Scholastica (; – 10 February 543) was an Italian Christian hermit and the sister of

Benedict of Nursia Benedict of Nursia (; ; 2 March 480 – 21 March 547), often known as Saint Benedict, was a Great Church, Christian monk. He is famed in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Lutheran Churches, the Anglican Communion, and Old ...

. She is traditionally regarded as the foundress of the

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

nuns. Scholastica is honored as a

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

and

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is a Christian Full communion, communion consisting of the Church of England and other autocephalous national and regional churches in full communion. The archbishop of Canterbury in England acts as a focus of unity, ...

. She was born in Italy, and a ninth-century tradition makes her the twin sister of Benedict. Her feast day is 10 February.

Life

According to the 6th-century ''

Dialogues Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American English) is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and a literary and theatrical form that depicts such an exchange. As a philosophical or didactic device, it is ch ...

'' of

Gregory the Great Pope Gregory I (; ; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great (; ), was the 64th Bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 until his death on 12 March 604. He is known for instituting the first recorded large-scale mission from Rom ...

, Scholastica was born c. 480 in Nursia,

Umbria Umbria ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region of central Italy. It includes Lake Trasimeno and Cascata delle Marmore, Marmore Falls, and is crossed by the Tiber. It is the only landlocked region on the Italian Peninsula, Apennine Peninsula. The re ...

, of wealthy parents (Anicius Eupropius and his wife Claudia Abondantia Reguardati). While Gregory only states that Scholastica was Benedict's sister, a later tradition says she was his twin (whether this is meant biologically or spiritually, or both, is unclear). Gregory also says she was dedicated to God from a young age. She and her brother Benedict were brought up together until the time he left to pursue studies in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. A young Roman woman of Scholastica's class and time would likely have remained in her father's house until marriage or entry into consecrated life. On occasion several

consecrated virgin In the Catholic Church, a consecrated virgin is a woman who has been consecrated by the church to a life of perpetual virginity as a bride of Christ. Consecrated virgins are consecrated by the diocesan bishop according to the approved liturgical ...

s would live together in a household and form a community. Benedictine history shows that Scholastica established a hermitage about five miles from

Monte Cassino The Abbey of Monte Cassino (today usually spelled Montecassino) is a Catholic Church, Catholic, Benedictines, Benedictine monastery on a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, in the Valle Latina, Latin Valley. Located on the site of the ancient ...

and that this was the first convent of Benedictine nuns. However, it is possible that Scholastica lived in a hermitage with one or two other consecrated virgins in a cluster of houses at the base of Mount Cassino where there is an ancient church under her patronage Monastero di Santa Scolastica. Ruth Clifford Engs notes that since ''Dialogues'' indicates that Scholastica was dedicated to God at an early age, perhaps she lived in her father's house with other religious women until his death and then moved nearer to Benedict.

Narrative from the ''Dialogues''

The most commonly told story about her is that Scholastica would, once a year, go and visit her brother at a place near his abbey, and they would spend the day worshiping together and discussing sacred texts and issues. One day they had supper and continued their conversation. When Benedict indicated it was time for him to leave, Scholastica, perhaps sensing that the time of her death was drawing near, asked him to stay with her for the evening so they could continue their discussions. Not wishing to break his own Rule, Benedict 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 started outside of the guest house in which they were staying. Benedict asked, "What have you done?", to which she 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." Benedict was unable to return to his monastery, and they spent the night in discussion. Three days later, from his cell, he saw his sister's

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

leaving the earth and ascending to heaven in the form of a shining white dove. Benedict had her body brought to his monastery, where he had it laid in the tomb which he had prepared for himself. The Anglo-Saxon bishop and scholar Aldhelm recounts the story in both the ''De Laude Virginitatis'', written for the nuns at Barking, and in the shorter ''Carmen de virginitate''.

