TODAY'S SAINT (Teresa Benedicta of the Cross)
TERESA BENEDICTA OF THE CROSS
(1891-1942)
Martyr.
Also known as: Edith Stein, Teresia Benedicta
Eedith stein, who was to convert to Christianity and take the religious name Terresa Benedicta of the Cross, was born on October 12, 1891, in Breslau, Ger-many (now Wroclaw, Poland), as her Jewish family was celebrating Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
Her father died when she was two, and by the time she was 13, Edith had lost faith in God and trust in Judaism. She entered the University of Breslau in 1911, when matriculation was opened to women. Although she studied German and history there, she was more interested in philosophy and women's issues. She became a member of the Prussian Society for Women's Suffrage, and in 1913 transferred to the University of Gottingen to studyy under philosoher Edmund Husserl, the father of phenomenology. She graduated with distinction in January 1915.
After trainning as a nurse, she volunteered for work in a field hospital during World War I, receiving the medal of valor when she completed her term of service. In 1916, she went with Husserl to the University of Frei-burg, where she worked as his teaching assistant while studying for he doctoral deege. She graduated summa cum laude in 1917, and the following year left her position with Husserl. She hoped to obtain a professorship, a career not then generally open to women in Germany, but was unable to find a job. Returning to Breslau, she began writing articles about the philosophical foundation of psychology. She also read the New Testament, Kierkegaard, the Spiritual Exerecises of St. Ignatius of Loyola and an autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila. Of the last she later wrote, "When I had finished the book, I said to myself: this is the truth."
Edith had gradually been drawn to Catholicism, and reading Teressa of Avila was the final push she needed. She was bapitized on January 1, 1922, and confirmed by the bishop of Speyer in his private chapel. She wante to join a Carmelite convent immediately, but was persuaded not to do so. How-ever, she took vows of poverty, chastity and obediennce and found a position teaching German and history at the Dominican Sisters; school and teacher-training college in Speyer. In 1932, she accepted a position at the University of Munster, but a year later anti-Semitic legislation forced her out On October 14, 1933, she joined the Discalced Carmelite cloister in Cologne, taking the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. She donned the habit in April 1934, took her temporary vows a year later, and her perpetual vows on April 21, 1938.
As the anti-Semitic rhetoric and actions of the Nazis became more striden, Edith (now Teresa) requested transfer to a convent outside Germany. On New Years Eve of 1938, the prioress of the Cologne convent helped her get to the Discalced Carmilite convent of Echt in the Netherlands. She and her sister Rosa, also a convert to Christianity, remained ther until they were arrested by the Gestapo on August 2, 1942-among 200 Catholic Jews arrested in the Nether-lands in reprisal for a pastoral letter writen by Dutch Catholic bishops against the Nazi pograms and deportations of Jews. In a holding camp on the way to Auschhwitz, Teresa is said to have given support and solace to many. On August 7, she and Rosa were carried to Auschwitz; they died in the gas cham-bers there on August 9.
Teresa authored several books, both before and during her Camellite period. These include Potench and Act, a study of the central cocepts developed by Thomas Aquinas, and Finite and Being, considered her magnum opus. When she was removed from Echt, she had almost completed The Science of the Cross, a study of St. John of the Cross. She is also remembered for he activism on behalf of women's rights.
As a martyr, under new Church rules, Teresa was automatically beatified, which meant that she needed only one cerified miracle to become a saint. In 1997, the Vatican recognized the cure of an American girl as a miracle via Terea's intercession, and the way for her cononization was cleared.
Beatified: May 1, 1987 by Pope John Paul II in Cologne
Canoized: October 11, 1998, by Pope John Paul II
Feast: August 9
posted by US Catholic @ 12:03 AM
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