celebration of the Eucharist. This sacred space was to be a focal point for encounter with one another and with the risen Lord. Until the reforms of Pope Pius X in the early twentieth century, daily receiving of Holy Communion was unusual. However, taking inspiration from the Rule of Carmel, daily reception of the Sacrament was already common in Carmelite communities long before this and was to be a constant of the life and spirituality of Titus Brandsma who entered the Carmelite Order in 1898 at Boxmeer, in the Netherlands, a town long associated with Eucharistic devotion.

Food for the Journey

Titus was convinced that our spiritual life, just as our physical life, requires food. He saw in Elijah, Prophet of Carmel, the pattern of the Carmelite life. Just as Elijah was sustained for his journey through the desert to Mount Horeb by miraculous food from heaven, so we too are strengthened by the gift of the Eucharist as we ‘walk in life’s journey here below.’ Imprisoned on account of his fearless defence of the freedom of the Catholic press and basic human rights in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands, ‘walking in the strength of the divine bread’ was ultimately tested for Titus between January and July 1942 as he followed his own ‘way of the cross’ all the way to Dachau concentration camp.

Frequent Communion

Titus’ conviction concerning the importance of frequent celebration of the Eucharist was confirmed in reading Carmelite saints such as Mary Magdalene de’Pazzi and Teresa of Avila. Titus also draws out the importance of daily reception of Holy Communion when presenting the life and message of Saint Lidwina of Schiedam, one of the national saints of the Netherlands.

Prayer after Communion

In continuity with another key aspect of the Carmelite tradition, Titus emphasised the importance of taking time to pray after receiving Holy Communion. This is a true contemplative moment when, having received the risen Lord into ourselves, we seek to open ourselves to his accomplishing great things in us. Titus reflectively links prayer after Communion to the figure of Elijah: ‘In the caves of Horeb God spoke to the Prophet by the voice of the gentle, whispering wind.
The Lord was not in the storm nor in the earthquake, but in the gentle wind. So, after Communion we must contemplate under the Eucharistic species and in the depths of our spirit; for now God passes.’

Spiritual Communion

St Teresa of Avila often recommends acts of spiritual communion when reception of the sacrament is not possible. Perhaps early on Titus might not have realised how important this would prove to be in his own life, just as readers of St Teresa in our own time might not have realised how important spiritual communion would become in time of pandemic.
While Titus was able to receive Holy Communion at Dachau (including on the day of his death), there were times this was not possible. Unable to celebrate Mass at Scheveningen prison Titus describes how ‘each morning I kneel down and say the prayers of daily Mass, spiritual communion.’ In the camp at Amersfoort Titus led communal acts of spiritual communion with his fellow prisoners.

The Eucharist and Contemplation

An often-repeated spiritual teaching of Titus Brandsma is that ‘the mystical contemplative life is a fruit of the Eucharistic life.’ The Eucharist is what strengthens us to receive the gift of contemplation from God. And such contemplation leads to action.
Titus told a group of young people: ‘Good deeds no longer suffice; they must originate in the consciousness that our union with God obliges us to perform them.’

Adoro Te

In his prison cell at Scheveningen, Titus prayed the well-known hymn Adoro Te after lunch. In his account of his time in prison, 'My Cell', he tells us about this: 'The Adoro Te has become my favourite prayer. Frequently I sing it softly and this helps me to make a spiritual communion'. The first and last verses read as follows:

I devoutly worship Thee,

Hidden Godhead,

Who among these signs are

truly hidden.

O may I behold Thee

with unveiled face

and taste the happiness

to see Your glory.

Download the Leaflet 3. Eucharist  pdf here(3.70 MB)

Transfiguration
(Luke 9:28-36)

This Sunday’s Gospel of the Transfiguration completes the ‘little parable’ formed by the Gospels of the first two Sundays of Lent.

These Gospels tell us what Lent is about and what Christian life is about: a journey from temptation and doubt to transfiguration and faith. A journey away from allowing ourselves to be tempted to evil, and towards allowing ourselves to be tempted to good by the action of God’s Holy Spirit within us.

