Quote of the day, 1 July: St. Edith Stein

My sister, who was baptized in Cologne at Christmas 1936, has been here since the 1st of July 1939, and is well established as an extern and outside sacristan, so that she will be sorely missed; she is also a Tertiary of our Order (Sister Rosa Maria of Jesus).

Saint Edith Stein

Letter 331 to Hilde Vérène Borsinger (excerpt)
31 December 1941

Note: This excerpt comes from a letter written as efforts were underway to expedite Edith’s transfer to another monastery outside the Netherlands. Writing to request a favor from Madame Borsinger in Switzerland, Edith hoped to obtain entry permits and visas for herself and her older sister Rosa Stein. Both sisters would perish at Auschwitz on 9 August 1942.

Stein, E. 1993, Self-Portrait in Letters, 1916-1942, Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Discalced Carmelite, translated from the German by Koeppel, J, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Collage created in Adobe Express featuring archival photographs of St. Edith Stein and her sister Rosa (courtesy of the Discalced Carmelites by gracious permission) with vintage document assets from Adobe.

⬦ Reflection Question ⬦
What would you want others to remember about your faithful service?
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#extern #RosaStein #SecularCarmelites #StEdithStein #Switzerland #transfer

Dear brothers and sisters! Because she was Jewish, Edith Stein was taken with her sister Rosa and many other Catholic Jews from the Netherlands to the concentration camp in Auschwitz, where she died with them in the gas chambers. Today we remember them all with deep respect. A few days before her deportation, the woman religious had dismissed the question about a possible rescue: “Do not do it! Why should I be spared? Is it not right that I should gain no advantage from my Baptism? If I cannot share the lot of my brothers and sisters, my life, in a certain sense, is destroyed”.

From now on, as we celebrate the memory of this new saint from year to year, we must also remember the Shoah, that cruel plan to exterminate a people — a plan to which millions of our Jewish brothers and sisters fell victim. May the Lord let his face shine upon them and grant them peace (cf. Nm 6:25f.).

For the love of God and man, once again I raise an anguished cry: May such criminal deeds never be repeated against any ethnic group, against any race, in any corner of this world! It is a cry to everyone: to all people of goodwill; to all who believe in the Just and Eternal God; to all who know they are joined to Christ, the Word of God made man. We must all stand together: human dignity is at stake. There is only one human family. The new saint also insisted on this: “Our love of neighbour is the measure of our love of God. For Christians — and not only for them — no one is a ‘stranger’. The love of Christ knows no borders”.

Saint John Paul II

Homily for the Canonization of Edith Stein
11 October 1998

Note: St. John Paul II quotes from Edith Stein’s lecture, The Mystery of Christmas, given to Catholic Academics on 13 January 1931 in Ludwigshafen, Germany. In the section called “Union in God,” Stein says: “For the Christian there is no stranger. Whoever is near us and needing us most is our ‘neighbour’; it does not matter whether he is related to us or not, whether we like him or not, whether he is morally worthy of our help or not. The love of Christ knows no limits. It never ends, it does not shrink from ugliness and filth. He came for sinners, not for the just. And if the love of Christ is in us, we shall do as He did and seek the lost sheep.”

Featured image: Repairs in anticipation of the Jubilee Year were underway at St. Peter’s Basilica on the day of St. Edith Stein’s canonization. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/10/10/jp2-11oct98hom/

#Auschwitz #equality #humanDignity #humanRights #humanity #inspiration #Jewish #loveOfGod #RosaStein #Shoah #StEdithStein #StJohnPaulII

J.M.

Echt, 8 October 1941

Pax Christi!

Dear Reverend Mother Johanna,

Our dear Mother gave me permission to send Y.R. [Your Reverence], once more, the exact titles of the books I would like to have.

Besides, Reverend Mother would like three more copies of the book Aimer souffrir, which Y.R. sent recently. P. Antonius received the first one on September 30 for his 50th birthday.

On Monday morning Rosa and I went to the Police Commissioner in Maastricht to register according to regulations. In the meantime, the Sisters prayed here and all went very well.

