Saint Monica is best known perhaps as the mother of Saint Augustine of Hippo (the great philosopher, theologian, Father of the Latin West, and Doctor of the Church). But her motherhood alone is not the reason for her sainthood; rather, it was her living martyrdom of sorrow and suffering that demonstrated the constancy of her holiness and faith in God. Most of what we know of her comes from Saint Augustine’s Confessions, and in that amazing text, we learn of Saint Monica’s sorrow and suffering at the lack of faith that she found in her sons as well as in her husband. Saint Augustine writes of the flood of tears that his mother shed on account of her family’s errant and heretical beliefs about God (in the case of Augustine), or their total unbelief (in the case both of his brother and of his father).
But by the end of her earthly life, her constant prayers and her many tears prevailed: Saint Augustine, his brother, and his father (on his deathbed) all converted to the Catholic faith. In her last days of life, she lamented not yet passing into eternal life.
Saint Augustine quotes her: “Son, as far as I am concerned, nothing in this life now gives me any pleasure. I do not know why I am still here . . . I did have one reason for wanting to live a little longer: to see you become a Catholic Christian before I died. God has lavished His gifts on me in that respect.”
Saint Monica is an excellent model of faith and prayer for any mother who worries about the faith and spiritual health of her children. May Saint Monica come to the aid of all parents who themselves pray constantly for their children.