Today is World Communications Day, so I wanted to take a few moments to reflect on what communication means from a contemplative point of view. You’d think that, having a blog about Christian contemplation, this is a topic that I would have given much thought to and regarding which I would have developed a conscious …
Tag Archives: Titus Brandsma
My Life with Juan, Jan, Văn, and Anno
One May 6th in heaven, Anno was talking to God about his life. He recounted how it was on this day that, sitting in prison, the Lord had made known to him via the authorities that he would be sent to Dachau. And the Lord said, “Talk to me, and I will answer you and …
Exigencies of Contemplative Love for Creation and People (Quotes Vol. 38)
This past week, in the quotes posted to social media (Facebook, Instagram, X) I continued on the theme of Christian eco-spirituality for Earth Month, and I honoured Jacques Maritain, one of the biggest influences on me and on this blog, who died 51 years ago today: As a spiritual work of mercy, care for our …
Continue reading “Exigencies of Contemplative Love for Creation and People (Quotes Vol. 38)”
John Soreth’s Three Loci of Contemplation in Perspective Today
Blessed John Soreth was a Carmelite of the fifteenth century who wrote an important commentary on the rule of that order. In it, he gives what I think is a good synthesis of a lot of pre-modern thought on Christian contemplation. I owe my knowledge of this summary to Saint Titus Brandsma: This treatment of …
Continue reading “John Soreth’s Three Loci of Contemplation in Perspective Today”
Contemplation with Christ at the Start of Earth Month (Quotes Vol. 35)
This past week, all the quotes posted to social media (Facebook, Instagram, X) spoke of the Christian (i.e., Christic) character of contemplation, as well as transitioned into Earth Month, with a special focus on the silence of nature: There is no prayer, no contemplation, unless Christ be in the soul, and unless an imitation of …
Continue reading “Contemplation with Christ at the Start of Earth Month (Quotes Vol. 35)”
Holy Week and Easter (Quotes Vol. 34)
This past week, all the quotes posted to social media (Facebook, Instagram, X) spoke of the time we are in: Holy Week and Easter. Contemplation is paradise on earth, a crucified paradise. — Jacques Maritain Contemplation is not anesthesia, imperturbability, deliverance from all that might agitate a person, an ascent to the Sea of Tranquility. …
From Niagara Falls to Golgotha (Quotes Vol. 30)
In this second week of Lent, quotes posted to social media (Facebook, Instagram, X) moved from a Laudato Si’ Lent, i.e., contemplation of God the Creator, to a Lent of mortification, i.e., the experience of the Cross. I am going back again to the water which pours itself out before me. It is also an …
Continue reading “From Niagara Falls to Golgotha (Quotes Vol. 30)”
Titus Brandsma and Transfiguration in Dachau
In the life story of Titus Brandsma, there is a remarkable example of what I, following Marie-Joseph Le Guillou and much of the tradition, call transfiguration in Christ.[1] Simply put, this theme means that charity affects the whole person. Le Guillou’s trademark phrase seems to be this one: “Charity has to pass all the way …
Continue reading “Titus Brandsma and Transfiguration in Dachau”
This Week’s Quotes Vol. 2
These are the quotes/memes posted to Facebook, Instagram, and X/what used to be Twitter in the past week: This indwelling and inworking of God must come to expression in our words and deeds and radiate from our entire being. We cannot exact from God that which he does in us. If we think we have …
Not Only Knowledge But Radiation Also
The indwelling and inworking of God must not only be the object of intuition but also manifest themselves in our life, come to expression in our words and deeds, and radiate from our whole being and behaviour. Blessed Titus Brandsma (1881–1942)
Contemplative in the Mud 