St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein)
Feast Day: August 9
She was a brilliant philosopher.
She was Jewish by birth.
She had stopped believing in God as a teenager.
One night, she picked up a book and stayed up until morning reading it.
When she finished, she closed it and said, “This is the truth.”
The book was the life of St. Teresa of Avila.
The reader was Edith Stein.
St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, pray for us.
A Brilliant Mind
Edith Stein was born on October 12, 1891, in Breslau, Germany (now Wroclaw, Poland), the youngest of eleven children in a devout Jewish family.
She was exceptionally intelligent.
As a teenager, she gave up her faith and considered herself an atheist.
She studied philosophy and became an assistant to the famous philosopher Edmund Husserl.
She earned her doctorate with highest honors, at a time when few women were allowed in universities at all.
Searching for Truth
Edith was searching for truth with all her mind.
She was moved by the faith of Christian friends, especially a widow who faced her husband’s death with peace and hope.
Then, in 1921, she read the autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila in one night.
She knew she had found what she was looking for.
She was baptized a Catholic on January 1, 1922.
Teacher and Writer
For the next eleven years, Edith taught at a Catholic school, lectured across Europe, and wrote about philosophy, faith, and the dignity of women.
She saw no conflict between reason and faith.
Both, she believed, lead to truth.
And truth, in the end, is a Person: Jesus Christ.
Carmel
When the Nazis came to power in 1933, Jews were banned from teaching.
That same year, Edith entered the Carmelite convent in Cologne.
She took the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.
She believed God was calling her to share in the Cross of Christ, and to offer her life for her people.
Love and Truth
One of her most famous sayings is:
“Do not accept anything as truth that lacks love and do not accept anything as love that lacks truth.”
— St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross
She lived in a time when lies about people were used to justify hatred.
She knew truth and love belong together.
Auschwitz
In 1938, as persecution of Jews grew worse, she was moved to a Carmelite convent in Echt, in the Netherlands, for safety.
In 1942, the Catholic bishops of the Netherlands publicly condemned the Nazi persecution of Jews.
In retaliation, the Nazis arrested Catholics of Jewish descent.
On August 2, 1942, Edith and her sister Rosa, who had also become Catholic, were taken.
As they left, Edith took her sister’s hand and said, “Come, we are going for our people.”
They were killed in the gas chambers of Auschwitz on August 9, 1942.
Saint and Patron
Pope St. John Paul II canonized her on October 11, 1998, and named her a co-patroness of Europe in 1999.
What St. Teresa Benedicta Teaches Us
She teaches us to seek truth with honesty and courage.
She teaches us that faith and reason are friends, not enemies.
And she teaches us to stand with those who suffer, even at great cost.
When Is the Feast of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross?
The Catholic Church celebrates St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross on August 9. In Europe, where she is a co-patroness, it is celebrated as a feast.
Prayer Inspired by St. Teresa Benedicta
Lord Jesus Christ,
St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross searched for the truth and found You.
Give us honest minds and loving hearts.
Help us never separate truth from love.
Comfort all who suffer from hatred and injustice,
and give us courage to stand with them.
St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, pray for us. Amen.
