+ St. Scholastica (b. 480), is the twin sister of St.
Benedict of Nursia – founder of the Benedictine
Order. Their mother died in childbirth and so these two found their consolation
from “Mother Church” and the “motherly advice” that she had to offer. Benedict
was the first to found a group of monks who agreed to live under his comprehensive
Rule; Scholastica soon founded an order of nuns to live also by his Rule. The
chief characteristic of the Rule is to
find out what is God’s will and to do it with all your heart! This plays
out in an enclosed life of prayer, study
and work (service).
Benedict
and his sister Scholastica used to meet annually in an abandoned
farmhouse, to discuss holy things (her convent was only four miles from his at
Monte Cassino). During one visit it seemed that Benedict wanted to end the
meeting and go home; but Scholastica asked him to stay longer! He refused, so
she said a quiet (but obviously powerful prayer to God) and suddenly a violent
thunderstorm emerged from nowhere and kept Benedict in place for the rest of
the night. Scholastica then quipped: “I asked a favor of you and you refused
it. I asked it of God, and he has granted it.” Three days later, Scholastica
died, and Benedict, in his cell, is said to have seen her soul rising to heaven
in the form of a dove. She was buried in the tomb that Benedict had prepared
for himself, and to which he later joined her (in 543).
While
Mary and Martha of the gospel passage seemed to be on different
pages; Benedict and Scholastica were exactly on the same page, book and chapter
– the Holy Scriptures of God. May we today delve into the mysteries of love –
love that our first reading tells us is ever strong, ever powerful, ever safe –
as we pray, study the Scriptures and then put this love into action to see if
it is what it purports itself to be! I doubt we will be disappointed in its
effectiveness – for it can bring thunderstorms where there is fair weather and
can warm the coldest heart!
Young men and women praise the name of
the Lord.
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