Calling oneself Brother of the Virgin Mary seemed to Titus an enviable privilege—but not one due to vainglory—because he felt it was one of the abundant graces that the Lord was pouring out constantly on his creatures.
“Who can claim,” he pointed out, “that do sounds better than sol? [referring to the solfège musical scale, Brandsma compares the musical notes C and G]. I love my Order intensely. It is the way God has shown me to be able to find him. Its charism and history are most dear to me, and I bless him for the beautiful flowering of men and women saints who have filled its cloisters; but I also know that ‘In my Father’s house there are many mansions,’ that, next to the living waters where God has planted Carmel in the garden of the Church, there are other plants just as beautiful.”
With pride and joy he wore the habit and white cloak of the Order both inside the priory and outside it.
Every Saturday as evening came he hurried to the church in full habit to participate in the singing of the Salve Regina and the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary before the altar of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, feeling himself in union with Carmelites around the world sharing in that same ritual. Daily, before retiring, they would perform the same rite in a more simple form.
Miguel Maria Arribas O.Carm.
Chapter 6, Seeking God
(Our Lady of Mt. Carmel)
Theodoor Galle (Flemish, 1571–1633)
Engraving on paper, 1593–1633
Rijksmuseum, Antwerp
Arribas O.Carm., M 2021, The Price of Truth: Titus Brandsma, Carmelite, Carmelite Media, Darien, Illinois.
Carmelite Quotes 
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