Saint Saint Scholastica, Virgin

Scholastica was an Italian Christian consecrated virgin and the sister of Benedict of Nursia. She is traditionally regarded as the foundress of the Benedictine nuns. Scholastica is honored as a saint of the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church and Anglican Communion. She was born in Italy, and a ninth-century tradition makes her the twin sister of Benedict. Her feast day is 10 February. According to the 6th-century Dialogues of Gregory the Great, Scholastica was born c. 480 in Nursia, Umbria, of wealthy parents (Anicius Eupropius and his wife Claudia Abondantia Reguardati). While Gregory only states that Scholastica was Benedict's sister, a later tradition says she was his twin (whether this is meant biologically, spiritually, or both is unclear). Gregory also says she was dedicated to God from a young age. She and her brother Benedict were raised together until he left to pursue studies in Rome. A young Roman woman of Scholastica's class and time would likely have remained in her father's house until marriage or entry into consecrated life. On occasion, several consecrated virgins would live together in a household and form a community. Benedictine history shows that Scholastica established a hermitage about five miles from Monte Cassino and that this was the first convent of Benedictine nuns. However, it is possible that Scholastica lived in a hermitage with one or two other consecrated virgins in a cluster of houses at the base of Mount Cassino, where there is an ancient church under her patronage, Monastero di Santa Scolastica. Ruth Clifford Engs notes that since Dialogues indicates that Scholastica was dedicated to God at an early age, perhaps she lived in her father's house with other religious women until his death and then moved nearer to Benedict.