Saint of the Day: St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein)

Born in 1891 in Breslau, Germany, Edith Stein was a brilliant Jewish philosopher who lost her faith as a teenager but later rediscovered God through her studies. Inspired by the writings of St. Teresa of Ávila, she converted to Catholicism in 1922 and entered the Carmelite Order, taking the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. During World War II, she was arrested by the Nazis for her Jewish heritage and deported to Auschwitz, where she was martyred on August 9, 1942. Canonized in 1998, she is honored as a co-patroness of Europe and a witness to truth, courage, and faith.