St. Monica - Patroness of Mothers - May 4th
It was in North Africa that this famous mother of St. Augustine was born. She was brought up as a good Christian. Her strong training was a great help to her when she was married to the pagan Patricius. Patricius admired his wife, but he had a terrible temper and made her suffer much. Still Monica never answered back and never complained about him. Instead she prayed for him fervently. At last, before he died, her prayers and her good example converted Patricius and her mother-in-law, also.
St. Monica’s joy over the holy way in which her husband had died soon changed to great sorrow when she found out that her son Augustine was living a wicked life. This brilliant young man of nineteen had turned to a false religion and to evil habits. Monica prayed and cried and did much penance for her son. She begged priests to talk to him. Augustine was brilliant, yet very stubborn, and he did not want to give up his sinful life.
But Monica would not give him up, either. When he went to Rome without her, she followed him. At Rome, she found he had become a teacher in Milan. So Monica went to Milan. And all those years, she never stopped praying for him. What love and faith! After thirty years of prayers and tears, her reward came when Augustine was converted. Not only did he become a good Christian, as she had prayed, but also a priest, a bishop, a great writer, and a very famous saint.
We should not become discouraged if our prayers are not answered right away. Like St. Monica, we must keep praying, because Our Lord promised, “Ask and you shall receive.”