As the ‘Chosen One’ Jesus will let God’s glory be fully seen in the resurrection. On the one hand, this Gospel looks forward to the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus. On the other, it invites us to reflect on our journey from temptation to transfiguration.
The journey Jesus undertakes does not end in death, but in life. Through prayer we remain in contact with the heart of God which allows God’s love to transform and transfigure us and to ‘burst forth’ in goodness. That’s how we allow the glory of God to be seen in us and through us.

Transfiguration means to be shot-through with the presence of God. Being transfigured is about allowing the presence of God to completely transform us; it’s a revolution of mind and heart driven by God’s Spirit and enabled by our open heartedness.
Our life as Christians is about being transfigured by the Spirit of God so that God is seen in, and experienced through, us.
It takes faith and perseverance to dare to allow ourselves to be tempted by the passion, hope and vision of God rather than our own desires and wants. It takes great faith to trust in God’s word to us. But if we do, the living word of the Chosen One forms in us the heart of God.

Quiet time for reflection

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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.

There has never been a canonization celebration at the Vatican to match the one held on March 12, 1622! Four hundred years ago, Pope Gregory XV solemnly recognized the holiness of three men and one woman, a Carmelite nun, Teresa of Avila. She was honored along with Ignatius of Loyola, Isidore of Madrid (also known as Isidore the Farmer), Francis Xavier, and Philip Neri.

One must also be impressed with the fact that each of these new saints would continue to be major figures in the Church down to our current time. Ignatius founded the Society of Jesus, more commonly known as the Jesuits. Francis Xavier, a great friend of Ignatius, became the great missionary to the people of Japan, India, and the Malay Archipelago. Philip Neri founded the Congregation of the Oratory with a spirituality that has been called "a spirituality of everyday life."

St. Teresa’s writings are recognized as masterpieces of 16th century Spanish literature and spirituality. Her reflections on the process for one to progress toward God through prayer and contemplation are considered benchmarks in the history of Christian mysticism. In 1970 she became the first female declared a “Doctor of the Church.”

Both the Prior General of the Carmelites, Fr. Míceál O’Neill, and the Superior General of the Discalced Carmelites, Fr. Miguel Márquez Calle, will join Pope Francis in marking the 400th anniversary of these canonizations with a Mass at the Jesuit's Roman Church of the Gesù on Saturday, March 12. Fr. Míceál is also publishing a letter to the Order to commemorate the occasion.

The ceremony in four hundred years ago continues to fascinate scholars because of the innovations in the canonization process that it introduced. Art historians admire it for the use of art to support the missionary expansion of the Catholic Church.

The 1622 ceremony was originally planned as the canonization of the patron saint of Spain's new capital, Madrid, St. Isidore. The King of Spain, Philip IV, paid for the canonization "teatro" -- a structure erected in St. Peter's Basilica decorated with scenes from the life of St. Isidore and illustrations of miracles attributed to his intercession. A banner for each of the others being canonized was to be hanging in the transcept. "So the others were, technically, piggy-backed onto this ceremony," according to Simon Ditchfield, a professor of history at the University of York in England. He has written extensively on the 1622 ceremony.

Previous popes had attempted to regulate the recognition of saints. But the process was slow with many holy men and women being proclaimed and venerated simply as a result of the devotion of the people, Ditchfield told CNS.

Following the Protestant Reformation there was a desire to bring formality and rigor to the Church's process for declaring saints. In 1588, Pope Sixtus V set up what would become the Congregation for Saints' Causes. In the following 30 years, only nine people were canonized and none of them at the same ceremony.

The 1622 saints, Ditchfield says, are the first saints to be beatified before being canonized, an intermediate step that is now standard.

The ceremony in 1622 also broke ground because of multiple people being canonized on the same day. This provided more decorations in St. Peter's and five canonization bulls instead of the traditional one, and an unprecedentedly large body of documentation.  Pamela M. Jones, a professor emerita of art history at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, told CNS.

The bulls, or decrees of canonization, and the banners and other art used to decorate St. Peter's, explained Pamela Jones, a professor emerita at the University of Massachusetts "underscored their distinctive contributions and similar virtues. The saints' celebrations also show that they were perceived useful to the Roman Catholic Church as defenders of the faith against 'heretics' and 'infidels' and as disseminators of the Catholic faith in a turbulent era of world expansion."

