Carmelite Mysticism Historical Sketches by Titus Brandsma OCarm

Paperback: The lectures on the development and progress of Carmelite mysticism written by the Rev Titus Brandsma, OCarm, PhD, formerly rector of the Catholic University of Holland and professor of the history of mysticism and Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy in the same school, will be doubly welcome. First, authoritative works on Carmelite life and history written in English are somewhat rare; second, the author by his many years of research and lecture in the matter discussed is eminently qualified to speak. The lectures are a development of the lecture given at the Catholic University in Washington on 26 July 1935.

It seems well to single out for comment a few points from the many important conclusions drawn by Father Brandsma. The first concerns the foundation of the Carmelite Order. Father Brandsma together with the early Fathers of the Church assumes that the Prophet Elias was the founder and inspiration of all eremitical and religious life. Whatever ideal other orders and religious may have added to those offered by the great Prophet of Carmel, the Carmelites have chosen to retain Elias for their ideal and teacher and have always striven to realise in their own lives the example set by him. They have never recognized any other teacher. They alone of all those who in the beginning strove to imitate the great Prophet, remain faithful to their first ideal and so have every right to claim the Prophet Elias as their Founder.

The second point refers to the spirit of prayer and contemplation of the Order of Carmel. The learned author points out that it is a mistake to point to St. Teresa and St. John of the Cross at the beginnings of the Carmelite school of mysticism. These two saints were trained in the spiritual life and made their religious profession under the mitigated Rule of Carmel. They were, therefore, only continuing the tradition of the Order in which they had made their religious profession and were transmitting to posterity the spirit of Carmel imbibed from their parent Order. Thus the spirit of prayer and mysticism is not different in the two Orders of Carmel; rather it is the same, since one spring gives rise to the two streams flowing side by side.

The third point deals with the Marian character of the writings of St John of the Cross, the Mystical Doctor. Some have criticised St John of the Cross and have tried to show that he has neglected the Virgin Mother of Carmel in his writing whereas as a Carmelite he should have made much of her. Our author shows how St John assumes devotion to Mary as common Carmelite heritage. It was as useless to enlarge on what was taken for granted as to enlarge on the fact that one breathes. He shows that St John's doctrine cannot be conceived without devotion to Mary the Mother of God.

Carmelite Mysticism Historical Sketches was first published in 1936 by the Carmelite Press. This edition was published in 2002.

About the author: Titus Brandsma OCarm was declared Blessed by Pope John Paul II on November 1985. Since then, the promotion of his cause for sainthood has been in progress. An Interprovincial Committee of Carmelites exists, here in the United States, to educate and inform the Body of Christ as to its progress.

The life of Titus Brandsma began in the quiet countryside of Friesland, Holland, where he was born on 23 February 1881, and ended some sixty years later on 26 July 1942, in the notorious hospital of the Dachau concentration camp.

Titus Brandsma, Dutch priest, educator, journalist and modern mystic, has much to say to Twenty-first Century Christians. His joyful countenance in the face of chronic illness and finally, at the torturous hands of the Nazi’s, is a study in humankind’s sharing of its portion of the Cross of Christ. The frail, bookish-looking clergyman with the big cigar, labeled “That dangerous little friar” by his enemies, was able to perform heroic acts of suffering, followed by forgiveness, because his faith and trust in God was so firmly rooted in prayer. Unlike Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, who made a deliberate commitment of her life as an atonement for sin, Father Brandsma did not seek martyrdom, yet when he was thoroughly convinced it was God’s Will, he was able to accept humiliation and even death.

The Fine Points

Hostage To The Devil: The Possession and Exorcism of Five Living Americans (Non-Fiction) by Malachi Martin

Paperback: What happens when a human being becomes possessed by Satan? 

What are the horrors of being possessed? 

What type of man is an exorcist?

Why should he offer himself as hostage to the devil so as to free the person possessed of evil?

What are the physical tortures and mental anguishes of the exorcist?

Malachi Martin, an eminent theologian, fully documents five case-histories of men and women who were possessed and of the exorcists involved, and discusses the significance of his findings which must influence our thinking and beliefs today in his Hostage to the Devil (1976).

