St Scholastica

Scholastica's life is short and almost wholly shaped by the beautiful account St Gregory gives of her final meeting with St Benedict. She had dedicated herself to God from youth and lived near her brother, and once each year they met to speak together of divine things. Everything turns on the last of those meetings. When Benedict refused to remain through the night, Scholastica prayed, the storm broke, and charity won what rule would not grant.

Three days later Benedict saw her soul rise like a dove to heaven. Because the details are so few, every one of them matters. The whole scene becomes luminous through holy affection, prayer, and the kind of last meeting that reveals in a moment the bond of two sanctified lives.