It’s the Feast of St. Scholastica, 3rd Class, with the color of White. In this episode: the meditation: “Nature: A School of Life”, today’s news from the Church: “Well-Documented Book Reveals Secrets About the Last Conclave”, and today’s thought from the Archbishop.
Saint Scholastica stands as a quiet but powerful witness to the primacy of love in the Christian life, a woman whose holiness unfolded alongside one of the Church’s greatest fathers yet followed its own unmistakable path. Born around 480 in Italy, Scholastica was the twin sister of Saint Benedict. From early on, both siblings were drawn toward God, but where Benedict’s vocation would shape Western monasticism through structure and rule, Scholastica’s sanctity would reveal the interior heart of that life. She consecrated herself to God as a young woman and lived near the monastery Benedict later founded at Monte Cassino, pursuing a life of prayer, simplicity, and hidden fidelity.
The sources tell us little about Scholastica’s daily life, but what they do preserve is decisive. Once a year, she and Benedict met in a small house halfway between their communities to speak together of God. These meetings were not casual family visits. They were spiritual encounters, conversations rooted entirely in prayer, Scripture, and the desire for heaven. On one such visit, Scholastica sensed that her death was near and asked Benedict to remain longer, to continue speaking of divine things through the night. Benedict, bound strictly to his rule, refused. Scholastica responded not with argument, but with prayer.
According to Saint Gregory the Great, she bowed her head and prayed silently, and immediately a violent storm broke out, making it impossible for Benedict to return to his monastery. Benedict protested, but Scholastica answered calmly that she had asked him and he would not listen, so she had asked God, and God had listened. Benedict stayed, and the two spent the night in holy conversation. Three days later, Benedict saw his sister’s soul rise to heaven in the form of a dove. Only then did he fully understand what had taken place.
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