Source cachée: œuvres spirituelles

by Edith Stein

La quête de la vérité conduisit Edith Stein de la philosophie à la vie religieuse, de Husserl aux maîtres du Carmel. Avant d'entrer dans le silence de la contemplation, le Dieu de son enfance avait pris le visage de Jésus-Christ, et l'Être anonyme des philosophes s'était révélé comme l'Amour infini de la Trinité, source cachée de la vie de tout être créé. C'est à cette source que veulent conduire les textes réunis dans ce volume des « Œuvres spirituelles ». Edith Stein met d'abord en lumière la façon dont la prière chrétienne, liturgique et privée, s'enracine dans la liturgie d'Israël et se greffe sur le dialogue silencieux du Christ avec son Père, puis elle pose son regard sur la vie de quatre figures mystiques féminines : sainte Élisabeth de Hongrie (1207-1233), sainte Thérèse d'Avila (Espagne, 1515-1582), sainte Thérèse-Marguerite du Cœur de Jésus (Italie, 1747-1770), sœur Marie-Aimée de Jésus (France, 1839-1874). Par ces biographies spirituelles, c'est l'œuvre multiforme de l'Esprit Saint qu'Edith Stein veut illustrer, avant d'approfondir le sens de la vocation religieuse dans une série de méditations sur les vœux de chasteté, de pauvreté et d'obéissance menées à la lumière de la Règle du Carmel et de ses maîtres Thérèse d'Avila et Jean de la Croix. Trois dialogues terminent ce recueil. Autour des thèmes de l'abandon à Dieu, de l'illumination baptismale et de l'intercession — illustrée par la reine Esther venue inviter la prieure du Carmel à prier au moment où les griffes nazies se referment sur le peuple juif –, ces textes présentent chacun un aspect de l'itinéraire spirituel de sœur Thérèse-Bénédicte de la Croix : juive, philosophe et carmélite, que l'Église donne en modèle non seulement aux chrétiens, mais à tous ceux, hommes et femmes de bonne volonté, en quête de la vérité.

344 pages, Paperback

First published September 22, 1998

About the author

Edith Stein, also known as St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, OCD, (German: Teresia Benedicta vom Kreuz, Latin: Teresia Benedicta a Cruce) (12 October 1891 – 9 August 1942), was a German Jewish philosopher who converted to the Roman Catholic Church and became a Discalced Carmelite nun. She is a martyr and saint of the Catholic Church.

She was born into an observant Jewish family, but was an atheist by her teenage years. Moved by the tragedies of World War I, in 1915 she took lessons to become a nursing assistant and worked in a hospital for the prevention of disease outbreaks. After completing her doctoral thesis in 1916 from the University of Göttingen, she obtained an assistantship at the University of Freiburg.

From reading the works of the reformer of the Carmelite Order, St. Teresa of Jesus, OCD, she was drawn to the Catholic Faith. She was baptized on 1 January 1922 into the Roman Catholic Church. At that point she wanted to become a Discalced Carmelite nun, but was dissuaded by her spiritual mentors. She then taught at a Catholic school of education in Speyer. As a result of the requirement of an "Aryan certificate" for civil servants promulgated by the Nazi government in April 1933 as part of its Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service, she had to quit her teaching position. She was admitted to the Discalced Carmelite monastery in Cologne the following October. She received the religious habit of the Order as a novice in April 1934, taking the religious name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross ("Teresa blessed by the Cross"). In 1938 she and her sister Rosa, by then also a convert and an extern Sister of the monastery, were sent to the Carmelite monastery in Echt, Netherlands for their safety. Despite the Nazi invasion of that state in 1940, they remained undisturbed until they were arrested by the Nazis on 2 August 1942 and sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp, where they died in the gas chamber on 9 August 1942.

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edith Stein is a captivating writer. Her pieces of theater and small poems reveal a deep familiarity with Scripture and a very deep understanding of human beings.
Her description of the four women saints she writes about is inspiring, and a saint writing about another saint is always beautiful.
Highly recommended!