Product Description
On the same summer day in 1942, Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) and hundreds of other Catholic Jews were arrested in Holland by the occupying Nazis. One hundred thirteen of those taken into custody, several of them priests and nuns, perished at Auschwitz and other concentration camps. They were murdered in retaliation for the anti-Nazi pastoral letter written by the Dutch Catholic bishops.

While Saint Teresa Benedicta is the most famous member of this group, having been canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1998, all of them deserve the title of martyr, for they were killed not only because they were Jews but also because of the faith of the Church, which had compelled the Dutch bishops to protest the Nazi regime.

Through extensive research in both original and secondary sources, P.W.F.M. Hamans has compiled these martyrs' biographies, several of them detailed and accompanied by photographs. Included in this volume are some remarkable conversion stories, including that of Edith Stein, the German philosopher who had entered the Church in 1922 and later became a Carmelite nun, taking the name Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.

Several of the witnesses chronicled here had already suffered for their faith in Christ before falling victim to Hitler's "Final Solution", enduring both rejection by their own people, including family members, and persecution by the so-called Christian society in which they lived. Among these were those who, also like Sister Teresa Benedicta, perceived the cross they were being asked to bear and accepted it willingly for the salvation of the world. Illustrated ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Edith Stein and Companions
Edith Stein is one of my favorite saints. I thought I had read everything about her with the books I have. This book opened up a whole new dimension to the suffering of Edith Stein and other Catholic Jews. The accounts are clear and poignant; photos of each of the companions and their lives are presented. I was deeply moved. Highly recommended.

Still reading but had to recommend!
As my title says, I have not finished reading this book. However, it is very good and anyone looking for conversion or WW2 stories will enjoy this find!
I'll revise/update this review once I finish this. I just wanted to encourage others to pick it up. P.S. So far, not the least bit depressing. ... Read more

Product Description
This is the powerful and moving story of the remarkable Jewish woman who converted to Catholicism, gained fame as a great philosopher in Germany, became a Carmelite nun, and was put to death in a Nazi concentration camp. Recently beatified by Pope John Paul II, Edith Stein was a courageous, intelligent and holy woman who speaks powerfully to us even today. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Great intro to her life
This is a well written, thoroughly researched biography of this Saint. It deipcts her virtues and warm and balanced personality, showing clearly the good contributions of her Jewish upbringing in her moral and personal formation, and her growth in Christian life and charity, but it's a modern historical biography rather than a devotional hagiography. Edith Stein was a woman of considerable learning and intelligence, who sought Truth with passion, this led her to be baptized a Catholic Christian which she considered the fulfillment of the Jewish faith, and to become a Discalced Carmelite nun and to humbly and willingly follow Christ in the Way of the Cross to the fate of a death in Auschwitz, a victim of Nazi retaliation against the Catholic Church for speaking up in defense of the Jews. This biography moves at an even pace and never bogs down or gets on a soapbox.

The author, Waltraud Herbstrith, is a Carmelite nun, who did not know Sister Teresia Benedicta a Cruce (Edith Stein) personally but certainly understands being a Carmelite nun, and interviewed many who did know the Saint personally. Herbstrith also shows good understanding of the difficult philosopical topics (Phenomenology in the school of Husserl, and later the Scholastic thought of Saint Thomas Aquinas) that Edith Stein pursued and wrote about and was known and respected for, explaining them on the level of a general readership. This is a great book to read to be introduced to this popular Saint who was a woman intellectual and feminist, a humble cloistered nun, and a Christian martyr who was happy to be a Jew.

Blessed Edith Stein-Scholar, Courageous Woman, , and Saint
Sister Waltraud Herbstrith, O.C.D.,wrote one of the most thoughtful books this reviewer has read. Edith Stein was born and raised as an Otrhodox Jew, converted to Catholicism, and became a cloistered Carmelite Nun. The book details Edith Stein's outstanding scholarly achievements, compassion, and rare courage. This book conveyed a rare look at an unalloyed heroine who was not a self appointed martyr, but whose resolve and compassion plus intellectual prowess made Edith Stein an exemplar of what men and women should aspire to. This review is divided into two sections. One deals with Edith's religious conversion and intellectual achievements,and the other deals with Edith Stein's charity, compassion, and courage.

Edith Stein (1892-1942)was born into an Orthodox Jewish family. She showed academic promise and quickly made her way into the German university system at a time when such admission was rare for German women. Miss Stein had a passion for truth which altered her academic career. She first wanted to focus on psychology, but she was disappointed when she discovered that what were then considered modern psychologists were more concerned with manipulation( too often naive self serving nonsense) than with an honest search for truth. She changed her focus and studied philosophy under Husserl (1859-1938)and studied phenomenolgy. She considered the study of phenomena as an avenue of truth(not the only avenue). She realized that while phenomonlogy was a means of honest intellectual endeavor, she also understood that metaphysical and ontological thinking provideda means of truth and understanding.

