St Scholastica.
Died 543. ~ Scholastica was the sister of St Benedict and believed to have been his twin. They were born into a rich family in Umbria, Italy and were very close as children and stayed together until they were fourteen, when Benedict left for Rome to study. It is believed she followed him when he became a monk at his newly founded monastery of Monte Cassino and she entered a convent nearby. She became abbess and governed her nuns according to the St Benedict rules, which her brother had written, thus becoming the first Benedictine nun. Benedict and Scholastica met once a year just outside his monastery, in a guesthouse and they talked for hours. On one such meeting, Scholastica asked Benedict to stay the night so they could have longer together. Benedict was horrified and said he could not spend a night outside the monastery. Just at that time, a fierce storm blew up, preventing Benedict from returning to the monastery. They parted next morning and agreed to meet the following year, but three days later, Scholastica died in her convent and Benedict saw her soul ascend to heaven. He brought her body to his own tomb set aside in the monastery and in time, he would lay beside her in the grave, determined not to let death separate them. He died about three years after his sister and they are buried side by side.