Patron Saint of Reading

February 10th is the feast day of St. Scholastica

Statue of Saint Scholastica in the Benedictine Monastery of Montecassino

St. Scholastica, BENEDICTINE ABBESS AND FOUNDER, VIRGIN

Saint Scholastica (Born: 480, Nursia, Italy - Died: 543) was the twin sister of Saint Benedict of Nursia, a founder of Western monasticism. St. Scholastica is considered the 1st Catholic Nun.¹ Her feast day is the 10th of February.

She is the patroness of Benedictine women's communities;

• school;

• tests;

• books;

• reading;

• convulsive children;

• nuns;

• invoked against storms and rain.

St. Scholastica is honored as a saint of the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church and Anglican Communion. ²

Order of Saint Benedict

The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (Ordo Sancti Benedicti, ), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict.³ Initiated in 529, they are the oldest of all the religious orders in the Latin Church.⁴

1. Mary Richard Boo OSB and Joan M. Braun OSB, Emerging from the Shadows: St. Scholastica, in Medieval Women Monastics, (Miriam Schmitt OSB and Linda Kulzer OSB, eds) The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, 1996.

2. Posa, Carmel. The Lost Dialogue of Gregory the Great: The Life of St. Scholastica. 1st ed. Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2024.

3. St. Benedict's Rule for Monasteries by Abbot of Monte Cassino Saint Benedict

4. A Brief History of the Benedictine Order – OSB DOT ORG