Saint Scholastica

Life story

Nearly everything about Scholastica comes from a single source: the second book of the Dialogues of Pope Gregory the Great. According to it, she was Benedict's sister, and tradition holds that they were twins, born around 480 at Nursia in Italy. She was given to God from childhood. Later she lived a consecrated life in a community near the monastery of Monte Cassino.

Gregory reports that once a year the two siblings met at a house on the road between their communities, since Benedict did not leave his monastery. They spent the time speaking of spiritual matters. At their last meeting, as night fell, Benedict wished to leave, but Scholastica asked him to stay. According to the text, a violent storm arose and he could not leave the house. They spent the night in conversation.

A few days later, the account says, Scholastica died, around 543. Benedict took her body and buried it in the tomb he had prepared for himself. When he died, he was laid in the same tomb.

Her feast is 10 February. As with Benedict, there is no independent source to check this account. Veneration of her developed in the Middle Ages, especially in Benedictine monasteries, and several medieval communities in France and Italy claimed to hold her relics. Together with Benedict she is honoured as one of the earliest named figures of Western monastic life, and their story is among the best-known episodes of the Dialogues. Because the account comes from a single author writing some decades later, historians treat its details with caution.

Works and witness

• Described by Gregory the Great as Benedict's sister, by tradition his twin
• Lived a consecrated life near Monte Cassino
• Met Benedict once a year for conversation
• Buried in the tomb Benedict had prepared, where he was later laid too

Saints from the same country

Saint Agnes, Saint Lawrence, Saint Cecilia, Saint Sebastian

References

• Gregory the Great, Dialogues (Book 2)
• Martyrologium Romanum
• Dicastery for the Causes of Saints – biographical profile

Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.