Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, OCD (Edith Stein) Virgin and Martyr
(German: Teresia Benedicta vom Kreuz)
(12 October 1891 – 9 August 1942)
She was German Jewish philosopher who converted to the Roman Catholic Church.
Feast day : August 9
She was born into an observant Jewish family, but was an atheist by her teenage years. By reading the works of the reformer of the Carmelite Order, St. Teresa of Jesus, OCD, she was drawn to the Catholic Faith and was baptized on 1 January 1922 into the Roman Catholic Church. She was admitted to the Discalced Carmelite monastery in Cologne in October 1933. She received the religious habit of the Order as a novice in April 1934, taking the religious name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross ("Teresa blessed by the Cross"). She was arrested by the Nazis together with her sister Rosa on 2 August 1942 and sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp, where they put to death in the gas chamber on 9 August 1942.
Beatified in 1987 and canonized in 1998 by Pope John Paul II. She is one of the six patron saints of Europe, together with St. Benedict of Nursia, Sts. Cyril and Methodius, St. Bridget of Sweden, and St. Catherine of Siena.
God of our Fathers, who brought the Martyr Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross to know your crucified Son and to imitate him even until death, grant, through her intercession, that the whole human race may acknowledge Christ as its Saviour and through him come to behold you for eternity. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. AMEN.
Optional Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, virgin and martyr
Poem written by Edith on Good Friday 1938
Today I stood with you beneath the cross
And felt more clearly than I ever did
That you became our Mother only there.
But those whom you have chosen for companions
To stand with you around the eternal throne,
They must stand with you beneath the Cross,
And with the lifeblood of their bitter pains,
Must purchase heavenly glory for those souls
Whom God's own Son entrusted to their care.
~@~@~@~@~@~@~
Prayer of St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross
O my God, fill my soul with holy joy,
courage and strength to serve you.
Enkindle your love in me and then
walk with me along the next stretch
of road before me. I do not see very
far ahead, but when I have arrived
where the horizon now closes down,
a new prospect will open before me
and I shall meet with peace.
AMEN.
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