Edith Stein's studies resulted in her advanced Ph.D. Degree. She became a well known and respected German scholar. Her studies also led her spiritual and religious convictions which led to her conversion to Catholicism which disappointed her family who were never bitter. The family members were alert enough to realize that Edith Stein had changed, and they left her conversion at that. Edith Stein also became something of a Catholic mystic after having read the works of Ste. Teresa of Avela (1515-1582) and St. John of the Cross (1542-1591). While Edith Stein was satisfied with Catholic mysticism, she learned Scholastic Philosophy by translating the work of St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274). She then tried to make clear that Ultimate Truth, God, or whatever terms are used can be gained by both mysticism/faith and reason. Her book titled FINITE AND INFINITE BEING was highly acclaimed by German scholars and philosophers.

Edith Stein's personal life and compassion are also detailed in this book. Prior to her conversion to Catholcism, she considered Lutheran Protestantism until she read Soren Kierkegaard's (1813-1855) work. Edith Stein thought this book far too pessimistic. Kiergegaard's view that somehow men are helpless victims in front of an angry God made men to futile to achieve which was a view that Edith Stein rejected. While Edith Stein was a first rate scholar, she certainly was no snob. During W.W. I, she served as a volunteer nurse with the Austrain army and served admirably in this capacity in spite of the blood, death, and tragedy. When Edith Stein took religous vows and became a cloistered nun, she was never too busy to help the less fortunate. She kept herself busy with scholarly work, the Rule of the Order, and assisting when she could.

The last years of Edith Stein's life were marked by danger and her courage. Edith Stein never sought martyrdom, but she expected the worst given her understanding of events in Germany in the late 1930s and early 1940s. She was sent to the Netherlands only to confront danger there when the Germans defeated the Dutch in 1940. She had a chance to emigrate to Switzerland, but she refused when her sister was denied entry. She was arrested on Aguust 2, 1942, and the best records state her death on August 9 1942. According to eye witness accounts, Edith Stein faced her arrest and death with courage, dignity, and calm resolve. On the way to her death, she tried to help the spirits of those who were justifiably terrified.

This book is a testimony to a great woman and indirectly the Catholic Church. The Catholic authorities recognized and encouraged both mysticism and reason in approaching Ultimate Truth. One of the reasons for Edith Stein's arrest and death was the fact that German authorities were outraged by Pope Pius XII's condemnation of their race/religious persecutions. The German authorities moved against Dutch Catholics when Dutch Catholic Bishops and priests excorated German policies from the pulpit and Catholic publications. Readers should note that some of the Duthch Protestant were just as adament in their denounciations of German tyrannical policies.

The undersigned recommends this book to those who are Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, etc. The book not only deals with intellectual achievement,but it also deals with what some call the interior life. The review and the book are not meant to convert anyone to "the other side." The book only deals with the intellectual and spiritual journey of an Orthodox Jewish woman who made a committed change in her life. Readers can find those who were Christian who converted to Judaism. What the book demonstrates that regardless of religious sects, men and women of good will can find a common bond that helps them to understand each other as well as an honest search for decent character and truth.

James E. Egolf
December 30, 2008

A great bioagraphy
Edith Stien was a Jew who in the 1920's of Germany converted to Catholicism and then became a nun much to the dismay of her orthodox mother. Those who are have heard of Edith Stien know that ultimately she was martyred in Auschwitz because of her outspokenness against the Nazi's as well as the fact that the Catholic Church in occupied Holland was the only large church organization willing to preach against the nazi regeim.

What must people don't know about Edith Stien was what an incredibly couragous and brillant woman she was even long before she was martyred. As this book tells the story , often in her own words and in the words of those that were close to her, she was a college professer, philosopher, and political activist at a time when a professional woman was at best a grade school teacher or nurse. Even as a nun she worked on her philosophy and her writing.

Waltraud Herbstrith does an excellent job portraying the complete Edith Stien, Her faith Her family and her intellect. An excellent book.

POWERFUL, ENTHRALLING WORK
I consider this a "must read" for anyone interested in great women in history. The spiritual insights, life story, and heroic sacrifices of this brilliant woman, who was both a Jew and a Carmellite nun areamazing. Look closely at the cover art, as my interpretation was that EdithStein possessed the "ear of God." The only complaint I have isthe print was far too small. If it comes in a large print edition, youmight be wise to order it. My eyesight is fairly normal.

