St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

I'm playing catch-up, since I have been out of commission for a couple weeks.

August 9 was the day of Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. Born Edith Stein, she was a Jew, but renounced Judaism in her teens. She attended school for philosophy and went into teaching. Her teaching job in Munich was taken away from her by the Nazis on account of her Jewish heritage. She ended up converting to Christianity and joining the Carmelites in 1934. It was at this time that she took the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. Six years later, she was arrested by the Nazis. She died with her sister, Rosa, two years later, on August 9, 1942, in a gas chamber in Auschwitz. Over her life, she wrote a great deal, totalling 17 volumes, most of which are books on philosophy.

The part of this story that speaks the most loudly to most people is, of course, the horrific way that Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross died. One thing that I found interesting was the way that she continued to honor her mother's faith throughout her life, even after she had converted to Christianity. So many people have no respect or appreciation for religions other than their own, and I think it is so important for us to look at all of them with the same amount of respect. You can learn something from everyone.