Research centre for mysticism and spirituality

Who are we?

Research centre for mysticism and spirituality

The Titus Brandsma Institute (TBI) is a centre for academic research into the foundations, history and significance of Christian mysticism and spirituality. The study of the spiritual culture in past and present, and of the various ways in which people have given shape and meaning to their spiritual quest, are central at the TBI.

Our institute focuses on topics such as the modern devotion, spirituality of religious life, mysticism & modern art and spirituality in modern society. Central to our research are mystical writers like Thomas a Kempis, Teresa of Ávila, Simone Weil and experts on mysticism like Michel de Certeau and Titus Brandsma.

Our research

The scientific research at the Titus Brandsma Institute always had its own profile since the foundation of the institute fifty years ago. Read more about the different research lines below.

This website

We are currently busy building the English version of our website and will be gradually releasing English versions of Dutch pages. Be aware that the Dutch version of this website is updated weekly, the English version is not.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us.

Contact

Canonisation Titus Brandsma

The Catholic Church announced today March 4th that Pope Francis will canonise Nijmegen's Titus Brandsma (1881-1942) on May 15th.

Brandsma was Rector Magnificus and Professor of Philosophy at Radboud University. He died in Dachau concentration camp, some six months after he had been arrested by the Nazis for his resistance to National Socialism.

In November 1985 he was beatified in Rome by Pope John Paul II. And in 2005 he was elected greatest Nijmegen citizen of all time.

Canonisation Titus Brandsma

Writings of Titus Brandsma

Handtekening Titus Brandsma
Anne-Marie Bos and Susan Verkerk-Wheatley are in the proces of translating and commenting the writings of Titus Brandsma in English. Brandsma wrote about 700 articles for various publications, but the archives also hold thousands of unpublished articles, speeches, notes and letters.

Through this critical edition, our aim is to make these works more accessible for reading and studying.
Writings of Titus Brandsma

Studies in Spirituality

Studies in Spirituality homepage
The aim of Studies in Spirituality is to provide an opportunity for publication of more substantial works of monograph length and collective works on particular themes. Supplements are published in a frequency of about one volume a year.

In April 2021 the newest supplement of Studies in Spirituality, nr. 36, was published: Mysticism and/as Love Theory. Edited by Marc De Kesel and Ad Poirters.
Supplements

Lecture series on Titus Brandsma

Are you curious about Titus Brandsma and his story? So are we!

Last year the Titus Brandsma Institute organised four online lectures on Titus Brandsma. Dr. Anne-Marie Bos (TBI) used various materials from the life of Titus Brandsma - such as photos, a video recording, an audio recording, but also handwritten notes and a page from his diary - this gives an insight into how Titus Brandsma showed himself as a person.

The lectures where recorded and uploaded on our YouTube channel. jonge_titus_brandsma_nci

Lecture series on Titus Brandsma