About the author: Dr Malachi Martin (1921-1999), eminent theologian, was born in Kerry, Ireland, educated at Belevedere College and entered the Society of Jesus in 1939. He studied at the National University where he took a bachelor's degree in Semitic Languages and Oriental History, with parallel studies in Assyriology at Trinity College. From 1958 until 1964, Malachi Martin served in Rome, where he was a close associate of the renowned Jesuit Cardinal, Augustine Bea, and of Pope John XXIII; and where he was Professor at the Pontifical Biblical Institute of the Vatican, teaching Hebrew, Aramaic, Paleography and the Bible. After twenty-five years as a Jesuit, he was released from his vows of poverty and obedience in 1964. He wrote thrillers about the Roman Catholic Church such as Hostage to the Devil, The Keys of This Blood, Windswept House, and more than a dozen other books. He lived in Manhattan and died at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan.

A Good Family by A H Kim

Paperback: Beth is the darling of God Halsa, a pharmaceutical giant, and she has got the outrageous salary and lifestyle to prove it. Until she lands in white-collar women's prison, thanks to a high-profile whistleblower suit.

Sam, Beth's husband, used to be the town's most eligible bachelor, and he has never had to do anything for himself. Until his wife goes to jail, and he is left to raise two daughters on his own.

Lise, the au pair, is the whistleblower. But is she? Everyone knows she is not clever enough to have done it alone.

Hannah, Sam's sister, is devoted to her family. There is nothing she would not do for them.

Eva, Beth's sister, is the smart one. (Read: not the pretty one.) Her life seems perfect on the surface, but sibling rivalry runs deep.

Martin, Beth's brother, is the firstborn, the former golden boy turned inside-the Beltway businessman. But what is he hiding?

Someone knows something. Someone betrayed Beth.

A Good Family (2020) is the story of the Min-Lindstroms. This is the story of the all-American family as it implodes under the weight of secrets, lies and the unchecked desire for wealth and power.

About the author: A H Kim was born in Seoul, South Korea and immigrated to the US as a young child. She was educated at Harvard College and Berkeley Law School, where she was an editor of the California Law Review. She is a practicing attorney and has served as chief of staff to the CEO and head of investor relations at a Fortune 200 company.

A H Kim is the proud mother of two sons, a longtime cancer survivor, community volunteer, and member of the Writers Grotto. She and her husband live in San Francisco. 

A Good Family is her first novel.

Rating: 5/5

Kenzaburō Ōe (b 1935), Novelist, Short-Story Writer, Essayist, Nobel Prize in Literature 1994

Transfigured: Patricia Sandoval's Escape from Drugs, Homelessness, and the Back Doors of Planned Parenthood by Christine Watkins and Patricia Sandoval

Paperback: Transfigured (2017) is endorsed by Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone and Bishop Michael Barber SJ, Diocese of Oakland, California, with a Foreword written by Father Donald Calloway, MIC. 

Patricia Sandoval has a truly amazing story, one of sin and suffering but also of grace and redemption. Above all, it is a reminder of how much God loves us, walks with us even when we stumble, and "works all things to the good for those who love Him." This well-written book is always engaging and has something to challenge and inspire each of us, particularly in support of God's littlest ones, the unborn. - Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, Archdiocese of San Francisco, California

When Patricia Sandoval worked at Planned Parenthood, they told her, “Never tell a soul what you see behind this door.” So now she is telling the world. 

Transfigured is, however, so much more than a compelling tool in the hands of pro-life and chastity advocates. It is the riveting life story of a young girl who felt abandoned by her parents, and after three abortions and work at an abortion clinic, became a methamphetamine addict living on the streets - until a miracle occurred.

Ms Sandoval is now a renowned, full-time international pro-life and chastity speaker inspiring thousands with her harrowing and exhilarating story of redemption. Ms Sandoval has shared her story through media outlets worldwide, such as EWTN’s Cara a Cara, Women of Grace, At Home with Jim & Joy, and EWTN Bookmark. Young and old travel for hours, sometimes across country lines, not only to hear Ms Sandoval’s testimony, but to thank her for changing their lives. And through the written word, this outstanding autobiography is bringing the same healing love, mercy, and hope that God gave to Patricia, directly to the reader’s heart.

This book comes with short companion videos of Patricia Sandoval speaking to the reader at various chapter intervals. When you see the words "Chapter Video", you are invited to go to the YouTube site listed to hear a message from Ms Sandoval that relates to the content you will have just read.

About the authors: Mrs Christine Watkins, MTS, LCSW, is an inspirational Catholic speaker and author, who has hosted her own shows on Catholic radio and television. Formerly an anti-Christian atheist, she began a life of service to the Catholic Church after a miraculous healing from Jesus through Mary, which saved her from death. Before her conversion to Catholicism, she danced professionally with the San Francisco Ballet Company. Mrs Watkins is the author of Full of Grace: Miraculous Stories of Healing and Conversion through Mary’s Intercession, published by Ave Maria Press, and is the founder of Queen of Peace Media. Watkins holds a master's degree in theological studies from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley and a master's degree in social welfare from the University of California at Berkeley's School of Social Welfare. She has twenty years of work experience as a spiritual director, licensed counselor, inspirational speaker, and retreat leader. 

