How often does a woman get to say that she prayed for her son and he became, not only a Catholic, but a priest, bishop, saint, Doctor of the Church, and one of the founding fathers of Western civilization? What unimaginable power there is in the tears and prayers of St. Monica!
By Fr. Dan Cambra, MIC
In August each year, the Church celebrates the feasts of the great St. Monica (on Aug. 27) and her son, St. Augustine of Hippo (Aug. 28), Doctor of the Church and creator of the famous “Rule of St. Augustine.” These feasts take on a special new meaning now that we live under the reign of Pope Leo XIV, the first pope from the Augustinian Order (the OSAs)
Lost sheep
Dr. Robert Stackpole describes for us St. Augustine in a passage from his great book from Marian Press, Divine Mercy: A Guide from Genesis to Benedict XVI:
Saint Augustine was born in 354 in a small town in what is now Algeria, North Africa. His father was a pagan, but his mother was a devout Christian believer who was later canonized and is known to the whole Catholic world as St. Monica. As a young man, Augustine prepared for a career as a teacher of Rhetoric and subsequently taught in Carthage and Rome. Unfortunately, despite having a saint for a mother, as his career progressed he wandered far from his Christian upbringing, and his life sank into an abyss of pride and lust.
Like many young pagan men of his time, he lived with a mistress and conceived a child with her out of wedlock. However, the Lord did not want to lose hold of this lost sheep altogether: thus, inspired by the writings of the Roman philosopher Cicero (and, no doubt, prompted by the Holy Spirit), Augustine began what would prove to be a lifelong search for wisdom. …
In 386, Augustine moved to Milan to a new teaching post, and there, by divine providence, he encountered the preaching of the archbishop of the city, the great theologian St. Ambrose. As a result of the example and preaching of this great saint, as well as the prayers and tears of his saintly mother, Augustine was quickly plunged into a profound inner struggle, wrestling with his sins of the flesh and with temptations to intellectual pride. The turning point of this struggle came in the summer of 386 when Augustine was sitting in a garden, recollecting his past life and gazing into the depths of his own soul. …
Augustine converted decisively, and went on to become one of the greatest bishops, theologians, and writers of religious rules in the history of the Church. Pope Leo’s public statements and official papal documents have normally included at least one quote from St. Augustine. We will all be learning a great deal more about this Father and Doctor of the Church throughout the pontificate of the first American pope!
But it’s almost more important that we all learn from St. Augustine’s mother Monica about the power and importance of persistent, untiring prayer.
Model of prayer
Many of our Catholic brothers and sisters mourn that their children or grandchildren have wandered away from the full practice of their Catholic faith. They take comfort from the example of St. Monica, whose steadfast, persistent habit of prayer for her husband, Patricius, and her son, Augustine, were so spectacularly rewarded.
How often does a woman get to say that she prayed for her son and he became, not only a Catholic, but a priest, bishop, saint, Doctor of the Church, and one of the founding fathers of Western civilization? What unimaginable power there is in the tears and prayers of St. Monica!
And so many of our brethren today seek to imitate her, seek to help their loved ones return to the faith by similar prayers, tears, fasting, and works of mercy done on their behalf.
This is good, and something we should all be doing for our friends, family, and neighbors who have lost or wandered away from their faith.
Persist for Purgatory
But I want to encourage you all to take a slightly different approach, as well. Pray for the living, certainly, but do not forget to also pray for the dead. Persist in your prayers, fasting, almsgiving, indulgences, and other suffrages for the dead, for they can’t help themselves.
Be a St. Monica, not necessarily for the next generation, but for those who have gone before. They gave us so much by their lives; let us show our gratitude for those who have gone before with the same steadfast habits of prayer and tearful beseeching of God’s grace that St. Monica brought to bear to set her husband and son free from sin through grace and the Sacraments.
After all, it’s easy to get distracted by the pleasures and comforts of this world. It’s also easy for our compassion, our Christian works of mercy, to focus solely on the visible suffering of those right in front of us, the needs of our communities and our households, and to forget or neglect those who have died. “They no longer suffer,” we tell ourselves. “At least their suffering is at an end.”
That’s not necessarily the case, as St. Faustina was reminded by the Holy Souls who visited her, asking for her prayers and the Masses they needed to move on to heavenly glory and leave the sufferings of Purgatory behind. Many of those who die who will ultimately reach Heaven nevertheless spend some amount of time in Purgatory.
The month of the Immaculate Heart
During August, the month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, let us honor and imitate St. Monica and St. Augustine. Let us live under the mantle of the Blessed Mother, steeped in the fiery charity of her Immaculate Heart, and with our Rosaries, Divine Mercy Chaplets, and other prayers and devotions, be mini Monicas for the many, many sinful and fallen away Augustines of this world.
Pick a great sinner, either a public figure or someone in your community, parish, or even in your family, and commit to praying for them every day. And don’t forget to pray for the Holy Souls in Purgatory every day. They can’t pray for themselves.
May God bless you!
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