Quote of the day, 10 December: St. Titus Brandsma
As Mr. Steffen was locking me in my cell at Arnhem, I remarked, jokingly, that it was certainly unusual for a man to be put in jail at sixty years of age. His reply was comforting: ‘You should not have accepted the archbishop’s commission.’ I was finally sure of the real reason for my arrest.
Saint Titus Brandsma
For some thirty years, Titus Brandsma was once again on trial; this time it was not for the crime of sabotage but for the evaluation of his courage and virtue. The process of canonization put its seal on his spiritual victory, much as the Nazi process had placed its seal, albeit unintentionally, on his moral victory through death in the camp.
The diocesan process began on January 11, 1955, in Nijmegen, the Diocese of Den Bosch. The investigation was based on the sworn testimony of some fifty eyewitnesses to his life and martyrdom: a cardinal, two bishops, four professors from the Catholic University, and most especially inmates from the prisons and concentration camps where he had been held. Among these latter were four non-Catholics and a few agnostics.
From his family there was the testimony of his brother, Fr. Hendrik, a Franciscan priest; his sister, Gatske; and the lawyer, Asuerus Brandsma.
Most important of all was the testimony of the SS nurse, known to us only as Tizia, from the extermination camp of Dachau. Her deposition was taken in 1956. The impact of her confession extended even beyond the canonical procedure: its importance is unparalleled for any honest judgment of the nature of Nazism.
Miguel María Arribas, O.Carm.
The Price of Truth, chapters 8, 14 (excerpts)
Note: On 10 December 1973, Titus Brandsma’s cause was accepted by the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints as truly involving martyrdom.
Arribas O.Carm., M 2021, The Price of Truth: Titus Brandsma, Carmelite, Carmelite Media, Darien, Illinois.
Featured image: This photograph of the Dachau gate was captured in February 2011. Image credit: payam_fahr / Flickr (Some rights reserved)
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