The Woman in Augustine's Shadow
By Mary Frances Myler,
In this Year of St. Joseph, we have been called to meditate upon the hidden life of holiness, the quiet sanctity modeled by the foster-father of Jesus. This holiness is not weak; rather, its strength lies in its humility. St. Monica, the mother of St. Augustine, exemplifies this humble life of love. While her son looms large as one of Christianity’s most influential theologians, little is known about St. Monica. And yet, without Monica, there would be no Augustine. Without her hidden life of holiness, the very course of civilization would be altered.
Monica was born in 331 AD in northern Africa (present day Algeria). Little is known about her early life, but she was a devout Christian. Despite her faith, Monica’s family married her to Patritius, who was a pagan. This marriage brought much hardship, for Patritius was a difficult husband. He had a violent temper, was unfaithful to Monica, and was disdainful of her faith. To make matters worse, Patritius’s similarly-difficult mother lived with the young married couple.
These trials proved Monica’s mettle, and she prayed ceaselessly for the conversion of her husband and mother-in-law. Despite the challenges of her domestic life, Pope Benedict XVI commented that Monica “lived her mission as a wife and mother in an exemplary way, helping her husband Patritius to discover the beauty of faith in Christ and the power of evangelical love, which can overcome evil with good.” Indeed, even though Patritius initially disapproved of Monica’s faith, he eventually converted to Christianity before his early death. Similarly, Monica’s mother-in-law joined the Church after living with Monica for years. Through the tribulations of marriage and home life, Monica persevered in prayer and continually sought the good of her husband and mother-in-law.
While Monica and Patritius had three children, Augustine is the best remembered of the family. In Confessions, Augustine recalls Monica’s role in his childhood education. From a young age, she shared the faith with her children. Augustine writes:
While yet a child, I had heard from her of the eternal life promised to us through the humiliations of the Lord, our God, Who came down to cure our pride. My father could never so far overcome in me the influence of my mother as to prevent me from believing in Christ for she labored that You, my God, should be my Father rather than he, and in this You did assist her.
Monica hoped to raise her children in the Christian faith she cherished so deeply. Even though Augustine would later drift from his mother’s instruction, her influence imbued him with a deep knowledge of God and understanding of the faith. Her humble instruction would not compare to the rigorous academic learning of Augustine’s later life, but Monica embraced her maternal role of “first teacher.” While few would ever know her influence, she shaped the course of Augustine’s life through the truth he learned as a child. Her role as teacher witnesses to the quiet vitality of parenthood, the unrecognized labor of love which shapes hearts and minds through faith and family.
As Augustine grew, he became enamored with the ways of the world and lost his faith. Once he returned to Christianity, he was entangled with the heretical Manichean school of thought. Throughout Augustine’s wild wanderings, Monica never ceased to pray that he might return to the truth. Legend has it that after Augustine became a Manichean, Monica was so upset that she threw him out of the house. The pair eventually reconciled, but not before Augustine had glimpsed his mother’s righteous anger. Her son’s tumultuous journey of belief brought Monica much sorrow, but a bishop encouraged her, famously saying, “The child of such tears will never perish.”
Monica continued to pray for Augustine’s conversion for many years. Finally, after decades of patient perseverance and seemingly-fruitless supplication, her prayer was answered––Augustine experienced a conversion. In Confessions, he recounts Monica’s reaction following this notable event:
Then [my soul and I] go in to my mother; we tell her all. She leaps for joy and blesses You who are able to grant more than we can ask or imagine. For we saw that You had granted her for me, far more than she had ever dared to ask for in all her prayers and tears. You had turned her mourning into joy much more perfectly than she had ever hoped.
Finally, after so many years of devoted prayer, Monica witnessed her son’s conversion and rejoiced. God and his workings of grace turned her sorrow into laughter, repaying hundredfold the tears she had wept and the prayers she had offered for Augustine’s soul.
At the end of her life, Monica accepted death in anticipation of the joy of heaven. According to Augustine’s record, she told him, “Son, nothing in this world now affords me delight. I do not know what there is now left for me to do or why I am still here, all my hopes in this world being now fulfilled.” Having witnessed the conversion of her husband, mother-in-law, and son, Monica knew she had fulfilled God’s plan for her life through her humble and persistent prayer. Her perspective mirrors the sentiment expressed by Simeon upon seeing the infant Christ: “Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation” (Luke 2:29-30).
Pope Benedict XVI recognized the integral and often-unnoticed role St. Monica models for Christians today. In his 2006 Angelus address for the feast of St. Monica, he said:
How many difficulties there are also today in family relations and how many mothers are in anguish at seeing their children setting out on wrong paths! Monica, a woman whose faith was wise and sound, invites them not to lose heart but to persevere in their mission as wives and mothers, keeping firm their trust in God and clinging with perseverance to prayer.
In a world of strained relationships and faltering faith, Monica witnesses to the value of quiet perseverance and hope in divine providence. She abandoned herself to God’s timing, placing her faith in his love. Faith sustained her through trials and tears, and God answered her prayers. She reminds women that the unseen maternal labor of love is holy, that a humble life of deep faith is more notable than a litany of worldly accomplishments, and that all prayers are answered in God’s good timing.
Like Mary, Monica accepted God’s will with an unwavering “yes,” repeated with each new day. These mothers suffered for their sons and rejoiced in the salvation brought through Christ, and they changed the world. Behind one of Christianity’s greatest saints, Monica stands as an irreplaceable witness to faith. Who knows how your little acts of love and trust will alter the future of the Church.
