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St. Ambrose, St. Monica, & St. Augustine |
It looks like
time will be in short supply this coming weekend, so Friday seems like a good
time to look at our Saint for the week – or rather, Saints, because this week
we have a trio. The first two have
feasts on consecutive days: St. Augustine [ here] was Thursday, and the previous day, Wednesday was the feast of his mother, St. Monica [here]. St. Augustine, of course, is one of the greatest theologians, and a bishop, Doctor of the Church, and subject of one of the best-known conversion stories in the history of Christianity. The story of St. Monica is also well-known, how she “stormed Heaven” with her fervent prayer over many years on behalf of her wayward son, and how after he had at last returned to Christ and his Church she died in great contentment.
St. Monica has
long been an inspiration to parents worried about the spiritual welfare of
their offspring. And she is a powerful intercessor on their behalf. We need to bear in mind, however, that as
essential as her prayers were, they were not enough. She softened Augustine’s heart, and prepared
the ground to receive the seeds of his conversion, but she herself was not able
to plant those seeds: she could not convince her son to change his life.
Although
Augustine was unwilling to be swayed by his mother’s entreaties, it seems that
her prayers brought someone into his life to whom he was willing to listen: St.
Ambrose [here], our third
Saint. St. Monica’s efforts in the realm
of the spirit combined with Ambrose’s eloquence and intellectual brilliance
were too much for Augustine’s will to resist.
Together they brought him back to communion with the Body of Christ.
It often
perplexes and saddens those of us who are parents that however hard we try,
sometimes our children simply can’t, or won’t, hear what we have to say. What’s even more maddening, they often treat
those same things as the height of wisdom when they encounter them on the lips of a
stranger. It’s a hard reality. That’s why when we are Storming Heaven for
the sake of our children, whatever else we pray for, we would do well to ask
the Lord to send a St. Ambrose.
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