As a philosopher and master of the feminine genius, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross knew the feminine heart and soul so well.
Every August, we look to the Immaculate Heart of Mary (and other Marian feast days), but we also look to another saint who had a deep devotion to Our Lady.
“Every woman who wants to fulfill her destiny must look to Mary as ideal,” observed Edith Stein in Spirituality of the Christian Woman. Stein, who was born into a Jewish family in Germany, left academic life as a professor behind (and atheism too), converted to Catholicism and lived for Christ as a Carmelite until her martyrdom in 1942 at Auschwitz at age 50.
As a philosopher and master of the feminine genius, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross knew the feminine heart and soul so well.
Her advice remains relevant.
How can we ladies practically live our faith well amid life’s responsibilities?
Teresa/Edith advises:
Start your day with God. “Let go of your plans. The first hour of your morning belongs to God.”
What does this look like for us? Read your Bible before turning on your computer, or the family wakes up, or before making breakfast. Make time for daily Mass. Pray while you drink coffee. Say a Memorare before checking email.
Spend time with God even when you are busy. “Every woman, in the way most suitable to her, should try to find ‘breathing spaces’ — moments in which she can return to herself and rest in God.”
We all know those moments when we must step away. Without checking in with God, everything is more likely to go awry.
Her lovely prayers can guide our own prayers in these precious moments:
O Prince of Peace, to all who receive You, You bright light and peace: Help me to live in daily contact with You, listening to the words You have spoken and obeying them. O Divine Child, I place my hands in Yours; I shall follow You. O, let Your divine life flow into me.
I surrender myself entirely to Your divine will, O Lord. Make my heart grow greater and wider, out of itself into the Divine Life.
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.
How wondrous are the marvels of your love.
Read about the saints — plus, read their autobiographies and be guided by their thought.
After reading St. Teresa of Avila’s autobiography in the summer of 1921, Edith observed: “When I had finished the book, I said to myself: This is the truth.”
Edith was baptized on New Year’s Day 1922 — she was 30 years old.
Edith, who translated St. Thomas Aquinas’ On Truth into German, also was impacted by Thomism in her studies. As she wrote, “St. Thomas found in her a reverent and docile disciple.”
Be caring and empathetic. Edith served as a nurse at a field hospital during World War I. Seeing death changed her, including the death of her friend Adolf Reinach. Edith went to visit his widow, whose example of faith profoundly impacted her. “This was my first encounter with the Cross and the divine power it imparts to those who bear it … it was the moment when my unbelief collapsed and Christ began to shine his light on me — Christ in the mystery of the Cross.”
In his canonization homily, Pope St. John Paul II elaborated on her experience of the “school of the cross.”
“Gradually, throughout her life, as she grew in the knowledge of God, worshiping him in spirit and truth, she experienced ever more clearly her specific vocation to ascend the Cross with Christ, to embrace it with serenity and trust, to love it by following in the footsteps of her beloved Spouse: St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross is offered to us today as a model to inspire us and a protectress to call upon.”
Amid the horrors of Auschwitz, she offered Christ to others, carrying for her fellow prisoners, especially children.
How can we better embrace the crosses we and others experience? Like Edith, we can reach out to those who are grieving or suffering in any way. Presence means so much, clinging to Christ through it all.
Love, and seek truth — ultimately in Christ. In the same canonization homily, John Paul II explained further about Edith’s witness: “Truth and love need each other. St. Teresa Benedicta is a witness to this. The ‘martyr for love,’ who gave her life for her friends, let no one surpass her in love. At the same time, with her whole being she sought the truth, of which she wrote: ‘No spiritual work comes into the world without great suffering. It always challenges the whole person.’ St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross says to us all: ‘Do not accept anything as the truth if it lacks love. And do not accept anything as love which lacks truth!’ One without the other becomes a destructive lie.”
This will look different for each of us, depending on our own state in life, but consider: Sign the petition or send an email or make a call to inform your representatives that you disagree with or support proposed legislation based on Church teaching. Adorn your home with visible signs of faith. Perhaps take a class so you can better explain your faith. Tune in to an EWTN show to learn more, too. Recommend good reading and programming about the faith and St. Edith to family and friends.
