Saint Scholastica, born in Nursia, Italy around the year 480, was the sister of Saint Benedict and is honored as the mother of Benedictine nuns. She dedicated her life to God from an early age and led a community of religious women near her brother's monastery at Monte Cassino. According to Saint Gregory the Great, at her death around 543, Benedict saw her soul rise to heaven in the form of a dove.
Scholastica shows us that love is stronger than rules: at her last visit with her brother, her prayer for more time together was answered with a storm, because, as Benedict learned, she loved more. Her life reminds us that deep family bonds, prayer, and trust in God belong together, and that those we love are never truly far from us.
Saint Scholastica, whose prayer opened heaven, teach us to love God and one another without measure, and keep close to us those we miss until we meet again. Amen.Enter today’s Mass → All saints →