Excellent Book
This book is an excellent introduction to the life and thought of Edith Stein (St. Theresa Benedicta).Waltraud Herbstrith presents a biography that encompases the philosophical, spiritual, and personal aspects of hersubject with great care.I came away from this book with a trueappreciation for Edith Stein, in particular her writings on women and herdeep love of God. ... Read more

Product Description
With reason Edith Stein has been called the most significant German woman of the twentieth century. Her writings on woman are the fruit of both reflection and debate with other leaders of the Catholic feminist movement in German-speaking countries between the World Wars. This second revised edition of Essays on Woman includes textual corrections, important new supplementary data, and previously unavailable material on the spirituality of the lay and religious woman. These essays crystalize long hours of experience teaching in the classroom and on the speaker's platform in the pursuit of fulfilling roles for women in all walks of life. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Great Choice for Contemporary Philosophy Courses
This book by Stein is a compelling synthesis of psychology, philosophy, history, and theology around the theme of the nature and vocation of women.I have used it in my Contemporary Women in Philosophy course, following Hannah Arendt and preceding Simone de Beauvoir.Students wrestle with the space Stein occupies--is she an essentialist or not?Does she relegate women to the home or encourage them to pursue vocations?

As other reviewers have noticed, Stein is not necessarily easy to categorize.She lives the tension between being a professional philosopher and a Carmelite; she expresses the tension between history and tradition, between philosophy and theology.

Students have noticed that Stein's views on education, on women's ordination, and on human personality development are consonant with phenomenology, particularly phenomenological psychology.Students have also pointed out that Stein's back and forth movement from tradition to history to analysis of human experience imitates Husserl's zig-zag movement of phenomenological description.

I find that Stein's book is a wonderful counterpoint to later issues of gender theory.Students can begin to wrestle well with questions by later thinkers such as Butler and Kristeva when they use Stein as a model for the thinking that preceded them.Of course, Stein has her own value too, especially to a Catholic audience.I am very glad that I have read this book, and I will continue to use it if it remains in print.

A Woman of the Third Millenium in the End of the Second
Edith Stein's views on womanhood are just beginning to be dissected by theologians in light of the popularity of Pope John Paul the Great's "Theology of the Body."

She explores the vocation of men and women, in particular, by expanding upon Aquinas's 'anima forma corporis' in her discussions of `woman's soul'.She is quite candid about her beliefs: "I am convinced that the species humanity embraces the double species man and woman; that the essence of the complete human being is characterized by this duality; and that the entire structure of the essence demonstrates the specific character. There is a difference, not only in body structure and in particular physiological functions, but also in the entire corporeal life. The relationship of soul and body is different in man and woman; the relationship of soul to body differs in their psychic life as well as that of the spiritual faculties to each other"

In her analyses, St. Edith Stein is uncompromisingly orthodox on the role of men and women in society and relation to each other. The Virgin Mary is highlighted as a model several times throughout the book. Interestingly, though, she highlights and expands more than any other writer that I have come across the strength, validity and necessity of spiritual maternity in all areas of life. In doing so, she vividly explores what John Paul II later termed "the feminine genius", though it is never labeled as such in her essays. She is infatuated with what is inherently feminine nature, and, in contrast, masculine nature, developing some psychological insights into female empathy that parallel Simon Baron-Cohen's findings in the 1990s.

Stein explores practically every female vocation: marriage, the consecrated life, the professional life, singledom, and those who possess a "double vocation" of more than one of these. She also addresses women in political life, the public realm, universities and other areas of national life. She writes: "The singular mission of the working woman is to fuse her feminine calling with her vocational calling and, by means of that fusion, to give a feminine quality to her vocational calling."

Edith Stein implicitly confirms the authority and Tradition of the Church, but also asserts the necessity for the development of doctrine, which potentially could incorporate her explications of femininity. As I mentioned above, these explications are completely orthodox. Stein argues, for example, a traditionally Catholic opinion that `the intrinsic value of woman consists essentially in exceptional receptivity for God's work in the soul".

In addition, as an educator herself, a good portion of the essays focus on what should constitute a female education. Stein reveals some markedly progressive insights for her time on the choice and scope of female education. She argues against excessive specialization, favoring a global, holistic, and personalized approach to human society. Education requires "broad human and personal contact", particularly for women who are social creatures.

Stein pushes boundaries and speaks her mind, and 'conservative' only by contemporary standards - not for the typical liberal women's studies class. Rather, she is a feminist in the vein of many contemporary, orthodox Catholic feminists, such as Katrina Zeno and Pia de Solenni.

