February 10: Saint Scholastica / Santa Escolástica

Today marks the feastday of Saint Scholastica, the twin sister of the great St. Benedict of Nursia. His monastic community not only created Western monasticism as we know it, but served as the bedrock of the new Western Christendom that rose after the fall of the Roman Empire. Saints Benedict and Scholastica remain two deeply inspiring Saints of the Church.

These twins were born around the year 480 AD, just four years after the final sack of Rome in 476. They were born in Nursia, a town in the beautiful Umbria region of Italy (where Assisi is also located). Saint Scholastica consecrated herself to God as a young girl. When her brother Benedict moved to Monte Cassino to lead the monastery there, Scholastica moved to the same region of Italy and founded a convent for women about five miles away. We know that St. Benedict was head of both monks and nuns, so it seems that Scholastica was abbess of her community, but took spiritual and practical direction from her brother. Their Benedictine orders are still thriving all over the world today, including in our own Archdiocese at Mt. Angel.

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Dedicando su vida a Dios, Santa Escolástica, la hermana del gran San Benito, primeramente vivió una vida de oración en su casa. Después, vivió cerca de su hermano en Subiaco y en Monte Casino, hasta que San Benito le puso al cuidado de una comunidad de mujeres.
 Sabemos por la historia cómo los monasterios benedictinos de hombres y mujeres no solamente irradiaban paz, sino que eran, en muchas regiones, los civilizadores y los principales testigos de la presencia de Cristo en el mundo.

Oremos. “Padre, te damos gracias hoy por los santos como Santa Escolástica. Ellos nos recuerdan que una vida de oración y de comunidad dan testimonio de tu presencia en este mundo. Haznos también ver claramente que eres tú el que finalmente cuentas, que tú eres el sentido de nuestras vidas, y que el lazo definitivo que nos une a todo el mundo es tu Hijo, Jesucristo nuestro Señor. Amén.”