St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross - Better Known as Edith Stein

On God's Providence: "Things were in God's plan which I had not planned at all. I am coming to the living faith and conviction that - from God's point of view - there is no chance and that the whole of my life, down to every detail, has been mapped out in God's divine providence and makes complete and perfect sense in God's all-seeing eyes." On why she came to Carmel and on the Vocation to Prayer: "I keep thinking of Queen Esther who was taken away from her people precisely because God wanted her to plead with the king on behalf of her nation. I am a very poor and powerless little Esther, but the King who has chosen me is infinitely great and merciful. This is great comfort." Commenting on the state of Germany and the oppression of the Nazi's she experienced firsthand during WWII, she said:

"I never knew that people could be like this, neither did I know that my brothers and sisters would have to suffer like this. ... I pray for them every hour. Will God hear my prayers? He will certainly hear them in their distress." For more information on the life of St. Edith Stein go here.