SAINT TITUS BRANDSMA He set up a simple prayer altar using holy cards from his breviary. He displayed cards of the Sacred Heart, St Teresa, and St John of the Cross. His breviary was open to a beautiful picture of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. He remained conscious of what his brother Carmelites were doing at any hour, and tried to match his activity with theirs. He coordinated his times for liturgical and devotional prayers with those of his community. Times for eating and sleeping were beyond his control, but he managed to schedule regular times for prayer, meditating, exercise, study and writing, relaxing, and tidying up his cell. He even worked on a biography of Teresa of Avila. With all this in mind, Titus was able to write: “Blessed solitude! I am already quite at home in this small cell. I have not yet become bored here, quite the contrary. I am alone, certainly, but never was Our Lord so close to me. I could shout for joy because he made me find him again entirely, without me going 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 or content.” In his next prisons, circumstances would not be so pleasant, but his days at Scheveningen may have been God’s blessing as a spiritual preparation for what was to come. Blessed solitude! I am already quite at home in this small cell. I have not yet become bored here, quite the contrary. I am alone, certainly, but never was Our Lord so close to me. Titus Brandsma Prayer before an image of Christ O Jesus, when I gaze on You Once more alive, that I love You And that your heart loves me too Moreover as your special friend. Although that calls me to suffer more Oh, for me all suffering is good, For in this way I resemble You And this is the way to Your Kingdom. I am blissful in my suffering For I know it no more as sorrow But the most ultimate elected lot That unites me with You, O God. O, just leave me here silently alone, The chill and cold around me And let no people be with me Here alone I grow not weary. For Thou, O Jesus, art with me I have never been so close to You. Stay with me, with me, Jesus sweet, Your presence makes all things good for me. Written by Titus Brandsma on 12-13 February 1942 while a prisoner at Scheveningen. Translation: Susan Verkerk-Wheatley / Anne-Marie Bos © Titus Brandsma Instituut 2018 Bust of Titus Brandsma next to a relic containing cloth from his clothes, St John’s Cathedral, Den Bosch, Netherlands carmelites.org.au/titusbrandsma 29
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