Book notes: Edith Stein, A Biography:

Our MOMS ENDOW study on JPII's "Letter to Women" has been discussing the influence of Edith Stein, philospher, convert, teacher, Carmelite, mystic, & martyr on the development of the Catholic "New Feminism."  She was my Confirmation saint and seems to be one of those saints who finds me when I need her to teach me something.  Our ENDOW study sent me back to this biography that has been on our shelves here at home but that I hadn't ever read.  Here's a collection of quotes from it so far that continue to make me think:

The one thing a person needs to keep doing is to try live out his chosen vocation with an ever-increasing honesty and purity, to make it an acceptable oblation for those with whom he is united.

If, up to now, a person has been more or less contented with himself, the time for that is over.  He will do what he can to change the unpleasant things he finds in himself, but he will discover quite a bit that can't be called beautiful and yet will be nearly impossible to change.  As a result he will slowly become small and humble, increasingly patient and tolerant toward specks in his brothers' eyes, now that he has so much trouble with the beam in his own.  Eventually, he'll be able to look at himself in the unblinking light of the divine presence and learn to entrust himself to the power of the divine mercy.

It is faith in our hidden stories that ought to console us when what we see externally in ourselves and in others tends to depress us.

A 38 Weeks! Pregnant Daybook

Outside my window...I can see one of our crepe myrtles & the struggling cacti we transplanted near our POOL!.

I am thankful... for a quiet weekend, finally, spent washing baby clothes & getting her room ready and finally feeling settled in to our new house. Was it getting ready for baby that I've been waiting for? Another post on the move later. And pics- if I can ever find that camera cord!

I am hoping...for a safe delivery for us both after this very hard pregnancy.

On my mind... all the special friends & family I want to keep in better touch with now that I'm completely home again. And homeschooling ideas, always.

Noticing that...the father/son haircut outing took a long time yest & 2 out of 3 kiddos are sleeping in this am or I still wouldn't have gotten around to posting!

A few plans for the week... eagerly anticipating spending the day w/ my sister for my b-day, a CCL NFP teacher training app w/ J, & new friends over next weekend for dinner, if I make it that long- which I should...

From the book shelf... LLL's Womanly Art of Breastfeeding for this lackluster lactater, lots of internet "research" on various things now that I have a reliable computer (b-day iPad!) again (Internet, computer, now camera/card & I'll be re-connected!). Kids are reading alot for school...

In the kitchen... leftover chicken fajitas from a Mexican feast last night. More Mexican on the menu tonight when we go out.

On the Church calendar... Feast of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (aka Edith Stein) today- my favorite patroness and Feast of the Assumption fast approaching. Edith Stein is one of those saints who found me and never ceases to amaze me the more I get to know her. More on her later, maybe.

In honor of a Feast Day not observed this year...

My birthday, August 9, is the feast day of Edith Stein, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, my Confirmation saint. This year her feast falls on a Sunday so it is not mentioned on any of my Catholic calendars. She was a Jewish convert, a philosopher & professor- a phenomenologist like Pope JPII & the foundational thinker who contributed to his own philosophy/theology of the "feminine genius," and a cloistered Carmelite nun who was martyred at Auschwitz as a result of the Nazi purging of Catholic monasteries in Denmark after the Dutch bishops spoke out against the Third Reich in no uncertain terms.

Some quotes of hers:

I always think of queen Esther who was chosen from among her own people to intercede before the king for her people. I am a little Esther poor and impotent, but the king who has chosen me is infinitely great and merciful. And this is a great consolation. (Letter 131)

One cannot desire freedom from the cross when one is especially chosen for the cross. (Letter 146)

Faith in the secret history of souls ought to fortify us when what we see externally (in ourselves and in others) takes away our courage. (Letter 148)

The whole work of education should be sustained by love which ought to be manifested in every correction, and it should certainly not be replaced by fear. The most efficacious educational means, then, is not the instruction, but the living example; without this all words are useless. (Woman. 11)

Is the extra-domestic professional activity of woman contrary to the order of nature and grace? I think not. All the powers of man are also present in the nature of woman: even if in different measure and in different proportion- this is proof that she too can use them in activities that correspond to her. These powers are limited when professional activity begins to hinder domestic life, namely the good of the family, composed of parents and children, in which one receives life and education. (Woman. 93)