A mother whose persistence brought us a saint
Monica had a hard life, but her stamina brought others to belief in Christ
By Tony Staley
Compass Editor
When problems in the world, community, parish, workplace or family seem so great and we so small, look to St. Monica.
Her efforts led to the conversion of three people in her family, one of whom became one of Christianity's greatest theologians.
This 4th century saint was born into a Christian family in Tagaste, North Africa. Despite that, her parents married her to Patricius, a promiscuous pagan with a violent temper. As if that weren't bad enough, Monica shared their home with her mother-in-law, who also was difficult to get along with.
Besides raising their three children, Augustine, Navigius and Perpetua, Monica helped the poor and was known for her piety, for which Patricius often criticized her.
Despite the ridicule - or perhaps because of it - Monica continually prayed for the conversion of Patricius and his mother. Eventually, through her prayers and good example, they both became Christians.
Monica's happiness was short-lived. Patricius died in 371, a year after his Baptism, about the same time Monica learned that her eldest son, Augustine, then 17, had taken a mistress and had become a Manichean.
The Manichean heresy had its roots in Persia. It denied the humanity of Christ, the sacramental system, and the authority of church and state. It taught that two forces - good and evil - were battling for supremacy and that the supreme objective of humans was to defeat evil, that is, the world of matter.
Monica began praying and fasting for Augustine's conversion, all the while urging him to change. Finally, when he was 29, Augustine decided to teach her a lesson by slipping off to Rome. When she learned where he'd gone, the heartbroken Monica took the next ship for Rome, only to discover that he was in Milan. Again she followed him.
In Milan, Augustine came under the influence of the city's bishop, St. Ambrose, who also became Monica's spiritual director. Soon, Monica became a leader of the devout women in Milan.
All the while she continued praying for Augustine. Finally, on Easter in 387, her prayers were answered and Augustine was baptized. From there he went on to become one of the most influential church leaders in history.
As the Bishop of Hippo in North Africa, Augustine became one of the Western church's foremost theologians, deeply influencing both Catholic and Protestant theology. He taught that God lovingly and freely gives us an abundance of grace, and he began the development of our theological understanding of Original Sin. The rule he wrote for religious life is used by, among others, the Norbertines and the Augustinians.
But Monica saw none of it. She died at Ostia, Italy, shortly after Augustine's baptism, while traveling back to Africa with him.
(Sources: Catholic Almanac, Dictionary of Saints, Encyclopedia of Catholicism, Saint of the Day, 365 Saints)
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