Patricia Sandoval is an international pro-life and chastity speaker who has appeared on countless television and radio shows, as well as co-hosted shows on EWTN - The Eternal Word Television Network. Patricia has dual-citizenship in the United States and Mexico, and throughout Latin America is regarded as a primary voice for the unborn, chastity, and post-abortion healing. Sandoval shares her message of God’s mercy, healing, and gift of life in packed stadiums and media channels across the globe.

Elijah in Jerusalem (Christian Fiction) by Michael D O'Brien

Hardback: Elijah in Jerusalem (2015), the long-awaited sequel to the acclaimed, best-selling novel Father Elijah: An Apocalypse, is the continuing story of the Catholic priest called to confront a powerful politician who could be the Antichrist foretold in the Bible.

A convert from Judaism, a survivor of the Holocaust, and a participant in the founding of Israel, Father Elijah was for decades a monk on Mount Carmel, the mountain made famous by his Old Testament prophet-namesake. In the events of the preceding novel, the Pope commissioned Father Elijah to meet the President of the European Union, a man rising toward global control as President of the soon- to-be realized World Government. Recognizing in the President a resemblance to the anticipated Antichrist, the Pope asked Father Elijah to call the President to repentance, a mission that ended in failure.

In this sequel, now-Bishop Elijah, wanted for a murder he did not commit, tries again to meet the President. Accompanied by his fellow monk Brother Enoch, he enters Jerusalem just as the President arrives in the holy city to inaugurate a new stage of his rise to world power. This time Elijah hopes to unmask him as a spiritual danger to mankind. As the story unfolds, people of various backgrounds meet the fugitive priest, and in the encounter their souls are revealed and tested.

Elijah perseveres in his mission even when all seems lost. The dramatic climax is surprising, yet it underlines that God works all things to the good for those who love him. 

The Children of the Last Days series comprise of seven novels that examine the major moral and spiritual struggles of our times. Each can be read independently of the others. There are, however, two trilogies within the larger work. The first three of the series, however, are best read in chronological order, for they form a trilogy within the larger work. 

The books in the Children of the Last Days series, in chronological order, are Strangers and Sojourners, Plague Journal, Eclipse of the Sun (these first three make up a trilogy), Father Elijah, Elijah in Jerusalem (its sequel), Sophia House (these make up the second trilogy), and A Cry of Stone. 

About the author: Michael D O’Brien is the former editor of the Catholic family magazine, Nazareth Journal. He is also the author of several books, including his nine-volume series of novels published by Ignatius Press, notably the best-selling Father Elijah. For more than thirty years he has been a professional artist. Michael and his wife Sheila have six children. He writes and paints full-time at his home near Combermere, Ontario.

Rating: 5/5 

The Beatification of Father Titus Brandsma, Carmelite (1881-1942) Martyr in Dachau prepared by Redemptus Maria Valabek, OCarm

Paperback: Born at Bolsward (The Netherlands) in 1881, Blessed Titus Brandsma joined the Carmelite Order as a young man. 

Ordained priest in 1905, he obtained a doctorate in philosophy in Rome. He then taught in various schools in Holland and was named professor of philosophy and of the history of mysticism in the Catholic University of Nijmegen where he also served as Rector Magnificus. He was noted for his constant availability to everyone. 

He was a professional journalist, and in 1935 he was appointed ecclesiastical advisor to Catholic journalists. Both before and during the Nazi occupation of The Netherlands he fought, faithful to the Gospel, against the spread of the Nazi ideology and for the freedom of Catholic education and the Catholic press. For this he was arrested and sent to a succession of prisons and concentration camps where he brought comfort and peace to his fellow prisoners and did good even to his tormentors. 

In 1942, after much suffering and humiliations he was killed at Dachau. He was beatified by John Paul II on November 3rd 1985.

The Beatification of Father Titus Brandsma, Carmelite (1986) writes about the beatification of Father Titus Brandsma and the three-day of solemn Triduum on 3 November 1985 at St Peter's Church, Rome. It is a reprint from Carmel in the World, 25 (1986), 83-240.

About the editor: Reverend Redemptus Valabek, OCarm (1934-2003) had been the editor and driving force behind Carmel in the World. In August 2003, Redemptus Valabek, OCarm died tragically in a road traffic accident while on holidays in the United States.

