Centering women's voices - Feast of St. Scholastica, Martha and Mary, Song of Songs, new oblates
- Benedictine Sisters of Chicago
- Feb 10
- 2 min read
Updated: May 1
Happy St. Scholastica Feast Day!
On this feast day, Sr. Susan Quaintance shared reflections with Global Sisters Report on centering women's voices, St. Scholastica, and today's readings from Song of Songs and Luke.
"We only have one story about [Scholastica] from the Dialogues of Gregory the Great... That’s not much to go on, but the readings for the Mass of the day (Song of Songs 8:6-7 and Luke 10:38-42) beautifully supplement Gregory’s story and can help us deepen our experience of the feast.
This is a day when female voices aren’t just present but prominent. As befits this day, the feminine is front and center, with a clarity and volume that I really can’t remember on any other feast or Sunday.
[In all of the Song of Songs] over two-thirds of the voices are a woman’s. The reading we hear today is the woman speaking – imperatively, emphatically, poetically. In the passage from Luke, Martha and Mary loom large.
[Our] heroines of the day... are seeking, feeling, articulate and adventurous.
Any and all of these women can be excellent guides for us. They show us about faith in the One who is love."
During Feast Day Mass, our oblate community welcomed two new members, making their final oblation: Jacqueline Rickman and Anita Maddali, Class of 1996.
Photo 1: Final Oblation led by Prioress Sr. Mary Susan Remsgar, left, with sponsor Kevin Chears, new oblates Anita Maddali and Jacqueline Rickman, and sponsor Barbara Boland.
Photo 2: New oblates Jacqueline Rickman Anita Maddali.
Photo 3: Oblates at Feast Day Mass, below mural of Sts. Benedict and Scholastica: Pat Sullivan, Fr. Mike Solazzo, Mary Claire Cadieux, Kathlyn Myers, Jacqueline Rickman, Dan Raven, Kate Zilla, Anita Maddali, Barbara Boland, Nancy Labiak, Georgie Ellis, and Kevin Chears.
St. Scholastica Feast Day Reflections from Sr. Mary Susan Remsgar:
Worship Aid from Mass:
Recording of Mass:
Happy Feast Day.
St. Scholastica, Pray for Us.
