Ruminations of an Irascible Hermit.: St Titus Brandsma

Tuesday, June 7, 2022

St Titus Brandsma - Master of Mysticism

The more I learn about St Titus and his writings, the more I admire him and feel connected to him as my brother in Carmel. He was a professor who taught a course on Christian Mysticism and was known to be a great promotor of the thought of Sts Teresa of Avila & John of the Cross. Someone once joked with him how could he belong to the Ancient Observance of Carmel (Calced/unreformed) when he was so imbued with the spirit of the Discalced Carmelites (Teresian reform) - he replied cheekily with his play on words “outside of my cell I am calced (shoed) but inside my cell I am discalced (barefooted)”. This is his greatest strength - drawing from both branches of the Order to be fully Carmelite.

In this quote you can see that he emphasises that the starting point of the mystical life is God, not us. This means it’s all a working of grace. This grace working in us is creative, the action of the Holy Spirit is always creative as He works in us to recreate us into the image of Christ. Through Christ we become one with the Holy Trinity and this is the beauty of Christian Mysticism, it is Trinitarian and only possible through grace.

1 comment:

AnonymousJune 7, 2022 at 11:28 PM
Thank you brother for sharing to us uour reflections.
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Please note. I am a Catholic layman, not a qualified theologian or philosopher. What I say and write here are my own personal thoughts and ideas, although I always try to conform my writings to the Magisterium of the Church.

I- with firm faith believe and profess everything that is contained in the symbol of faith: namely,

I believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven: By the power of the Holy Spirit, he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered, died and was buried. On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. I believe in the one holy catholic and apostolic church. I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

With firm faith I believe as well everything contained in God's word, written or handed down in tradition and proposed by the church--whether in solemn judgment or in the ordinary and universal Magisterium--as divinely revealed and called for faith.

I also firmly accept and hold each and every thing that is proposed by that same church definitively with regard to teaching concerning faith or morals.

What is more, I adhere with religious submission of will and intellect to the teachings which either the Roman pontiff or the college of bishops enunciate when they exercise the authentic Magisterium even if they proclaim those teachings in an act that is not definitive.