St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross
Feast day: August 9
Edith Stein was born in Breslau, Germany, in 1891. Her parents were devout Jews, but Edith lost her faith during her teenage years. She entered the University of Göttingen and studied under philosopher Edmund Husserl. After reading the autobiography of St. Teresa of Ávila, she was drawn to the Catholic faith and was baptized in 1922. In 1934, Edith entered the Carmelite order, taking the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. Arrested in 1942, as part of Hitler’s order to liquidate non-Aryan Catholics, she was taken to Auschwitz and died in the gas chamber. She was canonized in 1998.
Collect
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 Savior
and through him come to behold you for eternity.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
