St. Monica
27
Patroness of Married Women
St. Monica was married by
arrangement to a pagan official in North Africa, who was much older than she, and although
generous, was also violent tempered. His mother Lived with them and was equally difficult,
which proved a constant challenge to St. Monica. She had three children; Augustine,
Navigius, and Perpetua. Through her patience and prayers, she was able to convert her
husband and his mother to the Catholic faith in 370 He died a year later. Perpetua and
Navigius entered the religious Life. St. Augustine was much more difficult, as she had to
pray for him for 17 years, begging the prayers of priests who, for a while, tried to avoid
her because of her persistence at this seemingly hopeless endeavor. One priest did console
her by saying, "it is not possible that the son of so many tears should perish."
This thought, coupled with a vision that she had received strengthened her. St. Augustine
was baptized by St. Ambrose in 387. St. Monica died later that same year, on the way back
to Africa from Rome in the Italian town of Ostia.
The circumstances of St. Monica's life could have made her a nagging wife, a bitter daughter-in-law and a despairing parent, yet she did not give way to any of those temptations. Although she was a Christian, her parents gave her in marriage to a pagan, Patricius, who lived in her hometown of Tagaste in North Africa. Patricius had some redeeming features, but he had a violent temper and was licentious. Monica also had to bear with a cantankerous mother-in-law who lived in her home. Patricius criticized his wife because of her charity and piety, but always respected her. Monica's payers and example finally won her husband and mother-in-law to Christianity. Her husband dies in 371, one year after his baptism.
Monica had at least three children who survived infancy. The oldest, Augustine, is the most famous. At the time of his father's death, Augustine was 17 and a rhetoric student in Carthage. Monica's plight sounds so typical of many hard pressed Christian mothers today, though she lived in the fourth century.
Her son fathered an illegitimate child and joined a religious cult, leaving his mother extremely concerned about his salvation. Monica was distressed to learn that her son had accepted the Manichean heresy and was living an immoral life. In fact, at one point, she went so far as to kick her wayward son out of the house. She refused to let him eat or sleep in her house. The philosophy of Manicheism appealed to Augustine's intellectual side. Thus, he become an enthusiastic devotee and was eager to share his newfound religion with anyone who would listen. Then one night she had a vision that assured her Augustine would return to the faith. From that time on she stayed close to her son, praying and fasting for him. In fact, she often stayed much closer than Augustine wanted. At 29, Augustine went to Rom to teach rhetoric and Monica was determined to go alone. By night he sailed to Rome without her and she was heartbroken that he had tricked her. From Rome she pursued him to Milan. In Milan Augustine came under the influence of the bishop ST. Ambrose, who also became Monica's spiritual director. When she pleaded with ST. Ambrose to speak to her son, he told her, "Leave me and go in peace. It cannot be that the son of these tears should be lost." She accepted his advice in everything and had the humility to give up some practice that had become second nature to her. She became a leader of the devout women in Milan as she had been in Tagaste.
Yet, in spite of all these heartaches, Monica faithfully persevered in praying for her son's conversion to the Catholic faith, which did not occur until he was 32 years old. Now we know him as the famous ST. Augustine of Hippo, one of the preeminent Doctors of the Church. Monica's perseverance in prayer led to the spiritual rebirth of her son in Christ. At Easter, 387, ST. Ambrose baptized Augustine and several of his friends.
On the way back to Africa when Monica knew her life was near the end, she told Augustine, "Son, nothing in this wold 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."
Shortly after she fell ill and after nine days of severe suffering she died having not reached Africa.
An inspiration to parents
The way Monica persevered in prayer for her son's salvation, despite facing serious obstacles, can motivate all of us who are parents to faithfully pray for our children and grandchildren.
Today, with our instant cereal, instant cures and instant credit, we have little patience for things that take time. Likewise, we want instant answers to our prayers. Monica is a model of patience for us. Her long years of prayer, coupled with a strong , well-disciplined character, finally led to the conversion of her hot-tempered husband, her cantankerous mother-in-law and her brilliant but wayward son Augustine.
[find out about the
living Monika]
Manicheism:
It is similar in many ways to today's New Age Movement. The false cult or sect dismissed the Bible as full of contradictions. It taught that special knowledge and following a certain way of life were necessary for salvation.
A religious and ethical doctrine propounded by Mani (A.D.
