Readings

August 9: Edith Stein (Teresa Benedicta of the Cross),

The Collect of the Day

Edith Stein (Teresa Benedicta of the Cross)

Pour out your grace upon thy church, O God; that, like your servant Edith Stein, we may always seek what is true, defend what is right, reprove what is evil, and forgive those who sin against us, even as your Son commanded; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with you and the Holy Spirit be all honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

Edith Stein (Teresa Benedicta of the Cross)

Pour out thy grace upon thy church, O God; that, like thy servant Edith Stein, we may always seek what is true, defend what is right, reprove what is evil, and forgive those who sin against us, even as thy Son hath commanded; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be all honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

Philosopher and Monastic, 1942]

Edith Stein was born into a Jewish family in Breslau, Germany in 1891. Although her family was religious observant, Edith became an atheist at the age of 14. A brilliant philosopher, she studied with Edmund Husserl and received her doctorate at the age of 25, even after having interrupted her studies to serve as a nurse during the First World War. She subsequently taught at the University of Freiburg.

Edith became a Christian in 1921 after encountering the autobiography of Teresa of Avila, and she was baptized the following year. Although she felt immediately drawn to the monastic life, particularly Teresa of Avila’s own Carmelite tradition, she was dissuaded by her spiritual advisors from pursuing a monastic vocation so soon after her baptism. Instead, she spent several years teaching at a Catholic school and doing intensive study of Catholic philosophy and theology, particularly that of Thomas Aquinas. In 1933 she was forced to leave her teaching position as a result of the anti-Semitic policies of the German Nazi government, and thus she entered a Carmelite community in Cologne where she took the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. Even during her life as a nun, however, she continued to produce philosophical works.

In an effort to protect both Edith and her sister Rosa (who had also converted to Christianity and entered the convent) from the Nazis, the nuns transferred both of them to a convent in the Netherlands. Even here, however, they were not safe after the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands. In July of 1942, the Dutch Bishops Conference issued a statement condemning Nazi racism as incompatible with Christianity, which was read in every parish church. In retaliation, the Nazis ordered the arrest of 243 Dutch Christians of Jewish origin, including both Edith and Rosa. Both sisters were killed in the gas chambers of Auschwitz within days of their arrest.

Back in 1933, Edith had written forcefully to the pope, beseeching him to condemn the actions of the Nazi government. “Everything that happened and continues to happen on a daily basis originates with a government that calls itself 'Christian'. For weeks not only Jews but also thousands of faithful Catholics in Germany, and, I believe, all over the world, have been waiting and hoping for the Church of Christ to raise its voice to put a stop to this abuse of Christ's name. Is not this idolization of race and governmental power which is being pounded into the public consciousness by the radio open heresy? Isn't the effort to destroy Jewish blood an abuse of the holiest humanity of our Savior, of the most blessed Virgin and the apostles? Is not all this diametrically opposed to the conduct of our Lord and Savior, who, even on the cross, still prayed for his persecutors? And isn't this a black mark on the record of this Holy Year which was intended to be a year of peace and reconciliation? We all, who are faithful children of the Church and who see the conditions in Germany with open eyes, fear the worst for the prestige of the Church, if the silence continues any longer.”

Her letter received no response. Edith Stein was canonized by the Roman Catholic Church in 1998.

Lessons and Psalm

First Lesson

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Psalm

49Remember your word to your servant, *because you have given me hope.

50This is my comfort in my trouble, *that your promise gives me life.

51The proud have derided me cruelly, *but I have not turned from your law.

52When I remember your judgments of old, *O Lord, I take great comfort.

53I am filled with a burning rage, *because of the wicked who forsake your law.

54Your statutes have been like songs to me *wherever I have lived as a stranger.

55I remember your Name in the night, O Lord, *and dwell upon your law.

56This is how it has been with me, *because I have kept your commandments.

Gospel

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John 3:1–15

1 Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2 He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ 8 The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? 11 “Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Jeremiah 31:31–34

31 The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.