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Saint Scholastica
By
St. Gregory the Great
The Feast of St. Scholastica is
on February 10. Saint Scholastica, a sister of the great abbot
St. Benedict, was born at Nursia Italy about the year 480. She
vowed herself to seek God in religious life and followed her
brother to Monte Cassino where she died around 547.
Scholastica,
the sister of
Saint Benedict,
had been consecrated to God from her earliest years. She was
accustomed to visiting her brother once a year. He would come
down to meet her at a place on the monastery property, not far
outside the gate.
One day she came as usual and her
saintly brother went with some of his disciples; they spent the
whole day praising God and talking of sacred things. As night
fell they had supper together.
Their spiritual conversation
went on and the hour grew late. The holy nun said to her
brother: “Please do not leave me tonight; let us go on until
morning talking about the delights of the spiritual life”.
“Sister”, he replied, “what are you saying? I simply cannot stay
outside my cell”.
When she heard her brother
refuse her request, the holy woman joined her hands on the
table, laid her head on them and began to pray. As she raised
her head from the table, there were such brilliant flashes of
lightning, such great peals of thunder and such a heavy downpour
of rain that neither Benedict nor his brethren could stir across
the threshold of the place where they had been seated. Sadly he
began to complain: “May God forgive you, sister. What have you
done?” “Well”, she answered, “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”.
Reluctant as he was to stay
of his own will, he remained against his will. So it came about
that they stayed awake the whole night, engrossed in their
conversation about the spiritual life.
It is not surprising that she
was more effective than he, since as John says, God is love, it
was absolutely right that she could do more, as she loved more.
Three days later, Benedict
was in his cell. Looking up to the sky, he saw his sister’s soul
leave her body in the form of a dove, and fly up to the secret
places of heaven. Rejoicing in her great glory, he thanked
almighty God with hymns and words of praise. He then sent his
brethren to bring her body to the monastery and lay it in the
tomb he had prepared for himself.
Their minds had always been
united in God; their bodies were to share a common grave. |