Woman by Edith Stein
Provides a thought-provoking look at the spirituality of lay and religious Catholic women. Sure to be controversial, it's not the typical thing you hear from either feminists or anti-feminists, but quite uniquely it's own. ... Read more

Product Description
Edith Stein (1891-1942), who was recently canonized, was one of the most intriguing Catholics of the twentieth century. A Jewish convert, an eminent philosopher, educator, and advocate for women, she became a Discalced Carmelite nun, Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. Arrested by the Nazis she died in Auschwitz in 1942. This volume highlights the extraordinary features of her spirituality for general readers - a vision that integrated her philosophical training, her affinity for Carmelite mysticism, and her personal identification with the way of the Cross. Edith Stein provides a wonderful introduction to an extraordinary mind ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Saint for Today
Even though Edith Stein was writing in the first half of the twentieth century, many of her observations on the human person still ring true, providing food for thought when contemplating contemporary issues. In a clear and logic style, Edith Stein reflects on the world around her. Edith's writings on women's role in society and gender issues are inspiring. In addition, her ability to view the world's events, including the autrocities of the Nazi regime through the eyes of faith gives witness to her courage, strength, and love of God, providing inspiration for all. ... Read more

Product Description
To help celebrate the fourth centenary of the birth of St. John of the Cross in 1542, Edith Stein received the task of preparing a study of his writings. She uses her skill as a philosopher to enter into an illuminating reflection on the difference between the two symbols of cross and night. Pointing out how entering the night is synonymous with carrying the cross, she provides a condensed presentation of John's thought on the active and passive nights, as discussed in The Ascent of Mount Carmel and The Dark Night. All of this leads Edith to speak of the glory of resurrection that the soul shares, through a unitive contemplation described chiefly in The Living Flame of Love. In the summer of 1942, the Nazis without warrant took Edith away. The nuns found the manuscript of this profound study lying open in her room.

Because of the Nazis' merciless persecution of Jews in Germany, Edith Stein traveled discreetly across the border into Holland to find safe harbor in the Carmel of Echt. But the Nazi invasion of Holland in 1940 again put Edith in danger. The cross weighed down heavily as those of Jewish birth were harassed. Sr. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross's superiors then assigned her a task they thought would take her mind off the threatening situation. The fourth centenary of the birth, of St. John of the Cross (1542) was approaching, and Edith could surely contribute a valuable study for the celebration. It is no surprise that in view of her circumstances she discovered in the subject of the cross a central viewpoint for her study. A subject like this enabled her to grasp John's unity of being as expressed in his life and works.
Using her training in phenomenology, she helps the reader apprehend the difference in the symbolic character of cross and night and why the night-symbol prevails in John. She clarifies that detachment is designated by him as a night through which the soul must pass to reach union with God and points out how entering the night is equivalent to carrying the cross.
Finally, in a fascinating way Edith speaks of how the heart or fountainhead of personal life, an inmost region, is present in both God and the soul and that in the spiritual marriage this inmost region is surrendered by each to the other. She observes that in the soul seized by God in contemplation all that is mortal is consumed in the fire of eternal love. The spirit as spirit is destined for immortal being, to move through fire along a path from the cross of Christ to the glory of his resurrection. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A difficult book analysing the mystical thought of St John of the Cross



In this book, Edith Stein set about doing a fairly systematic analysis of the works of St John of the Cross sprinkled with the thoughts of Teresea and Avila and mediated through the eyes of another saint (St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross), namely Edith Stein herself.

It has to be said that this book is hard going simply because, whilst the language used for what happens in the mystical life is comprehensible when read cold on the page, it is significatory and emblematic language. It is describing a relationship with He, who is wholly Other, He, who is the First and the Last, and the Creator of all things, and without Whom all things would cease to exist. What one comes away with though is that the mystical life is only for those who are prepared to ascend to Calvary with Christ, and absolute death to the Self, so that Christ's "Eloi,Eloi..." on the cross becomes your cry. "With Christ, I hang upon the Cross" says St Paul to the Galatians and indeed (seemingly) that is precisely the life of the mystic.

And, indeed we saw with the publication of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta's letters, that for her, she felt bereft of God, but carried out her Master's commandments of love nonetheless. No sensual experiences of the Risen Christ, no spiritual goodies, just the dark night of faith, where the soul suspended on his Cross gives his resounding "yes" to the Father of Lights. Let there be no doubt about it, the mystical sort of life (as decribed in this book) appears to demand heroic sacrifice. But, it should be noted that both John of the Cross and Teresa of Avil seem to have gone into ecstacies without warning: indeed John would not say Mass for days for fear, he would be unable to attract attention to himself. (Note, St Joseph of Cupertino, who, when saying mass, used to levitate: amusingly he is now the patron saint of pilots; the Church has a sense of humour!)

It should be noted however that the saints of the Eastern churches seemed to have been blessed with a different type of mystical vision, not the one of the Christ crucified, but of the risen Christ. The two lungs of the Church when breathing together spirate the whole breathe of salvation, namely the breathe of the Christ dying in agony and the breathe of the risen Christ, who says: "all authority under heaven and earth has been given to me, baptise in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit".

A profound read from a profound author
Do not run away from this book if you have happen to come across it. Instinct may tell you it will go over your head and you may waste several days reading it. But it is not that kind of book.

