Who were Benedict and Scholastica who became Saints?

Who was Blessed e Scholastica become saints? This is the story of Cristina una witness which concerns a bond of friendship, let's listen together. I received the gift of the Holy Ghost when I was nine. It took many months of catechism to prepare to receive the sacrament of Santa Confirmation of Catholic church. There were dozens of doctrine and faith questions to study, such as: What is a sacrament? A sacrament is an outward sign made by Christ to give grace. What is grace? Grace is a gift from God. How many people are there in God? There are three Persons in God.

Testimony, St. Benedict and St. Scholastica: choice of name

….and so on. There were dozens of prayers and creeds to memorize, months of CCD every Wednesday afternoon and hours of interrogation by my parents at night, but the reward for a nine-year-old girl was the opportunity to choose a saint's name as a my middle middle name. All by himself. This was no big deal. It seemed like such a big thing to do, pick MY name. I chose the name Christine, not because I knew anything about St. Christine, but because the name was so cute to me. Jodi Marie Christine.

San Benedetto

My grandmother was so proud of my confirmation that she called me Christine all day. My parents gave me an illustrated book of the "Lives of the saints”To commemorate the occasion and, as any nine-year-old would do, the first thing I did was look for my birthday. I was immediately disappointed. The illustration looked so grim: a man with a hood, a scary-looking bird, and a funny name that I had only associated with Benedict Arnold, a famous American traitor. After getting such a beautiful name like Christine, what kind of luck did I have to have a boy named Benedict for my birthday ?! July 11, San Benedetto, abbot, he said. I often read the pages on St. Benedict, thinking that I should have some connection with this man as my patron saint, but then I forgot about him until ...

To pray

Fast forward 30 years when I found my way to the San Benedetto Center, not because of the name or because I remembered something I had read about San Benedetto, but because I had a desire for prayer and silence. And in a silent retreat, I met a woman named Colleen who would become like a sister to me, an Anam Cara or a friend of the soul. Once he gave me a note that said, "We are like sisters with different mothers." We connected on a spiritual level: we prayed together, read spiritual books, and could have talked for hours about our spiritual journey.

And what I discovered the year she died further deepens our connection. Her birthday is February 10 and her patron saint is the twin sister of St. Benedict, St. Scholastica. They had a close relationship, even though they couldn't spend much time together, and they were both commit yourself to God.

Who were Benedict and Scholastica?

Here is the story of St. Scholastica from the books of the Dialogues of St. Gregory the Great:“Scholastica, the sister of St. Benedict, had been consecrated to God from her earliest years. She was used to visiting her brother once a year. He would come down to meet her at a place on the monastery property, not far from the gate.

One day he came as usual and his holy brother went with some of his disciples; they spent the whole day praising God and talking about sacred things. As night fell they dined together. Their spiritual conversation continued and the hour got late. The holy nun said to her brother: “Please don't leave me tonight; we go on until the morning to talk about the pleasures of the spiritual life “. “Sister,” he replied, “what are you saying? I just can't stay out of my cell. "

The story

When she heard her brother refuse her request, the holy woman put her hands on the table, put her head on it and began to pray. As 0035 lifted his head from the table, there were flashes so bright, thunder so great, and a shower of rain so loud that neither Benedict nor his brothers could move beyond the threshold of the place where they had been sitting. Sadly he began to complain: “May God forgive you, sister. What have you done?" “Well,” she replied, “I asked you and you don't listen to me; so i asked my god and he listened to me. So now go, if you can, leave me and go back to your monastery. "

Reluctant as he was to remain of his will, he remained against his will. So it came about that they stayed up all night, absorbed in their conversation about the spiritual life. Not surprisingly, she was more effective than him, 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. Rolling her eyes, she saw her sister's soul leave her body in the form of a dove and fly to the secret places of heaven. Rejoicing in his great glory, he thanked Almighty God with hymns and words of praise. Then he sent his brothers to take his 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 had to share a common grave “. The lessons I have learned from St. Benedict and St. Scholastica, from my friendship with Colleen and other friends of the soul, are many. I'm sure there will be more on the way, but here are some of what I've learned so far:

Friendships

Spiritual friendships never end. Neither death nor distance can separate us from the love of another. There is no love too much. Spiritual friendships are a gift from God. We support each other in practicing God's purpose in our lives. Spiritual connections with friends enrich one's prayer life and lead the other to God when one is temporarily lost. Spending time together is important, but friendship resides in the heart. Let us pray for and together. We cry with each other. We laugh together. We listen, plan, comfort and challenge each other. We are grateful for each other and we say it. "Our minds are united in God".

I thank God for the example of all the saints and for learning about St. Benedict as a child, for my Oblate experience to learn more about St. Benedict and his Rule (and the hooded abbot and his scary bird). For the lives and stories of San Benedetto e St. Scholastica. I thank God for the spiritual friendships.

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