Day 339 -- Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

I first heard about Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross from a co-workers who does a powerful presentation on the 20th century martyrs and from her friend who wrote her doctoral dissertation and authored a book about her. Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross was born as Edith Stein on October 12, 1891 in Germany (now Poland) as the youngest of seven children in a Jewish family. By the age of 13 she lost faith in Judaism. She was a brilliant student and philosopher. She earned her doctorate in philosophy at the age of 25. She was a witness to Catholicism by a friend which lead her to reach the catechism and she "read herself into the faith." She converted and was baptized in Germany on January 1, 1922. She became a Carmelite nun in 1934 and took the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. She was a teacher and lecturer.

Jews and Catholics were smuggled out of Germany and went to the Netherlands with her sister Rose, also a convert to Catholicism. But they were captured and sent to Auschwitz where they died on August 9, 1942. She was canonized on October 11, 1998.

I have also been fascinated by Holocaust and felt so much compassion for the victims. In my reading in High School public school, of course I never came across this brilliant nun, who was one of the smartest women in the country who died as a number in the consecration camps. May God bless the Jewish people.