It may take several years to enjoy what you may find here. Edith Stein, the Jewish woman, first atheist and philosopher, then catholic convert, Carmelite nun and martyr at Auschwitz is an exceptional person but don't even let that put you off because she will introduce you through this book to St. John of the Cross. One saint teaching you about another.

This newly canonised and appointed Patron of Europe will guide you through the paths of the Spirit and the soul as she re-reads the works of St. John of the Cross in the light of philosophical training [not that it is a hinder] and fresh catholic faith.

I read this book and have set it down for several days and weeks only to take it up again because of its appeal. I struggle with it because it is such a challenging topic but I don't intend yet to give up. It is a difficult subject but this is a worthwhile task. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The Hidden Life

I have read Teresa of Avila a number of times. Edith Stein does a wonderful job of paraphrasing and translating the meanings of St. Teresa's writings.

The hidden life
As she converted to Christianity, Edith Stein joined one of the strictes orders-that of Carmelites. That was because she thought that only behind convent walls she could completely detach from the outside world and devote herself to God. So, when we talk about the title of the book:"The hidden life" we do not talk only aboutthe life in a convent but also about the base of Edith Steins life that was contemplation of a hidden life of Good in everything that exist. As the convent itself had its spiritual life, Edith Stein contributed it with her hagiographic essays about Carmelite saints. Therefore here we can find inspired interpretations of lives of some well known or less known Carmelite saints like St. Theresa of Avila or St. Elizabeth. The rest of the book contents some other religious essays and dialogues that deeply marked Edith Steins life during her stay in a Carmelite convent. An inspired and interesting book. ... Read more

Product Description
This book contains Edith Stein's autobiography, with map and 11 pages of photos.
This initial volume of the Collected Works offers, for the first time in English, Edith Stein's unabridged autobiography depicting herself as a child and a young adult. Her text breaks abruptly because the Gestapo arrested and deported her to Auschwitz in 1942.
Edith Stein is one of the most significant German women of our century. At the age of twenty-five she became the first assistant to the founder of phenomenology, Edmund Husserl. She was much in demand as a writer-lecturer after her conversion from atheism to Catholicism. Later, as a Carmelite nun, she maintained her intellectual pursuits, until she died along with so many other Jewish people in the Holocaust.
By making this story available in English, the Institute of Carmelite Studies provides an eye-witness account of persons and activities on the scene at the time when psychology and philosophy became separate disciplines. A preface, foreword, and afterword to Edith's text brings out many background details of the rich story she has left us.
**Chosen "Best Spirituality Book of 1986" by the Catholic Press Association** ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Jewish Roots
If you want to understand the roots of the Christian Faith, this is a must read by a great saint and heroine.Edith Stein has shared her intellectual and emotional love for God and her Jewish roots in this wonderful masterpiece which will shed insight and understanding to anyone seeking the God of Abaham, Jacob and Isaac through Jesus, the Messiah.Edith Stein gave her life in witnessing to her Jewish-Christian identity.

An interesting primer on a fascinating life
The genesis of Edith Stein's intellectual and emotional development come to life in this insightful and eloquent tome.At the request of her superiors, and in part to help stem the tide of hateful propaganda launched agianst the Jewish people at the beginning of the Third Reich, Stein decribes with alacrity the underpinnings of her development as a woman, philosopher, and academic.She writes with the insight, self-knowledge, and humility that will appeal to readers who appreciate the meditative value of introspective thinking.My greatest disappointment in reading this book was to have it end many years before her death in Auschwitz.At the time of her deportation, she had only completed the course of events in her life until about 1917.Due to this, we never fully understand, in her own words, why she converted to Christianity when she did.Although we get glimpses in the form of anecdotal memories and side comments to earlier recollections, we are deprived of the writer's conscious musings that specifically focus on her religious conversion.Upon completing this volume, I was left with many questions about Edith Stein's later consciousness and her development as a Catholic philosopher and Carmelite nun.

Superb portrayl of a Saint's family life.
I am only half way through this book but it is so interesting and moving. Edith Stein talks about her family, their religious practices and primarily about how much they mean to her and how they would later mould her own religious life. She writes fluidly and cleary with much care. A brilliant read for anyone who knows of this remarkable woman. ... Read more

