Saint’s Life Story

His Early Life

Anno Sjoerd Brandsma was born the son of Tjitsje and Titus Brandsma on February 23, 1881 in Oegeklooster, Friesland, Netherlands. His parents, who ran a small dairy farm, were devout and committed Catholics, a minority in a predominantly Calvinist region. The Brandsma family consisted of four girls and two boys, of whom Anno was the second youngest. Five of the siblings would later choose religious life.

Carmelite Father Titus

After his high school education with the Franciscans in Megen (near Oss in North Brabant), Anno decided to enter the Carmel Order. In September 1898, Anno began his novitiate in Boxmeer, Netherlands and took his father Titus’ name as his monastic name. In October 1899, Titus made his first profession. Then, on June 17, 1905, he was ordained a priest.

Doctor of Philosophy

After further studies at the Gregoriana University in Rome, he received his doctorate in philosophy in 1909. Titus also had a keen interest in spirituality and in journalism, two areas that, along with his academic pursuits, would make up a large part of his life’s work. From 1909 to 1923, Titus lived in Oss and worked as a writer and teacher. Titus was a gifted linguist, fluent in Italian, Frisian, Dutch, and English, and he could also read Spanish. In fact, he translated the works of Saint Teresa of Ávila from Spanish to Dutch and published them in 1901.

Founder

In 1923, Titus was one of the founders of the Catholic University of Nijmegen, Netherlands (now Radboud University), working there as a professor of philosophy and administrator. In the academic year 1932-33, he was Rector Magnificus. He was active in many social fields, including education, Frisian language and culture, and peace work. Titus gained popularity as a confessor and was widely known as an eloquent orator, journalist, author, and lobbyist for the university.

Visited Niagara Falls

As a Carmelite priest, he also liked to share the spiritual tradition of the Order with people outside the university. In preparation for a lecture tour in the United States in 1935, Titus spent some time in the Carmelite Priories in Whitefriar Street, Dublin, and Kinsale, Cork, Ireland, where he practiced English. That same year, Titus traveled for a lecture tour of the United States and Canada, speaking at various institutions of his order.

On the occasion of his visit to a Carmelite seminary in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, Titus wrote of the falls that “I not only see the riches of the nature of the water, its immeasurable potentiality; I see God working in the work of his hands and the manifestation of his love.”

Journalist

Titus also developed his interest in journalism and other media. In late 1935, he became the spiritual advisor to the Union of Catholic Journalists. In this position, he promoted opposition to the publication of Nazi propaganda in Catholic newspapers. Titus had joined other Dutch intellectuals in public denunciation of Nazi persecution of the Jews. and in the press in general. When the Nazis invaded Holland in May 1940, Titus encouraged the bishops to speak out against the persecution of the Jews and the violation of human rights in general by the occupiers. By doing so, he stood out to the authorities.

Urging Catholic newspapers to refuse to print Nazi propaganda sealed Titus’ fate. Titus had promised to personally hand each editor a letter from the bishops. This letter instructed editors not to comply with a new law requiring them to print Nazi ads and articles.

Arrested and Imprisoned

On January 19, 1942, after Titus had visited fourteen editors, he was arrested in Nijmegen by the Gestapo, the German secret police, was arrested. Captain Hardegen advised Titus that his case would require further hearings and that he would therefore be held at Scheveningen. He told him, “Life in your cell cannot be too difficult for you since you are a monk.”

At one interrogation session, Captain Hardegen gave Titus a task: “Please advise me in writing, Professor Brandsma, why the Dutch people, particularly the Catholics, are objecting to the Dutch Nazi Party.” Titus, candid and without fear, had no hesitation in spelling out why the Dutch would never accept the Nazis and why Hitler’s dream of absorbing them into his empire was bound to fail.

He wrote:

“The Dutch have made great sacrifices out of love for God and possess an abiding faith in God whenever they have had to prove adherence to their religion. Protestants as well as Catholics venerate many martyrs from previous centuries who are examples for them. If it is necessary, we, the Dutch people, will give our lives for our religion. 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.”

No Hatred for Germans

Titus never hated the German people or individual members of the Nazi Party. At the end of his statement to Captain Hardegen, he wrote:

“. . . 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.”

Life in Prison

Alone in his cell, Titus organized his day to the last moment. He wrote poetry, started a biography of Saint Teresa of Avila, composed a series of meditations on the Way of the Cross for the Shrine of Saint Boniface, martyr of Friesland, wrote two booklets (My Cell, Letters From Prison), read his breviary and knelt in silent prayer often during the day. In the confines of his small cell, number 577, Titus had a scheduled time for morning walks. He even smoked his pipe on schedule—until January 29, the feast of Saint Francis de Sales, patron of Catholic journalists, when guards peremptorily took away his pipe and tobacco.

