St Scholastica

Genesis 2:18-25; 

Psalm 127:1-5(LXX); 

Mark 7:24-30

The Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helpmate.’ So from the soil the Lord God fashioned all the wild beasts and all the birds of heaven. These he brought to the man to see what he would call them; each one was to bear the name the man would give it. The man gave names to all the cattle, all the birds of heaven and all the wild beasts. But no helpmate suitable for man was found for him. So the Lord God made the man fall into a deep sleep. And while he slept, he took one of his ribs and enclosed it in flesh. The Lord God built the rib he had taken from the man into a woman, and brought her to the man. The man exclaimed:

‘This at last is bone from my bones,

and flesh from my flesh!

This is to be called woman,

for this was taken from man.’

(Gen 2. 18-23)

.  .  .

Yesterday evening, as I listened to the above text being read, I wondered about the 'goodness' of celibate chastity. If God himself says, 'It is not good that the man should be alone' and solves the problem by creating a partner for the man...well, I wondered. What is it about the relationship between the spouses that is so important that it makes it into Genesis 2? And what does celibacy offer that might be equally good, might prevent 'the man' from being 'alone'? 

This morning, I found at least part of an answer, in the reading for St Scholastica's day. There are all sorts of ways in which God prevents us being 'alone', whatever our state in life or our vocation, and Benedict and Scholastica (not unlike St Gregory of Nyssa and his sister Macrina a century earlier) offer us just one example.

From the books of Dialogues by Saint Gregory the Great, pope

She who loved more could do more

Scholastica, the sister of Saint Benedict, had been consecrated to God from her earliest years. She was accustomed to visiting her brother once a year. He would come down to meet her at a place on the monastery property, not far outside the gate.

  One day she came as usual and her saintly brother went with some of his disciples; they spent the whole day praising God and talking of sacred things. As night fell they had supper together.

  Their spiritual conversation went on and the hour grew late. The holy nun said to her brother: “Please do not leave me tonight; let us go on until morning talking about the delights of the spiritual life.” “Sister,” he replied, “what are you saying? I simply cannot stay outside my cell.”

  When she heard her brother refuse her request, the holy woman joined her hands on the table, laid her head on them and began to pray. As she raised her head from the table, there were such brilliant flashes of lightning, such great peals of thunder and such a heavy downpour of rain that neither Benedict nor his brethren could stir across the threshold of the place where they had been seated. Sadly he began to complain: “May God forgive you, sister. What have you done?” “Well,” she answered, “I asked you and you would not listen; so I asked my God and he did listen. So now go off, if you can, leave me and return to your monastery.”

  Reluctant as he was to stay of his own will, he remained against his will. So it came about that they stayed awake the whole night, engrossed in their conversation about the spiritual life.

  It is not surprising that she was more effective than he, since as John says, God is love, it was absolutely right that she could do more, as she loved more.

  Three days later, Benedict was in his cell. Looking up to the sky, he saw his sister’s soul leave her body in the form of a dove, and fly up to the secret places of heaven. Rejoicing in her great glory, he thanked almighty God with hymns and words of praise. He then sent his brethren to bring her body to the monastery and lay it in the tomb he had prepared for himself.

  Their minds had always been united in God; their bodies were to share a common grave.