c. 332–387 Patron Saint of homemakers, married women, mothers, abuse victims, alcoholics, and widows Invoked against difficult marriages and difficult children Pre-Congregation canonization Liturgical Color: White
Son, for my own part I have no further delight in any thing in this life. What I do here any longer, and why I am here, I know not, now that my hopes in this world are accomplished. There was one thing for which I desired to linger for a while in this life, that I might see you as a Catholic Christian before I died. My God has done this for me more abundantly, that I should now see you, despising earthly happiness, become His servant. ~Words of Saint Monica, from Saint Augustine’s Confessions
Saint Monica, whom we honor today, was the mother of one of the greatest saints in the history of the Church: Saint Augustine. Monica was most likely born in Thagaste, present-day Souk Ahras, Algeria, North Africa, and was a member of the Berber tribe, a diverse group of peoples indigenous to North Africa prior to the arrival of the Arabs. Thagaste was then part of the Roman Empire, which had legalized Christianity just twenty years before Monica was born. She was raised in a Christian home and became quite devout. Because Christianity was still new to the Roman Empire, Christians were likely a minority at that time. Monica married a man named Patricius (Patrick), who was a pagan and said to have had a violent temper and an immoral lifestyle. Patricius’ mother lived with the couple and is said to have had the same violent temperament as her son. Monica and Patricius had three children: sons Augustine and Navigius and a daughter whose name is unknown.
Monica’s marriage and home life were difficult, but she was a woman of deep faith and prayer. Earlier in her life she had struggled with alcohol but overcame those difficulties. Once married, her husband opposed her Christian faith and prayer life, but he also saw in her something that led to his respect for her. She wanted to baptize her children when they were born, but Patricius refused permission. His refusal broke her heart and led to her unwavering prayers for her family. When Augustine became ill as a child, Patricius initially agreed to permit his baptism, but when the boy recovered, Patricius once again forbade it.
Monica’s only recourse was prayer. She prayed fervently for her family’s conversion, and her prayers began to take hold. Patricius admired Monica’s virtues and was deeply affected by her love for him. That, coupled with her prayers, led to Patricius’ conversion and baptism around the year 370. He died one year later. Patricius’ mother also converted.
Augustine, her oldest child, was around sixteen when his father died. He had received a good education as a youth at a school about twenty miles south of their hometown. When Augustine was seventeen, he was sent to Carthage, in modern-day Tunisia, to study rhetoric. Though part of the Roman Empire at that time, Carthage had its roots in Greek culture and had some of the best schools where many prominent figures in society were educated. In Carthage, Augustine was searching for truth. After reading Cicero’s dialogue Hortensius, his thirst for truth grew stronger. Around this time, Augustine met a woman with whom he lived and had a child, despite his mother’s strong warnings against fornication.
In Carthage, Augustine was introduced to the teachings of Mani, a man who claimed to be the final prophet in a line of prophets such as Buddha, Zoroaster, and Jesus. Mani taught that there was a fundamental conflict between two opposite, co-eternal principles: light and darkness. Light was good; darkness was evil. He taught that the material world was a union of light and darkness, good and evil, and that the goal of human life was to release the light trapped within the darkness of the material world. Augustine embraced this religion, becoming a Manichaean. But there was one problem Augustine would face: his mother’s prayers and faith were powerful.
When Augustine returned from school in Carthage, he began to teach in his hometown. It was then that he announced he had become a Manichaean. As a result, Monica threw him out of her house as an act of the deepest love. God then spoke to her in a vision that gave her hope for her son, and she reconciled with him.
Augustine decided to open a school of Rhetoric, and he could think of no better place to do so than Rome. Around the age of thirty-one, he informed his mother that he was going to Rome. Because of her motherly concern for her son and because she had seen her two other children convert and be baptized, she informed Augustine she was going with him. However, before she knew it, Augustine snuck away and traveled to Rome without her. She would not give up, so she followed. By the time she arrived in Rome, Augustine had already left and taken a prestigious teaching position in Milan. She followed him there.
