Confraternity of Our Lady of Mercy

Women and Men Seeking Holiness as the Answer to Abortion

  • Welcome
  • Seeking Holiness
  • Membership
    • Directors
    • Special Prayer Partners
  • Sacraments
    • Holy Mass
    • Eucharistic Adoration
    • Frequent Confession
  • Prayer
    • Morning Offering
    • Devotion to Mary
    • The Holy Rosary
    • Lectio Divina
    • Chaplet of Divine Mercy
    • Examination of Conscience
    • Annual Retreat
  • Mercy
  • Patron Saints
    • Our Lady of Mercy
    • St. Augustine
    • St. Margaret of Cortona
  • Resources
    • Articles from other websites
      • Horror of Sin & the Mercy of God
    • Recommended Books
    • Brief Quotes from Saints
  • Contact
  • Prayer Requests
You are here: Home / Spiritual Teaching / St. Monica & St. Augustine

St. Monica & St. Augustine

August 26, 2016 by Fr. Ben Cameron Leave a Comment

188- Tomb of St. Monica @ Basilica of St. Augustine

Tomb of St. Monica, in Basilica of St. Augustine, Rome

One of the patron saints of the Confraternity of Our Lady of Mercy is St. Augustine of Hippo. He was chosen to be one of our patrons because he was a sinner – a sexual addict, who kept a mistress for about twenty years – who, through the Mercy of God was converted and became a great saint. He dedicated his life to the service of God as a priest, and later as Bishop of Hippo in North Africa. St. Augustine was a prolific writer, and one of the greatest minds in the 2,000 year history of the Church.

But his mother, St. Monica, is also a tremendous saint for all of us today. Monica married at a young age, and was the mother of four children (Augustine was her oldest child). Through her good influence, her husband, Patricius, became a Christian before his death. She also spent twenty years praying earnestly for the conversion of her wayward son, Augustine. There was one point when she asked a certain bishop if he would talk to her son, and he declined. Monica asked him how he could refuse to talk to Augustine: the bishop replied that Augustine was not open to hearing the truth from him at that time, but said that she should keep praying, for “God always hears the tears of a mother.” What a beautiful thought! Not that “God sees the tears,” but “God hears the tears of a mother!” Indeed, He does! And God heard the prayers and tears of Monica, and, through the teaching and preaching and friendship of St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, God brought Augustine back to the life of grace!

As we celebrate the feast of St. Monica (August 27th) and that of St. Augustine (August 28th), it is good for us to recall the “Monica(s)” in our own lives – those people who have prayed for us so consistently and earnestly while we were astray, who were the hidden instruments of God’s Grace and Mercy to us. And now that we have been converted to the Lord, are we now playing the role of Monica for those in our families and friends who have taken the role of the spiritually lost Augustine? Are we pounding away, without fail or falter, at the gates of heaven for our lost loved ones? We need to remember that God always answers our prayers – in His own time, which is not ours, but He always answers our prayers, especially our prayers for His Infinite Mercy upon ourselves and our loved ones!

Filed Under: Spiritual Teaching

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Recent Posts

Reflections on Grief, following the death of my father

On October 8th of this year, I lost my father (Walter Eugene Cameron) to lung cancer. It was the second great grief of my life, the first being the death of my brother, Matthew, to lung cancer four years ago. Granted, I have felt grief at other deaths both before Matthew’s passing, and since then, […]

Special Grace of Divine Mercy Sunday

In the Diary of St. Faustina, Divine Mercy in My Soul, the Lord Jesus said that He would give special graces on the Feast of Mercy, the Octave Sunday of Easter.  On that day, Our Lord promises that those who have been to the Sacrament of Confession (and, of course, made a good confession of […]

A Priest working in Rachel’s Vineyard

Our Spiritual Director, Fr. Ben Cameron, CPM, was interviewed by Kevin Burke from Rachel’s Vineyard Ministries about how he became involved in post-abortion healing, his ministry in Rachel’s Vineyard, and how it has impacted his priesthood.

Thoughts on the March for Life 2022

St. Helen Youth group at the Lincoln Memorial Last week, I was blessed to accompany five teenagers (and another adult chaperone) from our parish Youth Group (St. Helen, Glasgow & Our Lady of the Caves, Horse Cave, Kentucky) to the annual March for Life in Washington, DC. Due to the pandemic, it had been two […]

Blogroll

  • Testimony from a Woman Healed from Abortion
  • The Power of God's Mercy to Heal even the Deepest Wounds
  • Women of Grace: Part one of interview with Fr. Ben Cameron

Devotional Links

  • Chaplet of Divine Mercy
  • How to Pray the Rosary
  • Miraculous Medal
  • The Green Scapular

Post-abortion healing

  • Entering Canaan Retreats
  • Hope After Abortion – Project Rachel
  • Rachel's Vineyard – International Site
  • Rachel's Vineyard Kentucky
  • Rachel's Vineyard Kentucky Facebook page

Religious

  • Fathers of Mercy

Posts: Listed by Topics

  • Art in Honor of the Unborn (2)
  • Latest News (29)
  • Liturgical Prayers (2)
  • Prayer requests (1)
  • Radio/TV interviews (3)
  • Reflections from Saints and Holy Persons (34)
  • Spiritual Teaching (77)
  • Testimonies (4)
  • Uncategorized (5)
  • Works of Mercy (17)

Post Archives: By Month

Copyright © 2022 Confraternity of Our Lady of Mercy · All Rights Reserved · Website built by Spears Marketing · Admin