4Real Forums: Edith Stein - need presentation help

Oh, Dearest Mother, Sweetest Virgin of Altagracia, our Patroness. You are our Advocate and to you we recommend our needs. You are our Teacher and like disciples we come to learn from the example of your holy life. You are our Mother, and like children, we come to offer you all of the love of our hearts. Receive, dearest Mother, our offerings and listen attentively to our supplications. Amen.

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Topic: Edith Stein - need presentation help

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mary
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Posted: Sept 04 2005 at 5:02pm \| IP Logged

I belong to a Women of Faith group at my church and it's my turn to present a woman of faith. I'd like to do Edith Stein. So, I printed out a timeline of her life and got a video from our diocese. I have the book A Retreat With Edith Stein and thought to use those questions as the discussion. However, those questions are really quite personal and require some introspection. They may not be appropriate for our group. Do you have any suggestins as to what questions I could pose to our group, or any other material to add?

Marybeth
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Posted: Sept 05 2005 at 11:13am \| IP Logged

Would it be possible to give the ladies the questions as a handout to take home for reflection? Also, maybe discussing how we need to trust God in times of great change in our lives and especially during suffering. I think she is a wonderful saint to discuss and to meditate on her life as the NO tragedy unfolds in our country.

Could you possible tell a little bit more about your Woman of Faith group? It sounds wonderful!

Marybeth

mary
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Posted: Sept 05 2005 at 1:10pm \| IP Logged

We are women of my parish and we get together 2 times a month. We take turns presenting the story of any woman of faith who appeals to the presenter. Last time, we did Miriam and I learned so much! I had no idea that she was one of 7 women prophets in the bible.

Thank you for the suggestions - I will give out the retreat questions. One of the retreat day topics is on suffering, so I can certainly use those during our group discussion.

If anyone has any more ideas, please let me know.

guitarnan
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Posted: Sept 05 2005 at 8:53pm \| IP Logged

Edith Stein was a true intellectual, and from my limited reading I understand that she was one of the unusual women of her time. She gave up a lot when she embraced the Church. Her devout Jewish family members were extremely unhappy.

One thing that really struck me about Edith Stein's journey to the Church was her discovery of the writings of St. Teresa...and how she stayed up all night reading, to declare in the morning, "This is truth."

How many of us have found something we know in our hearts is Truth...I would imagine that each of us has had an experience like this at some time...??? This would be a good discussion topic, I think. How do we recognize Truth? How do we act on it?

Edith Stein's actions were enough to bring her sister to the Church and to the consecrated life. In the end, they made the ultimate sacrifice. Although this might not be our calling, are we listening for God's call in our lives? Do we know the needs in our community? Can we help, in a small way, to fulfill them?

The hurricane events of this week have struck very close to home for me, because some of my friends (and my godson) are now displaced, homeless and jobless. I think Edith Stein would be a good patron of the homeless, as she was displaced by Nazism, fleeing to a Dutch convent in an attempt to escape persecution and live out her vocation. In the end, of course, it didn't work out the way she had planned...but that is another reason she might be a good patron of the homeless. In times of true crisis, she chose faith over everything else...family, homeland, life itself.

Right now, my son is reading about Edith Stein in CHC's Stories of the Saints, Volume III. This amazing woman found the Church by the most circuitous route possible...atheism, university intellectuallism, etc. were her focus until she found St. Teresa. What strength of will she must have had, to put aside everything she held dear for the Church, truly, for her, the pearl of great price.

These are my reflections...feel free to use them or not...great topic!

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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.

mary
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Posted: Sept 06 2005 at 4:24pm \| IP Logged

thank you both! my presentation is tonight so I'll let you know how it went.

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