Saint Monica

Monica was of Berber descent. She was born in 332 AD at Tagaste (located in modern-day Souk Ahras, Algeria). Her parents brought her up as Christian and married her to an older, pagan man named Patricius. He was a man of great energy, but also had a violent temper and was sexually promiscuous. However, their son Augustine reports that, although domestic abuse was common at the time, because of Monica’s submission to her husband, he never beat her. Her almsgiving and habit of prayer irritated him yet led him to respect her. It was said that by her sweetness and patience, she was able to exercise a good influence among other abused wives and mothers. They knew she suffered as they did and so were moved by her example.

Monica was very devout and attended church daily, which helped her cultivate the virtue of patience. She would say to other women who had difficult marriages:

“If you can master your tongue, not only do you run less risk of being beaten, but perhaps you may even, one day, make your husband better.”

And in fact, she won over her mother-in-law in a short time. She also converted her pagan husband to Christianity and calmed his violent tendencies.

Monica and Patricius bore three children: Augustine the eldest, Navigius the second, and a daughter, Perpetua. Augustine made her happy because of his successes as a scholar and teacher, but she was also ashamed of his debauched lifestyle. Augustine lived for 10 years with his mistress and also became a Manichaean. Although Monica asked a bishop to convince Augustine of his errors, he was not able to change the young man. He told the mother to keep praying for her son. He told her, “It is impossible that the son of so many tears should perish.”

When Patricius died, Monica went to Italy to join her son. He had been in Rome, but when she arrived he had already gone to Milan so she followed him there. Through St Ambrose, bishop of Milan, she had the joy of seeing Augustine, aged 28, converted after 17 years of her prayers. Mother and son spent six months at Cassiacum, after which Augustine was baptised in the church of St John the Baptist in Milan. They then decided to return to Africa, stopping at Civita Vecchia and Ostia. It was here that Monica died. The year was 387 and she was 56 years old. Her last words to her son were:

“There was indeed one thing for which I wished to tarry a little in this life and that was that I might see you a Christian before I died. My God hath answered this more than abundantly, so that I see you now his servant spurning all earthly happiness. What more have I to do here?”

After her death, her son wrote extensively of her virtues and his life with her in his Confessions. Her relics were later removed from Ostia to the Church of Sant’Agostino in Rome.

As part of the 1969 revision of the Roman Catholic calendar of saints, Monica’s feast was moved to August 27, the day before the feast of her son Saint Augustine. Saint Monica is the Patron Saint of patience, wives, mothers, and victims of abuse.

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Saint Monica – Readings

Commentary on Sirach 26:1-4,13-16; Luke 7:11-17

The Gospel reading is really symbolic. It tells the story of a widow in the city of Nain, which was probably a few kilometres south of Nazareth in Galilee. She had lost her only son, and hence the only means of her support. Widows and orphans—women who have lost their husbands and children without parents—were regarded as the most unfortunate in the society of Jesus’ day. Without any form of social welfare they had no means of support and were looked on with a certain pity and contempt. They were seen as of no use to anyone either as future wives or as husbands. And widows could be quite young, as there were many ways in which a relatively young husband could meet his death.

In the Gospel, the woman’s plight was desperate. She had lost her husband and now had lost her son as well. As she brought her son for burial she was accompanied by a large group of people. They were sympathetic, but there was not much they could do to help.

However, when Jesus saw her he was filled with compassion and told her not to weep. He stepped forward, touched the bier on which the man lay and the carriers stopped. Speaking to him, Jesus said:

Young man, I say to you, rise!

Immediately the man rose up and began speaking with his mother.

Realising they were in the presence of someone with very special powers, the crowd was filled with fear and they cried:

A great prophet has risen among us!…God has visited his people!

Doubtless they were remembering the occasion when the prophet Elijah brought back to life the only son of widow in Zarephath (1 Kings 17:8-24). In this case, however, the resuscitation was brought about simply by a word. Not surprisingly, the event was being talked about even in the southern province of Judea and the surrounding region.

The story reflects the plight of Monica, who had lost her son to paganism and immorality. As a devout Christian herself, he might as well have died. But then, due to her incessant prayer, he came back to the faith of his mother. In time, he would become one of the greatest writers and saints in the history of the Church.

Many devout parents today have to suffer in seeing their children abandon the faith of the family. Like Monica, they need to keep praying that their children will find their way back to a life of faith and love.

The First Reading, from the Book of Sirach (also called Ecclesiasticus), is a description of the good wife and mother and reflects the relationship which Monica had with a dominant husband. Such a wife brings joy to her husband and is a blessing from God:

Whether rich or poor, his heart is content,
and at all times his face is cheerful.

Such a wife is gracious, thoughtful, her restrained speech is a gift from the Lord as is her modesty and sexual fidelity:

Like the sun rising in the heights of the Lord,
so is the beauty of a good wife in her well-ordered home.

In a world where women had a very secondary role, such words are high praise. Monica is indeed a worthy patron of wives and mothers.

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