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Hey there, Spouts.

Today is Monday, August 9th, 2021.

Today is also the feast day of St. Edith Stein, also known as St. Benedicta of the Cross.

So St. Edith Stein is a fascinating saint. She's a modern saint. In fact, she just died in the 1940s, so less than 100 years ago. St. Edithstein was born into a Jewish family who didn't really

even practice their Jewish faith anymore. In fact, St. Edithstein was incredibly smart,

and as a young girl, she decided that she was simply too smart for religion. So she excelled

in her studies, both as a student and then as a teacher.

But as she grew older, she began to wrestle with deep, dark depression.

And she really began to search for the meaning of all of this.

Eventually, through friends, she was exposed to the Catholic faith.

And then one night she sat down and read the

autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila in one sitting. She put the book down and declared that this

was the truth. Quickly after that, she was baptized, received into the faith, and she began to discern a calling to the religious life.

Eventually, she joined a Carmelite order where she took the name, Sister Benedicta of the cross.

However, she lived in Germany during the Nazi regime.

And even though she was no longer practicing her Jewish faith, she still had a

Jewish heritage. And so eventually the Nazis targeted Jews, even those living in convents that were

Catholic. St. Edith Stein, along with her sister, who would also become a Carmelite sister.

They were both taken from the convent, and they were transported to Auschwitz, one of the most notorious Nazi death camps.

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