The Carmelite Feast Day: July 27 is for priest and martyr, Blessed Titus Brandsma, O.Carm.
“Blessed Titus Brandsma was a Dutch Carmelite friar, Catholic priest and professor of philosophy. He delved into Carmelite history and brought his deep prayer practice to his studies at the Gregorian University in Rome and later, teaching assignments. In 1923, he helped Dutch bishops found a Catholic University in Nijmegen, Holland, where he later became rector.
Titus was also a journalist and leader in the Catholic press. In 1940, German troops invaded Holland. By 1941, they had made it illegal for any priest or religious to direct a school or university; they were also placing severe limits on publishers. Titus remained an outspoken advocate for the Catholic press and religious freedom, and as a result was arrested in January 1942. He died in July that same year in Dachau.
He was made Blessed by Pope John Paul II in 1985.”
“Nowhere else is God so near
as in ourselves.
There in the first place
we must try to find and to see Him.”
—Blessed Titus Brandsma
Source: www.carmelites.net