Saint Teresia Benedicta of the Cross Edith Stein.
A phenomenologist philosopher, and later a Discalced Carmelite, St. Edith Stein was born in Breslau (now Wrocław) in 1891 into an observant Jewish family. However, by her teenage years she had abandoned Judaism and became an atheist. St. Edith converted to Catholicism in 1922, as an already mature, 31 year-old woman. Having receiving her doctorate of philosophy from the University of Göttingen, she worked under Edmund Husserl. She was a prolific author and translator. Her writings include: ‘Finite and Eternal Being: An Attempt to an Ascent to the Meaning of Being’, ’On the Problem of Empathy’, ‘The Science of the Cross’, ‘Essays on Woman’ and many more. St. Edith Stein sought the answer to the question of the ultimate meaning of existence; she tried to understand the underlying essence of the world and devoted herself to the issues of ontology. She also attempted to integrate phenomenology with Thomism.
St. Edith was arrested in 1942 at the Carmelite Convent of Echt in the Netherlands and deported to Auschwitz, where she was gassed on 9 August 1942.
She was beatified in 1987 and canonised by Pope John Paul II in 1998. St. Edith Stein is the patron saint of those who seek God and who wish to live life in the spirit of Crucified Love.