In some ways, the established process for creating saints also underscored the authority of the pope as established by the Council of Trent. Jones wrote in "A Companion to Early Modern Rome, 1492-1692," a book she co-edited with Ditchfield and Barbara Wisch that "Because saints' cults were universal, the pope, whose jurisdiction was universal, had the exclusive right to canonize," Jones wrote. After the canonization rite in 1622, Rome was the site of processions, fireworks, concerts, and plays. Similar events took place around the world: in Madrid to celebrate St. Isidore's canonization, but even further afield to honor the new religious-order saints across Europe, in Asia and in the Americas.

Teresa of Ávila- Doctor of the Church^[1]

On September 27, 1970, Pope Paul VI solemnly proclaimed Teresa of Ávila the first female Doctor of the Church. The title Doctor of the Church (Doctor Ecclesiae) is given by the pope for outstanding achievements in theology and the transmission of the faith. Doctors of the Church are considered witnesses to the doctrine of the Church by bringing the teachings of Jesus Christ to the people of their own and of later times in a special way.

According to Pope Benedict XIV [ed. The 1747-1749 edition of the document is considered the official version], a person should satisfy the following three conditions to be called a Doctor of the Church:

1. Eminens doctina (excellent doctrine),
2. Insignis vitae sanctitas (a high level of holiness),
3. Summi Pontificis aut Concilii Generalis legitimate congregate declaration (a declaration by the pope or by a legitimately assembled General Council).

As can be seen from the 1982 instructions of the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints for awarding the title of Doctor of the Church, these criteria are still used today.

A new development began in 1970. With the official designations of Teresa of Ávila and Catherine of Siena as Doctors of the Church, women were attributed special importance for the first time. The objections and reservations against this were based primarily on 1 Cor 14:33f. (“As in all the churches of the saints, women should be silent in the churches”) and 1 Tim 2:12 (“I permit no woman to teach”); they were removed by the Sacred Congregation of Rites after careful theological examination.

It should be noted that Doctor of the Church is not an “honorary title” (titolo onorifico) but rather the recognition of the doctrine of a saint as outstanding (eminens). Nor is it the “third stage” following a process of beatification and canonization, because what is decisive is that the doctrine of the saint … has provided answers to specific needs of the times and continues to exert a beneficial influence in the universal Church today.

[Teresa’s] teaching has had effectiveness and authority beyond the Catholic Church, not only in the life of the faithful, but also for spiritual theology. This is manifested in her writings, in which she described her story of salvation with God, the foundations of a spiritual life, as well as the necessity and degrees of prayer.

Teresa recognized Christ as the center of her spiritual doctrine, because Christ reveals the Father, unites people to him, and associates people with himself. According to the pope, the foundation of Teresa’s doctrine are Christian prayer and the Church, through which the Kingdom of God is realized.

The decisive factor was her personality, which was characterized by humility, simplicity and charisma, vitality and an intensive spiritual life. Paul VI called her a teacher of spiritual life, a contemplative like no other, and tirelessly active. She was a great, unique and yet very human and attractive personality.

The source and goal of Teresa’s doctrine is prayer. She knew all secrets of prayer from her own experience. In her, an experience which she both endured and enjoyed became reality. The gift of proclaiming these secrets made her one of the greatest teachers of inner life.

Editor’s note:  From Pope Boniface VIII in 1295, the title Doctor of the Church has been bestowed on 37 saints—33 men and 4 women. From the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), 7 saints have been so honored—3 men and 4 women.

 ^[1] Summary of an article by Dorothee Backwinkel and Michael Plattig, O. Carm. Theresa of Avila—50 Years a Doctor of the Church. Carmelus 67 (2020) fasc. 1, 207-228.

On the occasion of the 400th Anniversary of Canonization of Teresa of Avila we present this interesting document from the General Archives of the Carmelite Order.

Forty years after her death, Teresa of Avila was canonized by Pope Gregory XV on March 12, 1622. On the same day, three other great saints of the post-Tridentine reformist period rose to the honors of the altars: Ignazio di Loyola, Francesco Saverio and Filippo Neri.

Like the beatification, which took place on April 24, 1614, with Pope Paul V, the canonization also had a wide resonance throughout the Order with the multiplication of editions and comments on her writings as well as with the dedication of new churches and altars.

The enthusiasm among the nuns was such that on May 18, 1622, two months after the great event, Pope Gregory XV granted the possibility of acquiring the plenary indulgence to those who would visit the churches of the Carmelite monasteries on the anniversary day of the canonization (see photo).