216-277) or Manes (Latin form, Manichaeus), which held for an absolute dualism concerning
God. Thus it holds that there are two equal, eternal principles: one of good, light and
spirit; the other of darkness, matter, evil. It has affinities with a number of other
religious and philosophical systems: Gnosticism (liberation of the soul from matter
through enlightenment), Marcionism (distinction of the God of the Old Testament from the
Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ), Mandeanism (dualism with Persian roots) and even
Buddhism (concern for escape from the present world). It found a fertile field in those
areas influenced by those forms of neo-Platonic thought which considered matter as
"tainted." Mani argued that he was proposing a superior, universal religion
whose previous messengers (Buddha, Zoroaster, Jesus) were concerned with only a part of
the world and whose message was falsified since not put in writing.
Based on this belief in two fundamental principles of reality, the devout Manichee rejects anything that would link him to matter. He therefore should practice extreme asceticism, refrain from menial work (since it disturbs the fragments of light present in all visible things) and practice absolute sexual continence. Since in practice these demands are not fulfilled by most, a distinction is made between the elect and the hearers. The hearers serve the elect and hope in a future life to be born in the body of an elect and thus attain salvation.
Part of the success of Manichaeism was due to the fact that it was adapted to the prevailing religious culture in which it was preached. Thus in the Near East and Egypt, it was clothed in Christian imagery; in Persia, in the vocabulary of Zoroastrianism; in India, in Buddhist terms. It had a highly developed form of church organization and was found in many parts of the Roman Empire, especially in the eastern part. Opposition from Roman civil authorities limited the influence of these ideas, especially from the fifth century in the West and somewhat later in the East.
Pockets of Manichaeist or neo-Manichaeist thought were found in the Balkans in the medieval period. Groups with similar ideas Albigensians or Cathari were found in Western Europe in the twelfth to fourteenth centuries. It is not certain whether they have historic or only ideological links with the Manichaeans.
Monica's
practice:
When Monica moved from North Africa to Milan, she found religious practices new to her and also that some of her former customs, such as a Saturday fast, were not common there. She asked ST. Ambrose which customs she should follow. His classic reply was:"When I am here, I do not fast on Saturday, but I fast when I am in Rome; do the same and always follow the custom and discipline of the Church as it is observed in the particular locality in which you find yourself."
In other words: When in Rome, do as the Romans do! [back to the text]
Monika
Monika = die Einsame
27.08
um 332 bis 387
Bekannt als die Mutter des hl. Augustinus. Als Kind hatte sie sich bereits als Katechumenen (Taufkandidat) ausgewiesen, mußte aber dann erleben, wie ihr Sohn alles andere wurde als ein gottesfürchtiger Knabe.
Vermutlich machte sie den Fehler vieler Mütter; sie suchte den Sohn zu sehr an sich zu binden, mit dem Erfolg, um so heftiger zurückgewiesen zu werden. Nur mit List und Trug kann sich Augustinus von ihr losreisen und geradezu aus Karthago nach Rom vor ihr fliehen. Inständig und ausdauernd bestürmt sie Gott in Gebeten, ihr Sohn möge den Glauben an Gott finden. Später - als sie dann doch dem Sohn nachreist - erlebt sie in Mailand den positiven Einfluß des Bischofs Ambrosius, in dem sie den Vollstrecker ihrer Gebete erkennt und deswegen innig verehrt.
Vor ihrer Heimreise nach Afrika starb sie an Fieber bei Rom und
wurde in Ostia begraben.
MONIKA
Comes from Latin, meaning:
"Advice giver".
Established by Saint Monica, mother of Saint Augustine.
This is a lady who likes life and people.
She is warm, Sympathetic and gentle to others.
A true nature lover, she likes gardening, sports and freedom.
Monika
25
I am the author of this Family pages and it is not easy to write about yourself. If you read the other pages you found out that I am a mother of two children that both go to Middle school. We live in a multi cultural family that speaks tree different languages. In the last 17 years we have lived in tree countries-cultures which has influenced our lives tremendously. Through all this time our faith was one strong rod we could hold on too. In every town we lived we were able to find a catholic community that welcomed us and made us feel at home. It has not been easy to adopt to those different ways of life and we did not like everything we met on the way but our Eucharistic Celebration gives us daily strength.
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