Over the next four years in Milan, Monica never gave up, praying for her son through tears. Since Augustine was impressed with intellectuals, he was drawn to the Catholic Bishop of Milan and future Saint Ambrose. Bishop Ambrose was an answer to a mother’s prayers. Around the year 387, at the age of thirty-three, Augustine converted to Christianity and was baptized by Bishop Ambrose.
Once converted, Augustine and his mother decided to return home to Thagaste, but Monica would never complete the trip. She fell ill and died in Ostia, a city just outside of Rome. Augustine went on to become one of the most influential theologians in the history of the Church. In his book, Confessions, Saint Augustine shares the beautiful story of his mother. He highlights all that we know about her. He shares her early struggle with alcohol. When Augustine went astray at Carthage, he recalls how she wept for him more than most mothers would weep over the death of their child. Augustine recounts how fervently his mother prayed while they were in Milan and sought the counsel of Bishop Ambrose. Augustine’s most tender description of his mother describes his relationship with her after his conversion, their conversations, and her death. She had a profound impact upon him, and he, in turn, has had a profound impact upon the entire Church.
Saint Monica endured a difficult life, but she persevered, overcame her difficulties, and devoted herself to a life of prayer and virtuous living. Her prayers and virtues first won over her husband and mother-in-law, then all three of her children. Though Saint Augustine is the most well known, this mother, daughter-in-law, and wife made a difference in the lives of her entire family. Saint Monica is seen by many as a model of hope for those whose family members have gone astray. As we honor her today, ponder the power of her prayers. As you do, be reminded that your prayers for your family are also powerful. If you have someone in your family who has gone astray, allow Saint Monica to inspire you and devote yourself to praying for them, so that each member of your family will share, one day, the glories of Heaven with you.
Saint Monica, though you had a difficult life, you continually turned your difficulties over to God. You prayed, grew in virtue, and had a profound impact on your whole family. Please pray for me, that I will never lose hope for those who have gone astray but will remain faithful in prayer for them, trusting in God’s divine mercy. Saint Monica, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You.
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Who was St. Augustine’s Mother?
Updated: Apr 11
Learning about St. Monica.
Monica has an incredibly unique and special place in the hearts and minds of the Augustinians. In fact, the greater Catholic Church recognizes her as being the Patron Saint of Mothers. Little did Monica ever know that her son, Augustine of Hippo, would eventually become the most quoted and cited saint throughout all of Christendom to this day. Saint Monica is truly a Hero of our Faith.
Mostly everything we know about Monica and her husband Patricius comes from Augustine’s Confessions, a semi-autobiographical dialogue with God. She was born in either 331 or 332 in the small town of Thagaste (modern-day Souk-Ahras, Algeria). She was a member of the Berber tribe, an ethnicity that presently lives mostly in Morocco and Algeria. On November 13, 354, she gave birth to Aurelius Augustine in Thagaste.
Although Monica’s husband Patricius had no particular religious beliefs, she raised Augustine in the Catholic faith. However, Augustine was not baptized during his infancy, which was the common Church practice of the time. Augustine later recounted:
My cleansing was therefore deferred on the pretext that if I lived I would inevitably soil myself again, for it was held that the guild of sinful defilement incurred after the laver of baptism was greater and more perilous. I was already a believer, as were my mother and all the household, with the exception of my father. He, however, did not overrule the influence my mother’s piety exercised over me, by making any attempt to stop me believing in Christ, in whom he did not at that time believe himself. My mother did all she could do to see that you, my God, should be more truly than my father was …
— Confessions I, 11, 18
As Augustine entered early adulthood, however, he began to drift away from the Church and into a a world of sin. He desired to learn about secular philosophies, he lusted, and he desired worldly goods. He went to study in Carthage, where he became skilled in rhetoric. He joined various religious groups like the Manichees and the neo-Platonists, drifting further and further from Christ. All the while, Monica continued to pray for her son to find his faith once again. She did not approve of him joining these other religions but still loved him unconditionally.
