Franz Horten grew up in a Catholic family and studied English and French at several European universities, earning a doctorate in Bonn.
In 1909 he joined the Order of the Martyrs, taking the name Titus Maria . After being ordained a priest in Rome, he served in the Düsseldorf monastery, caring for wounded soldiers, as the monastery had been converted into a military hospital during the First World War.

He later taught foreign languages ​​at the Dominican school in Vechta and in 1923 became director of the Albertus Magnus publishing house. When the Nazi regime consolidated power in Germany, the publishing house came under persecution. Titus Maria Horten was arrested in 1935 and died in prison a year later, apparently from malnutrition and isolation.

After his death, Titus Horten's remains were brought to the chapel of the Dominican school in Vechta. The process of his beatification is currently underway.

Bibliography:

Ulrich Schulte (Ed.): P. Titus Horten OP. Ein Ordensmann in the Dritten Reich. (Domininikanische Quellen und Zeugnisse, band 12). St. Benno Verlag, Leipzig 2008;

Ludger Fortmann: Pater Titus Horten (1882-1936). Herder, Freiburg 2015.