The Lost Dialogue of Gregory the Great: The Life of St. Scholastica

Discover the enduring legacy and ancient hagiographical method used to recover the missing life and voice of St. Scholastica of Nursia.

In The "Lost" Dialogue of Gregory the Great, Carmel Posa, SGS, applies a "disciplined imagination" and the ancient hagiographical method to recover the missing life and voice of St. Scholastica of Nursia. Drawing on a wide range of scholarship, including Gregory the Great's four famous dialogues, biblical models, and the Rule of Benedict, Posa follows a technique similarly used by Saint Gregory himself to create an engaging and credible account of Scholastica's life.

In The "Lost" Dialogue of Gregory the Great, Posa's use of the hagiographical method as a "disciplined imagination" serves as a tool for the repositioning of women's lives in history. By presenting a "lost life" of Scholastica into the hagiographic record of Christianity, she gifts the Church for today with the story of a beloved saint that will not only inspire readers but encourage them to ponder more searchingly the sources of the wisdom contained in Benedict's remarkable Rule. Carmel's careful methodology also offers readers an image of Scholastica that has a spiritual standing apart from her famous and holy brother. She retrieves the enduring legacy of Scholastica from the margins and places her into the center of monastic history, in particular and church history, in general. Oblates, Benedictines, and those interested in monastic spirituality will also be challenged to reconsider those women whose voices have been erased, devalued, or ignored over the centuries and inspired to "listen carefully" to the whispered words and wisdom of women as we mark our journey together into a future full of hope, with Christ and his Gospel for our guide.


Author: Carmel Posa
Publisher: Liturgical Press
Published: 07/15/2024
Pages: 128
Binding Type: Paperback
ISBN: 9798400800535

About the Author
Carmel Posa is a member of the Good Samaritan Sisters of the Order of St. Benedict. She held the position of senior lecturer at Notre Dame University, Australia from 1999--2012 and was the executive director of the New Norcia Institute for Benedictine Studies at New Norcia, Western Australia, from 2012--2017. She lectures in the department of Christian thought and history at Yarra Theological Union, a member college of the University of Divinity, Melbourne and teaches monastic studies at St. John's School of Theology and Seminary, Collegeville, Minnesota. Carmel is co-editor of the journal, Tjurunga: An Australasian Benedictine Review, and editor of A Not-So-Unexciting Life: Essays on Benedictine History and Spirituality in Honor of Michael Casey, OCSO, published by Liturgical Press.