#stmonica

"Nothing is far from God."

Quote/s of the Day – 4 May – ‘You touched me’

Quote/s of the Day – 4 May – The Memorial of St Monica (322-387) Mother of St Augustine – 1 Timothy 5:3-10, Luke 7:11-16 “My grace is sufficient for thee,for my strength is made perfect in weakness.Therefore, I will boast all the more gladlyabout my weaknesses,so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 “Son, nothing in this world now affords me delight.I do not know what…

Memorials of the Saints – 27 August

St Monica (322-387) (Memorial) Celebrating St Monica: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/08/27/saint-of-the-day-27-august-st-monica-of-hippo/

St Caesarius of Arles (470-543) Father of the Church The wondrous St Caesarius: https://anastpaul.com/2019/08/27/saint-of-the-day-27-august-saint-caesarius-of-arles-470-543-father-of-th…

Thought for the Day – 27 August -St Monica’s ‘Nunc Dimittis”

Thought for the Day – 27 August – Tuesday of the Twenty-first week in Ordinary Time, Year C and The Memorial of St Monica (322-387)

Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

Sermons preached on various occations

“Many a mother, who is anxious for her son’s bodily welfare, neglects his soul. So, did NOT the Saint of today – her son might be accomplished, eloquent, able and distinguished – all this was…

On St Monica’s Memorial, let us pray for her intercession that the Lord may grant us patience, fortitude and trust – 27 August

Prayer for the intercession of St Monica

Dear St. Monica, troubled wife and mother, many sorrows pierced your heart during your lifetime. Yet, you never despaired or lost faith. With confidence, persistence and profound faith, you prayed daily for the conversion of your husband and your beloved son, Augustine; your prayers were answered. Grant me that same fortitude, patience, and trust in the Lord. Intercede for me, dear St. Monica, that God may favorably hear my plea for …………………………… (Mention your intention here) and grant me the grace to accept His Will in all things, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen

St Monica, pray for us!

Thought for the day – 27 August – The Memorial of St Monica

Today we celebrate the memorial of St Monica, the mother of St Augustine, whose memorial we will celebrate tomorrow. We celebrate this memorial not simply because St Monica was the mother of a great saint.

The opening prayer for Mass goes like this and it is worthwhile to take note: ‘God of mercy, comfort of those in sorrow, the tears of St Monica moved you to convert her son, St Augustine to the faith of Christ.’ All in all, she prayed for something like 30 years before she finally had the joy of seeing St Augustine baptised.

St Monica enfleshed the words which we hear in the 1st reading: ‘May our Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father, who has given us His love and through His grace, such inexhaustible comfort and such sure hope, comfort you and strengthen you.’ The consolation, experienced by St Monica and her total abandonment to God can also be ours today when we persevere in patience and in trust – this is Monica’s lesson – keep on praying good folk, for God hears you!

St Monica, pray for us!

“The day was now approaching when my mother Monica would depart from this life;  You know that day, Lord, though we did not.   She and I happened to be standing by ourselves at a window that overlooked the garden in the courtyard of the house.   At the time we were in Ostia on the Tiber.   And so the two of us, all alone, were enjoying a very pleasant conversation, “forgetting the past and pushing on to what is ahead..”   We were asking one another in the presence of the Truth – for You are the Truth – what it would be like to share the eternal life enjoyed by the saints, which “eye has not seen, nor ear heard, which has not even entered into the heart of man.”   We desired with all our hearts to drink from the streams of your heavenly fountain, the fountain of life.   That was the substance of our talk, though not the exact words.   But You know, O Lord, that in the course of our conversation that day, the world and its pleasures lost all their attraction for us.   My mother said, “Son, as far as I am concerned, nothing in this life now gives me any pleasure. I do not know why I am still here, since I have no further hopes in this world. 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 on me in that respect, for I know that you have even renounced earthly happiness to be his servant.   So what am I doing here?”   I do not really remember how I answered her.    Shortly, within five days or thereabouts, she fell sick with a fever. Then one day during the course of her illness she became unconscious and for a while she was unaware of her surroundings.   My brother and I rushed to her side but she regained consciousness quickly.   She looked at us as we stood there and asked in a puzzled voice: “Where was I?”   We were overwhelmed with grief, but she held her gave steadily upon us, and spoke further:  “Here you shall bury your mother.”   I remained silent as I held back my tears.   However, my brother haltingly expressed his hope that she might not die in a strange country but in her own land, since her end would be happier there.   When she heard this, her face was filled with anxiety and she reproached him with a glance because he had entertained such earthly thoughts.   Then she looked at me and spoke:  “Look what he is saying.”   Thereupon she said to both of us, “Bury my body wherever you will; let not care of it cause you any concern.   One thing only I ask you, that you remember me at the altar of the Lord wherever you may be.”   Once our mother had expressed this desire as best she could, she fell silent as the pain of her illness increased.”  – from the Confessions of Saint Augustine

Quote of the Day – 27 August – The Memorial of St Monica

“Son, nothing in this world now affords me delight. I do not know what there is now for me to do or why I am still here, all my hopes in this world being now fulfilled.” 

 Saint Monica, on the conversion of Augustine

One Minute Reflection – 27 August – The Memorial of St Monica

My human life … is a life of faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me….Galatians 2:20

REFLECTION – “How many difficulties there are also today in family relationships and how many mothers are anguished because their children choose mistaken ways! Monica, a wise and solid woman in the faith, invites us not to be discouraged but to persevere in our mission of wives and mothers, maintaining firm our confidence in God and clinging with perseverance to prayer.”...… Pope Benedict XVI (27 August 2006)

PRAYER – God our Father, comforter of the sorrowful, You accepted St Monica’s offering of tears for the conversion of her son, Augustine. Help us too, by their intercession to be truly contrite for our sins and to live in a life of faith in Your Son, who loved us and gave Himself for us. St Monica, pray for us amen.