Who is Edith Stein?
Saint Edith Stein (Teresa Benedicta of the Cross) (born 1891) was a philosopher, author, who converted to Catholicism and became a nun at Cologne Carmel. She and her sister were arrested at Echt Carmel and martyred at Auschwitz in 1942.
Edith Stein was born at Breslau on October 12, 1891, to German Jewish parents, and after her secondary education, she enrolled in the city university to specialize in German studies and history, although her real interests were philosophy and women’s issues. In 1913, she transferred to the University of Göttingen to study under Edmund Husserl. From the age of fifteen she was in effect an atheist. She had her first serious encounter with Christianity listening to Max Scheler. In 1916, she completed her studies at Freiburg-im-Breisgau where she defended her doctorate directed by Husserl. She remained working in the university until 1918.
In 1921 she read the autobiography of Teresa of Avila and became aware of being called to become a Catholic; she was baptized on January 1, 1922. She made her First Communion the same day and was confirmed on the following February 2nd. After her conversion, she felt herself attracted to the religious life, but circumstances forced her to delay this decision until 1933. When in 1933 she lost her teaching post as a result of national anti-Jewish laws, she entered the Carmel at Cologne on October 14th, taking the name of Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.
On December 31,1938 she transferred to the Carmel at Echt in Holland to escape Nazi persecution of the Jews. In 1940, the situation worsened also in Holland. When the prescriptions became more severe, she sought a transfer to the Carmel in Switzerland. While the arrangements were being negotiated for her move, deportations of the Jews to the concentration camps began in Holland. Sister Teresa Benedicta, accompanied by her sister Rosa who had also become a Catholic, was taken to Amersfort on August 2, 1942. On August 3rd she was transferred to Westerbork. On August 7th, she and her sister together with other deportees were locked in railway wagons and taken by train to the extermination camp at Auschwitz, a voyage which took two days.
Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross died in a gas chamber after she arrived at the camp at Auschwitz on Sunday, August 9, 1942, and her body was cremated there. She was beatified on May 1, 1987 and canonized on October 11, 1998 by Pope Saint John Paul II. On October 2, 1999, the same Pope proclaimed her co-patroness of Europe.
Below is the latest video in our “Why is there no Saint Carmel?” series in which Fr. John Sullivan, OCD, presents a brief story of Edith Stein, the lessons she has to teach us, and how we may apply those lessons in our Carmelite life. Additionally, below the video are a few resources we recommend for those who would like to learn more about this amazing Carmelite Saint.
To find more resources and to learn more about Edith, or any of the Carmelite Saints and Carmelite Spirituality, we suggest:
Life in a Jewish Family: An Autobiography, 1891-1916 (CWES, vol. 1)
On The Problem of Empathy (CWES, vol. 3)
The Hidden Life: Essays, Meditations, Spiritual Texts (CWES, vol. 4)
For educational opportunities including webinars and Days of Recollection – https://www.carmeliteinstitute.net
Carmelite Institute of North America Presentation – Video of presentation by Dianne Trafflet, S.T.D., at the 2024 CINA Symposium
For other print resources written by Carmelites – https://www.icspublications.org
For Retreat Opportunities – https://carmelitespiritualcenter.org
An upcoming pilgrimage – the video to the right provides additional overview…
In the Footsteps of
Saints Edith Stein and Titus Brandsma:
A Journey of Faith and Courage
May 18‐28, 2026
Visit https://carmeliteinstitute.net/pilgrimage-to-germany-netherlands/ for more information.
TOUR COST
$4,834.00
per person based upon double occupancy
•
For single occupancy please add $1,285.00.
This price includes:
Roundtrip airfare from New York JFK
Airline taxes/fuel surcharges as currently levied
Accommodation in First Class/4 star hotels
All hotel taxes and service charges
Meals as per itinerary
Arrival and departure transfers on a group basis
Baggage handling at hotels
Land travel by deluxe motorcoach
Train from Cologne to Munich
Sightseeing with professional local guides
Professional tour manager
All entrance fees as per itinerary
Daily Mass
Airfares from other departure cities throughout the
United States are available upon request.
•
For those who prefer to arrange their own flights
the Land‐Only cost is $3,944.00 per person.
Fr. John Sullivan, O.C.D., is a priest of the Washington Province of Discalced Carmelites and earned his doctorate at the Institut Catholique in Paris. He served as Chair of the Institute of Carmelite Studies for many years and directed ICS Publications. With encouragement from Sr. Josephine Koeppel, O.C.D., he launched the ongoing ICS project to translate and publish the works of Edith Stein in English. This initiative was pivotal for Stein scholarship in the English-speaking world.
Over 40 years ago, in 1984, Fr. John organized a symposium at the Catholic University of America on the life and thought of Edith Stein. The event featured distinguished speakers such as Jan Nota, Mary Catherine Basehart, Ralph McInerny, and Freda Mary Oben. He later edited the proceedings for the series Carmelite Studies. Access to Stein’s writings was limited at that time to Herder’s Edith Steins Werke, which was then under the editorial control of Dr. Lucy Gelber. Fr. John carefully negotiated the necessary permissions to publish English translations through ICS, and this agreement remains in place today.
The translation project began with Sr. Josephine Koeppel’s edition of Life in a Jewish Family, which received the Catholic Press Association’s award for best spirituality book in 1986. The series continued with Freda Mary Oben’s Essays on Woman, a reprint of Waltraut Stein’s translation of The Problem of Empathy, and several more volumes. As each volume appeared, Stein’s philosophical and spiritual insights were gradually unveiled to a broader readership.
Fr. John has given many talks and conferences on Edith Stein, with a particular emphasis on her spiritual writings. He has also led pilgrims to sites associated with her life, participated in her beatification and canonization, and maintained personal contact with relatives of Stein and individuals who knew her personally.
His contributions to Stein scholarship include several edited volumes, most notably Holiness Befits Your House: Documentation on the Canonization of Edith Stein and Edith Stein: Essential Writings in the Modern Spiritual Masters series. He also collaborated extensively with Sr. Josephine Koeppel and Suzanne Batzdorff (Edith Stein’s niece) on a revised edition of Edith Stein: The Life of a Philosopher and Carmelite.
In all these efforts Fr. John has served as a kind of ambassador of Edith Stein. He mediates her voice to new audiences. His work has not only made Stein’s writings accessible to English-speaking readers but has also deepened devotion to her as a witness to Christ. Through his decades of contributing to Stein studies, and encouraging others to do the same, he has amplified the reception of her life and thought across continents and generations.
In 1995, the Edith Stein Guild in New York honored him with the Edith Stein Award. And in 2025, IASPES honors Fr. John Sullivan with this lifetime achievement award for outstanding contributions to the study of the philosophy of Edith Stein.
We hope you are enjoying “Why Is There No Saint Carmel?” video series – view all current and future additions to the series by visiting our YouTube channel. We invite you to return for future videos, and we pray these reflections inspire you to go deeper and learn more from our amazing family of Carmelite saints.
The Carmelites of the Province of the Most Pure Heart of Mary, in allegiance to Jesus Christ, live in a prophetic and contemplative stance of prayer, common life, and service. Inspired by Elijah and Mary and informed by the Carmelite Rule, we give witness to an eight-hundred-year-old tradition of spiritual transformation in the United States, Canada, Peru, Mexico, and El Salvador, and Honduras.
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