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       Sacred Heart Monastery
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          Yankton, SD 57078
          (605) 668-6000/6169 

(S. Madonna Schmitt’s reflections,
February. 10, 2003 after reading during Evening Praise.)

Briefly, the story goes like this:

Benedict and Scholastica met once a year to speak on spiritual things.  Benedict would come down from Monte Cassino and Scholastica would come up from her monastery to meet in a designated place.  After the day spent in prayer and holy sharing, dusk arrived.  Benedict made to return to his monastery.  Scholastica begged him to stay to continue their spiritual insights.  There wasn't a big scuffle but in short, the conversation may have been like this:

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"Let's sit down together and reflect on important things," Scholastica said.  I can't stay," Benedict said.  They expect me back. What's important is for me to go on going on; to keep life operating as usual."

But Scholastica knew that maintaining a system was not the central purpose of their lives.  And she concentrated deeply, prayerfully, powerfully.  The sky was clear but suddenly all heaven broke loose.  The rains came. And it rained. And it rained. 

"Good Lord, what have you done," Benedict said. "I can't leave in this."  And Scholastica said, "I asked you for a favor and you refused.  I asked my God and it was given to me."

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From this short episode, it would seem obvious that Scholastica's great love took precedence over Benedict's desire to comply with the letter of the law.

Perhaps, because of her influence, there's a profound reverence and respect for all in Benedict’s Rule. Would she have encouraged him to be a little easier on the young boys of the monastery and gentle with the old and sick who could no longer fulfill a demanding life style?

Was Scholastica responsible for the daily allotment of wine and did Benedict grumble about increasing it?

Did Scholastica insist that all religious were mere beginners in a lifelong race toward love?

We don't know the relationship between brother and sister. We can only assume that Scholastica may have influenced Benedict's thinking, his writing.

So, today, February 10,2003, on this Mount Marty College campus, what do we see in this woman distanced from us by centuries of silence and obscurity?  Certainly a woman for our time: a completely human person dedicated to seeking God, steadily growing in her awareness that the search must culminate, not in constraint, but in freedom; not in weakness, but in strength.

In the words of her brother Benedict, we can all say "Seek God in everyone and everything every day of your life".

(605) 668-6000/668-6169