November 1917: Adolf Reinach, Edith’s friend and fellow philosopher from Göttingen who had was killed in World War I.
1918: When Edith visited Adolf's widow, her friend Anna Reinach, she expected to find her devastated by grief. Instead, Anna’s calm faith and serenity deeply moved Edith, Anna spoke with quiet confidence about Christ and the hope of eternal life.
This meeting profoundly affected Edith, who later described it as a turning point in her journey toward Christianity. Her exact words were:
“This was my first encounter with the Cross and the divine power that it imparts to those who bear it. For the first time, I saw the Church, born from the Redeemer’s sufferings, victorious over the sting of death. It was the moment when my unbelief collapsed and Christ began to shine brightly before me, Christ in the mystery of the Cross.”
August 1921: Edith Stein was staying at the home of her philosopher friends, who were Lutheran, Hedwig and Theodor Conrad-Martius, in Bergzabern. She stayed there for a retreat and spiritual rest, where she discovered “The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus” St. Teresa of Ávila’s autobiography. She read it through the night, and by morning said, “This is the truth".
December 1921: When Edith Stein asked the local parish priest in Bad Bergzabern (often identified as Fr. Roman Frydrych, O.C.D.) to be baptized, he questioned whether she truly understood the Catholic faith. After speaking with her, he was deeply impressed and reportedly said: “She knows the faith better than I do" to a fellow colleague priest. Recognizing her deep understanding and conviction, he agreed to baptize her.
January 1, 1922: Edith Stein is Baptised into the Catholic Church, on the Feast of the Circumcision (or the Presentation of the Lord, as she saw it as a link to her Jewish heritage). Lutheran Hedwig Conrad‑Martius was Edith Stein's Godmother.
Did You Know?
Society of Edith Stein
Date of Birth: 12th October 1891: Edith Stein was born in Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland since the fall of communism), on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, as the youngest of 11 children.
1893: Her father Siegfried Stein passed away when Edith was 2 years old. Her mother Auguste (Courant) Stein was left to raise the family of 11 children and manage the family business alone.
1903–1904: Around the ages of 12 to 13, Edith Stein experienced the traumatic loss of two of her uncles, both of whom died by suicide, reportedly in connection with financial difficulties.
1906- 1911: Attends local schools; excels academically, particularly in languages and philosophy.
1911–1915: Studies German literature, history, psychology, and philosophy at the Universities of Breslau, Göttingen, and Freiburg. Becomes deeply influenced by Edmund Husserl, founder of Philosophical Phenomenology.
1916: Edith Stein earned her Doctorate in Philosophy from the University of Göttingen with a dissertation titled “On the Problem of Empathy” (Über Einfühlung), supervised by Husserl. In this work, she examines human consciousness through the lens of phenomenology, exploring how the human person perceives and experiences others from within. Her approach combines careful, methodical analysis with a profound sensitivity to the inner human life.
Sunday, April 14th 2024: The head of the Discalced Carmelites, Fr. Miguel Márquez Calle, officially asked Pope Francis at the Vatican to name Edith Stein a Doctor of the Church.
A group of international experts, formed in 2022, is gathering her writings and studying her life and ideas for the Vatican office that oversees saints. If the Pope agrees, she would become one of the few women given this title and be called the “Doctor of Truth.”
Facts and Biography of Edith Stein
1933: Edith Stein, influenced by Husserl’s phenomenology, was active in Catholic intellectual circles, writing essays on empathy, the human person, and faith. Amid rising Nazi hostility, she felt drawn to deeper spiritual meaning. Reading St. Teresa of Ávila, she envisioned a life integrating rigorous philosophy with contemplative devotion, leading her toward the Carmelite convent in Cologne.
14th October 1933: Edith Stein entered the Carmelite convent in Cologne, beginning her life as a nun. She sought to unite her phenomenological philosophy with contemplative devotion, embracing prayer, silence, and ascetic discipline. The Carmelite life offered a space to integrate intellect and faith, transforming her academic rigor into lived spirituality.
21st April 1938: 21 April 1938: After five years of formation, Edith Stein made her solemn vows at the Carmelite convent in Cologne, taking the name Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. She fully dedicated herself to prayer, contemplation, and ascetic discipline, integrating her philosophical insight with a life of deep spiritual commitment, faith and service.
1940: With the war intensifying, the Nazis invaded the Netherlands, placing Jews and Jewish converts in grave danger.
1942: Dutch Catholic bishops and Protestant leaders issued a pastoral letter condemning the deportations of Jews. In retaliation, Nazi authorities ordered the arrest of all Jewish converts.
2nd August 1942: Edith and her sister Rosa were arrested by the Gestapo at their Carmelite convent in Echt, Holland. At the time Edith was still working on her manuscript The Science of the Cross, reflecting her deep philosophical‑spiritual synthesis. As they left the convent, Edith took Rosa’s hand and said, “Come, let us go for our people.” They were transported via the Dutch transit camps of Amersfoort and Westerbork and on to Auschwitz‑Birkenau.
9th August 1942: Edith, aged 50, and Rosa, 58, were murdered together at Auschwitz-Birkenau, facing death with courage and solidarity. In their final moments, they bore witness both to their Jewish heritage and to Edith’s Christian faith, remaining steadfast and united until the very end.
1 May 1987: Beatification of Edith Stein by Saint Pope John Paul II in Cologne. He proclaimed Edith Stein Blessed (beatified) as a martyr “In Odium Fidei” (in hatred of the faith).
The significance of this step: while she was born into a Jewish family and later converted to Catholicism, the Church recognised that her death in the Holocaust-era persecution was intimately tied to her Christian faith and her refusal to flee solidarity with her people. In his homily he called her “a daughter of Israel” who remained faithful both to her Jewish roots and to Christ.
The beatification made her an officially recognised intercessor for the faithful and marked the opening of wider devotion to her life of philosophy, contemplation and martyrdom. Although her beatification is decades old, the cause of her sainthood (canonisation) was already underway at that time; it remains a model of Jewish‑Christian dialogue and a symbol of ecumenical reconciliation.
11th October 1998: She was canonized a saint, officially recognizing her as Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, a model of contemplative life, intellectual rigor, and martyrdom. Her life continues to inspire Jewish-Christian dialogue, ecumenical reconciliation, and devotion to both faith and reason.