Product Description
This volume bears the imprint of the extraordinary intellectual and spiritual journey of its author, one of the most remarkable women of the twentieth century. Born in Breslau, Germany into a practicing Jewish family in 1891, Edith Stein abandoned her faith as a teenager and later became a key figure among the early disciples of Edmund Husserl, the founder of phenomenology. In 1921, she underwent a profound conversion and was baptized into the Catholic church. As a prominent German Catholic laywoman, she continue her teaching, writing, and promotion of women's rights, and began directing her attention toward a deeper encounter between the phenomenolgy she had helped to develop and the modern scholastic tradition of the church she had embraced. In 1933 she left the academic milieu and entered the Carmelite Monastery of Cologne. Yet, encouragd by her religious superiors, she soon took up her intellectual labors again, thoroughly recasting an earlier essay on Potency and Act to produce the present text, which remained unpublished at the time of her death in 1942 at the hands of the Nazis. Finite and Eternal Being is Edith Stein's master work, the culmination of her lifelong search for truth in all its philosophical, psychological, and spiritual dimensions. With her careful step-by-step analysis, she gradually shows how the being of all finite existents (especially the human I) finds its ultimate ground and destiny in the eternal Divine Being, the Creator whose trinitarian nature is reflected throughout creation. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Plethora of info
Dr. Freda Mary Oben's book, The Life and Thought of St. Edith Stein, portrays St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross as a woman whose philosophical-theological creativity was not a system of belief, but a way of life. (Oben, 2001, 21)Oben chronicles Edith's life from early childhood, through her growth as a brilliant scholar and Catholic convert, to her death in Auschwitz.The author uses quotes from Edith Stein's original writings and shares interviews from extended family members and as well religious who lived with Sr. Teresa Benedicta in the Carmelite convent.
In the first part of the book we learn that St. Benedicta of the Cross was born in 1891 in Breslau to a large family with a Jewish heritage. Edith was a tremendous scholar who studied phenomenology with Edmund Husserl at a time when Germany was alive with religious revival and intellectual debates by humanists. In 1915 her education was interrupted with the outbreak of WWI.She was profoundly affected by the war; for six months served in the Red Cross ministering to wounded soldiers with infectious diseases.In 1916, Edith graduated summa cum laude with her doctoral dissertation on the nature of empathy. The following year this young phenomenologist's passion for Christianity was intensified in witnessing a dear Christian friend, Anna Reinach, possess a deep strength and `kinship with the crucified Christ' after the loss of her husband on the front line.(Oben, 18)
While philosophy had always been her locus of truth for human formation, Edith writes to a friend, "God is truth.All who seek truth seek God, whether this is clear to them or not" .Three years later Edith reads the entire book of the Life of Teresa of Avila in one night. She closes the book and states, "That is the truth." She is so inspired by Teresa's teachings that Christ becomes the paradigm in her philosophy of the person.Edith converts to Catholicism and becomes a leader in the Catholic women's movement.Her later writings on Christian Philosophy, profoundly influenced by St. Thomas Aquinas, provide an interconnection of her extensive background in phenomenological method with Thomism. She writes, "the way of faith gives us more than the way of philosophical knowledge; it gives us the God of personal nearness, the loving and merciful one, and a certainty such as no natural knowledge can give."(Oben, 52)
The second part of the book details Edith Stein's writings on the philosophy of women, the person and the person in community. It was helpful for me to compliment this book with other translations of Edith's original works: On the Problem of Empathy (Stein, W, 1989), Sentient Causality and Individual and Community (Baseheart, Sawicki, 2000). It becomes evident that Edith Stein's early studies in psychology and phenomenology offer great value to her later works
In the final section of the book, Oben's personal perspective as a convert from Judaism, offers an insightful awareness of the Jewish community's questioning of Stein's beatification.In the end, Oben writes, "Edith died as a Jewess and as a Christian, in loyalty to her blood and to her faith.Her life was given for the Jews in a pure love, and this she was able to do through her Christian faith." In presenting Edith Stein as a fully integrated personality, I am not surprised that in the title Dr. Oben refers to our saint as `Saint Edith Stein' as opposed to using her Carmelite name Sr. Benedicta of the Cross.While Oben's writings provide a plethora of information and details of St. Benedicta's life and thought, I found Dr. Oben's style of writing sometimes a challenge to follow possibly due her extensive knowledge of Edith's life and my lack of background. I frequently found myself flipping back to locate earlier introductions of people influential in Edith's life.I would recommend this for anyone interested in an getting to know Edith Stein and how she evolved during the course of her short lifetime. ... Read more

Product Description
Teresa Renata Posselt, O.C.D. was the Novice Director, then Mother Prioress of the Cologne Carmel when Edith Stein lived there. This is Posselts tribute to Saint Edith Stein, a wreath of recollections, lovingly woven together. It is also the first-ever biography published about that Great Woman of the Twentieth Century. Having been out of print for half a century, the original text is here re-edited and enhanced by scholarly perspectives and updated and corrected in the light of knowledge which was not available to the author at the time. Publisher: ICS Publications Author: Teresia Renata Posselt, O.C.D Format: 400 pages, paperback ISBN: 9780935216363 ... Read more

