Edith Stein was born in 1891 in Breslau in the German Empire, which is now in the present day country of Poland. She was the youngest of 11 children of a Jewish family. Her father died when she was a child and her family drifted away from the Jewish faith. She became a professor in philosophy. At the age of 31, she converted to Catholicism after reading an autobiography about Saint Teresa of Avila. She said that we she finished that book, she knew it was about the truth of God. "When I had finished the book, I said to myself: This is the truth.” She became a Carmelite nun at the age of 43. She took the Carmelite name Teresa, Blessed of the Cross. She continued to have a passion for philosophy, even as a Carmelite nun. Due to her Jewish background, she was arrested in the midst of WWII in August 1942. One week after her arrest, she was put to death at the Auschwitz concentration camp. She was beatified in 1987 in Cologne, Germany by Pope John Paul II, and later canonized on 1998 by him as well. Her feast day is August 9, the day she was martyre). She is known as one of the patron saints of Europe and a patron saint for martyrs and for World Youth Day. One of her quotes states: ”Anyone who seeks truth seeks God, whether or not he realizes it.”
Our Gospel today tells us to take up our cross and to follow Jesus. We can do this in different ways in our lives. Edith Stein followed Jesus to her death in a concentration camp. We unite our prayers with her prayers today.
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