Each year on February 10th, Benedictines around the world recount the memory of Saint Scholastica, the sister of Saint Benedict. They both lived from about 480 to 547 AD, natives of Nursia (present day Norcia), in the Umbrian region of Italy, north of Rome. Some posit that Benedict and Scholastica were twins, but there is no evidence to prove that they were.
What we know of Saint Scholastica and her brother Benedict we learn from the “Book of Dialogues” of Pope Saint Gregory the Great, who lived from about 540 to 604 AD., who was also a monk, and whose name is closely associated with what we call (and still sing!), namely, Gregorian chant.
In Pope Gregory’s “Life and Miracles of Saint Benedict,” we learn that the saintly siblings, Benedict and Scholastica, were both consecrated to God in the monastic state, and met each year not far from their respective monasteries at Montecassino, for a time of prayer and musing on the mysteries of life and death.
At what was to be their final colloquium, when Benedict deemed they should conclude their time together that evening, Scholastica “protested” by bowing her head and praying to the Lord. In response to her prayer, a torrential rainfall ensued, making it impossible for Benedict, Scholastica and their monastic companions to return to their respective monasteries that night.
Scholastica must have had a premonition that her death was near, for she died just three days after the meeting, and was buried at Benedict’s monastery of Montecassino, in a tomb intended by Benedict for himself. Pilgrims can still visit the burial places of the two saints at the Abbey of Montecassino, beneath the main church.
Today’s photo is of a fresco from the later Middle Ages at the “Holy Cave” of Saint Benedict at Subiaco, where he lived his first years as a monk. The fresco shows Scholastica praying, Benedict’s concern, and the monk to his right looking skyward at the impending storm.
The charming, whimsical and memorable sibling “holy” rivalry has captured the imagination of many over the centuries, and is the centerpiece of a consideration of Saint Scholastica’s power of prayer in the face of her brother’s protestation.
We especially greet and pray for all Benedictine nuns and sisters, as well a women oblates of Saint Benedict, on the Feastday of Saint Scholastica.
Abbot Christian and the monks
