1837 Venerable Herman
of Alaska, Wonderworker of All America
A spiritual mission was organized in 1793, made up of monks of
the Valaam Monastery. They were sent to preach the Word of God to the native
inhabitants of northwestern America, who only ten years before had come under
the sovereignty of Russia. St Herman was among the members of this Mission.
St Herman came from a family of merchants of Serpukhov, a city
of the Moscow Diocese. His name before he was tonsured, and his family name
are not known. (The monastic name is given when a monk takes his vows). He
had a great zeal for piety from youth, and at sixteen he entered monastic
life. (This was in 1772, if we assume that Herman was born in 1756, although
sometimes 1760 is given as the date of his birth.) First he entered the Trinity-Sergius
Hermitage which was located near the Gulf of Finland on the Peterhof Road,
about 15 versts (about 10 miles) from St Petersburg.
MIRACULOUS HEALING OF HERMAN
At the St Sergius Hermitage
there occurred the following incident to Father Herman. On the right side
of his throat under his chin there appeared an abcess. The swelling grew
rapidly, disfiguring his face. It became difficult for him to swallow, and
the odor was unbearable. In this critical condition Father Herman awaited
death. He did not appeal to a physician of this world, but locking his cell
he fell before an lcon of the Queen of Heaven. With fervent tears he prayed,
asking of Her that he might be healed. He prayed the whole night. Then he
took a wet towel and with it wiped the face of the Most Holy Mother, and
with this towel he covered the swelling. He continued to pray with tears until
he fell asleep from sheer exhaustion on the floor. In a dream he saw the
Virgin Mary healing him.
When Herman awoke in the morning, he found to his great surprise
that he was fully healed. The swelling had disappeared, even though the abscess
had not broken through, leaving behind but a small mark as though a reminder
of the miracle. Physicians to whom this healing was described did not believe
it, arguing that it was necessary for the abscess to have either broken through
of its own accord or to have been cut open. But the words of the physicians
were the words of human experience, for where the grace of God operates there
the order of nature is overcome. Such occurrences humble human reason under
the strong hand of God's Mercy.
HERMAN'S LIFE AT VALAAM
For
five or six years Father Herman continued to live in the St Sergius Hermitage,
and then he transferred to the Valaam Monastery, which was widely scattered
on the large islands in the waters of the great Lake Ladoga. He came to love
the Valaam haven with all his soul, as he came to love its unforgettable
Superior, the pious Elder Nazarius, and all the brethren. He wrote to Father
Nazarius later from America, "Your fatherly goodness to me, humble one, will
be erased out of my heart neither by the terrible, unpassable Siberian lands,
nor by the dark forests. Nor will it be wiped out by the swift flow of the
great rivers; nor will the awful ocean quench these feelings. In my mind
I imagine my beloved Valaam, looking to it beyond the great ocean." He praised
the Elder Nazarius in his letters as,"the most reverend, and my beloved father."
(Batushka) and the brethren of Valaam he called, "my beloved and dearest."
The place where he lived in America, deserted Spruce Island, he called "Now
Valaam." And as we can see, he always remained in spiritual contact with
his spiritual homeland', for as late as 1823, that is after thirty years
of his life within the borders of America, he wrote letters to the successor
of Father Nazarius, the lgumen Innocent.
Father Barlaam, later lgumen of Valaam, and a contemporary of
Father Herman, who accepted his tonsure from Father Nazarius, wrote thus
of the life of Father Herman.
"Father Herman went through the various obediences here, and being
‘well disposed toward every thing’ was in the course of events sent to Serdobol
to oversee there the work of quarrying marble. The Brothers loved Father
Herman, and awaited impatiently his return to the cloisters from Serdobol.
Recognizing the zeal of the young hermit the wise elder, Father Nazarius,
released him to take abode in the wilderness. This wilderness was in the
deep forest about a mile from the cloister: to this day this place has retained
the name 'Herman's.' On holy days, Father Herman returned to the monastery
from the wilderness. Then it was that at Little Vespers he would stand in
the choir and sing in his pleasant tenor the responses with the brethren from
the Canon, 'O Sweetest Jesus, save us sinners. Most Holy Theotokos, Save
us,' and tears would fall like hail from his eyes."
THE FIRST MISSION TO AMERICA
In the second half of the 18th century the borders of Holy
Russia expanded to the north. In those years Russian merchants discovered
the Aleutian Islands which formed in the Pacific Ocean a chain from the eastern
shares of Kamchatka to the western shares of North America. With the opening
of these islands there was revealed the sacred necessity to illumine with
the light of the Gospel the native inhabitants. With the blessing of the
Holy Synod, Metropolitan Gabriel gave to the Elder Nazarius the task of selecting
capable persons from the brethern of Valaam for this holy endeavor. Ten men
were selected, and among them was Father Herman. The chosen men left Valaam
for the place of their great appointment in 1793. (The members of this historical
mission were: Archimandrite Joseph (Bolotoff), the Hieromonks, Juvenal, Macarius,
Athanasius, Stephan and Nectarius, Hierodeacons, Nectarius and Stephen, and
the monks Joasaph, and Herman.)
As a result of the holy zeal
of the preachers the light of the evangelic sermon quickly poured out among
the sons of Russia, and
several thousand pagans accepted Christianity. A school for the education
of newly-baptized children was organized, and a church was built at the place
where the missionaries lived. But by the inscrutable providence of God the
general progress of the mission was unsatisfactory. After five years of very
productive labor, Archimandrite Joasaph, who had just been elevated to the
rank of bishop, was drowned with his party. (This occurred on the Pacific
Ocean been Kamchatka and the Aleutian Islands. The ship, Phoenix, one of
the first sea-going ships built in Alaska, sailed from Okhotsk carrying the
first Bishop for the American Mission and his party. The Phoenix was caught
in one of the many storms which periodically sweep the northern Pacific,
and the ship and all hands perished together with Bishop Joasaph and his
party.) Before this the zealous Hieromonk Juvenal was granted the martyr's
crown. The others died one after another until in the end only Father Herman
remained. The Lord permitted him to labor longer than any of his brethren
in the apostolic task of enlightening the Aleutians.
THE NEW VALAAM - SPRUCE ISLAND
In America Father Herman
chose as his place of habitation Spruce Island, which he called New Valaam.
This island is separted by a strait about a mile and a quarter wide from
Kodiak Island on which had been built a wooden monastery for the residence
of the members of the mission, and a wooden church dedicated to the Resurrection
of the Savior. (New Valaam was named for Valaam on Lake Ladoga, the monastery
from which Father Herman came to America. It is interesting to note that
Valaam is also located on an island, although, this island is in a fresh
water lake, whereas, Spruce Island is on the Pacific Ocean, although near
other islands and the Alaskan mainland.)
Spruce Island is not large, and is almost completely
covered by a forest. Almost through its middle a small brook flows to the
sea. Herman selected this picturesque island for the location of his hermitage.
