Memorial of Saint Monica
It is no accident that Saint Monica is the patroness of women of almost all states. She had experienced life as a single person, in marriage, as a mother and as a widow.
St. Monica did not know only religious life, which does not mean that it was not close to her. She was friends with many clergymen, and her eldest son, Augustine, after sheprayed for conversion, achieved the episcopal dignity. It is thanks to the person of her famous son that most believers know St. Monica. But not only him adds color to the life of this saint, which from the very beginning was marked by her heroic virtues.
She was born in Thagaste (Africa) in 332. As a child and young girl, she received a deeply Christian upbringing. Her carefree youth ended, however, with her quick marriage to a clerk from Thagaste, a pagan. Patrician was an impatient, angry man, and he cheated on his wife. Monica endured these crosses in silence, persistently praying for him. She gifted him with three children: two sons and a daughter. When the eldest son - Augustin - came of age, Monica became a widow. It is worth emphasizing that she managed to pray for her husband's conversion - before his death, he converted to the Christian faith.Meanwhile, for Monika, new problems related to Augustine's bustling life began.
Monument from words
In his "Confessions", St. Augustine wrote: "My mother told me - with the greatest calmness, with such serenity as she gives her complete trust - that she believes that before she leaves this world, she will see me a Catholic. She said so much to me. And to You, who is the source of mercy, she prayed even more fervently, crying, she asked You to help me as soon as possible and to illuminate my darkness with Your light. "
Premonition, or rather the faith of St. Monica did not disappoint her, but she had to suffer a lot until the longed-for spiritual transformation of her son. "I cannot express in words how much she loved me" - only such can be the justification given elsewhere in the "Confessions" of St. Augustine, her desperate wanderings behind him, wherever he went. She was worried about him and wanted to always be close in case he needed her. Following her son, she left her native African lands to Milan and Rome. There she accompanied him in his moments of depression and deep sorrow, which he experienced just before his conversion. Finally, she was with him during his conversion, when he finally gave up his life with a concubine, gave up drunkenness and libation, and returned to the bosom of the Church. Monica died shortly after these events, and her son, because of whom she suffered so much, made a monument for her from the words in his autobiography: "Could you despise her tears, could you not hear her prayers, in which she begged you not for silver and gold, not for any changeable and transient goods, but for the salvation of your son's soul? By your grace, she was as it was. No, You could not refuse her help, o Lord.”
Happy mother fulfilled the mission of her life. When she was going to her hometown of Thagaste, she fell ill with fever and after a few days she died in Ostia in 387. Augustine did not give us the date. However, she remembers her memory in the most tender words. Monica feels that she had done everything in this life that she had to do, that nothing else in this world holds her. She was 56 years old. "Nothing in the world makes me happy anymore and I don't know why I'm still living here, when everything has come true, for which I have been sighing for so long and what I wanted," she confessed to her son just before her return trip to Africa. - My only purpose in life was, my son, to see you a Christian. And God has fulfilled my wish, because I see you as His servant, despising the insignificance of this world. What else is there for me? I am too happy to live on in this world. I have sowed with tears, but I am cleaning up the harvest with real happiness. "I wish to praise Your grace and righteousness, I will play to You, Lord, for glory - it was said that at her death. - I will always stick to righteous ways. So, when will you come to me?” (cf. Ps 101).
Monica's body was laid in Ostia in the church of St. Aurea. On her tomb there is an inscription in six poems by an unknown author. In 1162, the Augustinians were to take the holy remains of Monica to France and place them in Arouaise near Arras. In 1430, they were transferred to Rome and placed in the church of St. Tryphon, who later received the name of St. Augustine.
Saint Monica, pray for us!
As confirmed by numerous testimonies of the faithful, to this day Jesus does not refuse to help those for whom St. Monica intercedes.Most of all, women who struggle with problems in marriage or raising children should pray to Saint Monica. Having experienced an unhappy marriage herself, she is also helpful in finding a suitable marriage candidate. Widows also pray to her, especially those who find it difficult to live through this state. Benedict XVI mentioned St. Monica during the "Angelus" prayer on August 27, 2006 with the words: "How many difficulties there are also today in family relations and how many mothers are in anguish at seeing their children setting out on wrong paths! Monica, a woman whose faith was wise and sound, invites them not to lose heart but to persevere in their mission as wives and mothers, keeping firm their trust in God and clinging with perseverance to prayer. "
Prayer to St. Monica, Patroness of Mothers
Blessed Monica, mother of St. Augustine, we give thanks to our Father in Heaven
Who looked with mercy upon your tears over your wayward son.
His conversion and heroic sanctification were the fruit of your prayers.
Dear St. Monica we now ask you to pray with us
for all those sons and daughters that have wandered away from God,
and to add your prayers to those of all mothers who are worried over their children.
Pray also for us that, following your example, we may, in the company of our children, one day enjoy the eternal vision of our Father in Heaven. Amen.
Prayer of the wife and mother
God, you who saw the sincere tears and prayers of St. Monica and you answered her prayers with the conversion of her husband and son,
grant me the grace that I would be able to pray to you with the same sincere enthusiasm and that I would ask, like her, for the salvation of my soul and those close to me for whom I am responsible. Through Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Prayer for the conversion of the child
I turn to you, St. Monica, a great model of answered prayer for a child, for help and advice. In your loving arms I entrust my child (s) …… so that thanks to your powerful intercession they can receive the grace of a sincere and true conversion to Christ our Lord. I also humbly ask you to obtain for me the spirit of the Lord for the same persistent and constant prayer as He gave you. I am asking for it through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Until Tomorrow
fr. george