Scholastica v. Richard Hooker

Welcome to the FIRST FULL WEEK of Lent Madness 2023! Today in the Saintly Smackdown it's Scholastica vs. Richard Hooker. Sixth century Italian nun vs. 16th century English theologian. This is precisely the kind of unusual pairing of saintly souls we've come to expect with Lent Madness. Is it fair? No! Is it Madness? Yes!

On Saturday, Bertha of Kent soundly defeated Olga of Kiev 76% to 24% to advance to the Saintly Sixteen. Will today's matchup finally bring us a hotly contested battle? Or will we endure yet another rout? Only time, and your (single) vote, will tell.

Scholastica

Little is known about Scholastica, the sister of Saint Benedict (yes, the guy with the Rule) and founder of Benedictine nuns. Like Benedict, she was born to wealthy parents in Nursia, Umbria in the late fifth century. (Some later traditions have her as Benedict’s twin sister, but it is unclear if that is meant to be a literal or spiritual designation.)

An early glimpse of Scholastica’s piety comes to us from Gregory the Great’s Dialogues. He reports that Benedict and Scholastica would meet annually at a small house between their monasteries. On one occasion, as Benedict was preparing to return, Scholastica begged him to stay longer.

They had been discussing deep spiritual matters, and she wanted to continue the invigorating conversation deeper into the night. Benedict refused. One of the guidelines in his Rule was that he could not be absent from the monastery overnight.

Upon his refusal, Scholastica began to weep and pray. God responded to her prayers by causing a torrent of rain and thunder so great that Benedict and his companions could not leave the house. When he asked her what she had done, Scholastica retorted, “I asked you and you would not listen; so I asked my God and he did listen. So now go off, if you can, leave me and return to your monastery.” Reluctantly, Benedict and his fellow monks stayed overnight, God’s will having been made clear. Gregory writes that God answered Scholastica’s prayers because her love for God was greater than that of Benedict’s (high praise indeed!).

Three days later, in February of 543, while Benedict was in his cell, he saw his sister’s soul ascend to heaven as a dove. He had her body brought to the monastery and buried in the grave he had prepared for himself.

Scholastica is the patron saint of Benedictine nuns, education, and convulsive children. For obvious reasons, she is sometimes invoked against storms and rain. Her feast day is celebrated on February 10.

Collect for Scholastica
Assist us, O God, to love one other as sisters and brothers, and to balance discipline with love and rules with compassion, according to the example shown by your servant Scholastica; for the sake of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with you and the Holy Spirit be all honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

David Creech

Richard Hooker

Richard Hooker was a priest and philosopher whose writings laid the groundwork for Anglican theology. Born to a family of moderate means in 1553, he was sent to Oxford through the generosity of local merchants. At Oxford, he studied for holy orders. While he read the Calvinism tracts popular in Protestant countries at the time, Hooker also dabbled in Thomas Aquinas and the church fathers. By the time he graduated, he managed to obtain a more diverse education than many other Anglican clergy.

Hooker initially received a fellowship for preaching at Oxford but lost it soon after because his preaching was not considered strictly Calvinist enough for the staunch Protestants. He was reinstated soon after the controversy but departed instead to take the position of Master of the Temple in London in 1585. He shared this prestigious post with a more Puritan-inclined preacher, Walter Travers. Often the two would spar in their respective sermons, which increased the overall attendance. In his first sermon, Hooker caused Travers untold fury by preaching a sermon that suggested that double predestination was nonsense and that Roman Catholics might be saved after all through the grace of a merciful God. Hooker refused to live in the church rectory with Travers and instead lived nearby with John Churchman—and ended up marrying Churchman’s daughter, Jean.

In 1591, fed up with this life of churchly drama, Hooker moved to Boscombe in Wiltshire, where he began to compose what would become his magnum opus: The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity. This multi-volume work was Hooker’s entry into a debate about how the church and government ought to properly organize themselves. In the initial entries, Hooker offered the first glimpse of what has become the classic Anglican approach of via media.

Hooker argued that God didn’t care much about institutions. Instead, he contended that what mattered was how pious and devout people were—and whether institutions fostered an environment of faithfulness and devotion. He also argued that the debate over salvation via works or by grace was pointless: good works were the inevitable result of a heart saved by grace and thus overcome with gratitude, and the two could not be separated. Despite completing only five of the eight planned volumes, Hooker’s work lasted long past his death in 1600 and remains a cornerstone of Anglican philosophy.

Collect for Richard Hooker
O God of truth and peace, you raised up your servant Richard Hooker in a day of bitter controversy to defend with sound reasoning and great charity the catholic and reformed religion: Grant that we may maintain that middle way, not as a compromise for the sake of peace, but as a comprehension for the sake of truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Megan Castellan

 

Scholastica: Gabriel Wüger, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Richard Hooker: Wenceslaus Hollar, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

 

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116 comments on “Scholastica v. Richard Hooker”

  1. This was a tough one! However, while I like Richard Hooker's thinking and writings, I just had to vote for Scholastica. I mean, come on, her love for God was so strong that he answered her prayer right on the spot. That is true faith in the Father!

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  2. Tough choice again. Isn't that wonderful!The 5 practices and other wisdom found in the Benedictine Rule have been helpful personally in my attempts to pursue a balanced life- especially in these often very unbalanced times! But today, thinking of my Baptist& Methodist friends who are grieving over the divisions in their churches, I voted for Hooker. I need to learn more about his extensive contributions but his insight that the Christian institution should not remain static seems especially valuable today.(Episcopalchurch.org.)

