In today’s Gospel, Jesus says to his disciples, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me (Matthew 15:35).” As much as we desire to follow our Lord’s command, we all know that this is not an easy task…even for the most well-formed Catholic among us.
How much more difficult then, would this be for someone who did not know Jesus at all? This was the case for today’s Saint, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (also known by her birth name of Edith Stein). Born to a Jewish family in Germany in 1891, she lost her faith in God at 14 years old and became a self-professed atheist. Yet, over time, it was her search for truth and the witness of others that would lead her to enter the Catholic Church, become a Carmelite nun, and finally take up her cross as a martyr for the faith. While her whole life deserves to be studied, here we will zoom in on a couple moments where the witness of others adjusted Edith’s life course and guided her into becoming a great witness herself.
Growing up, Edith was a very gifted scholar. Considering her extreme intelligence, it is interesting that one of the people that most influenced her was someone with whom she never spoke. During her graduate studies in philosophy, she went to the Frankfurt Cathedral and saw a woman with a shopping basket going in to kneel for a brief prayer. She later said, "This was something totally new to me. In the synagogues and Protestant churches I had visited people simply went to the services. Here, however, I saw someone coming straight from the busy marketplace into this empty church, as if she was going to have an intimate conversation. It was something I never forgot.” An anonymous woman quietly living her faith served to open Edith’s heart to the possibility of God.
Another witness, this one much more well known, would next bring about Edith’s conversion to Catholicism. In the summer of 1921, Edith quite randomly picked up an autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila and read it cover to cover over the course of one night. Once finished she said to herself, “This is the truth.” Edith was baptized into the Catholic faith a mere six months later and desired to follow in St. Teresa of Avila’s footsteps as a Carmelite nun. Her desire would be put on hold as her mentors advised her to continue her work of teaching and speaking throughout Europe for a time. Finally, though, at the age of 42, Edith joined a Carmelite convent and took the name of Teresia Benedicta a Cruce-Teresa, Blessed of the Cross.
By 1938, the threat of the Nazis was so great in Germany that the nuns moved Sr. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross to another Carmelite convent in Echt, Holland. In 1940, the Nazis invaded the Netherlands, and in 1942, the Dutch bishops’ conference issued a statement that was read at all Masses, condemning the Nazis and their oppression of the Jews. In retaliation, the Nazis arrested all Catholic converts from Judaism, including Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. On her way to the Auchwitz concentration camp, the man in charge of the Westerbork Transit Camp, Julius Markan, was struck by her witness. He remembered the following, “Among the prisoners who were brought in on 5 August, Sr. Benedicta stood out on account of her great calmness and composure. The distress in the barracks and the stir caused by the new arrivals was indescribable. Sr. Benedicta was just like an angel, going around among the women, comforting them, helping them, and calming them. Many of the mothers were near to distraction; they had not bothered about their children the whole day long, but just sat brooding in dumb despair. Sr. Benedicta took care of the little children, washed and combed them, looked after their feeding and their other needs. During the whole of her stay there, she was so busy washing and cleaning as acts of loving kindness that everyone was astonished.” While sharing in the horror of being a Nazi prisoner, St. Teresa Benedicta’s faith in God allowed her to not only pick up her cross, but also to help in carrying the crosses of others. On August 9, 1942, Sister Teresa was led into a gas chamber where her mortal life ended and her eternal life began. She is considered a martyr since her death was a result of the moral clarity issued by the bishops against Nazi oppression and because she chose to remain faithful to her religious vocation despite the dangerous circumstances.
The power of witnesses made a clear impact on St. Teresa Benedicta’s life. We cannot underestimate the influence we can have on others as we live our Catholic faith in the world. At the same time, the witness of others, like today’s Saint, can have profound influences on our own lives. We all have crosses that we are bearing. Today, let us ponder St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross’ example and use her own prayer to again deny ourselves, pick up our crosses, and follow our Lord.
“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 with peace." -St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross
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