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Maria Ruiz Scaperlanda

“In the wake of World War I, when neither Jews nor women were widely accepted in academia, Edith Stein rose to prominences as a leading philosopher who thrived in the intellectual community in Germany. She shocked both her Jewish family and her academic friends when she fell in love with Jesus Christ and become a Roman Catholic.

“More shocking still, eleven years later, Edith entered the cloistered Carmelite Order to follow a life of mystic and contemplative prayer, changing her name to Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. Edith Stein’s surrender to grace is all the more visible because of the dark night that enveloped the period of history in which she lived and died – when millions of men and women, including Edith Stein herself, were systematically murdered but he Nazi regime in the name of diligent ethnic cleansing.

“Today, as the meaning of feminism is lost in a world of relativism, Edith Stein provides a model for a true feminist woman who authentically integrates faith, family, and work. Award-winning journalist Maria Ruiz Scaperlanda brings new light to this complex woman, her culture, and the pivotal period of history in which she lived and died.

“More than a biography, these pages paint a multifaceted portrait of Edith Stein as seen by scholars, friends, and relatives – and by Catholics and Jews alike. You’ll gain new insights into the complex aspects of her life and death, as well as the impact of her character and personality on those who knew her. But most of all, you will enter into theinteriror life of this woman of Jewish descent who transformed her entire life because of her encounter with Jesus Christ, an encounter that led her from the depths of atheism to the heights of sainthood.” [From the cover]

Contents

Foreword by Michael Linssen OCD
Introduction by Susanne Batzdorff

Part 1: Edith Stein’s Sainthood

Edith Stein’s Journey to Sainthood

Part 2: Life in a Jewish Family

The Stein Family

German Jews: A Brief Historical Setting

Edith’s Changing World

Part 3: Edith the Philosopher

“My Desire for Truth Was Itself a Prayer”

Phenomenology and University Life

The War to End All Wars

Back to the World of Academia

Struggling into Faith: Conversion

On Being Woman

Catholic Circles: Writing as Political Science

Part 4: Blessed by the Truth

At Carmel’s Door

Out of Death, New Life

Fullness of Faith: Edith the Contemplative

The Last Days

Part 5: The Legacy of Edith Stein

Peace that Surpasses Understanding

Jewish by Birth, Martyr by Death

Jewish and Catholic Dilemmas

In the Hands of Divine Providence

Edith Stein’s Gift to the World

Edith’s Signature Phrase

A Natural Journey with Edith

Sophia Press, ©2017, Soft cover, 224 pages