Memorial of St. Scholastica, Virgin
“Set me as a seal on your heart, as a seal on your arm; For stern as death is love, relentless as the nether world is devotion.”
This text, from the Song of Songs, given us by the Church for the feast of St. Scholastica, the twin sister of St. Benedict, shows a side of the human psyche which is typically feminine. While the male psyche tends to be concerned with building or accomplishing something, the feminine psyche tends to be concerned with relation.
This difference is seen in the story, which St. Gregory tells, on the occasion of a visit St. Benedict made to his sister. When he felt obliged to return to his monastery, he disregarded her pleas to stay longer to continue the conversation. She turned to God in prayer who then obliged her with a thunderstorm!
We monks have long been familiar with this story of her strong, victorious love. St. Scholastica’s triumph over her brother’s good intentions by her victory of prayerful, persevering love, reveals the need for such love in all of us who seek God.
This needed dimension of the spiritual life, can also be heard in our Gospel text today: Mary at Jesus’ feet, listening to him. St. Paul puts it beautifully in his letter to the Ephesians:
I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love.
It is the Spirit who roots and grounds our hearts in love. We must want the Holy Spirit to come and encourage us in this victory of Divine Love over our hearts!
Reflection by Fr. Xavier Nacke, OSB
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections