[00:00] ♪ Alleluia, Regina Mater misericordiae. ♪ Praised be Jesus and Mary. And now the Coronation. Today we honor one of the Church's most inspiring saints,

[00:33] St. Monica. She was born of Christian parents in Tagaste, North Africa, in 332. At a young age, she married a pagan gentleman by the name of Patricius. With whom she had children, including her well-known child, Augustine.

[01:08] She was a faithful wife and mother. By her prayers, her virtuous life, her husband would eventually become a catechumen. And receive baptism on his deathbed. And I believe that his father, so St. Monica's mother-in-law, also converted.

[01:42] And then comes Augustine. It would be more difficult a process for his conversion. He would become a catechumen in his late teens. But he quickly fell into a life of sin. Gave in to the lusts of the flesh. As well as various heretical movements. Particularly the Manichean heresy.

[02:13] Which had denied all kinds of truths. The divinity of Christ denied that. And denied the goodness of material creation. And therefore, the whole sacramental system of the Church. There are other errors too. As a good mother, St. Monica never lost sight of her son

[02:44] during the course of many, many years. She tried to stay very close to him. So he couldn't be in sight, physically. She had to see her son Augustine. And when Augustine left for Italy, without her knowing it, when she found out, she went to Italy too. She followed him. All the while, praying for him and weeping for him.

[03:21] In Italy, Augustine would receive a very great grace. He would meet the great and holy bishop, St. Ambrose, the bishop of Milan. And Monica too befriended this holy bishop. Shared her concerns for her son with the bishop. And the bishop, Ambrose, encouraged her with these words.

[03:54] Beautiful words. "Let him be and continue to pray for him. It is impossible that a son of so many tears should be lost." In some way, Monica was like the widow in the Gospels. There's an episode of the widow who lost her only son only to hear the words of Jesus. "Do not weep." And Jesus turned to the coffin, touched it and commanded,

[04:27] "Young man, I tell you, arise." And the dead man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him to his mother. So Augustine too was like, he was like that dead, young dead man, but brought back to life spiritually. Being freed from the death throes of sin and heresy, fully converted to a life of grace and truth to Christ.

[05:02] And not only that, he also became a priest, bishop, saint, and one of the most important and greatest doctors of the Church, the doctor of grace. All this thanks to St. Monica and her decades' worth of following her son, praying for him, sacrificing for him

[05:33] and weeping so much for him. And one of his homilies for today's memorial, Pope St. John Paul II makes this observation. People said of St. Monica that she was twice mother of St. Augustine. Since she not only gave him birth, but also won for him the Catholic faith and a Christian life.

[06:04] I think that should be true for every mother to give birth to a child physically, but also spiritually in the faith and grace. And that's certainly what St. Monica did. She gave birth to Augustine twice. And that's why we honor her today, the day before Augustine's memorial tomorrow. Without Monica, there would be no Augustine.

[06:37] St. Monica died in Ostia, Italy in the year 387. She's a special patroness of married women, model for Christian mothers and the inspiration for all those who have loved ones in need of conversion or reversion, who need to be prayed for,

[07:10] who need sacrifices offered for them and perhaps who need people to weep for them. To come back home to the Church, to the sacraments, the straight and narrow path. Even if that requires years, decades, or even a whole lifetime. It might be necessary, a whole lifetime of prayer,

[07:42] sacrifice and tears for the soul of a person, just one person, a loved one or a perfect stranger for when I help a soul get to heaven, infinitely loved by God, it is worth it. It's all worth it. So let's turn to St. Monica for inspiration and also her intercession. And especially pray for our loved ones

[08:14] who like Augustine, they need to find their way back home to Christ, to the Church. Praise be Jesus and Mary. Amen. Forever and ever.

[08:54] Amen.