One day, Monica approached a certain priest and asked him to guide Augustine back to Christianity. Augustine later described this encounter in his Confessions:
She pleaded all the more insistently and with free-flowing tears that he would consent to see me and discuss matters with me. A little vexed, he answered, ‘Go away now; but hold onto this: it is inconceivable that he should perish, a son of tears like yours.’ In her conversations with me [Augustine] later she often recalled that she had taken these words to be an oracle from Heaven.”
— Confessions III, 12, 21
When Augustine finally experienced his conversion back to the Christian faith, Monica rejoiced. Augustine was finally baptized on April 24, 387 in Milan. He then left Milan to return to his hometown of Thagaste. However, his return was delayed for nearly two years while the port of Ostia was closed by a blockade. At what point during this time, Augustine and Monica had simultaneously experienced a mystical moment. During a discussion of divine wisdom, Augustine claims that “We did for one instant touch it …” Nine days after this encounter with divinity, Monica died and was buried in Ostia. Right before her death, she asked of Augustine:
Lay this body anywhere and take no trouble over it. One thing only do I ask of you, that you remember me at the altar of the Lord wherever you may be.
— Confessions IX, 11, 27
Augustine proceeded to enter ordained ministry and created a Rule for religious communities that the Augustinians continue to follow to this very day. Imagine, however, that Monica did not continue to pray for Augustine’s path to knowing God. Imagine if she had simply given up on him or even disowned him. What would the world, or even the Catholic Church, look like today?
Monica loved Augustine unconditionally even throughout his life of sin far away from the Lord. She prayed for him and cried for him with immense devotion and care. Her remains now rest at the Church of Saint Augustine in Rome. Mothers across the world continue to pray for her intercession, especially on her feast day, August 27. She is a role model to mothers everywhere, as well as anyone else who is praying that their loved ones find Christ. She is truly an Augustinian Hero of Faith.
St. Monica Biography – Patron Saint of Mothers and Wives
Model of Prayer in Domestic Difficulties
“All things whatsoever you shall ask when ye pray, believe that you shall receive and they shall come unto you.” (Mark, Ch. 11, v. 24.)
St. Monica (332-387 AD) was a Christian saint and the mother of St. Augustine of Hippo. She is venerated as a saint by the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Eastern Orthodox Church. Her feast day is celebrated on August 27th.
St. Monica was born in Thagaste, a Roman town in what is now modern-day Algeria, in Africa. She was raised in a Christian family, but her husband Patricius, was a pagan and had a violent temper. Despite this, Monica persisted in her faith, and she raised her children to be Christians.
One of her children was Augustine, who would later become one of the most renowned theologians in Christianity. Monica’s relationship with Augustine was difficult at times, as he was a rebellious youth who lived a hedonistic lifestyle. Despite this, Monica never gave up on him and prayed tirelessly for his conversion.
Monica’s persistence and prayers were finally answered when Augustine converted to Christianity. This conversion was a significant moment for Augustine and for the Church. Monica’s devotion to her son and her faith in God’s ability to change him is a powerful testament to the power of prayer and the role of mothers in the spiritual lives of their children.
After Augustine’s conversion, Monica and her son traveled to Milan, where they met St. Ambrose, a bishop who would play a significant role in Augustine’s spiritual development. It was during this time that Monica experienced a profound conversion herself. She became known for her deep devotion and her deep love for God.
Monica died in Ostia, Italy, in 387 AD. Her death was a great loss for Augustine, who wrote about his mother in his Confessions, one of the most famous Christian texts. Her last words to Augustine were, “”Lay this body anywhere, let not care for it trouble you; this only I ask you, that you remember me at the altar of the Lord, wherever you be.””
After her death, Monica’s cult quickly spread and she was considered a saint by popular acclaim. Her relics are said to have been translated to a church in Rome, but in the 15th century, her body was moved to a church in Pavia, Italy, which was later renamed as the Church of Santa Monica, where her relics are still being venerated.