He dug a cave out of the ground with his own hands, and in it he lived his
first full summer. For winter there was built for him a cell near the cave,
in which he lived until his death. The cave was converted by him into a place
for his burial. A wooden chapel, and a wooden house to be used as a schoolhouse
and a guest house were built not too distant from his cell. A garden was
laid out in front of his cell. For more than forty years Father Herman lived
here.
FATHER HERMAN'S WAY OF LIFE
Father Herman himself
spaded the garden, planted potatoes and cabbage and various vegetables in
it. For winter, he preserved mushrooms, salting or drying them. The salt
was obtained by him from ocean water. It is said that a wicker basket in
which the Elder carried seaweed from the shore, was so large that it was
difficult for one person to carry. The seaweed was used for fertilizing the
soil. But to the astonishment of all, Father Herman carried a basket filled
with seaweed for a long
distance without any help at all. By chance his disciple, Gerasim, saw him
one winter night carrying a large log which normally would be carried by
four men; and he was bare footed. Thus worked the Elder, and everything that
he acquired as a result of his immeasurable labors was used for the feeding
and clothing of orphans and also for books for his students.
His clothes were the same for winter as for summer.
He did not wear a shirt; instead he wore a smock of deer skin, which he did
not take off for several years at a time, nor did he change it, so that the
fur in it was completely worn away, and the leather became glossy. Then there
were his boots or shoes, cassock (podrasnik), an ancient and faded out cassock
(riasa) full of patchwork, and his headdress (klobuk). He went everywhere
in these clothes, and at all times; in the rain, in snowstorms, and during
the coldest freezing weather. In this, Father Herman followed the example
of many Eastern Ascetic Fathers and Monks who showed the greatest concern
for the welfare and needs of others. Yet, they themselves wore the oldest
possible clothes to show their great humility before God, and their contempt
for worldly things.
A small bench covered with a time-worn deerskin served
as Father Herman's bed. He used two bricks for a pillow; these were hidden
from visitors by a skin or a shirt. There was no blanket. Instead, he covered
himself with a wooden board which lay on the stove. This board Father Herman,
himself called his blanket, and he willed that it be used to cover his remains;
it was as long as he was tall. "During my stay in the cell of Father Herman,"
writes the creole Constantine Larionov, "I, a sinner, sat on his 'blanket'-and
I consider this the acme of my fortune!" ('creole' is the name by which the
Russians referred to the children of mixed marriages of native Indians of
Alaska, Eskimo and Aleuts with Russians.)
On the occasions when Father Herman was the guest
of administrators of the American Company and in the course of their soul-saving
talks he sat up with them until midnight. He never spent the night with them,
but regardless of the weather he always returned to his hermitage. If for
some extraordinary reason it was necessary for him to spend the night away
from his cell, then in the morning the bed which had been prepared for him
would be found untouched; the Elder not having slept at all. The same was
true in his hermitage where having spent the night in talks, he never rested.
The Elder ate very little. As a guest, he scarcely
tasted the food, and remained without dinner. In his call his dinner consisted
of a very small portion of a small fish or some vegetables. His body,
emaciated as a result of his labors, his vigils, and fasting, was crushed
by chains which weighed about sixteen pounds. These chains are kept to this
day in the chapel.
Telling of these deeds of Father Herman, his disciple, the Aleut
lgnaty Aligyaga, added, "Yes, Apa led a very hard life, and no one can imitate
his life!" (Apa, Aleutian word means Elder or grandfather, and it is a name
indicative of the great affection in which he was held).
Our writing of the incidents in the life of the Elder
deal, so to speak, with the external aspects of his labor. "His most important
works," says the Bishop Peter, "were his exercises in spiritual endeavor
in his isolated cell where no one saw him, but outside the cell they heard
him singing and celebrating services to God according to the monastic rule."
This witness of the Bishop is supported by the following answers of Father
Herman, himself, "How do you manage to live alone in the forest, Father Herman?
Don't you ever become lonesome?" He answered, "No I am not there alone! God
is here, as God is everywhere. The Holy Angels are there. With whom is it
better to talk, with people, or with Angels? Most certainly with Angels."
FATHER HERMAN AND THE NATIVES
The way in which Father
Herman looked upon the natives of America, how he understood his own relations with them, and how
he was concerned for their needs he expressed himself in one of his letters
to the former administrator of the colony, Simeon Yanovsky.
He wrote,
"Our Creator granted to our beloved homeland this land which like
a newly-born babe does not yet have the strength for knowledge or understanding.
It requires not only protection, because of its infantile weakness and impotence,
but also his sustenance. Even for this it does not yet have the ability to
make an appeal on its own behalf. And since the welfare of this nation by
the Providence of God, it is not known for how long, is dependent on and
has been entrusted into the hands of the Russian government which has now
been given into your own power, therefore I, the most humble servant of these
people, and their nurse (nyanka) stand before you in their behalf, write
this petition with tears of blood. Be our Father and our Protector. Certainly
we do not know how to be eloquent, so with an inarticulate infant's tonque
we say: Wipe away the tears of the defenseless orphans, cool the hearts melting
away in the fire of sorrow. Help us to know what consolation means."
The Elder acted the way he felt. He always
interceded before the governors in behalf of those who had transgressed.
He defended those who had been offended. He helped those who were in need
with whatever means he had available. The Aleuts, men, women and children,
often visited him. Some asked for advice, others complained of oppression,
others sought out defense, and still others desired help. Each one received
the greatest possible satisfaction from the Elder. He discussed their mutual
difficulties, and he tried to settle these peacefully. He was especially
concerned about reestablishing understanding in families. If he did not succeed
in reconciling a husband and wife, the Elder prevailed upon them to separate
temporarily. The need for such a procedure he explained thus, "it is better
to let them live apart, or believe me, it can be terrible if they are not
separated. There have been incidents when a husband killed his wife, or when
a wife destroyed her husband."
Father Herman especially loved children. He made
large quantities of biscuits for them, and he baked cookies (krendelki) for
them; and the children were fond of the Elder. Father Herman's love for the
Aleuts reached the point of self-denial.
AN EPIDEMIC STRIKES
A ship from the United States
brought to Sitka Island, and from there to Kodiak Island, a contagious disease,
a fatal illness. It began with a fever, a heavy cold, and difficult respiration,
and it ended with chills; in three days the victim died. On the island there
was neither a doctor nor medicine. The illness spread rapidly through the
village, and then throughout the nearby areas. The disease affected all,
even infants. The fatalities were so great that for three days there was
no one to dig graves, and the bodies remained unburied. An eyewitness said,
"I cannot imagine anything more tragic and horrible than the sight
which struck me when I visited an Aleutian 'Kazhim'. This was a large building,
or barracks, with dividing sections, in which the Aleuts lived with their
families; it contained about 100 people. Here some had died, their cold bodies
lay near the living; others were dying; there were groans and weeping which
tore at one's soul."