In “Essays on Titus Brandsma: Carmelite Educator Journalist Martyr” edited by Redemptus Maria Valabek it was noted that Titus wrote on January 27, 1942 in the Scheveningen prison:

“I am already quite at home in this small cell. I have not yet got bored here, just the contrary. I am alone, certainly, but never was Our Lord so near to me. I could shout for joy because he made me find him again entirely, without me being able to go to see people, nor people me. Now he is my only refuge, and I feel secure and happy. I would stay here for ever, if he so disposed. Seldom have I been so happy and content.”

Transported to Amersfoort

On March 12, Titus was transported in a convoy with about 100 other prisoners—members of the underground, military personnel and clergy — to the notorious penal depot at Amersfoort, Netherlands. Titus, Number 58, was assigned to a work detail hacking out a shooting range in the forest surrounding Amersfoort. Then, Captain Hardegen informed Titus that he would be transferred to Dachau, where he would stay until the end of war.

Dachua

From the very moment Titus entered Dachau, one of Germany’s oldest concentration camps, his calmness and gentleness infuriated his captors. They beat Titus mercilessly with fists, clubs and boards. They kicked, punched and gouged him, drawing blood and often times leaving him nearly unconscious in the mud.

Jesus With Him

The camp had a Catholic chapel where priests celebrated Mass every day. Prisoners were not allowed to attend, but intrepid inmates somehow were able to get and smuggle sacred hosts out to other prisoners.

One time Titus received the host in a tobacco pouch. Shortly after he got the pouch, Titus was clubbed and kicked mercilessly by a guard who thought he had not mopped the kitchen floor. During the beating Titus kept one arm clenched tightly to his body. Finally he managed to crawl away from the enraged assailant and dragged himself to his bunk. A fellow Carmelite prisoner, Brother Tijhuis, came to comfort him., “Thank you, Brother,” Titus said, “but don’t have pity on me. I had Jesus with me in the Eucharist.”

Another prisoner recalled that “he radiated with cheerful courage.” Titus continuously exhorted his fellow prisoners: “Do not yield to hatred. Be patient. We are here in a dark tunnel but we have to go on. At the end, the eternal light is shining for us.” In his very last letter home, Titus, broken in body, full of infection, bruised, and with hardly a sound spot within or without, wrote:

“With me, everything is fine. You have to get used to new situations. With God’s help, this is working out all right. Don’t worry too much about me. In Christ. Your Anno.”

His Death

Under the harsh regime there, his health deteriorated rapidly. By the third week of July, Titus ended up in the infirmary. He was starved and beaten for ministering to other prisoners, making the Sign of the Cross discreetly on their hands with his thumb, while urging prisoners to pray for the guards who tortured them. On July 26, 1942, he was killed by lethal injection of carbolic acid in Dachua, Bavaria, Germany.

Titus gave his only possession, a wooden rosary, to the nurse who administered the fatal injection. This nurse was hated and scorned by all the prisoners because she injected them with lethal dose.

“I don’t know how to pray!” replied the nurse with irritation.

Titus answered gently: “You don’t have to say the whole Hail Mary, only ‘Pray for us sinners’”.

And she never again forgot the face of the elderly priest to whom she had brought death. She said afterwards: “He took pity on me!”. She had killed him, but He had generated her in grace. Later, she became Catholic and testified to his holiness.

Born:                  February 23, 1881 in Oegeklooster, Friesland, Netherlands

Died:                  July 26, 1942 age 61 in Dachua, Bavaria, Germany

Beatified:          November 3, 1985 by Pope Saint John Paul II

Canonized:       May 15, 2022 by Pope Francis

Feast Day:        July 27, July 26 (on some calendars)

Patron Saint:    Against Cancer; Catholic Journalists; Catholic Press; Friesland, Netherlands; Oss, Netherlands; Tobacconists

Source:

• • CatholicSaints.Info » Saint Titus Brandsma
  • Saint Titus Brandsma – Saint for a Minute: Saints & Blesseds
  • Feast Day of St. Titus Brandsma – by Lawain McNeil
  • Biography – Titus Brandsma Memorial
  • Titus Brandsma – Wikipedia

Prayers

Video Link

St. Titus Brandsma: Fighting Nazi Propaganda – YouTube (Awaken The Saint)