Product Description
Edith Stein lived an unconventional life. Born into a devout Jewish family, she drifted into atheism in her mid teens, took up the study of philosophy, studied with Edmund Husserl, the founder of phenomenology, became a pioneer in the women's movement in Germany, a military nurse in World War I, converted from atheism to Catholic Christianity, became a Carmelite nun, was murdered at Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1942, and canonized by Pope John Paul II. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A worthy spiritual book
Dr. Dianne Traflet's new book on Saint Edith Stein is perfect reading for a private retreat. Not only is there insightful biographical information included, but Dr. Traflet reveals the deeper meanings and sources of this unique saint's conversion to Christianity and her superior intellectual understanding of the doctrines and values of Catholicism. Even as she faced capture and death at the hands of the Nazis, Edith Stein believed and lived the teachings of her church in a way that can inspire all. An excellent book, very readable and portable. ... Read more

Product Description
This book contains five contributions on the title themes, including two of Stein's most famous essays: a comparison of Husserl and Aquinas, and an examination of the 'Ways to Know God' according to Pseudo-Dionysius.
The articles and notes in this new anthology come from the final twelve years of Edith Stein's life, and reveal her efforts to integrate the Christian faith she had embraced at the time of her baptism with her rigorous training as a phenomenologist. Included here for the first time are both versions of her famous comparison between the thought-systems of Edmund Husserl (her philosophical mentor) and Thomas Aquinas (representing the Catholic tradition), written first in dialogue form and then reworked as an essay in Husserl's honor. The final entry, 'Ways to Know God,' a study of the famed fifth or sixth century author who wrote under the name of Dionysius the Areopagite, was originally published in The Thomist and intended for an American audience. One of the last works that Edith Stein completed before her arrest and deportation to Auschwitz, it is presented here in a fresh new translation, amplified with previously deleted sections that deal with such important topics as atheism and the nature of symbols.
In his recent encyclical, Fides et Ratio, Pope John Paul II recommends attention to Edith Stein as one of the great modern figures who 'offer significant examples of a process of philosophical enquiry which was enriched by engaging the data of faith' (para. 74). This book provides readers interested in Edith Stein with an accessible introduction to major themes in her later thought. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Brilliant dialogue between Thomas Aquinas and Husserl
Knowledge and Faith contains both the Catholic and secular (edited for publication) versions of Stein's comparison and combination of philosophers Edmund Husserl and Thomas Aquinas. While these two are quite different on the surface (as the progenitors of phenomenology and Thomism, respectively), Stein manages to place them in immediate confrontation and display an amazingly keen understanding of both. This is, in some ways, not surprising since she was both a student of Husserl (who deserves the credit for actually saving much of his work) and a follower of the Catholic Church of which Thomas Aquinas is a "doctor".

There is also an essay on Pseudo-Dionysius included, but I recommend this book primarily as a must-read for those who wish to understand the intersection of Thomism and phenomenology).

Philosophy and faith
When someone, today, mentions Edith Stein it is very often in a religious context. This is because of her deep faith that yielded with her conversion to Christianity and, at the end with her martyrdom. (She died in a gas chamber during the Second World War.) Therefore, when we talk about Edith Stein we often forget her as a talented philosopher of a very lucid philosophical mind, which she always tried to melt with her deepest religious convictions. The book Knowledge and Faith is just one of such books that brings to us sharp insights in such philosophy-faith relationship. This is why this book starts with an inspired and intelligent dialogue between philosophy and theology ( incorporated in characters of Husserl and Aquinas) and ends with her philosophical essays that cannot be divided from her theological stands. It is very important book, not just to understand Edith Steins work but to clarify some important points between philosophy and faith. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Setting our Faces toward Jerusalem
Setting our Faces toward Jerusalem
book review of
Edith Stein: Trusting God�s Purpose

by Sister Fran Gangloff, OSF

During the week of September 11, 2001, the day of the four suicide airplane hijackings and terrorist attacks on the United States, I received in the mail a review copy of - Edith Stein: Trusting God�s Purpose - in the series of �a retreat with� published by St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2001.The book is authored by Patricia L. Macks, the 74 page, softcover book (ISBN - 086716 - 387 - 9)

The title of Day One struck me immediately - �Setting our faces toward Jerusalem.�For it seems to me that our whole country and most of the world and each one of us are called by the tragic events to face the suffering with courage and determination, to set out faces steadily like flint as Jesus did toward the Holy City - where suffering and death encompass the seekers of truth and peace.

Edith faced her finest moment, knowing full what it meant, when Nazi soldiers arrested her at the Carmel at Echt in Holland.She said to her sister (blood sister and companion in the Carmel convent) - �Come Rosa, let us go to die for our people.�

The seven day retreat moves through the themes of - Jerusalem, Relationship, Empathy, Prayer, Eucharist, Sabbath, and Cross - using Jewish and Christian reference points in Edith�s life and writings as a Jewish woman, intellectual scholar, convert to Catholicism, and Carmelite nun.Edith, AKA Sister Benedicta, victim of the 1940�s Holocaust and recently canonized saint of the Catholic Church, becomes in this book a wonderful mentor and guide for our own difficult times.

