Edith Stein

Edith Stein, or St. Teresa-Benedicta of the Cross as she became known later in her life. She is a beautiful example of holiness in the 20th century, whom Pope John-Paul II canonized on October 11th, 1998. She shared the persecution of her people by offering her very self by her martyrdom for Christ.


Today we look upon Teresa Benedicta of the Cross and, in her witness as an innocent victim, we recognize an imitation of the Sacrificial lamb and a protest against every violation of the fundamental rights of the person. We also recognize in it the pledge of a renewed encounter between Jews and Christians which, following the desire expressed by the Second Vatican Council, is now entering upon a time of promise, marked by openness on both sides. Todays' proclamation of Edith Stein as a Co-Patroness of Europe is intended to raise on this Continent a banner of respect, tolerance and acceptance which invites all men and women to understand and appreciate each other, transcending their ethnic, cultural and religious differences in order to form a truly fraternal society.
-Pope John Paul II

Quotes

“Every true prayer is a prayer of the Church” . But in Church, the different forms of prayers constitute an inseparable whole, as this multiform prayer of the Church is created by the Holy Spirit Who originates the traditional forms of prayers as well as the personal prayers of the faithful. It is the same Spirit Who has already animated the prayer of Jesus, and this prayer was both public and personal.  Jesus prayed as a Jew of His time with the psalms, with the pilgrimages and in celebrating the Jewish Feasts. But He also retired to pray in silence, to cultivate His intimate relationship with His Father.  The prayer of Jesus, animated by the Spirit, is the model of the prayer of the Church, which is also our prayer.”
-Edith Stein


“The Savior has preceded us on the way of poverty. All the goods in heaven and on earth belonged to him. They presented no danger to him; he could use them and yet keep his heart completely free of them. But he knew that it is scarcely possible for people to have possessions without succumbing to them and being enslaved by them. Therefore, he gave up everything and showed more by his example than by his counsel that only one who possesses nothing possesses everything. His birth in a stable, his flight to Egypt, already indicated that the Son of Man was to have no place to lay his head. Whoever follows him must know that we have no lasting dwelling here.”
-Edith Stein


“In order to penetrate a whole human life with the divine life it is not enough to kneel once a year before the crib and let ourselves be captivated by the charm of the holy night. To achieve this, we must be in daily contact with God, listening to the words he has spoken and which have been transmitted to us, and obeying them. We must above all, pray as the Savior himself has taught us so insistently. “Ask and it shall be given you.” This is the certain promise of being heard. And if we pray every day with all our heart: “Lord, thy will be done,” we may well trust that we shall not fail to do God’s will even when we no longer have subjective certainty.”
-Edith Stein


“Thy will be done,” in its full extent, must be the guideline for the Christian life. It must regulate the day from morning to evening, the course of the year, and the entire of life. Only then will it be the sole concern of the Christian. All other concerns the Lord takes over. This one alone, however, remains ours as long as we live. And, sooner or later, we begin to realize this. In the childhood of the spiritual life, when we have just begun to allow ourselves to be directed by God, we feel his guiding hand quite firmly and surely. But it doesn't always stay that way. Whoever belongs to Christ must go the whole way with him. We must mature to adulthood: we must one day or other walk the way of the cross to Gethsemane and Golgotha.
-Edith Stein   Source: Essential Writings


“We are a spiritually impoverished generation; we search in all the places the Spirit ever flowed in the hope of finding water. And that is a valid impulse. For if the Spirit is living and never dies, it must still be present wherever it once was active…It is like a small but carefully tended spark, ready to flare, glow, and burst into flame the moment it feels the first enkindling breath.”
-Edith Stein


“The Christian mysteries are an indivisible whole. If we become immersed in one, we are led to all the others. Thus the way from Bethlehem leads inevitably to Golgotha, from the crib to the cross. When the blessed virgin brought the child to the temple, Simeon prophesied that her soul would be pierced by a sword, that this child was set for the fall and the resurrection of many, for a sign that would be contradicted. His prophecy announced the passion, the fight between light and darkness that already showed itself before the crib.”
-Edith Stein  Source: Watch for the Light


“To suffer and to be happy although suffering, to have one’s feet on the earth, to walk on the dirty and rough paths of this earth and yet to be enthroned with Christ at the Father’s right hand, to laugh and cry with the children of this world and ceaselessly to sing the praises of God with the choirs of angels – this is the life of the Christian until the morning of eternity breaks forth.”
-Edith Stein  Source:  The Hidden Life


“The more an epoch is submerged in the night of sin and distance from God, the more it needs people of prayer united to God. And God does not allow them to fail. From the most obscure night advance the greatest prophets and saints. For the most part, however, this river of mystical life which is formed remains invisible. To be sure, the decisive turning points of human history are essentially conditioned by souls who are addressed by no history books. And we ourselves will not know to whom we owe the decisive turning points of our personal life until the Day on which all that is hidden is revealed.”
-Edith Stein


“It has always been far from me to think that God's mercy allows itself to be circumbscribed by the visible Church's boundaries. God is truth. All who seek truth seek God, whether this is clear to them or not.“
-Edith Stein


