Walk with Me

St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) was born of Jewish parents  in Breslau, Germany in 1891.

Following the WWI she earned her doctorate in philosophy from the University of Freiburg.

Edith was searching for the truth and found it in the Catholic Church. She was baptized in the Church on New Years’ Day, 1922.

She entered the Discalced Carmelie Nuns’ cloistered community in 1933 and made her profession of vows at the age of 43, taking the name Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.

On August 2, 1942, Edith was taken from her monastery and transported by cattle train to the death camp of Auschwitz. She died in the gas chambers at Auschwitz and was cremated at the age of 51 on August 9, 1942. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II at Cologne on May 1, 1987, and canonized in Rome twelve years later.

Today, on the anniversary of her death, I pray her prayer:

“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 it with peace.”

Amen