A retreat with Edith deepens respect for the religious rights and beliefs of all persons.When Edith, in her final days, told others - �we are traveling east� - she knew it was toward a death camp.Her words also hold a larger meaning - we are traveling from the seen reality to unseen truth where God may be found - west or east.We set our faces toward Jerusalem.

The book lists eight suggestions for Deepening Your Acquaintance with Edith.Having read and studied them all, I strongly agree and highly recommend these choices.I also highly recommend this Edith Stein retreat book.

Jewish faith and Christian faith were changed forever in the aftermath of the Holocaust.We are still feeling its effects 60 years later.All religious faiths in America - Islamic, Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, and all the others - are deeply changed forever and challenged by the events of 9 - 11 and its aftermath.This book - used as retreat or personal meditation and prayer - strengthens us to set our faces like flint, like Jesus, toward the pain of these changes and challenges.We set our faces toward Jerusalem. ... Read more

Product Description

Edith Stein was one of the important early phenomenologists. A German-Jewish philosopher, Discalced Carmelite nun, martyr, and saint who died in Auschwitz, Stein participated in the early 20th century revival of scholasticism and was much admired by John Paul II. Thine Own Self focuses on Stein's later writings and in particular her magnum opus, Finite and Eternal Being. Although completed in 1936, Stein's book was not published at the time because of the new laws against non-Aryan publications, and the work sat completed but unread until after World War II. The recent availability of this book in English makes a substantive scholarly analysis of this major text particularly timely.

Thine Own Self investigates Stein's account of human individuality and her mature philosophical positions on being and essence. Sarah Borden Sharkey shows how Stein's account of individual form adapts and updates the Aristotelian-Thomistic tradition in order to account for evolution and more contemporary insights in personality and individual distinctiveness. Borden Sharkey explains how Stein's theory of individuality and individual forms is tied to her understanding of essence and being, and she compares Stein's distinctive metaphysical positions to those of Thomas Aquinas, John Duns Scotus, and Edmund Husserl.

In addition to expositing Stein's metaphysical positions, Borden Sharkey argues that, although Stein's account of individual forms is both more contemporary and more adequate than John Duns Scotus's haecceitas, it is nonetheless problematic. The book concludes by defending a more Aristotelian-Thomistic understanding of form--albeit one that must be rearticulated in light of contemporary and Steinian critiques.

Product Description
She was a puzzling paradox of a saint.She was both Jewish and Catholic. A publicly acclaimed philosopher and a cloistered Carmelite nun. A pioneering feminist scholar and a devout martyr for an ancient faith.

Meet Edith Stein.The Nazis murdered her in a concentration camp, but they could not silence her. This compelling portrait of Sr. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross--Edith’s name in religion--shows how the saint’s heroic life and penetrating insights can still speak to us today. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Best Introduction to Edith Stein
This is the best indroduction to Edith Stein. It is vividly written and moves quickly. The book underscores the strength of this contemporary woman who, facing great challenges, had to think through and stand firm in her beliefs. In Cavnar's book, the central drama of Edith Stein's life is her conversion to Catholicism. This book does what a well-written saint's biography should do--namely, challenge the reader to respond to God's call with greater intensity.

Includes a politically correct bias
Author Cynthia Cavnar condenses the life of Edith Stein into the most readable book yet. Information is contained herein which was not mentioned in longer biographies. However, in the few pages in which Cavnar discusses Pope Pius XI and XII and their roles in the fight against Nazism, Cavnar misses the mark, downplaying Mit Brenneder Sorge (On the Church and the German Reich) by Pius XI and ignoring altogether Pius XII's Summi Pontificatus (On the Unity of Human Society) published in 1939. I would have to recommend "Edith Stein: St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross" by Maria Ruiz Scaperlanda over Ms. Cavnar's title although the former book is a little less readable.

Objective In-Depth Biography Brings Saint to Life
Cavnar outlines the context of the life of St. Edith Stein so that the reader may appreciate the martyr's life as she lived it.Yet the author does not cling to the technicalities so as to give a boring recitation of St. Edith's accomplishments and failures.Rather, Cavnar brings the deepest passions of St. Edith to life: her love of philosophy, her love of teaching, her love of helping others, and most importantly, her love of God.The narrative moves swiftly so that the reader is caught up in the excitements and disappointments in St. Edith's life from World War I, her academic work and her relationships with her family members.This book is an excellent inspirational biography that presents a very real woman who was very dedicated to God.

Good book!
This book highlights the life of a woman who should be better known to all of us. Her story is one of courage and conviction, first in her struggle to define her faith and to situate spirituality within philosophy, and later in her struggle against Nazi persecution. The author skillfully interweaves biography, histoy, and spirituality, all the while painting a very human and intimate picture of this incredible woman. ... Read more