A FOCAL (Carmelite Formation in Latin America) ongoing formation event was held in São Paulo, Brazil, from the 27th of June to the 6th of July, 2017. for the Carmelite Family in the American continent. The event was organised by Raúl Maraví, O.Carm., Councilor General, with the help of a team of friars from the Rio de Janeiro province. The participants included people from Argentina, Perú, Bolivia, the U.S.A. and Brazil, all of whom enjoyed the fraternal atmosphere and the inputs by Eduardo Agosta, O.Carm. (Argentina), Bruno Secondin, O.Carm. (Italy) and Benny Phang, O.Carm. (Councilor General for Formation). The course had as its title, "I brought you into the land of Carmel" concentrating on the themes of ecology, challenges to ministry, Carmelite spirituality and morality. As a part of the programme the group made a pilgrimage to the national shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida on the occasion of the third centenary of the finding of the image of Our Lady.
We are grateful to the Provincie of Rio de Janeiro for their great generosity and very warm hospitality throughout this formation course.

Today, 26 of July 2017, we remember the 75° anniversary of the martyrdom of blessed Titus Brandsma in the concentration camp of Dachau.

Born in the Frisian city of Bolsward, Holland, in 1881, Bl. Titus Brandsma joined the Carmelites while still young and was ordained priest in 1905. He undertook further studies in Rome and was awarded a doctorate in philosophy at the Gregorian Pontifical University.

Returning to Holland, he taught in a number of schools before taking up a post as Professor of Philosophy and the History of Mysticism at the Catholic University of Nijmegen where he was later appointed Rector Magnificus. A noted writer and journalist, in 1935, he was appointed adviser to the bishops, for Catholic journalists. He was noted for being ready to receive anyone in difficulty and to help in whatever way he could. In the period leading up to and during the Nazi occupation in Holland, he argued passionately against the National Socialist ideology, basing his stand on the Gospels, and he defended the right to freedom in education and for the Catholic Press. As a result, he was imprisoned. So began his Calvary, involving great personal suffering and degradation whilst, at the same time, he himself brought solace and comfort to the other internees and begged God's blessing on his jailers. In the midst of such inhuman suffering, he possessed the precious ability to bring an awareness of goodness, love and peace. He passed from one prison or camp to another until he arrived in Dachau where he was killed on 26th July 1942. He was beatified as a martyr by Pope John Paul II on 3rd November 1985.

Tomorrow, 27 July 2017, in our Church of Santa Maria in Traspontina (Rome), a solemn Eucharist will be celebrated to commemorate the death of Blessed Tito Brandsma 75 years ago in the Dachau Concentration Camp.

The Assembly of the Federation "Verge, Flor del Carmel" (Catalonia), was held 27 June 2017. The following were elected:

• President:  Sr. María del Carmen Izquierdo Marín, O.Carm.
• Secretary:  Sr. M. Pilar Simón i Blasco, O.Carm.
• Treasurer:  Sr. Maria Roser Ferrer Camps, O.Carm.

“May the Mother of God, who today we remember with the title Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel, unsurpassable in receiving the Word of God and putting it into practice (Cf. Luke 8:21), help us to purify our heart and to keep the presence of the Lord.” …
“I would like to greet especially the Carmelite Sisters and Friars on their feast day. I hope that they can continue decidedly on the way of contemplation.”