Rosa reported that Y.R. is better. That made me very happy.

Please, will Y.R. also pray a little to the Holy Spirit and to our Holy Father [St.] John for what I am now planning to write. It is to be something for our Holy Father’s 400th Birthday (June 24, 1942), but all of it must come from above.

In the big book about St. John there is, among other things, a sketch he drew after having a vision of the Crucified.

From the bus recently, (when) I saw the little monastery in Beek and also the house where Sister Johanna lives, I sent greetings over to them.

Best regards to all the dear Sisters, especially to Y.R.

In Corde Jesu, Y.R.’s least, grateful

Sister Teresa Benedicta a Cruce

Saint Edith Stein

Letter 323 to Mother Johanna van Weersth, O.C.D.
Carmel of Beek, Netherlands
8 October 1941

Note: What Edith was planning to write, at the request of her prioress, was The Science of the Cross, which was published posthumously by her Sisters.

Stein, E. 1993, Self-Portrait in Letters, 1916-1942, Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Discalced Carmelite, translated from the German by Koeppel, J, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: The text of the first sentence of The Science of the Cross is superimposed over a photo of an antique typewriter in the background. Image credit: benniebunnie / Flickr (Some rights reserved)

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/10/07/edith-ltr323/

#intercession #Jewish #letter #NationalSocialists #prayer #RosaStein #StEdithStein #StJohnOfTheCross #StTeresaBenedictaOfTheCross #TheScienceOfTheCross

J.M.

Pax Christi!

Sincere thanks for your kind note. R.I.P. for your dear brother. You will be grateful that he has found release.

Since you are informed about us, I need only tell you the latest: Switzerland wishes to open its doors to my sister Rosa and myself, since the only cloistered monastery of our Order in that country—Le Pâquier in the Canton Fribourg—will receive me, and a Convent of the Third Order Carmelites an hour away [from the Carmel], my sister. The two houses have certified, to the aliens’ office of the police, that they will provide for us for our lifetimes.

The big question remains: will we be given permission here [by the Nazi occupation forces] to leave [the country]. In any case, it will probably take a long time. I would not be sad if it did not come.

After all, it is no slight matter to leave a beloved monastic family the second time. But I will accept whatever God arranges.

Will you please tell them in Speyer and Kordel about this and ask for prayers? To you and all who continue to think of me, cordial greetings.

In Corde Jesu, your

Teresa Benedicta a Cruce

Saint Edith Stein

Letter 339 to Auguste Pérignon
From Echt, 29 July 1942

Note: Auguste Pérignon was a colleague of Edith’s at St. Magdalena’s Dominican College in Speyer, Germany.

Stein, E. 1993, Self-Portrait in Letters, 1916-1942, Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Discalced Carmelite, translated from the German by Koeppel, J, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Photographer A. Pushkin captures this photo of a tourist on Switzerland’s Hornli Ridge, a hiking trail from the Schwarzsee cable car station to Hornli Hut. This panoramic view above the clouds on the surrounding mountains was taken on a snowy autumn day during a vacation in Zermatt. Image credit: A. Pushkin / Adobe Stock (Stock photo)

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/08/05/edith-ltr339/

#acceptance #CarmelDuPâquier #DiscalcedCarmelites #immigration #LePâquier #Nazi #nuns #refugees #RosaStein #StEdithStein #StMagdalenaSSchool #Switzerland #willOfGod

St. Edith Stein’s letter of 3 January 1939 says, “Rosa is making attempts to come to Holland.” Edith's older sister, who accompanied the Saint on visits to convents after her conversion, was baptized in Cologne on Christmas Eve 1936. But a dark night awaited Rosa when she returned home to rejoin the extended Stein Family in Breslau.

Learn more about St. Edith's sister and her path to freedom
https://carmelitequotes.blog/2022/11/15/edith-rosabio/

#EdithStein #RosaStein #Catholic #Carmelites #SaintQuotes #saints #DarkNight