"I saw mothers over whose bodies cold in death crawled
a hungry child, crying and searching in vain for its food...My heart was
bursting with compassion! It seemed that if anyone could paint with a worthy
brush the full horror of this tragic scene, that he would have successfully
aroused fear of death in the most embittered heart."
Father Herman, during this terrible sickness which lasted a
whole month, gradually dying out towards the end, visited the sick, never
tiring. He admonished them in their fear, prayed, brought them to penance,
or prepared them for death. He never spared himself.
FATHER HERMAN AS A SPIRITUAL TEACHER
The Elder was concerned in particular
for the moral growth of the Aleuts. With this end in mind a school was built
for children-the orphans of the Aleuts. He himself taught them the Law of
God and church music. For this same purpose he gathered the Aleuts on Sunday
and Holy Days for prayer in the chapel near his cell. Here his disciple read
the Hours and the various prayers while the Elder himself read the Epistle
and Gospel. He also preached to them. His students sang, and they sang very
well. The Aleuts loved to hear his sermons, gathering around him in large
numbers. The Elder's talks were captivating, and his listeners were moved
by their wonderous power. He himself writes of one example of the beneficial
results of his words.
"Glory to the holy destinies of the Merciful God!
He has shown me now through his unfathomable Providence a new occurence which
I, who have lived here for twenty years had never seen before on Kodiak.
Recently after Easter, a young girl about twenty years of age who knows Russian
well, came to me. Having heard of the Incarnation of the Son of God and of
Eternal Life, she became so inflamed with love for Jesus Christ that she
does not wish to leave me. She pleaded eloquently with me. Contrary to my
personal inclination and love for solitude, and despite all the hindrances
and difficulties which I put forward before accepting her, she has now been
living near the school for a month and is not lonesome."
"I, looking on this with great wonder, remembered
the 'words of the Savior: that which is hidden from the wise and learned
is revealed to babes." (Matt. 11:25)
This woman lived at the school until the death of the Elder. She
watched for the good conduct of the children who studied in his school. Father
Herman willed that after his death she was to continue to live on Spruce
Island. Her name was Sophia Vlasova.
Yanovsky writes about the character
and the eloquence of the talks of the Elder thus:
"When I met Father
Herman I was thirty years old. I must say that I was educated in the naval
corps school; that I knew many sciences having read extensively. But to my
regret, the Science of sciences, that is the Law of God, I barely remembered
the externals - and these only theoretically, not applying them to life.
I was a Christian in name only, but in my soul and in reality, I was a freethinker.
Furthermore, I did not admit the divinity and holiness of our religion, for
I had read through many atheistic works. Father Herman recognized this immediately
and he desired to reconvert me. To my great surprise he spoke so convincingly,
wisely - and he argued with such conviction- that it seemed to me that no
learning or worldly wisdom could stand one's ground before his words. We
conversed with him daily until midnight, and even later, of God's love, of
eternity, of the salvation of souls, and of Christian living. From his lips
flowed a ceaseless stream of sweet words! By these continual talks and by
the prayers of the holy Elder the Lord returned me completely to the way
of Truth, and I became a real Christian. I am indebted for all this to Father
Herman he is my true benefactor."
"Several years ago," continues Yanovsky, "Father
Herman converted a certain naval captain G. to Orthodoxy from the Lutheran
Faith. This captain was well educated. Besides many sciences, he was well
versed in languages. He knew Russian, English, German, French, Italian and
also some Spanish. But for all this he could not resist the convictions and
proofs of Father Herman. He changed his faith and was united to the Orthodox
Church through Chrismation. When he was leaving America, the Elder said to
him while they were parting, "Be on guard, if the Lord should take your wife
from you then do not marry a German woman under any circumstance. If you
do marry a German woman, undoubtedly she will damage your Orthodoxy." The
Captain gave his word, but he failed to keep it. The warning of the Elder
was prophetic. Indeed, after several years the Captain's wife did die, and
he married a German woman. There is no doubt that his faith weakened or that
he left it; for he died suddenly without penance."
Further on Yanovsky writes,
"Once the Elder was invited aboard a frigate which
came from St Petersburg. The Captain of the frigate was a highly educated
man, who had been sent to America by order of the Emperor to make an inspection
of all the colonies. There were more than twenty-five officers with the Captain,
and they also were educated men. In the company of this group sat a monk
of a hermitage, small in stature and wearing very old clothes. All these
educated conversationalists were placed in such a position by his wise talks
that they did not know how to answer him. The Captain himself used to say,
'We were lost for an answer before him.'
"Father Herman gave them all one general question:
'Gentlemen, What do you love above all, and what will each of you wish for
your happiness?' Various answers were offered...Some desired wealth, others
glory, some a beautiful wife, and still others a beautiful ship he would captain;
and so forth in the same vein. 'It is not true,' Father Herman said to them
concerning this, 'that all your various wishes can bring us to one conclusion
- that each of you desires that which in his own understanding he considers
the best, and which is most worthy of his love?' They all answered, 'Yes,
that is so!' He then continued, 'Would you not say, Is not that which is
best, above all, and surpassing all, and that which by preference is most
worthy of love, the Very Lord, our Jesus Christ, who created us, adorned
us with such ideals, gave life to all, sustains everything, nurtures and
loves all, who is Himself Love and most beautiful of all men? Should we not
then love God above every thing, desire Him more than anything, and search
Him out?' "
All said, "Why, yes! That's self-evident!" Then the
Elder asked, "But do you love God?" They all answered, "Certainly, we love
God. How can we not love God?" "And I a sinner have been trying for more
than forty years to love God, I cannot say that I love Him completely," Father
Herman protested to them. He then began to demonstrate to them the way in
which we should love God. "if we love someone," he said, "we always remember
them; we try to please them. Day and night our heart is concerned with the
subject. Is that the way you gentlemen love God? Do you turn to Him often?
Do you always remember Him? Do you always pray to Him and fulfill His holy
commandments?" They had to admit that they had not! "For our own good, and
for our own fortune," concluded the Elder, "let us at least promise ourselves
that from this very minute we will try to love God more than anything and
to fulfill His Holy Will!" Without any doubt this conversation was imprinted
in the hearts of the listeners for the rest of their lives.
"In general, Father Herman liked to talk of eternity,
of salvation of the future life, of our destinies under God. He often talked
on the lives of the Saints, on the Prologue, but he never spoke about anything
frivolous. It was so pleasant to hear him that those who conversed with him,
the Aleuts and their wives, were so captivated by his talks that often they
did not leave him until dawn, and then they left him with reluctance;" thus
witnesses the creole, Constantine Larionov.
A DESCRIPTION OF FATHER HERMAN
Yanovsky writes a detailed description
of Father Herman.
"I have a vivid memory," he said, "Of all the features of the Elder's
face reflecting goodness; his pleasant smile, his meek and attractive mien,
his humble and quiet behavior, and his gracious word. He was short of stature.
His face was pale and covered with wrinkles. His eyes were greyish-blue,
full of sparkle, and on his head there were a few gray hairs. His voice was
not powerful, but it was very pleasant."
