My vote: Scholastica
There’s quite a bit to appreciate about Richard Hooker. He trod the fine line between Catholicism and Protestantism to help develop Anglicanism in the 16th century, a time when such divisions had caused vicious fighting in France and the Holy Roman Empire. He believed that the organization of church was not important to salvation, that God didn’t care about whether a religion had priests or pastors, bishops or popes. He was Lawful Good, in D&D alignment charts. Obey the law, even wrong laws, and create change from within.
Then you have Scholastica. She was the sister (twin? biological? spiritual? who knows) of Saint Benedict of Nursia, creator of the Benedictine order of monks. They were very close, and Benedict would visit her and spend hours talking about scripture. One day, Scholastica sensed she would die and never see her brother again. When he tried to leave, she asked him to stay. That would break the Benedictine rules and just because he was Benedict didn’t mean he could break those rules willy-nilly, so he said no. She didn’t argue, but prayed and suddenly a storm began outside, preventing travel. Scholastica explained that Benedict hadn’t listened, so she asked God and he did listen. Benedict stayed. Three days later, Scholastica died.
I strongly appreciate a woman who knows what she wants and how best to get it. What was Benedict going to do, argue with God? Scholastica gets my vote.
Unrelated to her story, the St. Scholastica’s Day riots at the University of Oxford started on her feast day (February 10) in 1355. The students complained about the quality of wine they were served and it turned into a brawl. Around 93 people died, including 63 students. The town of Oxford was made to pay a penance of one penny per student killed every year for 470 years. Moral: don’t mess with students and their wine.
There’s quite a bit to appreciate about Richard Hooker. He trod the fine line between Catholicism and Protestantism to help develop Anglicanism in the 16th century, a time when such divisions had caused vicious fighting in France and the Holy Roman Empire. He believed that the organization of church was not important to salvation, that God didn’t care about whether a religion had priests or pastors, bishops or popes. He was Lawful Good, in D&D alignment charts. Obey the law, even wrong laws, and create change from within.
Then you have Scholastica. She was the sister (twin? biological? spiritual? who knows) of Saint Benedict of Nursia, creator of the Benedictine order of monks. They were very close, and Benedict would visit her and spend hours talking about scripture. One day, Scholastica sensed she would die and never see her brother again. When he tried to leave, she asked him to stay. That would break the Benedictine rules and just because he was Benedict didn’t mean he could break those rules willy-nilly, so he said no. She didn’t argue, but prayed and suddenly a storm began outside, preventing travel. Scholastica explained that Benedict hadn’t listened, so she asked God and he did listen. Benedict stayed. Three days later, Scholastica died.
I strongly appreciate a woman who knows what she wants and how best to get it. What was Benedict going to do, argue with God? Scholastica gets my vote.
Unrelated to her story, the St. Scholastica’s Day riots at the University of Oxford started on her feast day (February 10) in 1355. The students complained about the quality of wine they were served and it turned into a brawl. Around 93 people died, including 63 students. The town of Oxford was made to pay a penance of one penny per student killed every year for 470 years. Moral: don’t mess with students and their wine.
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