Thank You to the Sisters of Mount St. Scholastica
Given at the "sneak preview of the dedication of St. Scholastica Plaza
Ali Mainelli, Benedictine College Student

Thank you so much for the opportunity to speak this evening. On behalf of the student body, I am so grateful for Benedictine College and its founders, the monks of St. Benedict's Abbey and the sisters of Mount St. Scholastica, whom we are honoring today. This order of sisters was founded upon many beautiful principles. St. Scholastica’s name adequately sums up one of the major tenets of this order. Her name means “she who has leisure to devote to study”. This college is designed to be a place where men and women learn what it means to learn. They acquire knowledge not only for a degree or a future job, but knowledge for the sake of knowledge. This has led students to be well-rounded, critical thinkers who seek to know truth and live it within their lives.

The success of this founding tenet has been partly due to the fortitude and passion of these sisters. One of the most well known stories of St. Scholastica and St. Benedict involves the two of them being engrossed in conversation of the spiritual life. This very accurately parallels students’ lives today. I cannot even count the number of conversations I have had or witnessed about the meaning of life, pursuits of spirituality and the definition of love. This is what St. Scholastica would have desired. Through the founding of this college, the Mount sisters have helped us to flourish intellectually, allowed our souls to touch in conversation and urged our hearts to beat more closely with God’s.

From all of the student body, we are extremely thankful for these gifts. May God bless you and all of your predecessors for the hard work and the heart you have contributed to this college and our education.
Ali Mainelli