Yanovsky relates two incidents from his conversations with the Elder. "Once,
" he writes, "I read to Father Herman the ode, 'God,' by Derzhavin.
The Elder was surprised, and entranced. He asked me to read it again. I read
it once more, "Is it possible that a simple, educated man wrote this?" he
asked. "Yes, a learned poet," I answered. "This has been written under God's
inspiration," said the Elder.
THE MARTYRDOM OF PETER
"On another occasion
I was relating to him how the Spanish in California had imprisoned fourteen
Aleuts, and how the Jesuits were forcing all of them to accept the Catholic
Faith. But this Aleut would not agree under any circumstances, saying, 'We
are Christians.' The Jesuits protested, 'That's not true; you are heretics
and schismatics. If you do not agree to accept our faith then we will torture
all of you.' Then the Aleuts were placed in cells until evening; two to a
cell. At night the Jesuits came to the prison with lanterns and lighted candles.
They began to persuade the Aleuts in the cell once again to accept the Catholic
Faith. 'We are Christians,' was the answer of the Aleuts, 'and we will not
change our Faith.' Then the Jesuits began to torture them, at first the one
while his companion was the witness. They cut the toes off his feet, first
one joint and then the other joint. And then they cut the first joint on
the fingers of the hands, and then the other joint. Afterwards they cut off
his feet, and his hands; the blood flowed. The martyr endured all and steadfastly
insisted on one thing: "I am a Christian.' In such suffering, he bled to
death. The Jesuit promised to torture to death his comrades also on the next
day.
But that night an order was received from Monterey
stating that the imprisoned Aleuts were to be released immediately, and sent
there under escort. Therefore, in the morning all were dispatched to Monterey
with the exception of the martyred Aleut. This was related to me by a witness,
the same Aleut who was the comrade of the tortured Aleut. Afterwards he escaped
from imprisonment, and I reported this incident to the supreme authorities
in St Petersburg. When I finished my story, Father Herman asked, 'And how
did they call the martyred Aleut?' I answered, 'Peter; I do not remember
his family name.' The Elder stood up before an icon reverently, made the
sign of the Cross and pronounced, "Holy newly-martyred Peter, pray to God
for usl"
THE SPIRIT OF FATHER HERMAN’S TEACHING
In order to express the spirit
of Father Herman's teaching, we present here a quotation from a letter that
was written by his own hand.
"The empty years of these desires separate us from
our heavenly homeland, and our Love for these desires and our habits clothe
us, as it were, in an odious dress; it is called by the Apostle 'the external
(earthy) man.' (I Cor. 15:47). We who are wanderers in the journey of this
life call to God for aid. We must divest ourselves of this repulsiveness,
and put on new desires, and a new love for the coming age. Thus, through
this we will know either an attraction or a repulsion for the heavenly homeland.
It is possible to do this quickly, but we must follow the example of the
sick, who wishing for desired health, do not stop searching for means of
curing themselves. But I am not speaking clearly."
Not desiring anything for himself in life; long ago
when he first came to America having refused, because of his humility, the
dignity of hiero-monk and archimandrite; and deciding to remain forever a
common monk, Father Herman, without the least fear before the, powerful, strove
with all sincerity for God. With gentle love, and disregarding the person,
he criticized many for intemperate living, for unworthy behalvor, and for
oppressing the Aleuts.
Evil armed itself against him and gave him all sorts of trouble
and sorrow. But God protected the Elder. The Administrator of the Colony,
Yanovsky, not having yet seen Father Herman, after receiving one of those
complaints, had already written to St Petersburg of the necessity of his
removal. He explained that it seemed that he was arousing the Aleuts against
the administration. But this accusation turned out to be unjust, and in the
end Yanovsky was numbered among the admirers of Father Herman.
Once an inspector came to Spruce Island with the Administrator
of the Colony N. and with company employees to search through Father Herman's
call.
This party expected to find property of great value in Father
Herman's call. But when they found nothing of value, an employee (of the American
Company), Ponomarkhov, began to tear up the floor with an axe, undoubtedly
with the consent of his seniors. Then Father Herman said to him, "My friend,
you have lifted the axe in vain; this weapon shall deprive you of your life."
Some time later people were needed at Fort Nicholas, and for that reason
several Russian employees were sent there from Kodiak; among them was Ponomarkhov;
there the natives of Kenai cut off his head while he slept.
THE TEMPTATIONS OF FATHER HERMAN
Many great sorrows were
borne by Father Herman from evil spirits. He himself revealed this to his
disciple, Gerasim. Once when he entered Father Herman's cell without the
usual prayer he received no answer from Father Herman to any of his questions.
The next day Gerasim asked him the reason for his silence. On that occasion
Father Herman said to him, "When I came to this island and settled in this
hermitage the evil spirits approached me ostensibly to be helpful. They came
in the form of a man, and in the form of animals. I suffered much from them;
from various afflictions and temptations. And that is why I do not speak
now to anyone who enters into my presence without prayer." (It is customary
among devout laymen, as well as clergy, to say out loud a prayer, and upon
hearing a response ending with Amen, to enter and go to the icon in the room
to reverence it, and to say a prayer before greeting the host).
SUPERNATURAL GIFTS FROM GOD
Herman dedicated
himself fully for the Lord's service; he strove with zeal solely for the
glorification of His Most Holy Name. Far from his homeland in the midst of
a variety of afflictions and privations Father Herman spent several decades
performing the noblest deeds of self-sacrifice. He was privileged to receive
many supernatural gifts from God.
In the midst of Spruce Island down the hill flows
a little stream into the sea. The mouth of this stream was always swept by
surf. In the spring when the brook fish appeared the Elder raked away some
of the sand at its mouth so that the fish could enter, and at their first
appearance they rushed up the stream'. His disciple, lgnaty, said, "it was
so that if 'Apa' would tell me, I would go and get fish in the streaml" Father
Herman fed the birds with dried fish, and they would gather in great numbers
around his call. Underneath his cell there lived an ermine. This little animal
can not be approached when it has had its young, but the Elder fed it from
his own hand. "Was not this a miracle that we had seen?" said his disciple,
lgnaty. They also saw Father Herman feeding bears. But when Father Herman
died the birds and animals left; even the garden would not give any sort
of crops even though someone had willingly taken care of it, lgnaty insisted.
On Spruce Island there once occurred a flood. The
inhabitants came to the Elder in great fear. Father Herman then took an icon
of the Mother of God from the home where his students lived, and placed it
on a "laida" (a sandy bank) and began to pray. After his prayer he turned
to those present and said, "Have no fear, the water will not go any higher
than the place where this holy icon stands." The words of the Elder were
fullfilled. After this he promised the same aid from this holy icon in the
future through the intercessions of the Most Immaculate Queen. He entrusted
the icon to his disciple, Sophia; in case of future floods the icon was to
be placed on the "laida."