St. Monica is considered a model of patience, humility, and perseverance and her life serves as an inspiration for mothers and for all those who seek to deepen their faith in God. She is often invoked for those in need of patience and for those seeking the conversion of loved ones.
The Life of St. Monica
In the year 1850, at Notre Dame de Sion, in France, an association of Christian mothers was founded under the patronage of St. Monica. It had for its purpose mutual prayer for sons and husbands who had gone astray. At that time it spread over the entire Christian world from France to Dublin, even to Buenos Aires. St. Monica’s patronage was very well known during this time and still remains popular today. Saint Monica is the patron saint of mothers and wives who experience domestic problems. Saint Monica lived from 333-387.
The homage paid to Saint Monica by women of every age is prompted by the personal Calvary she experienced for seventeen years of her life. She is the perfect example for the modern woman of perseverance in prayer, and next to the devotion of Jesus for Mary, and Mary for her Divine Son, perhaps no greater story of devoted maternal love can be found in the chronicles of Christian history than that of St. Monica and St. Augustine.
Biography of Saint Monica
Patron of those suffering the challenges of difficult marriages
St. Monica was born of Christian parents at Tagaste in Northern Africa, in the year 333. We are told little of her childhood or her early life, but we do know that her parents arranged a marriage for her with a pagan named Patritius who held some important civic position at Tagaste. Like an ordinary non-Christian of his time, Patritius was a man of dissolute habits, and Monica suffered a great deal from his temper and infidelity.
As a result of his vice and his outbursts of anger, St. Monica’s married life at the very outset was an unhappy one, especially in view of the fact that she had a miserable and possessive mother-in-law, with a disposition very much like that of her son, and a gift for interfering in their marital problems. She usually sided with her son, Patritius, in his outbursts of wrath, like some meddlesome mothers-in-law of our day and she was so jealous of Monica that she used to tell false stories to the servants about her. To Monica’s credit, however, she met all these insults from mother and son with a discreet silence that eventually won the respect of her husband. Still, St. Monica is no doubt the patron saint of difficult relationships.
Patron Saint of Troubled Parents
St. Monica and Patritius had two sons, Augustine and Navigius, and one daughter. St. Augustine was destined to be the center and the main cross of Monica’s life. Although it is with his eventual conversion that we usually associate the name of St. Monica, it should not be forgotten that she was instrumental as well in bringing about the conversion of her non-Christian husband. These were pagan times, and husbands for the most part, treated their wives like servants, and very often like slaves. Many of the wives of Tagaste would be amazed whenever they met Monica in the marketplace, to see that she bore no bruises from her husband, a bad habit to which they were quite accustomed. One day, when openly questioned about her good fortune, she replied: “Lay the blame rather on yourselves and your tongues. Guard your tongue when your husband is in a passion.”
Finally, after many years of prayer, which somewhat annoyed her husband, although he did hold her in some sort of reverence, Saint Monica succeeded in winning Patritius over to the Christian faith. He was baptized in 370, and from all reports became a chaste husband very attentive to his Christian duties. He died the year after his conversion. After his death, Monica resolved never to marry again. Through her patience and good example, she succeeded in converting her mother-in-law as well.
Because of her marriage with a pagan, it would appear that Saint Monica had been unable to secure the baptism of her three children. As an infant she had St. Augustine ranked among the catechumens, and she tried to instill in his youthful mind the principles of Christian piety. His one aim, however, was to excel in intellectual accomplishments.
Once, when Augustine fell ill, according to some reports, Monica pleaded with Patritius to allow his baptism, which he finally gave but withdrew after Augustine recovered. Whether or not this is true, the fact remains that his baptism was deferred. In this respect, St. Monica can certainly be invoked by the Catholic woman of today who finds herself facing this same problem in a mixed marriage where her non-Catholic husband refuses to honor the promises he made at the time of marriage. Her persistence and example which finally won, are certainly worthy of imitation.
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