Truth in Love: The Life of Carmelite St. Titus Brandsma

by Fernando Millán

This is story of the Dutch Carmelite saint, Fr. Titus Brandsma, who was killed in the Dachau concentration camp for his stand against Nazism. Fr. Brandsma as professor at the Catholic University of Nijmegen (now Radboud University) began teaching of the dangers of National Socialism and its incompatibility with Catholic teaching even before the beginnings of World War II. As a journalist and the bishops' ecclesiastical advisor to the country's Catholic newspapers, Brandsma traveled around the Netherlands in January 1942 advising editors not to publish Nazi propaganda. He was arrested on January 19th and began a journey through several Nazi prisons, ending up in the Dachau concentration camp. He was one of several thousand priests, religious, and ministers held in Dachau during the war. He died from a lethal injection in the prison hospital on July 26, 1942. Brandsma is recognized by the Catholic Church as a martyr for the faith-- "killed because of hatred for the faith." He is the first martyr from the Nazi era and is recognized by journalists around the world as one of their own. In 2005 he was recognized by the citizens of Nijmegen as the greatest citizen of the town. St. Titus is also noted for his work in establishing Catholic schools in the Netherlands and his firm stance to keep Jewish students in the schools in opposition to Nazi policy. He was also very involved in the translation and publishing of spiritual works into Dutch and encouraging ecumenism in order to reestablish the Church in the Netherlands. Much of his scholarly work became the foundation for the Titus Brandsma Institute at Radboud University.

150 pages, Paperback

Published March 5, 2022

Reviews

[Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short introduction to the life of St. Titus. It will leave you wanting to know more about this Carmelite priest who died at Dachau. St. Titus was a man full of joy, serenity, and trust in God even in the hell of various concentration camps. It is an inspiration to see his faith lived so humbly until his dying breath. The reason for 4 stars is that the translation isn’t spectacular, a few typos and sentences that don’t make sense. Another reason is I felt the book didn’t take the opportunities to really present St. Titus’s work first hand. For example, several times the author mentions a beautiful poem that St. Titus wrote while in the concentration camps entitled “Before a Picture of Jesus in my Cell.” That would have been a perfect opportunity to include the text of that poem. I wanted to see it right there in the context of my reading rather than just mentions of how good the poem is. This book is worth reading, but it will inspire you to read more of St. Titus and his works!