Saint Monica

Did you know that perhaps no mother, other than the Virgin Mary herself, is considered to have had so much influence on the early Catholic Christian Church, as Monica of Tagaste, Africa? Why so? Because Saint Monica spent most of her lifetime praying for the Christian conversion of a wayward and worldly son, who eventually became one of the Church’s greatest theologians, Saint Augustine. Some observers considered her an interfering, in-your-face kind of mom. Others saw her as a shrewd woman of faith and spiritual anchor for a son whose talents she felt belonged to the Church. A crowning moment for Saint Monica was when she saw Augustine finally baptized in the Church. She died in the year 387.

Saint Monica, pray for us.