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July 27 Saint Priest |
Born at Bolsward (The Netherlands) in 1881, 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 and of the history of mysticism in the Catholic University of Nijmegen, where he also served as Rector Magnificus. He was noted for his constant availability to everyone. He was a professional journalist, and in 1935 he was appointed ecclesiastical advisor to the Catholic journalist. 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 by John Paul II on November 3, 1985.
From the Common of One Martyr, except the following:
Office of Reading
Second Reading
From the writings of Blessed Titus Brandsma
The mysticism of the Passion
Jesus called himself the head of the Mystical Body, of which we are the members. He is the vine, we are the branches. He laid himself in the winepress and himself trod it. He handed us the wine so that, drinking it, we might lead his life, might share his suffering. Whoever wishes to do my will, let him daily take up his cross. Whoever follows me has the light of life. I am the way, he said. I have given you an example, so that as I have done so you may do also. And when his disciples did not understand that his way would be a way of suffering, he explained this to them and said, “Should not the Christ so suffer, in order to enter into his glory?”
Then the hearts of the disciples burned within them. God’s word had set them on fire. And when the Holy Spirit had descended on them to fan that divine fire into flame, then they were glad to suffer scorn and persecution, whereby they resembled him who had preceded them on the way of suffering.
The prophets had already marked his way of suffering; the disciples now understood that he had not avoided that way. From the crib to the cross, suffering, poverty and lack of appreciation were his lot. He had directed his whole life to teaching people how different is God’s view of suffering, poverty and lack of human appreciation from the foolish wisdom of the world. After sin, suffering had to follow so that, through the cross, man’s lost glory and life with God might be regained. Suffering is the way to heaven. In the cross is salvation, in the cross is victory. God willed it so. He himself assumed the obligation of suffering in view of the glory of redemption. St Paul makes it clear to us how all the disasters of this earthly life are insignificant, how they must be considered as nothing and passing, in comparison with the glory that will be revealed to us when the times of suffering is past and we come to share in God’s glory.
Mary, who kept all God’s words in her heart, in the fullness of grace granted her, understood the great value of suffering. While the apostles fled, she went out to meet the Savior on the way to Calvary and stood beneath the cross, in order to share his grief and shame to the end. And she carried him to the grave, firmly trusting that he would rise.
We object when he hands us the chalice of his suffering. It is so difficult for us to resign ourselves to suffering. To rejoice in it strikes us as heroic. What is the value of our offering of self if we unite ourselves each morning only in word and gesture, rather than in thought and will, to that offering which we, together with the Church, make of him with whom we are in the one body?
Jesus once wept over Jerusalem.
Oh, that this day you had known the gift of God!
Oh, that this day we might realize the value God has placed on the suffering he sends: he, the All-Good.
Responsory
God forbid that I glory except in the gross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
-- By which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
We preach Christ crucified, to others a stumbling block and a folly, but to us the power and the wisdom of God
-- By which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
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From the sermons of Blessed Titus Brandsma
Invitation to heroism in faith and in love
You heard it said that we live at a wonderful time, a time of great men and women. It would probably be better to say that we live in an era of decadence in which many, however, feel the need to react and to defend what is most precious and sacred. The desire for the emergence of a strong, capable leader is understandable. But we want such a leader to fight for a holy cause, for an ideal based on divine designs and not merely on human might.
Neo-paganism considers the whole of nature as an emanation of the divine: this is what it holds about various races and peoples of the earth. But as star differes from star by reason of its light and brightness, so neo-paganism considers on race more noble and pure than another; to the extent that this one race is held to embody more light within itself, it has the duty of making that life shine and enlighten the world. It is maintained that this one race is held to embody more light within itself, it has the duty of making that life shine and enlighten the world. It is maintained that this is possible only when, eliminating elements foreign to it, it frees itself from all stain. From this notion derives the cult of race and blood, the cult of the heroes of one’s own people.
From such an erroneous starting-point, this view can lead to fatal errors! It is sad to see how much enthusiasm and effort are placed at the service of such an erroneous and baseless ideal! However, “we can learn from our enemy;” from his erroneous philosophy we can learn how to purify and better our own ideal: we can learn how to foster a great love for it; how to arouse great enthusiasm, even a willingness to live and die for it; how to build up the courage to incarnate it in ourselves and in others.
- We too profess our descendance from God.
- We too want what he wants.
But we do not accept the idea of emanation from the divine; we do not divinize ourselves. We admit descendance in dependence. When we speak of and pray for the coming of the kingdom, it is not a prayer for a kingdom based on differences of race and blood but on universal brotherhood. In union with him who makes the sun rise on the good and on the evil, all men are our brothers – even those who hate us and fight us.
We do not want a relaps into the sin of the earthly paradise, into the sin of making ourselves equal to God. We do not wish to begin a cult of heroes based on the divinization of human nature.