Studies

What is known of Scholastica derives from the ''Dialogues'' of Gregory the Great. Early calendars and place names in the area around Monte Cassino support the historical accuracy of St. Gregory the Great's account of her life. Gregory names as his sources four of Benedict's contemporaries. A contemporary,

Caesarius of Arles Caesarius of Arles (; 468/470 27 August 542 AD), sometimes called "of Chalon" (''Cabillonensis'' or ''Cabellinensis'') from his birthplace Chalon-sur-Saône, was the foremost ecclesiastic of his generation in Christianity in Merovingian Gaul, Mer ...

, wrote the ''Regula virginum'' (Rule for Virgins), a rule drawn up for virgins living in community, for a community which was headed by his sister, Caesaria.

Veneration

Scholastica is the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

of Benedictine

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 5 ...

s, education, and convulsive children, and is invoked against storms and rain. Her feast is celebrated on 10 February, and Saint Scholastica's Day bears special importance in the Benedictine monastic calendar. The Diocese of Aachen locally keeps a secondary feast of the translation of Scholastica's relics on 6 February, while

Premonstratensians The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in United Kingdom, Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their religious habit, habit), is a religious order of cano ...

commemorate her on 9 February. Scholastica is also remembered in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

and the Episcopal Church on 10 February. In iconography, Scholastica is represented in a Benedictine

habit A habit (or wont, as a humorous and formal term) is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously. A 1903 paper in the '' American Journal of Psychology'' defined a "habit, from the standpoint of psychology, ...

, often as an

abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa'') is the female superior of a community of nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Coptic, Lutheran and Anglican abbeys, the mod ...

, and holding the

Rule of Saint Benedict The ''Rule of Saint Benedict'' () is a book of precepts written in Latin by St. Benedict of Nursia (c. AD 480–550) for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot. The spirit of Saint Benedict's Rule is summed up in the motto of th ...

, with a crucifix or an ascending dove.''Lexikon der christlichen Ikonographie'', (Kirschbaum and Bandmann, eds.),8.315-16 Scholastica was selected as the main motif for a high-value commemorative coin: the Austria €50 'The Christian Religious Orders', issued 13 March 2002. On the obverse (head) side, Scholastica is shown alongside her brother, Benedict.

Gallery

File:1748 Zeiller Die hl. Scholastika anagoria.JPG, Saint Scholastica with Nuns of the Benedictine Order and its Affiliations File:Anne of Austria with her children (King Louis XIV and Philippe, Duke of Anjou) praying to the Holy trinity (Philippe de Champaigne).jpg,

Anne of Austria Anne of Austria (; ; born Ana María Mauricia; 22 September 1601 – 20 January 1666) was Queen of France from 1615 to 1643 by marriage to King Louis XIII. She was also Queen of Navarre until the kingdom's annexation into the French crown ...

with her children ( King Louis XIV and

Philippe, Duke of Anjou Philippe Louis of France, Duke of Anjou (Philippe Louis; 30 August 1730 – 7 April 1733) was a French prince and the second son of King Louis XV of France and his popular Queen Marie Leszczyńska. He was styled duke of Anjou from birth. Biogr ...

) praying to the Holy Trinity File:Sebastiano ricci, madonna in trono e santi, 1708, 02.jpg,

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

and

Child A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

with Saints

References

External links

Whatley, E. Gordon, Thompson, Anne B., and Upchurch, Robert K. "The Life of St. Scholastica:Introduction", ''Saints Lives in Middle English Collections'', Medieval Institute Publications, Kalamazoo, Michigan, 2004
* Adrienne von Speyr, ″Book of All Saints: Scholastica″, pp. 347–349. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2008.
Butler, Alban. "St. Scholastica", ''The Lives or the Fathers, Martyrs and Other Principal Saints'', Vol.I, D. & J. Sadlier, & Company, 1864

Foley O.F.M., Leonard, "Saint Scholastica", ''Saint of the Day'', Franciscan Media
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scholastica 480 births 543 deaths People from Norcia Benedictine abbesses Benedictine spirituality Benedictine saints 6th-century Italian nuns 6th-century Christian nuns Italian Roman Catholic saints Founders of Catholic religious communities Italian twins 5th-century Italo-Roman people 6th-century Italo-Roman people 5th-century Christian saints 6th-century Christian saints Christian female saints of the Middle Ages Anglican saints Consecrated virgins