Scholastica
The sister of Benedict, dedicated to God from childhood. She is known only from two chapters of Gregory the Great’s Dialogues, which tell of her last meeting with her brother and of her death.
Gregory says that Scholastica had been dedicated to God from her infancy and came once a year to see her brother Benedict of Nursia at a house belonging to the monastery, not far from its gate. At their last meeting she asked him to stay the night and talk of the joys of heaven. He refused to remain outside his monastery; she prayed, and a sudden storm kept him there until morning. Gregory comments that she could do more because she loved more (Gregory the Great, Dialogues 2.33).
Three days later Benedict saw her soul go up to heaven in the form of a dove. He had her body brought to Monte Cassino and laid in the grave he had prepared for himself (Gregory the Great, Dialogues 2.34). Gregory calls her a nun and mentions her nunnery, but does not say where it was.
In the timeline
- c. AD 530–550, estimated dateBenedict Writes His Rule
Benedict of Nursia, abbot of Monte Cassino, writes a rule for monks living in community under an abbot, with a day divided between common prayer, reading and manual work. It later becomes the standard rule of Western monasteries.
Primary sources
Dialogues
- Gregory the Great, Dialogues 2.33tertullian.org
- Gregory the Great, Dialogues 2.34tertullian.org