> [[09-figures|↑ Back to TOC]] # Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross ## Biography Edith Stein was born on October 12, 1891, in Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland), into a Jewish family. She became a brilliant philosopher and student of Edmund Husserl. After reading the autobiography of Saint Teresa of Avila, she converted to Catholicism and was baptized on January 1, 1922. She entered the Discalced Carmelite monastery of Cologne in 1933, taking the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. Transferred to Echt, Netherlands, in 1938 to escape the Nazi threat, she was arrested by the Gestapo on August 2, 1942, and murdered at Auschwitz-Birkenau on August 9, 1942, along with her sister Rosa. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on May 1, 1987, and canonized on October 11, 1998. She was declared co-patroness of Europe in 1999. *Source: Vatican biographical sources* ## Notes - virgin and martyr M 128 - [[08-09-st-teresa-benedicta-of-the-cross|OCD Proper]]