But we have the Savior not only in the form of reports of witnesses to his life. He is present to us in the most Blessed Sacrament. The hours of adoration before the Highest Good and the listening for the voice of the eucharistic God are simultaneously “meditation on the Law of the Lord” and “watching in prayer.” But the highest level is reached “when the Law is deep within our hearts” (Ps 40:8), when we are so united with the triune God whose temple we are, that his Spirit rules all we do or do not do. Then it does not mean we are forsaking the Lord when we do the work that obedience requires of us. Work is unavoidable as long as we are subject to nature’s laws and to the necessities of life. And, following the word and example of the apostle Paul, our holy Rule commands us to earn our bread by the work of our hands. But for us this work is always merely a means and must never be an end in itself. To stand before the face of God continues to be the real content of our lives.

The legend of the (Carmelite) Order tells us that the Mother of God would have liked to remain with the hermit brothers on Mount Carmel. We can certainly understand that she felt drawn to the place where she had been venerated through the ages and where the holy prophet had lived in the same spirit that also filled her from the time her earthly sojourn began. Released from everything earthly, to stand in worship in the presence of God, to love him with her whole heart, to beseech his grace for sinful people, and in atonement to substitute herself for these people, as the maidservant of the Lord to await his beckoning this was her life.

from the writings of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

Writings excerpt Copyright ICS Publications. Permission is hereby granted for any non-commercial use, if this copyright notice is included.

Edith Stein was born of Jewish parents in 1891. She was a brilliant young woman, earing her doctorate in philodophy at the age of 25. With the witness of the strong faith of some Catholic friends, she began to study the Catholic faith, converting in 1922. The love of God was all consuming and she entered the Carmelite Order in 1934 taking the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. She offered her life for the conversion of her people, the Jews. When World War II broke out, she had to leave the Germany but later was arrested by the Germans and sent to Auschwitz where she was gassed on August 9, 1942, slightly less than a year after St. Maximilian Kolbe was also murdered there. St. Edith Stein was canonized in 1998.

Whatever did not fit in with my plan did lie within the plan of God. I have an ever deeper and firmer belief that nothing is merely an accident when seen in the light of God, that my whole life down to the smallest details has been marked out for me in the plan of Divine Providence and has a completely coherent meaning in God’s all-seeing eyes. And so I am beginning to rejoice in the light of glory wherein this meaning will be unveiled to me.

Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

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Dearest children, I desire very much to tell you, to repeat for you, now good the Immaculate is. That way I could remove forever from your little hearts all sadness, despondency and discouragement. The word “Maria” spoken by a soul steeped in doubts, aridity and even misfortune due to sin re-echoes in her heart, which loves us very much. And the greater the unhappiness of a soul sunk in its faults, the more solicitous is the care of her, the Refuge of us poor sinners. Never worry that you do not feel this love. If you have the will to love, you already give a proof that you love. What counts is the will to love. External feeling is also a fruit of grace, but it does not always follow the will. Sometimes, my dear ones, the thought, a sad longing, as if a plea or a complaint, may occur to you: “Does the Immaculate still love me?” Most beloved children! I tell you all and each one individually, in her name (mark that: in her name!), she loves every one of you. She loves you very much and at every moment, with no exception. This, my dearest children, I repeat for you in her name???

The purpose of the Militia Immaculata) is as soon as possible, to conquer for the Immaculate the entire world and every single soul that now lives or will live till the end of the world, and through her to win them for the Sacred Heart of Jesus! In addition, we are to be watchful lest anyone remove the Immaculate’s standard from a soul; but rather to deepen constantly in souls their love for the Immaculate, to tighten the bond of love between them and her, so that they may become one with her, so that she herself may live and love and act in them and through them. Just as she belongs to Jesus and to God, so every soul will belong to Jesus and to God through her and in her in a much more perfect manner than would be possible by not going through her or without her, if, indeed, that were possible. Then souls will love the Sacred Heart of Jesus as they have never loved him up to now, because like her they will plunge more deeply than ever into the mysteries of love: the cross and the Eucharist. The love of God will be enkindled in the world through her, will set it on fire, and there will take place the “assumption” of souls through love. ??????

When will all this happen, that is, the. divinization of the whole world in her and through her? ?There is one primary and essential condition: that those whose duty it is to labor [in Cities of the Immaculate] should themselves give the example. To understand this spirit they themselves must be impregnated with it. To become instruments of the Immaculate so that she herself may be the one who acts, they must consecrate themselves to her with no restrictions. They themselves first of all must belong to her and live out their unlimited consecration to her, draw the bonds of love uniting them to her more tightly, become one with her so that she may act through them and in their souls. This is the essential condition. She will act through them only in the degree to which they belong to her. Therefore nothing can remain that comes from themselves. They must belong to her limitlessly.

exerpts from a talk of Pope Benedict at Auschwitz :

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?? ? “As a Son of the German People, I Could Not Fail to Come Here” Pope Benedict XVI

KRAKOW, Poland, MAY 28, 2006

To speak in this place of horror, in this place where unprecedented mass crimes were committed against God and man, is almost impossible ? and it is particularly difficult and troubling for a Christian, for a Pope from Germany. In a place like this, words fail; in the end, there can only be a dread silence ? a silence which is itself a heartfelt cry to God: Why, Lord, did you remain silent? How could you tolerate all this?

In silence, then, we bow our heads before the endless line of those who suffered and were put to death here; yet our silence becomes in turn a plea for forgiveness and reconciliation, a plea to the living God never to let this happen again.

Twenty-seven years ago, on June 7, 1979, Pope John Paul II stood in this place. He said: “I come here today as a pilgrim. As you know, I have been here many times. So many times! And many times I have gone down to Maximilian Kolbe’s death cell, paused before the execution wall, and walked amid the ruins of the Birkenau ovens. It was impossible for me not to come here as Pope.”

Let us cry out to God, with all our hearts, at the present hour, when new misfortunes befall us, when all the forces of darkness seem to issue anew from human hearts: whether it is the abuse of God’s name as a means of justifying senseless violence against innocent persons, or the cynicism which refuses to acknowledge God and ridicules faith in him.

Let us cry out to God, that he may draw men and women to conversion and help them to see that violence does not bring peace, but only generates more violence ? a morass of devastation in which everyone is ultimately the loser.

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