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  3. At last, a match-up that slowed me down and led me to ponder for a while! I was thrilled by the thought of an educator, as I am retired from the field, and tend to think we all deserve high recognition, but in the end I opted for the "via media" instead.

  4. 50+ years ago I was chaplain to St. Mary's School in Peekskill and also celebrated regularly in the beautiful St Scholastica chapel at the Convent so I was strongly tempted to continue my losing streak with a vote for her, but (darn it) I am an Anglican, thanks largely to Hooker saving us from the Puritans, so he gets my vote today.

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  5. Another tough contest! I admire Scholastica and her dedication to her spiritual formation and to her nuns. Living in southern California, I am also glad to learn that we can invoke her help with rain and storms!

    However, as an Episcopalian, I must vote with Richard Hooker today. I appreciate his efforts at creating the Via Media that first drew me to Anglican theology.

  6. I was all ready to vote for Hooker, hesitated and voted for Scholastica. I became a Benedictine oblate at Mount Saint Scholastica in Atchison, KS. I just had to be true to her.

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  7. I’m amazed that Hooker is leading. Scholastica is amazing, obviously a strong influence in the development of Benedictine spirituality. And, like is true for all the Church Mothers, shoved aside by male dominance. I bet Benedict got all his ideas from her in that overnight conversation.

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  8. Love Scholastica! Always have since I read about her years ago, but have to vote for Richard Hooker and via media. His reading was some of the best I've ever done and I'm thankful for his gift to us of trying to always find the middle way. Thanks for the limerick John!

  9. Got to go with Scholastica. With a husband, aunt, niece, MIL and aunt teachers Scholastica "rules" in my book!

  10. I'm a bit torn. Both of these have been in Lent Madness before. Scholastica appeared in the 2017 bracket and reached the Saintly Sixteen. Hooker appeared twice before, in 2010 where he reached the Saintly Sixteen, and 2018 where he reached the Faithful 4. I don't think it's right to base a vote on the Collect, those were not written specifically for the saint in question, but are chosen by the blogger from a book of collects (see Megan Castellan's post). I will have to go back and reflect on their respective lives and faith journey to decide!

    1. Most of the collects were written specifically for the individual in question. The book referenced, “Lesser Feasts and Fasts” contains a brief biography of the person being celebrated in the Episcopal calendar along with the collect for that person, and, if I remember correctly, a scripture to be used with that. Intercession church in Colorado uses it for weekly evening prayer services.

  11. Scholastica has my heart but Hooker got my vote. I am rereading “Not Angels but Anglicans” a history of Christianity in the British Isles. Hooker is such an important piece of the history I had to vote for him.

  12. I suspect that Scholastica was Benedict's physical twin as he saw her soul rising as a dove to heaven may not be unusual given the circumstances. Even today, twins seem to have unusual relationships which are unfathomable to most us.
    Hooker should win, because he left behind Anglican philosophy "much speedia" (thank you John Cabot!).

  13. I didn’t know a thing about Richard Hooker before today. What an estimable thinker! Thank you for the introduction.

  14. Scholastica's story is a great example of how sometimes we need to go "over someone's head" in order to get what we need. My vote goes to Hooker though, because he understood that the quibbling the Church sometimes likes to get into about minutiae can serve to obfuscate rather than illuminate God's love of us and purpose for us. I, for one, might have shunned Christianity entirely if not for the via media.

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  15. I had to vote for Hooker, because I am an Episcopalian who works with Roman Catholics, and my coworkers are all worthy of going to Heaven. I also appreciate his emphasis on the people as opposed to the institutions. The church is the folks in the pews, no matter how few they may be, not the building or the dioceses.

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  16. A little unfair, I am studying Anglicanism in seminary right now, and currently have an affinity for R. Hooker. Scholastica is of course a stronger contender too.

  17. A difficult choice today: a central pillar of Anglican theology and practice, or a central pillar for women following the Benedictine path? In the end sisterhood won out, and I chose Scholastica.

  18. This was the first contest that was between saints I consider equals. The reason I voted as I did is that women have been dismissed as lesser beings even though they are in fact fully human.

  19. Interesting to find out that she was St. Benedict's sister. I liked the rain story. I liked the collect.

  20. Very glad to be here reading the Lent Madsess competition. Once I learned to read, I enjoyed reading small books that had lives of saints. Lent Madness is my way to be thoughtful and pray during Lent.

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  21. Well, well, I vote on my iPhone using Firefox (site won’t load in safari) and I see no vote totals until I either vote or click results. Shall see what it looks like on my MacBook tomorrow.

    What Gregory said about Scholastica rubs me the wrong way. I don’t think our depth of love of God determines the answers of prayers. I think God knew she had days left to live and Benedict would later regret not staying, so God compelled Benedict to stay the night.

    I don’t blame Scholastica for what Gregory said, but for the Via Media and his three-legged stool, I voted for Richard Hooker.

  22. Don't you think that much of what Benedict thought and wrote came out of his monthly discussions with Scholastica? But she didn't write it down to get credit for it
    . And what I want to know is, after she and he and God had the big fight, did they continue their deep discussion? I doubt it: the mood would have been broken. And it was their last chance, if she died days later. I expect Benedict thought about that for the rest of his own life. At least, I hope he did.