Edith Stein was born into a Jewish family in Breslau in 1891 and became a brilliant philosopher before her conversion to Catholicism in 1922. She entered the Carmelite order, taking the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, and was arrested by the Nazis in the Netherlands in 1942. She died in the gas chambers of Auschwitz on August 9, 1942, and was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1998.
She sought truth with her whole mind and heart, and when she found it in Christ she followed it even to the cross. Her life shows that faith and suffering, offered in love, can shine light into the darkest places. She reminds us that no one we love is ever lost to God.
Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, you who found peace in Christ even amid great suffering, pray for us and for all whom we hold in our hearts. Help us to trust that love is stronger than death. Amen.