Today we celebrate the beautiful memorial of Saint Scholastica, the twin sister of Saint Benedict, born in 480 A.D. in Nursia, Italy, and who died around 543 A.D., traditionally at about sixty-three years of age. She was a consecrated virgin and foundress of Benedictine women’s monastic life. She did not write a rule, as Saint Benedict did, for monastic life, but she lived its heart perfectly. Ora et labora was her motto, with clear primacy of prayer, and so she gave herself deeply to prayer.
According to Saint Gregory the Great, she and Benedict met once a year to speak of, and I quote, “the things of God” (Dialogues, Book II). During their final meeting, Scholastica asked Benedict to remain longer in spiritual conversation. When he refused, out of fidelity to the rule, she prayed silently, and a sudden storm made his departure impossible. Shortly afterward, Scholastica died, and Benedict saw her soul rise to heaven in the form of a dove. What is the rule by which she actually lived, if not love itself?
In today’s first reading for her memorial from the Song of Songs, we hear of love that is stronger than death itself: “For stern as death is love… Deep waters cannot quench love” (Song of Songs 8:6–7). This text proclaims that authentic love cannot be purchased, negotiated, or controlled, but only received. Scholastica embodies the Church’s conviction that contemplative love is the strongest force in the world.
In the Gospel, Jesus visits the family of his close friends, Lazarus, Martha, and Mary. Mary at the feet of Jesus is not lazy, but radically attentive (cf. Luke 10:39). Saint Scholastica lived this posture permanently: the disciple at the feet of the Master. Saint Benedict represents ordered discipline and communal balance, while Scholastica represents pure contemplative desire, refusing to let even good rules override love’s urgency. She is not opposed to Martha, just as prayer is not opposed to work, but she insists that everything must flow from listening to the Word of the Lord.
In her final meeting with Benedict, Scholastica is like Mary, choosing the better part, lingering with God, listening longer, refusing to let the moment of grace pass by. And Jesus’ promise holds true: “It will not be taken from her” (Luke 10:42). Scholastica shows us that love grounded in God outlasts rules when rules are detached from love. Prayer rooted in trust moves heaven.
Contemplation is not escape; it is the engine of the Church. The better part that Mary chose is not inactivity, but undivided presence. Mary was focused on Jesus, and Scholastica would have contemplated Mary’s posture in the presence of Jesus and imitated that posture throughout her life. She stands quietly beside Mary of Bethany, teaching us that the most fruitful lives are often the most hidden, and that when love listens deeply enough, even storms obey.
My brothers and sisters, may the good Lord continue to bless you and all of your loved ones. May you know that He visits your house every day if you welcome Him, if you open the door of your heart to Him (cf. Revelation 3:20). Open your heart and allow the Divine Guest in, just as Saint Scholastica did, and just as she inspired her brother to do also. And may you be blessed this day through the intercession of Saint Scholastica and the Queen of Heaven, whom she loves and praises every day.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Memorial of Saint Scholastica, Virgin
Below are the readings suggested for today's Memorial. However, readings for the Memorial may also be taken from the Common of Virgins, #731-736 or the Common of Holy Men and Women: For Religious, #737-742.
Reading 1
Set me as a seal on your heart,
as a seal on your arm;
For stern as death is love,
relentless as the nether world is devotion;
its flames are a blazing fire.
Deep waters cannot quench love,
nor floods sweep it away.
Were one to offer all he owns to purchase love,
he would be roundly mocked.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (see 12a and 13a) Young men and women, praise the name of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Praise the LORD from the heavens;
praise him in the heights;
Praise him, all you his angels,
praise him, all you his hosts.
R. Young men and women, praise the name of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Let the kings of the earth and all peoples,
the princes and all the judges of the earth,
Young men, too, and maidens,
old men and boys.
Praise the name of the LORD,
for his name alone is exalted.
R. Young men and women, praise the name of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
His majesty is above earth and heaven.
He has lifted up the horn of his people.
Be this his praise from all his faithful ones;
from the children of Israel, the people close to him. Alleluia.
R. Young men and women, praise the name of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Whoever loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him
and we will come to him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus entered a village
where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him.
She had a sister named Mary
who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak.
Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said,
"Lord, do you not care
that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving?
Tell her to help me."
The Lord said to her in reply,
"Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.
There is need of only one thing.
Mary has chosen the better part
and it will not be taken from her."
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