St. Edith Stein (Teresa Benedicta of the Cross) is my confirmation saint. Unable to find the life of a saint that drew me in, a friend of mine (a very intelligent soul) drew my attention to her.She was raised Jewish, the youngest in a large German family, but converted to Catholicism in the early 1900's. A little more than a decade later, she entered the Cologne Carmel Order. She was removed to Holland due to the political turmoil in Germany (the rise of Nazism.) When Holland was taken by the Nazis, Edith (Teresa) was arrested and eventually taken to a concentration camp where she died in the gas chambers.
"Out of the unspeakable human suffering caused by the Nazis in western Europe in the 1930's and 1940's, there blossomed the beautiful life of dedication, consecration, prayer, fasting, and penance of Saint Teresa. Even though her life was snuffed out by the satanic evil of genocide, her memory stands as a light undimmed in the midst of evil, darkness, and suffering" (http://www.catholic.org/saints)
But here is something I never knew: She was beatified by Pope John Paul II (the Great) at the Cologne Cathedral (where she was originally baptized into the Faith) in 1987 -- the year I was born!
Coincidence? I think not.
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