Edith Stein

St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross
Virgin and martyr, Patron of Europe

Here is an excerpt of the saint's work titled "Finite and Eternal Being":

We have learned to know the innermost being of the soul as the abode of God. By virtue of its pure spirituality, this innermost being is capable of receiving into itself the Spirit of God. And by virtue of its free personal nature, this innermost being is capable of surrendering itself in such a way that this reception can be come efficacious.

The vocation to union with God is a vocation to eternal life. As a purely spiritual form, the human soul is immortal by virtue of its very nature [naturlicherweise]. As a spiritual personal substance, moreover, the soul is capable of a supernatural augmentation and elevation of its life, and faith tells us that God wills to give the soul eternal life, i.e., an eternal participation in his life.

The individual soul with its unique individuality is thus not something transitory, destined merely to impress upon itself for a limited span of time the stamp of its specific particularity, and during this span of time to hand on this specific particularity to its progeny so as to preserve it beyond the duration of the life of the individual. Rather, the soul is destined for eternal being, and this destination explains why the soul is called upon to be an image of God in a wholly personal manner.

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Source: Catholic Culture

(Image is from a framed picture given as a gift by a friend)