April 2012
36 posts
Saint Teresa Benedict of the Cross - Edith Stein (1891-1942)
Edith Stein was born in Breslau on 12 October 1891, the youngest of 11, as her family were celebrating Yom Kippur, that most important Jewish festival, the Feast of Atonement. “More than anything else, this helped make the youngest child very precious to her mother.” Being born on this day was like a foreshadowing to Edith, a future Carmelite nun.
Edith’s father, who ran a timber business, died when she had only just turned two. Her mother, a very devout, hard-working, strong-willed and truly wonderful woman, now had to fend for herself and to look after the family and their large business. However, she did not succeed in keeping up a living faith in her children. Edith lost her faith in God. “I consciously decided, of my own volition, to give up praying,” she said.
We are all pencils in the hand of God writing love letters to the world.
Mother Theresa
“The more generous you are toward God, the more generous you will find that he is toward you.”
—St. Ignatius Loyola
“Just as there are also uncatholic things in the Catholic Church, so too we can find something catholic even outside the Catholic Church. Many who seem to be outside are inside; many who seem to be inside are outside.”
—St. Augustine (354-430)
“Jesus does not offer simplistic solutions to complex problems. He doesn’t say ‘”If only you’d do x, then that would solve problems.” He does say, “Go out beyond your comfort zone and live forgiveness and healing. Seek God’s solutions, not yours.”
—Bishop Donal McKeown (via thefullnessofthefaith)
Saint Thérèse of Lisieux
THÉRÈSE MARTIN was born at Alençon, France on 2 January 1873. Two days later, she was baptized Marie Frances Thérèse at Notre Dame Church. Her parents were Louis Martin and Zélie Guérin. After the death of her mother on 28 August 1877, Thérèse and her family moved to Lisieux.
Towards the end of 1879, she went to confession for the first time. On the Feast of Pentecost 1883, she received the singular grace of being healed from a serious illness through the intercession of Our Lady of Victories. Taught by the Benedictine Nuns of Lisieux and after an intense immediate preparation culminating in a vivid experience of intimate union with Christ, she received First Holy Communion on 8 May 1884. Some weeks later, on 14 June of the same year, she received the Sacrament of Confirmation, fully aware of accepting the gift of the Holy Spirit as a personal participation in the grace of Pentecost.
