Titus Brandsma: Mysticism - Fundamentals and Characteristic Features - Collected Works, Vol. 4

Elisabeth Hense – Joseph Chalmers, ed. Titus Brandsma: Fundamentals and Characteristic Features - Collected Works, Vol. 4.  Edizioni Carmelitane – 2023 - 401 pages. The Dutch Carmelite priest and professor of philosophy, Titus Brandsma, did groundbreaking work on mysticism. He built up a photographic collection of Middle Dutch manuscripts of spiritual literature, each photographed manuscript being accompanied by a description and some information about its spiritual contents. Working at a time when Eastern mysticism was often depicted negatively, before the influence of Orthodox theologians and spiritual figures who had left Russia following the 1917 revolution, had really begun to be felt, Brandsma spoke enthusiastically and positively about the contribution that Eastern mysticism could make in the West. He also treated what was called pseudo-mysticism with respect, as he believed it was possible to encounter there a beautiful revelation of the longing for God, a spark or a seed laid