#spiritualdesert — Public Fediverse posts

St. Edith Stein Novena 2025: Introduction

That is why I am going to lure her and lead her out into the wilderness and speak to her heart.

Hosea 2:16

“It always seemed to me that our Lord was keeping something for me in Carmel that I could find only there.”

These words come from Saint Edith Stein’s own account, “How I came to Carmel,” preserved for us by her novice mistress and prioress, Mother Teresia Renata Posselt, in her biography, Edith Stein: The Life of a Philosopher and Carmelite.

What could this brilliant philosopher and renowned lecturer have been seeking? What mystery did she perceive in Carmel that even her extensive knowledge of Carmelite spirituality through reading could not satisfy? Mother Teresia Renata offers us insight:

In these words this outstanding philosopher and famous lecturer, already revered as a saint by many people, acknowledged that something was lacking before she could be completely happy and fulfilled. We ask ourselves: What could this be? And what is this Carmel from which she expected this final fulfillment that the Lord had saved up for her as the best?

Carmel presents a mystery that cannot be taken in at a glance. Even those intimately acquainted, like Edith, with Carmelite spirituality through reading the works of its great exponents can scarcely avoid shrinking when for the first time they begin to breathe the dry air of Carmel. They soon have a sense that they have been set in a trackless desert, a waterless land that only slowly surrenders its secrets.

This is the mystery we will explore together in this novena—that “trackless desert” of Carmel revealed through Saint Edith Stein’s own writings and experience. Like the holy prophet Elijah, who waited upon God’s word in the Wadi Cherith, we will follow Edith as the Lord lures her into the spiritual desert where He speaks most intimately to the heart.

Let us attune our spiritual ears to the words of sacred Scripture and to the wisdom of Saint Edith’s writings as she draws us deeper into that “waterless land that only slowly surrenders its secrets.” May God bless us all as we journey together through these nine days.

Pray each day with St. Edith Stein
Join us every day as our novena unfolds

Day One
Into the desert (The Science of the Cross)

Day Two 
The darkest path (The Science of the Cross)

Day Three 
Dryness and emptiness (The Science of the Cross)

Day Four 
The desert of Carmel (A Chosen Vessel of Divine Wisdom)

Day Five 
We are not ruined (I Am Always in Your Midst)

Day Six 
Dryness, distaste, trial (The Science of the Cross)

Day Seven 
Oppression and dryness (The Science of the Cross)

Day Eight 
Purgative dryness (The Science of the Cross)

Day Nine
Unbounded desert (The Science of the Cross)

NOVENA PRAYER

Saint Edith Stein,
faith in the holy angels gives me confidence—
confidence to believe, in the midst of all suffering,
in the divine life-force we all share,
which flows through all creation
as the sap flows from the vine into its branches.

We do not stand alone
in this fierce struggle between life and death.
“When my enemies press in on me…” (Ps 56:2),
“…then God fights for me.” (Josh 23:10)

In this valley of tears,
I lift my eyes in trust to you,
you holy angels and saints:
your task is to pass on that Love
whose “beginning and end is the triune God.”
(Edith Stein, Complete Works)

We are held and drawn into this radiant stream
of light and love, of life and truth.
The more we are united with you
through surrender to the divine will,
the more your love becomes our love,
your light our light.

If we believe in this communion,
we already walk in the light.

Intercede for us,
that we may take part in the restoration of all creation.

Here mention your intentions

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be

℣. Saint Edith Stein,
℟. Pray for us.

Posselt, T 2005, Edith Stein: The Life of a Philosopher and Carmelite, translated from the German by Batzdorff S, Koeppel J, and Sullivan J, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

All scripture references are from The Jerusalem Bible Reader’s Edition, copyright © 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd and Doubleday & Company, Inc. as accessed from The Internet Archive website.

Don’t become discouraged and give up prayer, says St. John of the Cross. We offer varying novenas to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, as well as novenas to St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, St. Edith Stein and St. Joseph.

LET US UNITE IN PRAYER

#Carmel #novena #prayer #spiritualDesert #StEdithStein