ST. EDITH STEIN
August
9, is the Feast Day of St. Edith Stein, Carmelite.
Here's her story:
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Edith Stein was born into a Jewish family in Breslau on 12 October 1891. Her singular intelligence did not save her from the struggles of life; as a teenager she made a conscious decision to abandon prayer.
Receiving a Doctorate in philosophy she became Assistant to Edmund Husserl and developed a particular interest in the education of women. Her lifelong search for truth and the chance reading of the Autobiography of St Teresa of Avila, the foundress of the Discalced Carmelite nuns brought her to catholic Christian faith. Baptised in 1922 and after having continued her work and lecturing, she joined the Carmelite Monastery in Cologne, taking the name Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross in 1933.
During the Nazi persecution she was taken from the monastery in Echt in Holland just after the beginning of the evening hour of prayer. Her sister Rosa, who was living in the extern quarters was also taken and both were gassed at Auschwitz on 9 August 1942. Edith died a martyr having offered her life for the people of Israel.
Our Prayer Room at the monastery here in Malahide is named in honour of this great believer.
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