BLESSED TITUS BRANDSMA

 Anno Brandsma was born in Friesland in the Netherlands in 1881, of a farmin

g family. He had a solid religious upbringing and was intellectually very gifted. At the age of eleven, he entered a Franciscan seminary where he excelled in his studies but where his health gave cause for concern. His superiors thought him physically unsuited to their way of life. He then applied to a Carmelite Monastery in Holland where he was accepted, and took the religious name Titus. He studied the writings of St. Teresa of Jesus (of Avila) and translated many of her books. He made his first vows in 1899 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1905. He was awarded a doctorate in philosophy by the Gregorian University in Rome. He returned to the Netherlands to teach theology and philosophy at the University. His priestly ministry was marked by a great love for his neighbour, especially the most needy.

When Hitler invaded Holland in 1940, Titus raised his voice boldly to protest against the treatment of Jews and Catholics. In 1942 he was arrested by the Gestapo. After temporary imprisonment in Scheveningen, he was moved to Amersfoort. Here his charity was outstanding, particularly his love for the Jewish inmates. Against the camp rules, he continued to exercise his priestly ministry, hearing confessions, giving spiritual counsel, instructing and blessing his fellow prisoners. With compassion, he reminded them of the need to forgive and pray for those responsible for their sufferings.

In late April, Titus was moved to Dachau and his health, always precarious, greatly deteriorated. His consistently calm and gentle demeanour infuriated one of the guards, who would constantly beat, kick and stamp on him. Eventually, he was moved to the camp hospital, ostensibly for medical treatment but in reality to be used as a human guinea pig for the most humiliating and degrading experiments. On the 26th July, 1942 he was given a lethal injection. He continued his ministry to the end. To the nurse who gave him the injection, he offered his Rosary. When she said, “I can no longer pray”, he gently responded, “But you can at least say ‘Pray for us sinners’ ”. Those who survived testified to his unfailing patience, gentleness and forgiveness at all times.

Pope John Paul II declared him Blessed in 1985.