Saint Scholastica

Scholastica was born around 480 in Nursia, in central Italy, and according to tradition was the twin sister of Saint Benedict, the father of Western monasticism. She consecrated herself to God from her youth and later led a community of nuns at Plumbariola, near her brother's monastery of Monte Cassino.

Saint Gregory the Great tells the story of their last meeting. Once a year the siblings met at a house between their monasteries to pray and speak of heavenly things. At the end of the day Scholastica begged Benedict to stay the night, but he refused to break his rule. She bowed her head in prayer, and at once a violent storm broke out, so that he could not leave. Gregory comments that she could do more because she loved more. Three days later Benedict saw her soul rise to heaven like a dove. She died around 543 and was buried in the tomb he had prepared for himself.

Benedictine monks and nuns around the world celebrate her as their mother in the monastic life, and Monte Cassino keeps her feast with special solemnity.

Because of the storm story, she is invoked against heavy rain and lightning, and many Benedictine schools and colleges in the United States bear her name.