Beyond the content, the bull attests to the strong bond between the Carmelites of the Ancient Observance and Mother Saint Teresa.

Titus Brandsma’s Spiritual Journey

Gallery of pictures of Blessed Titus Brandsma

Prof. Dr. F.J.Th. Rutten

From his commemorative speech (1942)

“In love lay his decisive power.”
“From this deceased rays emanate.”

From a written testimony (1955)

 “My judgement in 1942, 'from this deceased rays emanate,' is based on a peculiarity in the memory of Father Brandsma, which I noticed in my surroundings. When people talked about Father Brandsma, they almost always only remembered his striking goodness. There was no mention of particular incidents in his life, not even by those who had known him very well.”

Dr. (Jacobus) van Ginneken, (SJ)

From his commemorative address (1942):

“We know from his Carmel retreat that he had prepared himself diligently for death. His intention from the first recital of the ninth day was: to learn to die. In his last will we read: 'I unite myself in my death with the death of my Redeemer and with Mary I place myself under the feet of the Cross of my Lord. Misericordias Domini in aeternum cantabo.’ I will sing of the Lord's mercy for ever and ever (Ps. 88:2).”

Reverend (Johannes) Kapteijn

Camp Amersfoort and the prison of Kleve

Fr. Titus and Kapteijn were shackled together when they started their trip to Dachau

"Our dear brother in Christ, Titus Brandsma, is truly a mystery of grace".

Van Mierlo

Camp Amersfoort

“Professor Brandsma was physically very weak, but mentally one of the strongest. He was totally above his physical suffering. Without exception we all loved him very much, especially for his natural and amiable manner. He knew no hatred or aversion, nor impatience or hardness.”

Colonel Fogtelo

Scheveningen prison and Camp Amersfoort

“It was as if this man was in the free world.” 

Dr. Jacobus Gerard G. Borst

Camp Amersfoort

“I knew Professor Brandsma from earlier and had great friendship and admiration for him. Whenever I could find the time, I would go and talk to him. Professor Brandsma was always cheerful, and he also knew how to suffuse his environment with this cheerfulness. He was interested in all possible kinds of problems, and he was not in the least impressed by the methods of terror with which they tried to crush us mentally and physically.” 

Pastor Heinrich Rupieper

Dachau Concentration Camp

“He made a gentle, quiet impression on me. He had surrendered his life into God's hand. He did not know hatred. I was always surprised that Father Titus patiently endured everything without any expression of disgust or inner sadness. He prayed the rosary a lot, on his fingers, and said: 'We must pray for them.”

Chaplain Meertens

Camp Amersfoort

“He lived from hour to hour in an intimate union with God and yet was not unworldly. On the contrary: he was man with men, sincerely loved the good things in nature, and for higher motives endured the troubles that befell him.”

Chaplain (Nikolaus) Jansen

Dachau Concentration Camp

“When Father Titus arrived in Dachau, he looked like an abomination. Of course, that only got worse there. In the short time he was with us he was often beaten, sometimes his face was covered in blood. But he kept up the courage and was spiritually unshakeable.”

Father Van Genuchten

Dachau Concentration Camp

“I thank God that I was allowed to know this joy-filled and sunny person. When Professor Brandsma came to us, Dachau was a hell like never seen before or since. His short stay in Dachau was a true martyrdom. And yet he always remained cheerful and happy, an example and even a support to us all. I will never forget Professor Brandsma and I hope he will not forget me either!

Fr. Joseph Kentenich

Priest of the Pallotine Congregation 

“His person and words always bespoke such a calm, such an abandon and so much good hope that one can never forget this venerable person.” 

R. Höppener

Dachau prisoner

“His spirit could simply not be broken. Any thought of revenge was far from him: thus he could say his Our Father in silence while in the presence of his attackers.”

Fr. Othmarus Lips, OFM Cap

Capuchin religious

“Simple and unobstrusive among the 1200 priests of Dachau... a perpetual smile, filled with patience and inner calm, a smile of mystical serenity in the midst of all the suffering he had to undergo.”

P. Verhulst

Dachau prisoner

“Fr. Titus knew of no feelings of hate, he was all love. There was no favoritism with him. When I returned home I said immediately to my mother: That man will be canonized one day.”