Flora Cantábrica

Edith Stein.martyr.2,english.3,1.21

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Conversion to Catholicism (1921-1922).

The events that occurred between 1918 and 1921 definitely lead her to conversion. In Edith Stein’s conversion there are three very significant facts.

  The first happened one day when she was on a tourist trip, in the city of Frankfurt. She entered the Cathedral and observed how a gardener woman, with her basket in her hand, entered the church to pray. This caught her attention because she thought that this lady was talking to someone, who seemed to be alive. And not only that, but the fact of her leaving work for a few minutes and going to church without a celebration. For her it was something unusual, because she remembered that she only went to the synagogue when there were religious celebrations

The next one happened when she received an invitation from Ana Reinach to her house, because her husband had died in the war, and she needed Edith to help her order all her manuscripts. The death of Adolf Reinach affected our author a lot, but she was even more overwhelmed by the peace with which her widow accepted the death of her husband. Stein remembers it in her biography: This was my first encounter with the cross. 158 Santa Teresa de Jesús (1515-1582) 158 Sancho Fermín, F. J. (1998). Edith Stein. Thought and landscape, op, cit, p, 76. 105

El tercer suceso ocurrió el mes de marzo de 1921, el definitivo en su conversión; fue la invitación que recibió del matrimonio Conrad-Martius, para pasar unos días en Bad Bergzabern, en el sur de Alemania. Este matrimonio era de religión protestante. Ella, Hedwig, fue la mejor amiga de Edith. Tenían muchas cosas en común. Era filósofa y había sido alumna de Husserl. Realmente nuestra autora ya había leído el Nuevo Testamento, por lo tanto, conocía a Jesucristo. Pero su duda era si debía elegir el protestantismo o el catolicismo. Hedwig le dio la vida de Santa Teresa de Jesús de Avila para leer. La leyó en una noche y exclamó: Esta es la verdad. El 1 de enero de 1922, el padre Eugenio Breitling bautizó