𝘌𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘪𝘯, 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘚𝘵. 𝘛𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘢 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘢’𝘴 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘊𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩.

While raised in the Jewish faith, Edith Stein distanced herself from all religion in young adulthood. However, she went on a pursuit of the truth, primarily through the study of modern philosophy.

This intellectual journey led her to explore Christian writings, such as the New Testament and St. Ignatius Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises.

However, her head and heart were captivated by the Autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila.

“This is the truth”

The Vatican biography of her life explains how she came across this book.

𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 1921, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘉𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘻𝘢𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘯 (𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦) 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘦𝘥𝘸𝘪𝘨 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘳𝘢𝘥-𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘶𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘭’𝘴. 𝘏𝘦𝘥𝘸𝘪𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥. 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘌𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘵. 𝘛𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘢 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. “𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬, 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧: 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩.” 𝘓𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦: “𝘔𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳.”

Her heart was being prepared for the truth her entire life and when she read the autobiography, she discovered that which her heart longed for.

According to the Institute of Carmelite Studies, St. Teresa of Avila’s book is technically not an “autobiography” and explores many fundamental questions of life.

𝘈𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩, 𝘛𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘢’𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘺; 𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘳𝘺. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 (𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭) 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦. 𝘕𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘱 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥.

There was much for Edith Stein to learn from St. Teresa’s life, including her struggles with prayer and the interior life.

[𝘚𝘵. 𝘛𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘢 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘢] 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘥’𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 20𝘴, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘎𝘰𝘥’𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭

Some months after reading the book, on January 1, 1922, Edith Stein was baptized into the Catholic Church and would eventually become a Carmelite nun, choosing the name of Teresa in honor of St. Teresa of Avila. Arrested with other baptized Jews in the Netherlands, she was sent to Auschwitz, where she was killed in the gas chamber.

Edith Stein is now known as St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.

Source: Fear Not