Rev Redemptus Maria Valabek, OCarm was a member of the Order of Carmelites and of the North American Province of St Elias. He was 69 years old. Father Redemptus was born in Shelton, Connecticut, on 3 July 1934, to Frank and Anna Valcik Valabek. His parents predeceased him. He is survived by one sister, Ann, and her husband, James Waldron; niece, Theresa and her husband, Marcus, and son, Marcus, Jr. Yancoskie, nieces, Angela Waldron and Renee Waldron all of Shelton, Connecticut, several cousins in Albany and in the Czech Republic also survive him. After completing his studies at St Albert's Junior Seminary in Middletown, New York, Father Redemptus received his habit in the Order of Carmelites, in September 1953, in Williamstown, Massachusetts, when he entered the Carmelite Novitiate. Following his Novitiate year he professed First Vows on 8 September 8 1954, in Williamstown, and three years later professed his Solemn Vows of Obedience, Poverty and Chastity on 15 September 1957. He was ordained to the priesthood on 25 July 25 1960, in Hamilton, Massachusetts. A 1957 graduate of St Bonaventure College in Olean, NewYork, he earned his Bachelor's degree in Philosophy and Latin. He then traveled to Rome, Italy, and attended the College of San Alberto, where he studied Theology and then earned his Doctorate in Theology from the Lateran University in 1965. 

Father Redemptus spent 40 years of his Carmelite ministry life in Rome, Italy. He served as the Master of Students and headed the theology-spirituality section at the College of Saint Albert; was Apostolic Examiner of the Clergy from 1967-75, lectured on liturgy at several Roman universities and was Postulator General of the Causes of Saints for the Order of Carmelites from 1981-1995. He served as Dean of Regina Mundi College, was a member of the Institutum Carmelitanum, a Confessor at St Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, and Editor of the English language magazine, Carmel in the World. He further served the Order as General Delegate for the Donum Dei Missionary Family from 1998 until his death. He authored six books on Carmelite topics. He was an organizer of the Carmelite Order's International Congress on Prayer, the Order's month-long workshop on Leadership and Values, attended the Congress of the Carmelite Rule in 1986, was organizer of the International Marian Congress in 1989 and most recently served as a member of the International Commission of Laity. Father Redemptus was also a multi-linguist who, for a good many years, served the Carmelite Order as an interpreter at various General Chapters and international meetings. 

Staring Out The Window

Humanae Vitae: Encyclical Letter of His Holiness Pope Paul VI

Paperback: The papal encyclical, Humanae vitae (Of Human Life) written by Pope St Paul VI in 1968, provides beautiful and clear teaching about God's plan for married love and the transmission of life. 

Humanae vitae re-affirmed the teaching of the Catholic Church regarding married love, responsible parenthood, and the rejection of artificial contraception. In formulating his teaching, Pope St Paul VI explained why he did not accept the conclusions of the Pontifical Commission on Birth Control established by his predecessor, Pope John XXIII, a commission he himself had expanded.

Mainly because of its restatement of the Church's opposition to artificial contraception, the encyclical was politically controversial. It affirmed traditional Church moral teaching on the sanctity of life and the procreative and unitive nature of conjugal relations.

Humane vitae was the last of Paul's seven encyclicals. It is available both in the Latin and the English.

Some excerpts are taken from Wikipedia.

About the author: Paul VI (1897-1978) became pope of the Roman Catholic Church in 1963. He reigned during a period of great change and ferment in the Church following the Second Vatican Council. 

The second child of Giorgio and Giuditta Alghisi, Giovanni Battista Montini was born in Concesio, Brescia, on 26 September 1897. He was ordained to the priesthood on 19 May 1920. He studied philosophy, civil law and canon law. In 1923, he was appointed attaché at the Apostolic Nunciature in Warsaw and a year later returned and began serving in the Secretariat of State in the Vatican. During his service to the Holy See - under the Pontificates of Pius xi and Pius XII - he also taught the history of papal diplomacy at the Lateran University, until 13 December 1937 when Pius XI appointed him Substitute of the Secretariat of State. 

During World War II, he engaged in aiding refugees and Jews, also overseeing the Vatican Information Office. In November 1952, he was appointed Pro-Secretary of State for General Affairs and two years later, he was appointed Archbishop of Milan. There, he employed new methods of evangelization in order to address the issues of immigration, materialism and Marxist ideology. On 21 June 1963 he was elected pope and took the name of Paul VI. 

