Every true prayer is a prayer of the Church; by means of that prayer the Church prays, since it is the Holy Spirit living in the Church, Who in every single soul 'prays in us with unspeakable groanings'.

Born on October 12 1891 Edith Stein was a very gifted child who enjoyed learning. Her testament of June 6 1939 states "I beg the Lord to take my life and my death … for all concerns of the sacred hearts of Jesus and Mary and the holy church especially for the preservation of our holy order in particular the Carmelite monasteries of Cologne and Echt as atonement for the unbelief of the Jewish People and that the Lord will be received by his own people and his kingdom shall come in glory for the salvation of Germany and the peace of the world at last for my loved ones living or dead and for all God gave to me: that none of them shall go astray. Shortly thereafter the nurses in the intensive care unit saw her sit up completely healthy.

Having been forced to quit her teaching position as a result of the Aryan Clause which was central to the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service Edith Stein entered the Discalced Carmelite Order Monastery of Cologne in October 1933 taking the name Teresia Benedicta of the Cross. Edith Stein also Saint Teresia Benedicta of the Cross informally also known as Saint Edith Stein (born: October 12 1891 – died: August 9 1942) was a German Roman Catholic philosopher and nun regarded as a martyr and saint of the Roman Catholic Church. She received the habit of the Discalced Carmelites as a novice in April 1934.