We acknowledge the law of God and we submit to it. We do not wish to frustrate – through an unhealthy and heady knowledge of ourselves – our dependence on the supreme Being who gives us existence. However, even as we acknowledge the law of God within ourselves, we also note another law of desires contrary to the Spirit of God, which wishes to prevail. At times, like St Paul, we experience the desire to act counter to the divine law; we find it difficult to recognize our imperfections; and we act in ways that are destructive to our own nature. We wish to be better than we are, with other talents or a different personality. And sometimes we even think we are what we would like to be.
In our better moments, however, we do recognize our imperfections, and then we understand that there is room for improvement. We are honestly convinced that we could improve if we had more courage. Nothing is accomplished without effort, without struggle. In our better moments, we no longer shed tears over our own weaknesses or over those of others, but we recall what was interiorly said to St Paul: My grace is sufficient for you; in union with me you can do all things.
We live in a world in which love is condemned: it is called weakness, something to be overcome. Some say: never mind love, develop your strengths; let everyone be as strong as possible; let the weak perish. They that say the Christian religion, with its preaching of love, has seen better days and should be substituted for by old Teutonic force. Yes, some proclaim these doctrines, and they find people who willingly adopt them. Love is unknown: “love is not loved,” said St Francis of Assisi in his day; and some centuries later, in Florence, the ecstatic St Mary Magdalene de Pazzi rang the bells of her Carmelite monastery to let the world know how beautiful love is. Although neo-paganism no longer wants love, history teaches us that, in spirt of everything, we will conquer this neo-paganism with love. We shall not give up on love. Love will gain back for us the hearts of these pagans. Nature is stronger than theory: let theory condemn and reject love and call it weakness; the living witness of love will always renew the power which will conquer and capture the hearts of men.
Responsory
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or sword?
-- In everything God works for good with those who love him.
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
-- In everything God works for good with those who love him.
Morning Prayer
Benedictus Ant
He was light to those who sat in the shadow of death,
a model for those who sought freedom and justice,
doing good even to those who hated him.
Prayers and intercessions
Our Savior’s faithfulness is mirrored in the fidelity of his witnesses who shed their blood for the word of God. Let us praise him in remembrance of them:
– You redeemed us by your blood.
Your martyrs freely embraced death in bearing witness to the faith:
give us the true freedom of the Spirit, O Lord.
– You redeemed us by your blood.
Your martyrs professed their faith by shedding their blood:
give us a faith, O Lord, that is constant and pure.
– You redeemed us by your blood.
Your martyrs followed in your footsteps by carrying the cross:
help us to endure courageously the misfortunes of life.
– You redeemed us by your blood.
Your martyrs washed their garments in the blood of the Lamb:
help us to avoid the weaknesses of the flesh and worldly allurements.
– You redeemed us by your blood.
Closing Prayer
Lord our God, source and giver of life,
you gave to Blessed Titus the Spirit of courage
to proclaim human dignity and the freedom of the Church
even in the throes of degrading persecution and death.
Grant us that same Spirit
so that in the coming of your kingdom of justice and peace
we may never be ashamed of the Gospel
but be enabled to recognize your loving kindness
in all the events of our lives.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Evening Prayer
Ant 1
The Lord looks tenderly on those who are poor.
Ant 2
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Ant 3
God chose us in his Son to be his adopted children.
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Short Reading |
1 Peter 4:13-14 |
Beloved, if you can have some share in the sufferings of Christ, be glad, because you will enjoy a much greater gladness when his glory is revealed. It is a blessing for you when they insult you for bearing the name of Christ, because it means that you have the Spirit of glory, the Spirit of God resting on you.
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Short Responsory |
You have tested us, God, and you have brought us out into freedom again.
– You have tested us, God, and you have brought us out into freedom again.
You have refined us like silver.
– You have tested us, God, and you have brought us out into freedom again.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
– You have tested us, God, and you have brought us out into freedom again.
Magnificat Ant
He glorified the Lord even in the sufferings of prison;
he found traces of God’s goodness even in the dregs of inhumanity.
Glory to you who did great things in your servant!
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Prayers and intercessions |
This is the hour when the King of martyrs offered his life in the upper room and laid it down on the cross. Let us thank him and say:
– We praise you, O Lord.
We praise you, O Lord our savior, inspiration and example for every martyr, for loving us to the end:
– We praise you, O Lord.
For calling all repentant sinners to the rewards of life:
– We praise you, O Lord.
For entrusting to your Church the blood of the new and everlasting covenant poured out for the remission of sin:
– We praise you, O Lord.
For our perseverance in your grace today:
– We praise you, O Lord.
For incorporating our dead brothers and sisters into your own death today:
– We praise you, O Lord.
Closing Prayer
Lord our God, source and giver of life,
you gave to Blessed Titus the Spirit of courage
to proclaim human dignity and the freedom of the Church
even in the throes of degrading persecution and death.
Grant us that same Spirit
so that in the coming of your kingdom of justice and peace
we may never be ashamed of the Gospel
but be enabled to recognize your loving kindness
in all the events of our lives.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.