At the request of the Elder, Baron F.P. Wrangel wrote a
letter to a Metropolitan - his name is not known - which was dictated by
Father Herman. When the letter was completed and read, the Elder congratulated
the Baron upon his attaining the rank of admiral. The Baron was taken aback.
This was news to him. It was confirmed, but only after an elapse of some
time and just before he departed for St. Petersburg.
Father Herman said to the administrator Kashevarov
from whom he accepted his son from the font (during the Sacrament of Baptism),
"I am sorry for you my dear 'kum.' It's a shame, the change will be unpleasant
for you!" In two years
during a change of administration Kashevarov was sent to Sitka in chains.
Once the forest
on Spruce Island caught fire. The Elder with his disciple, Ignaty, in a thicket
of the forest made a belt about a yard wide in which they turned over the
moss. They extended it to the foot of the hill. The Elder said, "Rest assured,
the fire will not pass this line." On the next day according to the testimony
of lgnaty there was no hope for salvation (from the fire) and the fire, pushed
by a strong wind, reached the place where the moss had been turned over by
the Elder. The fire ran over the moss and halted, leaving untouched the thick
forest which was beyond the line.
The Elder often said that there would be a bishop
for America; this at a time when no one even thought of it, and there was
no hope that there would be a bishop for America; this was related by the
Bishop Peter and his prophecy was fulfilled in time.
"After my death," said Father Herman, "there will be an epidemic
and many people shall die during it and the Russians shall unite the Aleuts."
And so it happened; it seems that about a half a year after his passing there
was a smallpox epidemic; the death rate in America during the epidemic was
tremendous. In some villages only a few inhabitants remained alive. This
led the administration of the colony to unite the Aleuts; the twelve settlements
were consolidated into seven.
"Although a long time shall elapse after my death,
I will not be forgotten," said Father Herman to his disciples. "My place
of habitation will not remain empty. A monk like myself who will be escaping
from the glory of men, will come and he will live on Spruce Island, and Spruce
Island will not be without people."
(This prophecy has now been fulfilled in its entirety. Just such
a monk as Father Herman described lived on Spruce Island for many years;
his name was Archimandrite Gerasim, who died on October 13, 1969. This monk
took on himself the responsibility of taking care of the Chapel under which
at first was buried the Elder Herman. Metropolitan Leonty soon after his
elevation to the primacy of the Russian Orthodox Church in America made a
pilgrimage to Spruce Island, and the grave of Herman.)
HERMAN'S PROPHECIES FOR THE FUTURE
The creole Constantine, when
he was not more than twelve years old, was asked by Father Herman, "My beloved
one, what do you think; this chapel which they are now building, will it
ever stand empty?" The youngster answered, "I do not know, 'Apa.' "And indeed,"
said Constantine, "I did not understand his question at that time, even though
that whole conversation with the Elder remains vivid in my memory." The Elder
remained silent for a short time, and then said, "My child remember, in time
in this place there will be a monastery."
Father Herman said to his disciple the Aleut lgnaty
Aiigyaga,
"Thirty years shall pass after my death, and all those living on
Spruce Island will have died, but you alone will remain alive. You will be
old and poor when I will be remembered." And indeed after the death of Father
Herman thirty years passed when they were reminded of him, and they began
to gather information and facts about him; on the basis of which was written
his life.
"It is amazing," exclaims lgnaty, "how a man like us could
know all this so long before it happened! However, no, he was no ordinary
man! He knew our thoughts, and involuntarily he led us to the point where
we revealed them to him, and we received counsel from him!"
"When I die," said the Elder to his disciples, "you
will bury me alongside Father Joasaph. You will bury me by yourself, for
you will not wait for the priest! Do not wash my body. Lay it on a board,
clasp my hands over my chest, wrap me in my 'mantia' (the monk's outer cloak),
and with its wings cover my face and place the 'kiobuk' on my head. (The
'klobuk' is the monastic head-dress.) If anyone wishes to bid farewell to
me, let them kiss the Cross. Do not show my face to anyone..."
THE DEATH OF FATHER HERMAN 
The time of the Elder's passing
had come.
One day he ordered his disciple, Gerasim, to light a candle
before the icons, and to read the Acts of the Holy Apostles. After some time
his face glowed brightly and he said in a loud voice, "Glory to Thee, O Lord!"
He then ordered the reading to be halted, and he announced that the Lord
had willed that his life would now be spared for another week.
A week later again by his orders the candies were lit, and
the Acts of the Holy Apostles were read. Quietly the Elder bowed his head
on the chest of Gerasim; the cell was filled with a pleasant smelling odor;
and his face glowed, and Father Herman was no more! Thus in blessedness he
died, he passed away in the sleep of a righteous man in the 81st year of
his life of great labor, the 25th day of December, 1837. (According to the
Julian Calendar, the 13th of December 1837, although there are some records
which state he died on the 28th of November, and was buried on the 26th of
December).
Those sent with the sad news to the harbor returned
to announce that the administrator of the colony Kashevarov had forbidden
the burial of the Elder until his own arrival. He also ordered that a finer
coffin be made for Father Herman, and that he would come as soon as possible
and would bring a priest with him. But then a great wind came up, a rain fell,
and a terrible storm broke. The distance from the Harbor to Spruce Island
is not great - about a two hour journey - but no one would agree to go to
sea in such weather. Thus it continued for a full month and although the
body lay in state for a full month in the warm house of his students, his
face did not undergo any change at all, and not the slightest odor emanated
from his body. Finally through the efforts of Kuzma Uchilischev, a coffin
was obtained. No one arrived from the Harbor, and the inhabitants of Spruce
Island alone buried in the ground the remains of the Elder. Thus the words
which Herman uttered before his death were fulfilled.
After this the wind quieted
down, and the surface of the sea became as smooth as a mirror.
One evening from the village Katani (on Afognak)
was seen above Spruce Island an unusual pillar of light which reached up
to heaven. Astonished by the miraculous appearance, experienced elders and
the creole Gerasim Vologdin and his wife, Anna, said, "it seems that Father
Herman has left us," and they began to pray. After a time, they were informed
that the Elder had indeed passed away that very night. This same pillar was
seen in various places by others. The night of his death in another of the
settlements on Afognak was seen a vision; it seemed as though a man was rising
from Spruce Island into the clouds.
The disciples buried
their father, and placed above his grave a wooden memorial marker. The priest
on Kodiak, Peter Kashevarov, says, "I saw it myself, and I can say that today
it seems as though it had never been touched by time; as though it had been
cut this day."
Having witnessed the life of Father Herman glorified
by his zealous labors, having seen his miracles, and the fulfillment of his
predictions, finally having observed his blessed falling-asleep, "in general
all the local inhabitants" witnesses Bishop Peter, "have the highest esteem
for him, as though he was a holy ascetic, and are fully convinced that he
has found favor in the presence of God."
