Today, February 10th, as our Church celebrates the Memorial of Scholastica, Virgin, we are invited to first reflect on a passage from the first letter of apostle Paul to the Corinthians (7: 25-40), entitled “Christian Chastity”. Our treasure, which follows, is from the books of Dialogues by Saint Gregory the Great, pope.
Twins often share the same interests and ideas with equal intensity. Therefore, it is no surprise that Saint Scholastica and her twin brother, Saint Benedict, established religious communities within a few miles from each other. Born in 480 of wealthy parents, Scholastica and Benedict were brought up together until he left central Italy for Rome to continue his studies.
St. Scholastica consecrated her life to God from her earliest youth. After her brother went to Monte Cassino, where he established his famous monastery, she took up her abode in the neighborhood at Plombariola, where she founded and governed a monastery of nuns, about five miles from that of St. Benedict, who, it appears, also directed his sister and her nuns. She visited her brother once a year, and as she was not allowed to enter his monastery, he went in company with some of his brothers to meet her at a house some distance away. These visits were spent conferring together on spiritual matters. On one occasion they had passed the time as usual in prayer and pious conversation and in the evening they sat down to take their reflection. St. Scholastica begged her brother to remain until the next day. St. Benedict refused to spend the night outside his monastery. She had recourse to prayer and a furious thunderstorm burst so that neither St. Benedict nor any of his companions could return home. They spent the night discussing spiritual matters. The next morning, they parted to meet no more on earth. Three days later St. Scholastica died, and her holy brother beheld her soul in a vision as it ascended into heaven. He sent his brethren to bring her body to his monastery and laid it in the tomb he had prepared for himself. She died about the year 543, and St. Benedict followed her soon after. Her feast day is February 10th.
The Dialogues of Gregory the Great is a collection of four books of miracles, signs, wonders, and healings done by the holy men of sixth-century Italy. Writing in Latin in a time of plague and war, Gregory structured his work as a conversation between himself and Peter, a deacon. His focus is on miraculous events in the lives of monastics. The second book is devoted to the life of Saint Benedict.
The Dialogues were the most popular of Gregory's works during the Middle Ages, and in modern times have received more scholarly attention than the rest of his works combined. From this, the author himself is sometimes known as Gregory the Dialogist.
In his first letter to the Corinthians Paul warns against divisions within the Church and emphasizes the importance of unity among Church members. He warns members against sexual immorality, teaches that the body is a temple for the Holy Spirit, and encourages self-discipline.