Immediately before, and for a good while after my conversion, I was of the opinion that to lead a religious life on had to give up all that was secular and to live totally immersed in thoughts of the Divine. But gradually, I realized that something else is asked of us in this world and that, even in the contemplative life, one may not sever the connection with the world. I even believe that the deeper one is drawn into God, the more one must "go out of oneself"; that is, one must go to the world in order to carry the divine life into it.  The only essential is that one finds, first of all, a quiet corner in which one can communicate with God as though there were nothing else, and that must be done daily. It seems to me the best is early morning hours before we begin our daily work; furthermore, [it is also essential] that one accepts one's particular mission there, preferably for each day, and does not make one's own choice. Finally, one is to consider oneself totally as an instrument, especially with regards to the abilities one uses to perform one's special tasks, in our case, e.g., intellectual ones. We are to see them as something used, not by us, but by God in us." 
-Edith Stein


“In order to penetrate a whole human life with the divine life it is not enough to kneel once a year before the crib and let ourselves be captivated by the charm of the holy night. To achieve this, we must be in daily contact with God, listening to the words he has spoken and which have been transmitted to us, and obeying them. We must above all, pray as the Savior himself has taught us so insistently. “Ask and it shall be given you.” This is the certain promise of being heard. And if we pray every day with all our heart: “Lord, thy will be done,” we may well trust that we shall not fail to do God’s will even when we no longer have subjective certainty.”
-Edith Stein


“We are a spiritually impoverished generation; we search in all the places the Spirit ever flowed in the hope of finding water. And that is a valid impulse. For if the Spirit is living and never dies, it must still be present wherever it once was active.…It is like a small but carefully tended spark, ready to flare, glow, and burst into flame the moment it feels the first enkindling breath.”
-Edith Stein


In Spite of the Night
Who are you, sweet light that fills me
And illumines the darkness of my heart?
You lead me like a mother’s hand,
And should you let go of me,
I would not know how to take another step.
You are the space
That embraces my being and buries it in yourself.
Away from you, it sinks into the abyss
Of nothingness, from which you raised it to the light.
You, nearer to me than I to myself
And more interior than my most interior
And still impalpable and intangible
And beyond any name:
Holy Spirit eternal love!
-Edith Stein


“Thy will be done,” in its full extent, must be the guideline for the Christian life. It must regulate the day from morning to evening, the course of the year, and the entire of life. Only then will it be the sole concern of the Christian. All other concerns the Lord takes over. This one alone, however, remains ours as long as we live. And, sooner or later, we begin to realize this. In the childhood of the spiritual life, when we have just begun to allow ourselves to be directed by God, we feel his guiding hand quite firmly and surely. But it doesn't always stay that way. Whoever belongs to Christ must go the whole way with him. We must mature to adulthood: we must one day or other walk the way of the cross to Gethsemane and Golgotha.”
-Edith Stein   Source:  Edith Stein:  Essential Writings


“The duties and cares of the day crowd about us when we awake each day – if they have not already dispelled our night’s rest. How can everything be accommodated in one day? When will I do this, when that? How will it all be accomplished? Thus agitated, we are tempted to run and rush. And so we must take the reins in hand and remind ourselves, “Let go of your plans. The first hour of your morning belongs to God. Tackle the day’s work that he charges you with, and he will give you the power to accomplish it.”
-Edith Stein. Source:  Essays on Women



Prayers


You reign at the Father's right hand
In the kingdom of his eternal glory
As God's Word from the beginning.

You reign on the Almighty's throne
Also in transfigured human form,
Ever since the completion of your work on earth.

I believe this because your word teaches me so,
And because I believe, I know it gives me joy,
And blessed hope blooms forth from it.

For where you are, there also are your own,
Heaven is my glorious homeland,
I share with you the Father's throne.

The Eternal who made all creatures,
Who, thrice holy, encompasses all being,
In addition has a silent, special kingdom of his own.

The innermost chamber of the human soul
Is the Trinity's favorite place to be,
His heavenly throne on earth.

To deliver this heavenly kingdom from the hand of the enemy,
The Son of God has come as Son of Man,
He gave his blood as the price of deliverance.
In the heart of Jesus, which was pierced,
The kingdom of heaven and the land of earth are bound together.
Here is for us the source of life.

This heart is the heart of the triune Divinity,
And the center of all human hearts
That bestows on us the life of God.

It draws us to itself with secret power,
It conceals us in itself in the Father's bosom
And floods us with the Holy Spirit.

This Heart, it beats for us in a small tabernacle
Where it remains mysteriously hidden
In that still, white host.

That is your royal throne on earth, O Lord,
Which visibly you have erected for us,
And you are pleased when I approach it.

Full of love, you sink your gaze into mine
And bend your ear to my quiet words
And deeply fill my heart with peace.

Yet your love is not satisfied
With this exchange that could still lead to separation:
Your heart requires more.

You come to me as early morning's meal each daybreak.
Your flesh and blood become food and drink for me
And something wonderful happens.

Your body mysteriously permeates mine
And your soul unites with mine:
I am no longer what once I was.

You come and go, but the seed
That you sowed for future glory, remains behind
Buried in this body of dust.

A luster of heaven remains in the soul,
A deep glow remains in the eyes,
A soaring in the tone of voice.

There remains the bond that binds heart to heart,
The stream of life that springs from yours
And animates each limb.

How wonderful are your gracious wonders!
All we can do is be amazed and stammer and fall silent
Because intellect and words fail.
​-Edith Stein

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