ST MONICA: Feast Day August 27.
Saint Monica was born in the year 331 A.D, and raised in a Catholic family in the small town of Tagaste in modern day Algeria. Monica’s parents gave her in marriage to Patricius who was a Roman pagan, known for his drinking and violent rages, of which Monica was often the victim. Patricius criticized his wife because of her charity and piety, but always respected her. Monica’s prayers and example finally resulted in the conversion of her husband and mother-in-law to Christianity. Her husband died in 371, one year after his baptism. After her husband’s premature death, St. Monica dedicated her life to raising her children. As a single mother of three, she persevered in the face of many difficulties. Her greatest desire was for her children to follow Christ. Although later in life he was known as a fervent man of God, Monica’s beloved son Augustine did not easily come to see God’s truth. As a child, he proved to be quite difficult, causing Monica much grief, and as a young adult he remained uninterested in Christianity. But St. Monica never stopped praying for his eternal soul, in spite of the circumstances. On one particular occasion, when she was discussing the matter with a priest, he urged her to remain steadfast in her prayers, stating that it was “not possible that the son of so many tears should perish.”
After many years of prayer, Saint Monica finally saw her son give his life to the service of God. Augustine declared that his mother’s resilience and dedication to prayer is what led him to become the man of God he was meant to be. He stated that St. Monica was not only his mother, but “the source of his Christianity.”
St. Monica passed away in A.D. 387, shortly after St. Augustine was baptized. Her legacy serves as a reminder for all Christians to never stop praying for those who do not yet know Christ. She is the patron saint of wives and mothers.
ST AUGUSTIN: Feast Day August 28.
Augustine was born in Souk Ahras in the Roman province of Numidia. His family were ethnic north Africans (the Berbers), but the area was heavily Romanized, and they spoke Latin at home. His father Patricius was a pagan, but his mother Monica, a devout Christian.
His mother had a strong influence on the young Augustine, but to her disappointment, Augustine left his Christian background and joined the Manichean sect, founded by the prophet Mani in 240. In his late teens, Augustin developed an affair with a young woman from Carthage. She gave birth to his illegitimate son Adeodatus in 372.
In 386, at the age of 31, he made a formal conversion to Christianity. Augustine was inspired by reading about the life of Saint Anthony of the Desert. He also reported hearing an inner voice which told him to take up the Bible and read. He was drawn to a passage by St. Paul which was aimed at non- believers getting transformed. The passage Augustine refers to was Romans 13:13-14.
He wrote an account of his conversion in his text Confessions – this is an influential Christian apologist and important example of biographical text.
In 391, he became the Bishop of Hippo and for the next 39 years became an influential preacher, often speaking against his former religion of Manichaeism.
In the last half of his life, Augustine was noted for his piety. His writing, ‘City of God’, which was written in response to the sack of Rome, argued the real religion was in spirit and not in temporal cities and the religion of the world.
Augustine was an apologist for the Catholic Church but argued that the Church was not always in a state of grace, but could attract bad and wicked people. The other reality is the invisible Church of spirit which is ruled by love, grace and goodness. Ultimately, this religion of Spirit would triumph over worldly empires which were influenced by human pride. However, his writings on the limitations of earthly power were used by future Popes to imply that the Pope was pre-eminent of other kings and other countries. This proved an influential philosophy for the next centuries conflict between the Catholic Church and State. On 28th of August 430 A.D, Augustine fell ill and died.
Augustine is recognized as a saint in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Anglican Communion. He is also the Doctor of the Church and the patron of the Augustinians. His memorial is celebrated on 28 August, the day of his death, and the day after his mother’s feast day. St. Augustine is the patron saint of brewers, printers, theologians, and a number of cities and dioceses.
Fr. Josely Rocha