Saint Monica
Feast day: August 27
Saint Monica, the mother who patiently wept and prayed for her son, Saint Augustine (27/08)
Who is she?
Saint Monica was a wife and mother in North Africa who lived more than 1,600 years ago. She is famous for her patience and her long years of prayer for her son, Saint Augustine. The Church celebrates her feast the day before her son’s.
Life story
Monica was born around the year 331 in Thagaste, North Africa (now in Algeria), into a Christian family. She married Patricius, a man who did not yet believe in God and had a very hot temper. She did not argue back when her husband was angry, but waited until he calmed down and then gently explained. Thanks to her gentleness, her patience and her prayers, Patricius asked to be baptized before he died.
Her greatest sorrow was her son Augustine. Augustine was very clever but lived a wild life and followed false teachings. She wept and prayed for her son day and night. A bishop comforted her by saying that the son of so many tears could not be lost (cf. Confessions, Book III).
Augustine wanted to go to Rome and did not want his mother to come along. One night, Augustine secretly got on a ship and left, while his mother was praying in a chapel near the shore. Monica was very sad, but she did not give up. She crossed the sea after her son to Italy, all the way to the city of Milan.
In Milan, Augustine met Saint Ambrose and little by little came back to God. At the Easter Vigil in 387, Augustine was baptized. God had answered his mother’s years of prayer.
On the way home, mother and son stopped at the port of Ostia. One day, the two of them stood at a window looking out over a garden and talked together about the joy of heaven. A few days later, she fell ill. She did not worry about where she would be buried; she only asked her sons to remember her at the altar of the Lord. She died in 387, at about 56 years old.
Why is she a saint?
Saint Monica became a saint through her steady love, her gentle heart and her faith that God always listens. She is the patron saint of mothers, especially mothers who are praying for their children.
A lesson for you
- Pray every day for someone in your family who is sad or far from God, and don’t give up when you don’t see results yet.
- When someone gets angry with you, learn from Saint Monica: stay calm, and wait until things are quiet before you speak.
- Thank your mother, and pray for her just as she always prays for you.
Identifying marks
- A tear and a white handkerchief: for many years she wept and prayed for her son who had gone astray to come back to God.
- A cross held close to her heart: she prayed patiently and trusted in Jesus crucified.
- The black veil and dark clothes of a widow: after her husband died, she lived a holy life as a widow.
- Beside Saint Augustine (*): mother and son are often painted together.
(*) Only in some pictures and statues.
The text on this page is the saint card in the Catholic Information app, word for word.
Collect this card and read more about the saints in the app