Amid numerous challenges, he brought three periods of the Second Vatican Council to a successful conclusion, always encouraging the Church to be open in the modern world while respecting her tradition, always seeking communion among the Council Fathers. Paul VI began the practice of Apostolic Journeys beginning with the Holy Land, where his historic meeting with Athenagoras took place. 

His first encyclical, Ecclesiam Suam (1964), gave rise to the method of “the dialogue of salvation”. His other writings, include Populorum Progressio on the development of peoples. He also provided masterful teaching on the question of peace, also instituting the World Day of Peace. From the very beginning of his ministry, he had particular concern for the young, sharing with them the joy of faith. After a brief illness, he died on 6 August 1978 in Castel Gandolfo.

Pope Francis beatified him on 19 October 2014. He was canonised on 14 October 2018 by Pope Francis.

The above Paul VI's biography is taken from L'Osservatore Romano (24 October 2014).

Sir Derek Alton Walcott (1930-2017), Poet, Playwright and 1992 Nobel Prize Winner in Literature

George Saunders - American Writer of Short Stories, Essays, Novellas, Children's Books and Novels

Related Lives: Confessors And Their Female Penitents, 1450-1750 by Jodi Bilinkoff

Hardback: Preachers often brought along priests to hear confessions or heard confessions themselves, effectively linking sermon and sacrament.

In early modern Catholic Europe and its colonies priests frequently developed close relationships with pious women, serving as their spiritual directors during their lives, and their biographers after their deaths. 

In this richly illustrated book (2005), Jodi Bilinkoff explores the ways in which clerics related to those female penitents whom they determined were spiritually gifted, and how they conveyed the live stories of these women to readers. The resulting popular literatures of hagiography and spiritual autobiography produced hundreds of texts designed to establish models of behaviour for the Catholic faithful in the period between the advent of printing and the beginning of the modern age.

Bilinkoff finds that confessional relations and the texts that document them reveal much about gender and social values. She uses life narratives, primarily from Spain, but also from France, Italy, Portugal, Spanish America, and French Canada, to examine the ways in which clerics presented female penitents as exemplary, and how they constructed their own identities around their interactions with exceptional women. 

These multilayered texts, she suggests, offer compelling accounts of individuals caught up in the pursuit of holiness, and provide a key to understanding the resilience of Catholic culture in an age of religious change and conflict.

About the author: Dr Jodi Bilinkoff is Associate Professor of History at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. Her research interests include religion, gender, life-writing, and the construction of memory in early modern Europe, particularly Spain. After working for many years on women in Catholic culture, more recently she has turned her attention to masculine identity, especially male clerical identity.

In her current research project, she engages all these issues by examining the life, afterlife, and legacy of St John of the Cross (1542-1591). Her book-in-progress, John of the Cross: The History, Mystery, and Memory of a Spanish Saint, will not be a conventional biography, but rather, a critical study of the manifold, at times, conflicting meanings this intriguing figure has held for individuals and communities, both during and after his lifetime. 

The Shepherd of Hermas

Paperback: I believe that as an historical work, it gives us unprecedented insight into the practical faith of the early Christian Church, and that as a prophetic work, it is something more than words on a page. Its living intention seeks to join us with the consistent, clear and abiding call of Christ that transcends all generations: Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the kingdom of heaven is near. (Matthew 4:17) - Daniel Robison

The Shepherd of Hermas (2013) - also known as The Pastor of Hermas - was one of the most popular books, if not the most popular book, in the Christian Church during the second, third and fourth centuries. 

Believed by the early Christians to have been the work of the Hermas referred to by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans, this book was regarded as inspired Scripture by many and even included in several of the early canons. 

At the very least, the historical and universal acclaim of this work by those who were still burning with the recent fire of Pentecost demands a serious consideration of the message it gives to us; a message that, after nearly two thousand years, still exhales the prophetic fragrance of the ancient, apostolic faith. 

This version has been updated into modern language by Daniel Robison for a new generation to rediscover this captivating work of the early Church.

About the translator: Daniel Robison is a youth minister with a passion for communicating the timeless truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the next generation of the church. In a desire to connect modern Christian readers with lesser known but valuable literary works from the saints of the past, Robison has translated/updated a variety of texts into everyday, common language. The ancient Christian classic, The Shepherd of Hermas, The Baptism with the Holy Spirit by R A Torrey, and Hippolytus on the Trinity, which is a modern edition of Hippolytus' Against the Heresy of Noetus, are among some of his most recently published works. In addition to these, he has recently published an original work, Temptation: What It Is and How We Overcome.