In 1842, five years after the passing away of the
Elder, Innocent, Archbishop of Kamchatka and the Aleutians, was near Kodiak
on a sailing vessel which was in great distress. He looked to Spruce Island,
and said to himself, "if you, Father Herman, have found favor in God's presence
then may the wind change!" It seems as though not more than fifteen minutes
had passed, said the Bishop, when the wind became favorable, and he successfully
reached the shore. In thanksgiving for his salvation, Archbishop Innocent
himself conducted a Memorial Service over the grave of the Blessed Elder
Herman.
In 1970, the Orthodox Church
in America glorified the monk Herman
as the Venerable Herman of Alaska, Wonderworker of All America.
|
1942 Saint Teresa
Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein)
Katholische und Evangelische Kirche: 9. August
Saint Teresa Benedicta of the
Cross (Edith Stein)Virgin and Martyr Edith Stein, born in 1891 in Breslau,
Poland, was the youngest child of a large Jewish family. She was an outstanding
student and was well versed in philosophy with a particular interest in phenomenology.
Eventually she became interested in the Catholic Faith, and in 1922, she
was baptized at the Cathedral Church in Cologne, Germany. Eleven years later
Edith entered the Cologne Carmel. Because of the ramifications of politics
in Germany, Edith, whose name in religion was Teresa Benedicta of the Cross,
was sent to the Carmel at Echt, Holland. When the Nazis conquered Holland,
Teresa was arrested, and, with her sister Rose, was sent to the concentration
camp at Auschwitz. Teresa died in the gas chambers of Auschwitz in 1942 at
the age of fifty-one. In 1987, she was beatified in the Cologne cathedral
by Pope John Paul II. Out of the unspeakable human suffering caused by the
Nazis in western Europe in the 1930's and 1940's, there blossomed the beautiful
life of dedication, consecration, prayer, fasting, and penance of Saint Teresa.
Even though her life was snuffed out by the satanic evil of genocide, her
memory stands as a light undimmed in the midst of evil, darkness, and suffering.
She was canonized on October 11, 1998.
Edith Stein Katholische und Evangelische Kirche: 9. August
Edith Stein wurde am 12.10.1891
in Breslau geboren. Ihre Eltern waren Juden und sie wurde im jüdischen
Glauben erzogen. Edith war sehr klug, sie entwickelte sich während der
Schulzeit zu einer radikalen Frauenrechtlerin, wandte sich aber vom Glauben
ab. Sie studierte zunächst in Breslau, ging dann 1913 nach Göttingen,
um bei Edmund Husserl zu studieren. 1922 konvertierte sie zur katholischen
Kirche, 1933 wurde sie Karmelitin in Köln und nahm den Namen Teresia
Benedicta a Santa Cruce an. Als sie wegen ihrer jüdischen Abstammung
im Kloster nicht mehr sicher war, floh sie nach Holland. Aber dort wurde
sie verhaftet und nach Ausschwitz verschleppt und 1942 vergast.
1987 wurde Edith Stein selig gesprochen
und 1999 zusammen mit Birgitta von Schweden und Katharina von Siena zur Patronin
Europas ernannt.
St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein)
(1891-1942)
A brilliant philosopher who stopped
believing in God when she was 14, Edith Stein was so captivated by reading
the autobiography of Teresa of Avila that she began a spiritual journey that
led to her Baptism in 1922. Twelve years later she imitated Teresa by becoming
a Carmelite, taking the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.
Born into a prominent Jewish family in Breslau (now Wroclaw, Poland), Edith
abandoned Judaism in her teens. As a student at the University of Göttingen,
she became fascinated by phenomenology, an approach to philosophy. Excelling
as a protégé of Edmund Husserl, one of the leading phenomenologists,
Edith earned a doctorate in philosophy in 1916. She continued as a university
teacher until 1922 when she moved to a Dominican school in Speyer; her appointment
as lecturer at the Educational Institute of Munich ended under pressure from
the Nazis.
After living in the Cologne Carmel (1934-38), she moved to the Carmelite
monastery in Echt, Netherlands. The Nazis occupied that country in 1940.
In retaliation for being denounced by the Dutch bishops, the Nazis arrested
all Dutch Jews who had become Christians. Teresa Benedicta and her sister
Rosa, also a Catholic, died in a gas chamber in Auschwitz on August 9, 1942.
Pope John Paul II beatified Teresa
Benedicta in 1987 and canonized her in 1998.
Comment: The writings of Edith Stein fill 17
volumes, many of which have been translated into English. A woman of integrity,
she followed the truth wherever it led her. After becoming a Catholic, Edith
continued to honor her mother’s Jewish faith. Sister Josephine Koeppel, O.C.D.
, translator of several of Edith’s books, sums up this saint with the phrase,
“Learn to live at God’s hands.”
Quote: In his homily at
the canonization Mass, Pope John Paul II said: “Because she was Jewish, Edith
Stein was taken with her sister Rosa and many other Catholics and Jews from
the Netherlands to the concentration camp in Auschwitz, where she died with
them in the gas chambers. Today we remember them all with deep respect. A
few days before her deportation, the woman religious had dismissed the question
about a possible rescue: ‘Do not do it! Why should I be spared? Is it not
right that I should gain no advantage from my Baptism? If I cannot share
the lot of my brothers and sisters, my life, in a certain sense, is destroyed.’”
Addressing himself to the young people gathered for the canonization, the
pope said: “Your life is not an endless series of open doors! Listen to your
heart! Do not stay on the surface but go to the heart of things! And when
the time is right, have the courage to decide! The Lord is waiting for you
to put your freedom in his good hands.”
1942 Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) Katholische
und Evangelische Kirche: 9. August
Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein)Virgin and Martyr Edith
Stein, born in 1891 in Breslau, Poland, was the youngest child of a large
Jewish family. She was an outstanding student and was well versed in philosophy
with a particular interest in phenomenology. Eventually she became interested
in the Catholic Faith, and in 1922, she was baptized at the Cathedral Church
in Cologne, Germany. Eleven years later Edith entered the Cologne Carmel.
Because of the ramifications of politics in Germany, Edith, whose name in
religion was Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, was sent to the Carmel at Echt,
Holland. When the Nazis conquered Holland, Teresa was arrested, and, with
her sister Rose, was sent to the concentration camp at Auschwitz. Teresa died
in the gas chambers of Auschwitz in 1942 at the age of fifty-one. In 1987,
she was beatified in the Cologne cathedral by Pope John Paul II. Out of the
unspeakable human suffering caused by the Nazis in western Europe in the
1930's and 1940's, there blossomed the beautiful life of dedication, consecration,
prayer, fasting, and penance of Saint Teresa. Even though her life was snuffed
out by the satanic evil of genocide, her memory stands as a light undimmed
in the midst of evil, darkness, and suffering. She was canonized on October
11, 1998.
