Saint Monica. Saint Monica was an early North African Christian saint and the mother of St. Augustine of Hippo.
She is remembered and honored in the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, albeit on different feast days, for her outstanding Christian virtues, particularly the suffering caused by her husband's adultery, and her prayerful life dedicated to the reformation of her son, who wrote extensively of her pious acts and life with her in his Confessions. Popular Christian legends recall Saint Monica weeping every night for her son Augustine.
Monica is assumed to have been born in Thagaste. She is believed to have been a Berber on the basis of her name.
She was married early in life to Patricius, a Roman pagan, who held an official position in Thagaste. Patricius had a violent temper and appears to have been of dissolute habits; apparently his mother was the same way.
Monica's alms, deeds and prayer habits annoyed Patricius, but it is said that he always held her in respect. Monica had three children who survived infancy, two sons, Augustine and Navigius, and a daughter, 'Perpetua' of Hippo. Unable to secure baptism for them, she grieved heavily when Augustine fell ill. In her distress she asked Patricius to allow Augustine to be baptized; he agreed, then withdrew this consent when the boy recovered. But Monica's relief at Augustine's recovery turned to anxiety as he misspent his renewed life bei
She is remembered and honored in the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, albeit on different feast days, for her outstanding Christian virtues, particularly the suffering caused by her husband's adultery, and her prayerful life dedicated to the reformation of her son, who wrote extensively of her pious acts and life with her in his Confessions. Popular Christian legends recall Saint Monica weeping every night for her son Augustine.
Monica is assumed to have been born in Thagaste. She is believed to have been a Berber on the basis of her name.
She was married early in life to Patricius, a Roman pagan, who held an official position in Thagaste. Patricius had a violent temper and appears to have been of dissolute habits; apparently his mother was the same way.
Monica's alms, deeds and prayer habits annoyed Patricius, but it is said that he always held her in respect. Monica had three children who survived infancy, two sons, Augustine and Navigius, and a daughter, 'Perpetua' of Hippo. Unable to secure baptism for them, she grieved heavily when Augustine fell ill. In her distress she asked Patricius to allow Augustine to be baptized; he agreed, then withdrew this consent when the boy recovered. But Monica's relief at Augustine's recovery turned to anxiety as he misspent his renewed life bei
Wikipedia ...