Thursday, August 27, 1998
First Reading: 1 Corinthians 1: 1-9
Psalms: Psalm 145: 1-7
Gospel Reading: Matthew 24: 42-51
Saint Monica, Mother of Saint Augustine
Born into a Christian family in the village of Tagaste, Northern Africa in 332, Saint Monica learned at an early age the virtues of patience and obedience which she exhibited throughout her lifetime. When she reached
womanhood her parents married her off to a nobleman by the name of Patricius who was a kind husband, but possessed a terrible temper and a wanderlust which Monica tolerated because of her marriage vows. She tried
to calm and win him over through her obedience and patience, always praying that he would realize the error of
his ways and come to see the only answer was God. Her prayers were answered in 371 when Patricius
received Baptism as he lay dying. This patient love and total faith in God's Providence was transfered from
Patricius to their son Augustine who was 17 when his father died, leaving Monica a widow. Though Augustine had begun studying as a catechumen his father's genes took hold and her son opted for the world, also being led down the wrong path by Manichean heresy rationalizing that he wasn't responsible for his own free will. Oh, how wrong he was and Monica knew it, but rather than alienating her son she opened her arms to him using
the psychology of catching more flies with honey than vinegar. But her loving protection backfired as Augustine
fled to Italy to do his own thing. Monica would not see her son for 15 more years when, under the influence of
Saint Ambrose, Augustine's heart and mind finally discovered the truth and invited his mother to Ostia, Italy in 387 where, on Easter Sunday at the age of 33, Augustine was finally baptized into the true faith and a mother's patient prayers were finally answered. It had been her dying wish to see him come back to the Church and shortly after she passed on to her heavenly reward in the same year. Little did Monica realize how powerful were her prayers and what a gift her son would give back to Holy Mother Church as a great Doctor who had been
tutored by another great Doctor of the Church St. Ambrose. Monica has become the role model for mothers
everywhere especially mothers who have wayward children or offspring that have fallen away. Persevering
prayer does indeed pay off, not necessarily in our timetable but in God's time. That is where patience and
obedience play such a vital role. In 1586 St. Monica was officially added to the Roman Calendar by Pope Sixtus V and her relics were moved from Ostia to the church of St. Augustine where her son's relics rested and once again mother and son were reunited on earth as they were reunited in Heaven on Augustine's death in 430 AD.
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