Carmelite wisdom to encourage & inspire
St. Titus Brandsma taught us by example that "love means reaching out to someone, even an enemy." This quote from Father John Malley, O.Carm. at the beatification Mass still rings true today.
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Born in Bolsward (The Netherlands) in 1881, Saint Titus Brandsma joined the Carmelite Order as a young man. Ordained a priest in 1905, he earned a doctorate in philosophy in Rome. He then taught in various schools in Holland and was named professor of philosophy as Rector Magnificus. He was noted for his constant availability to everyone. He was a professional journalist, and in 1935 he was appointed the ecclesiastical advisor to Catholic journalists. Both before and during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands he fought, faithful to the Gospel, against the spread of Nazi ideology and for the freedom of Catholic education and of the Catholic press. For this, he was arrested and sent to a succession of prisons and concentration camps where he brought comfort and peace to his fellow prisoners and did good even to his tormentors. In 1942, after much suffering and humiliation, he was killed at Dachau. He was beatified in 1985 and canonized by Pope Francis on 15 May 2022.
Blesed Titus’ chief preoccupation in Amersfoort Camp was the needs of others. He had been in the camp barely two weeks when dysentery struck. Hundreds around him died, but Titus recovered enough to be released from the infirmary on March 30, 1942, the Monday of Holy Week that year. During his convalescence he visited those who were worse off than he was.
Right now, various ones are trying to find some way for me to be interned in a German priory of our Order... I have put the entire matter into the hands of St. Joseph who took the Virgin...
Happy Birthday to Blessed Titus Brandsma! From his article on Mary's motherhood of God: "In his Explanation of “The Living Flame of Love”, St. John of the Cross draws the Holy Mother of God as clearly as possible into the circle of his metaphor clarifying the mystical life...."
The Gospel spoke today about the love of enemies, that ability to reach out to those who persecute. Titus had that opportunity and lived it out so well. He had the ability to say, “You must love him, but perhaps not all the time, not all day, not at each moment.”
In an excerpt from the new English biography of Blessed Titus Brandsma, he talks about the great joy he experiences when he wears his Carmelite habit "because it is the symbol of Mary’s protection."
In Mary, we see the most beautiful image of our union with God. She, the bride of the H. Spirit, teaches us how also we, although not in that fullness of grace, but in a removed sense, must be brides of God the H. Spirit
So there is no opposition of the contemplative life to the active. The former is the great support of the latter.
He proclaimed human dignity and the freedom of the Church, even in the throes of degrading persecution and death
It is a practice in honour of Mary, but the salutation to Jesus, the adoration of her divine Son
Stay with me, with me, Jesus sweet, Your presence makes all things good for me.
In society, the sound principles of love and forgiveness must once again blossom and be practiced universally
I deleted “smoking” from the daily timetable and the day went on
We live in a time of radicalism... let us be radical as well
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It is as if they carefully expose that monastic garment to their Redeemer
I am quite alright.
I deleted “smoking” from the daily timetable and the day went on
God will have the last word and will reward the faithful servant
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Let nothing disturb you, Let nothing frighten you, All things are passing away: God never changes. Patience obtains all things. Whoever has God lacks nothing; God alone suffices. ~ St. Teresa of Avila
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