Edith Stein Katholische und Evangelische Kirche: 9. August
Edith Stein wurde am 12.10.1891 in Breslau geboren. Ihre Eltern waren Juden
und sie wurde im jüdischen Glauben erzogen. Edith war sehr klug, sie
entwickelte sich während der Schulzeit zu einer radikalen Frauenrechtlerin,
wandte sich aber vom Glauben ab. Sie studierte zunächst in Breslau,
ging dann 1913 nach Göttingen, um bei Edmund Husserl zu studieren. 1922
konvertierte sie zur katholischen Kirche, 1933 wurde sie Karmelitin in Köln
und nahm den Namen Teresia Benedicta a Santa Cruce an. Als sie wegen ihrer
jüdischen Abstammung im Kloster nicht mehr sicher war, floh sie nach
Holland. Aber dort wurde sie verhaftet und nach Ausschwitz verschleppt und
1942 vergast.
1987 wurde Edith Stein selig gesprochen und 1999 zusammen mit Birgitta von
Schweden und Katharina von Siena zur Patronin Europas ernannt.
St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) (1891-1942)
A brilliant philosopher who stopped believing in God when she was 14, Edith
Stein was so captivated by reading the autobiography of Teresa of Avila that
she began a spiritual journey that led to her Baptism in 1922. Twelve years
later she imitated Teresa by becoming a Carmelite, taking the name Teresa
Benedicta of the Cross.
Born into a prominent Jewish family in Breslau (now Wroclaw, Poland), Edith
abandoned Judaism in her teens. As a student at the University of Göttingen,
she became fascinated by phenomenology, an approach to philosophy. Excelling
as a protégé of Edmund Husserl, one of the leading phenomenologists,
Edith earned a doctorate in philosophy in 1916. She continued as a university
teacher until 1922 when she moved to a Dominican school in Speyer; her appointment
as lecturer at the Educational Institute of Munich ended under pressure from
the Nazis.
After living in the Cologne Carmel (1934-38), she moved to the Carmelite
monastery in Echt, Netherlands. The Nazis occupied that country in 1940.
In retaliation for being denounced by the Dutch bishops, the Nazis arrested
all Dutch Jews who had become Christians. Teresa Benedicta and her sister
Rosa, also a Catholic, died in a gas chamber in Auschwitz on August 9, 1942.
Pope John Paul II beatified Teresa
Benedicta in 1987 and canonized her in 1998.
Comment: The writings of Edith
Stein fill 17 volumes, many of which have been translated into English. A
woman of integrity, she followed the truth wherever it led her. After becoming
a Catholic, Edith continued to honor her mother’s Jewish faith. Sister Josephine
Koeppel, O.C.D. , translator of several of Edith’s books, sums up this saint
with the phrase,
“Learn to live at God’s hands.”
Quote: In his homily at the canonization Mass, Pope John Paul II said: “Because
she was Jewish, Edith Stein was taken with her sister Rosa and many other
Catholics and Jews from the Netherlands to the concentration camp in Auschwitz,
where she died with them in the gas chambers. Today we remember them all
with deep respect. A few days before her deportation, the woman religious
had dismissed the question about a possible rescue: ‘Do not do it! Why should
I be spared? Is it not right that I should gain no advantage from my Baptism?
If I cannot share the lot of my brothers and sisters, my life, in a certain
sense, is destroyed.’”
Addressing himself to the young people gathered
for the canonization, the pope said: “Your life is not an endless series
of open doors! Listen to your heart! Do not stay on the surface but go to
the heart of things! And when the time is right, have the courage to decide!
The Lord is waiting for you to put your freedom in his good hands.”
St. Edith Stein Catholic Church - Katy, TX
"Are you new looking for a new parish to call home? If so, please consider
joining our community at St. Edith Stein. We are located in Katy, Texas and
our parish serves the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. We are home to more
than 1500 families and we celebrated our 10 year anniversary in October of
2009. Although our parish has grown in size over the last decade, one thing
we continue to do is try to make every effort to welcome new members with
open hearts and to maintain a friendly, encouraging place of worship
for everyone."
Life
Stein was born in Breslau (Wrocław), in the German Empire's Prussian Province
of Silesia, into an observant Jewish family. Born on October 12, 1891, Edith
was a very gifted child who enjoyed learning. She greatly admired her mother's
strong faith; however, by her teenage years Stein had become an atheist.
In 1916, she received a doctorate of philosophy from the University of Göttingen,
with a dissertation under Edmund Husserl, Zum Problem der Einfühlung
(On the Problem of Empathy). She then became a member of the faculty in Freiburg.
In the previous year she had worked with Martin Heidegger in editing Husserl's
papers for publication, Heidegger being appointed similarly as a teaching
assistant to Husserl at Freiburg in October 1916. But she was rejected as
a woman with further habilitational studies at the University of Freiburg
and failed to successfully reach in a habilitational study "Psychische Kausalität"
(Psychic Causality) at the University of Göttingen in 1919.
Relief of Edith SteinWhile Stein had earlier contacts with Catholicism, it
was her reading of the autobiography of the mystic St. Teresa of Ávila
on a holiday in Göttingen in 1921 that caused her conversion. Baptized
on January 1, 1922, she gave up her assistantship with Husserl to teach at
a Dominican girls' school in Speyer from 1922 to 1932. While there, she translated
Thomas Aquinas' De Veritate (On Truth) into German and familiarized herself
with Catholic philosophy in general and abandoned the phenomenology of her
former teacher Husserl for Thomism. She visited Husserl and Heidegger at
Freiburg in April 1929, in the same month that Heidegger gave a speech to
Husserl (like Stein, a Jewish convert to Christianity) on his 70th birthday.
In 1932 she became a lecturer at the Institute for Pedagogy at Münster,
but anti-Semitic legislation passed by the Nazi government forced her to
resign the post in 1933: the same year in which her former colleague Martin
Heidegger became Rector at Freiburg and stated that "The Führer, and
he alone, is the present and future law of Germany." In a letter to Pope
Pius XI, she denounced the Nazi regime and asked the Pope to openly denounce
the regime "to put a stop to this abuse of Christ's name."
Stein's letter received no answer, and it is not known for sure whether Pius
XI even read it. However, in 1937, Pope Pius XI issued an encyclical written
in German, Mit brennender Sorge, in which he criticized Nazism, listed breaches
of an agreement signed between Germany and the Church and condemned anti-semitism.
She entered the Discalced Carmelite monastery St. Maria vom Frieden (Our
Lady of Peace) at Cologne in 1933 and took the name Teresia Benedicta a cruce
(Teresia Benedicta of the Cross). There she wrote her metaphysical book Endliches
und ewiges Sein, which tries to combine the philosophies of Aquinas and Husserl.
To avoid the growing Nazi threat, her order transferred Sr. Teresia Benedicta
to the Carmelite monastery at Echt in the Netherlands . There she wrote Studie
über Joannes a Cruce: Kreuzeswissenschaft (The Science of the Cross:
Studies on John of the Cross). 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."
However, Sr. Teresia Benedicta was not safe in the Netherlands—the Dutch
Bishops' Conference had a public statement read in all the churches of the
country on July 20, 1942, condemning Nazi racism. In a retaliatory response
on July 26, 1942, the Reichskomissar of the Netherlands, Arthur Seyss-Inquart,
ordered the arrest of all Jewish converts, who had previously been spared.
