St. Monica is famous for being the mother of St. Augustine. Actually, she had three children. Her husband converted to Christianity in 370 and died a year later. Monica then devoted herself to praying and doing penance for the conversion of Augustine who was not leading a good life and was following Manichaeism. When Augustine finally returned to the Christian faith and was baptized in 387, Monica told him: 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 upon me in that respect." Monica is the patroness of mothers and gave us an inspiring example of the power of prayer.
How many mothers today are still praying and doing penance for their children? It seems to be part of the definition of a mother and to care about the spiritual well-being of children as well as the physical is part of the vocation to motherhood.
No comments:
Post a Comment