The Fraternal Companionship of StTitus Brandsma O.Carm.

Abstract

In the light of the Synod of Bishops on the theme, For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and Mission, that is currently taking place, this paper explores the way in which St. Titus Brandsma, O.Carm., can be seen as a model ‘travelling companion’, as it were, for the many different people he encountered throughout his life. It sketches the fraternal companionship and solidarity, as well as the charismatic leadership, that characterised the way that St Titus engaged with those he encountered throughout the journey of his life, as a child on the family farm, at boarding school, during his studies in Holland and in Rome, and throughout his many and various apostolates, in schools, as a newspaper editor, as a Professor of Philosophy, and even during his imprisonment, and his time in the concentration camp at Dachau.