Edith Stein was born on October 12, 1891 in a part of Germany that is now Poland. Her father died when she was two, and her mother, a woman of deep Jewish faith, struggled to run the family business and care for her children.

By the time Edith was a teenager, she fell away from the practice of Judaism and considered herself an atheist. In 1911, she began studying psychology at the University of Breslau, then transferred to another school where she could enroll in the classes of Edmund Husserl, a well-known philosopher. When World War I broke out, she put her education on hold and volunteered as a nurse. She finally earned her doctorate degree in 1916, and accepted a position as Husserl’s assistant.

After reading the autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila, Edith felt a strong pull toward the Catholic faith. She asked to be baptized, and on January 1, 1922, she became a Catholic. Her family and friends found it difficult to understand this decision. As the Nazi party was growing stronger, they felt that Edith was turning her back on her Jewish religion at a time when Jews needed to encourage and support each other more than ever.

Edith became a leader in the Catholic Women’s Movement. She taught in a school that was run by the Dominicans and translated some of St. Thomas Aquinas’ writings.

In 1934, she became a Discalced Carmelite in Cologne. Her new name as a nun was Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. She continued to write, but most of her work could not be published at the time because she was a woman and because of her Jewish roots. As the Nazi party became stronger and more threatening, she was forced to escape to a Carmelite monastery in Holland.

When Germany invaded Holland, many Catholics of Jewish heritage were arrested and deported to the concentration camps of Auschwitz. Edith was among them. She died in Auschwitz in the gas chambers on August 9, 1942. Pope John Paul II canonized her on October 11, 1998.

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As a philosopher, St. Edith Stein was devoted to seeking the truth. Her faith in Christ gave her the courage to die for the Jewish people whose heritage she shared. Our faith should make us just as courageous when we see people suffering discrimination for their beliefs.