There was a time when Scholastica was a popular
girl name but nowadays it’s quite rare to find girls bearing the sweet-sounding
polysyllabic appellation. I am not sure the reason for this but I hope to be
able to convince at least 33 persons who read this article of the beauty of
this name and encourage them to propose it to any ‘unnamed’ baby girl they
find.
First, the name sounds quite musical, skó-lá-sti-kà. Plus one can make out
very fanciful pet names from it. SCHOLA for one will encourage the bearer of the
name to live up to it by becoming a great Scholar. STIKA is another possible
derivative; it will thrive based on the curiosity it will arouse.
Secondly, the name is beautiful because the
person to whom it generally refers was actually beautiful. I am talking about
St Scholastica. She was twin sister to St Benedict and was ravishingly pretty. Their parents were really wealthy and they had
a good and pretty rosy upbringing. However the twins decided to give themselves
totally to God as a monk and a nun. Scholastica, with all her beauty went to
the monastery. Wow! What a testimony that the Lord’s gift to us must be used to
glorify Him.
I think the major reason why I like the name is
that there is monastery in south-eastern Nigeria that is named after this saintly
lady. I used to retreat to the St Scholastica Abbey where about a 100 women,
following the example of St Scholastica, have decided to spend the rest of
their lives in seclusion, prayer and penance. It’s beautiful to behold and
makes one optimistic about living a holy life.
St Scholastica is an example of holiness and
will be really glad to help anyone who goes by that name to gain heaven. Oh yeah,
I forgot to tell you that she is the patron saint of nurses. So, what are you
waiting for? Lets have more Scholasticas in the house.
St Scholastica, Pray for us.
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