Saint Scholastica, Virgin – Readings

Commentary on Song of Songs 8:6-7; Luke 10:38-42

The two Scripture readings speak of the close relationship between Scholastica and her Lord. The First Reading from the Song of Songs speaks of the nature of true love. Speaking to the young man whose company she longs for, the lover says:

Set me as a seal upon your heart,
as a seal upon your arm,
for love is strong as death,
passion fierce as the grave.
Its flashes are flashes of fire,
a raging flame.

True love is all-embracing. Such was Scholastica’s passion for her Lord. For:

Many waters cannot quench love,
neither can floods drown it.

Such love can never be fully possessed; it always beckons one further. It is the task of a lifetime.

If one offered for love
all the wealth of one’s house,
it would be utterly scorned.

The Gospel is the lovely scene in Bethany where Jesus is a guest of the sisters Martha and Mary. As Martha fusses in the kitchen preparing the meal, Mary sits quietly at the feet of Jesus. Martha complains to Jesus:

Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself?

Jesus replies:

Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things, but few things are needed—indeed only one. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.

Anxiety and worry should never be the characteristic of a follower of Jesus, and Martha has totally misread the situation. Mary has not been doing nothing. On the contrary she has been listening to Jesus—the Word of God.

It is only when we listen to Jesus that we know what we should be doing. Only then can we begin to be active. Martha was very busy, but was she busy about the right things? We will not know what the right things are unless we spend time listening to Jesus.

Scholastica spent many hours in prayer and reading listening to Jesus and, because of that, she knew what she had to do. When she was busy, she was busy about the right things. What about me? Am I more like Martha or Mary?

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Saint Scholastica, Virgin

Scholastica was born about 480 AD in Nursia, Italy, and was the twin sister of St Benedict. She died near Monte Cassino about 543 AD. Almost everything we know about her comes from the Dialogues of Saint Gregory the Great, himself a monk and abbot. She was consecrated to God at a very early age, but probably continued to live in her parents’ home. Some accounts of her story indicate that she preceded Benedict in piety, and that he came to holiness after she did, and under her influence.

When Benedict established his monastery at Monte Cassino, Scholastica founded a convent in nearby Plombariola, about 8 km south of Monte Cassino. The convent is said to have been under the direction of her brother; thus she is regarded as the first Benedictine nun. In fact, we do not know what rule her community followed, although it seems most likely it was the Rule of St Benedict.

Benedict and Scholastica, like many twins, were close, but the respective rules of their houses proscribed either entering the other’s monastery (the rules of ‘cloister’ normally forbade people of different sexes from access). However, it is told that once a year she would go to visit her brother in the vicinity of Monte Cassino. They would spend the day praying together, discussing sacred texts and issues of common interest.

There is a delightful story, told by St Gregory, of the very last meeting she and Benedict were destined to have. At the end of the day, they had supper and continued their conversation. When Benedict indicated it was time for him to leave, she protested, and begged him to stay with her for the evening so they could continue their discussions. He refused, insisting that he needed to return to his cell. At that point, Scholastica closed her hands in prayer, and after a moment, a wild storm rose up outside the house where they were staying. “What have you done?” asked Benedict. To which his sister replied:

I asked you and you would not listen; so I asked my God and he did listen. So now go off, if you can, leave me and return to your monastery.

But, because of the storm, Benedict was unable to return to his monastery, and they spent the night in discussion.

According to the Dialogues of Saint Gregory the Great, three days later, from his monastic cell, Benedict saw his sister’s soul leaving the earth and ascend to heaven in the form of a shining white dove. He placed her body in the grave he had prepared for himself, and arranged for his own to be placed there too after his own death. As Gregory says:

So death did not separate the bodies of these two, whose minds had ever been united in the Lord.

Her relics were, as alleged by the monk Adrevald, to have been transferred on July 11 to a rich silver shrine in Saint Peter’s Church in Le Mans, France. This may also have been when Benedict’s were moved to Fleury.

St Scholastica is usually depicted in art dressed as a nun, holding a crozier and crucifix, with her brother. Sometimes, she may be shown:

– receiving her veil from St Benedict;
– with her soul departing her body like a dove;
– with a dove at her feet or bosom; or
– kneeling before St Benedict’s cell.

She is the patroness of Monte Cassino and all Cassinese communities, and she is invoked against storms. She is also the patron saint of convulsive children, and of nuns.

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