Sr. Teresia Benedicta and her sister Rosa, also a convert, were captured
and shipped to the Auschwitz concentration camp, where they were gassed on
August 9, 1942 when Edith was 50. They received no numbers, as these were
only for prisoners who were to be kept alive to work.
Legacy
Edith Stein and Maximilian Kolbe, are represented in stained glass by Alois
Plum in Kassel.
Teresia Benedicta of the Cross was beatified as a martyr on May 1, 1987,
in Cologne, Germany, by Pope John Paul II, and canonized by him on October
11, 1998. The miracle which was the basis for her canonization was the cure
of Teresa Benedicta McCarthy, a little girl who had swallowed a large amount
of paracetamol which causes hepatic necrosis in small children. Her father,
Rev. Emmanuel Charles McCarthy, a Melkite Catholic, immediately rounded up
relatives and prayed for Edith Stein's intercession. Shortly thereafter the
nurses in the intensive care unit saw her sit up completely healthy. Dr.
Ronald Kleinman, a pediatric specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital
in Boston who treated Teresa Benedicta, testified about her recovery to Church
tribunals, stating "I was willing to say that it was miraculous." Teresa
Benedicta would later attend Sr. Teresia Benedicta's canonization ceremony
in the Vatican.
Today, there are many schools named in tribute to Edith Stein, for example
in Darmstadt, Germany, Hengelo, the Netherlands, and Mississauga, Ontario,
Canada. Also named for her are a women's dormitory at the University of Tübingen
and a classroom building at The College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA.
The philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre published a book in 2006 entitled, Edith
Stein: A Philosophical Prologue, 1913-1922, in which he contrasted Stein's
living out of her own personal philosophy with Martin Heidegger, whose actions
during the Nazi era according to MacIntyre suggested a "bifurcation of personality."
In 2009, her bust was introduced to the Walhalla temple near Regensburg.
Controversy
The Anti-Defamation League challenges the beatification of Edith Stein as
a martyr, stating Stein was killed for her Jewish nationality rather than
for her faith, and that the misappropriation and Christianization of an event
that targeted Jews diminishes the memory of the Holocaust.
The position of the Catholic Church hierarchy is that Edith Stein also died
because of the Dutch hierarchy's public condemnation of Nazi racism in 1942;
in other words, that she died to uphold the moral position of the Church,
and is thus a true martyr.
Writings
Memorial to Edith Stein in PragueLife in a Jewish Family: Her Unfinished
Autobiographical Account, translated by Josephine Koeppel, 1986
On the Problem of Empathy, Translated by Waltraut Stein 1989
Essays on Woman, translated by Freda Mary Oben, 1996
The Hidden Life, translated by Josephine Koeppel, 1993
The Science of the Cross, translated by Josephine Koeppel, 1998
Knowledge and Faith
Finite and Eternal Being: An Attempt to an Ascent to the Meaning of Being
Philosophy of Psychology and the Humanities, translated by Mary Catharine
Baseheart and Marianne Sawicki, 2000
An Investigation Concerning the State, translated by Marianne Sawicki, 2006
Martin Heidegger's Existential Philosophy, translated by Mette Lebech, 2007
Self-Portrait in Letters, 1916-1942
The Hidden Life
References
1.^ "Patron Saints Index: Saint Teresia Benedicta of the Cross" Accessed
26 January 2007.
2.^ http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_19981011_edith_stein_en.html
3.^ “ As a child of the Jewish people who, by the grace of God, for the past
eleven years has also been a child of the Catholic Church, I dare to speak
to the Father of Christianity about that which oppresses millions of Germans.
For weeks we have seen deeds perpetrated in Germany which mock any sense
of justice and humanity, not to mention love of neighbor. For years the leaders
of National Socialism have been preaching hatred of the Jews. But the responsibility
must fall, after all, on those who brought them to this point and it also
falls on those who keep silent in the face of such happenings.
Everything that happened and continues to happen on a daily basis originates
with a government that calls itself "Christian." For weeks not only Jews
but also thousands of faithful Catholics in Germany, and, I believe, all
over the world, have been waiting and hoping for the Church of Christ to
raise its voice to put a stop to this abuse of Christ’s name." —Edith Stein,
Letter to Pope Pius XI.
4.^ Popham, Peter (February 21, 2003). "This Europe: Letters reveal Auschwitz
victim's plea to Pope Pius XI". London: The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/this-europe-letters-reveal-auschwitz-victims-plea-to-pope-pius-xi-598301.html.
Retrieved 2003-02-21.
5.^ "Edith Stein". Internationaal College Edith Stein. http://www.edithsteincollege.nl/engels/edithe.htm.
Retrieved 2008-10-17.
6.^ María Ruiz Scaperlanda, Edith Stein: St. Teresa Benedicta of the
Cross (Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor, 2001), 154.
7.^ a b "Jewish-born nun gassed by Nazis is declared saint; Prayer to Edith
Stein sparked tot's 'miraculous' recovery". The Toronto Star: pp. A22. May
24, 1997.
8.^ Edith-Stein-Schule
9.^ Hogeschool Edith Stein
10.^ St. Edith Stein Elementary School
11.^ Edith-Stein-Studentinnen-Wohnheim
12.^ [1] Alasdair MacIntyre, Edith Stein: A Philosophical Prologue, 1913-1922,
Rowman and Littlefield, 2006, pg. 5
13.^ Canonization Homily
14.^ Biography on the Vatican's website
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Edith Stein
Intellectual and spiritual contemporaries of note
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Lutheran pastor, and theologian.
Simone Weil, philosopher, and theological writer.
Jan Tyranowski, hermit layman and mentor to John Paul II.
Dorothy Day, founder of the Catholic Worker Movement.
Catherine Doherty, founder of the Madonna House Apostolate.
Martin Heidegger, philosopher, Rector of University of Freiburg (1933/34)
Dietrich von Hildebrand, philosopher and theologian.
Edmund Husserl, founder of Phenomenology.
|
“Learn
to live at God’s hands.” 
Saints of this Day August 09 Quinto Idus Augústi
Quote: Pope Paul VI’s 1969
Benedict XVI met with Aram I Catholicos
of Cilicia, the highest authority of the Orthodox
Church. The Pope remembered
the martyrs of the Armenian Church and the Armenian
genocide, without explicitly mentioning it, and
denounced the persecution of Christians in modern times.
Benedict XVI
As we watch the spectacle of the
world seeming to self-destruct before our eyes,
we can’t help but be saddened and even frightened by
so much evil run rampant. Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan,
Somalia, North Korea—It is all a disaster of epic proportions
displayed in living color on our television screens.
1859 Sancti Joánnis Baptístæ-Maríæ Vianney,
Presbyteri et Confessóris, cæléstis ómnium parochórum
Patróni; cujus dies natális prídie Nonas mensis hujus
recensétur.