The little Dutch monk

Dear friends,

You won’t have heard of Anno Brandsma. He was born in Friesland in the north of the Netherlands in 1881. He was a devout and studious boy, and joined the Carmelite religious order as a novice in 1898 at the age of eighteen, taking his father’s name of Titus. He took his vows as a monk, and committed himself to a life of prayer, community, and service as a Carmelite Friar in October 1899. After study and training, he was ordained as a Catholic priest in June 1905. (It is possible for monks to be ordained priest, but not all monks do so.) Titus was an academic, and taught philosophy and mysticism. He was highly intelligent, and a gifted writer, travelling widely and lecturing on the Carmelite spiritual tradition. He helped to found the Catholic University of Nijmegen in the Netherlands in 1923, later becoming its Rector. In 1935 he was appointed the spiritual advisor to the Catholic journalists and bishops in the Netherlands.

In the years leading up to WW2 Titus was openly critical of Nazi ideology, defending the freedom of the press and education against all propaganda, particularly the right of the Catholic press to continue to publish Christian views. He continued to speak out after the German occupation of Holland in 1940. Nazi officials labelled him “the dangerous little friar”. He was arrested in January 1942, and sent to Dachau concentration camp, outside Munich. He was murdered in the hospital there by lethal injection on 26th July that year as part of the Nazi regime’s program of medical experimentation on living subjects.

Titus wrote “prayer is life, not an oasis in the desert of life”.  He unpacked this by explaining “We are in continuous contemplation of God, and we adore God, not only in our own being, but also in all that exists: first our neighbour, then also in nature, and in the cosmos, as God is everywhere and permeates everything.”  He was made a saint by Pope Frances in 2022, and in 2005 the people of Nijmegen chose him as the greatest citizen to have lived in their town.

His legacy is the reminder to us that the call to a prayerful life (even that of monastic discipline) intersects with prophetic service. In Titus’ Brandsma’s case, this service was to not be mute in the face of the collapse of freedom, but to speak, and to urge others to keep speaking the truth, even at the cost of his own life. He was arrested in the course of hand delivering a letter from the Catholic Bishops of Holland to regional newspaper editors, urging them to disobey a new law requiring them to print every Nazi declaration. May God give us the courage to walk in the light, when those around us prefer the darkness (John 1).

Worship Services for Sunday 4th October

9.30am All Age Harvest Service at St John’s Stoke Row with Revd Kevin Davies

11am Harvest Festival at St Peter and Paul, Checkendon with Revd Kevin Davies.

Midweek zoom service: Wednesday Evensong at 5.00pm  410 935 129

Harvest Hope

Join us on Sunday for our harvest thanksgiving services. Let us remember and give thanks for the farming community, all those who work in the food industry, for the produce of our gardens, for the goodness of the earth, and for the simple joys of God’s many gifts.

Looking ahead, the all age service at Checkendon at 11am on October 18th will feature a “hands on” crafting theme. We are going to be helping to create a wonderful display of hand knitted poppies, made by Checkendon ladies over the last eight months, in preparation for Remembrance Sunday. All the poppies need to be “tied on”, and many hands will be needed! Please put the date in your diary and come and join in!

Let us walk in the light, friends, as Christ is in the Light.

Your Rector, Canon Kevin.