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Friends of the Rosary,
Today, August 27, the Catholic Church commemorates the feast day of St. Monica (333-387). Through prayer and tears, she gave the great Augustine to the Church of God and earned for herself a place of honor in the Communion of Saints.
We also celebrate today the Feast of the Seven Joys of the Blessed Virgin Mary, also known as the Franciscan Crown Rosary, as well as the Feast of Our Lady of Health of the Sick.
Born in Tagaste, North Africa, Monica was given in marriage to a pagan named Patricius, a man of loose morals. She was the mother of three children, Navigius, Perpetua, who later became a nun, and Augustine, her problem child.
When Augustine was nineteen years old, his father Patricius died; by patience and prayer, Monica had obtained the conversion of her husband.
After her husband’s death, Monica devoted herself to good works and praying for Augustine, “Lively in hope” and “assiduous in weeping.”
Monica’s tears and prayers for her son were incessant. She followed him to Milan, where Augustine went to teach, and there continued to storm heaven with her prayers for her son. Finally, she had the joy of witnessing St. Ambrose baptize Augustine in 387, at the age of thirty-two. She died in Ostia, as she and her son discoursed about the joys of the blessed.
To Jesus through Mary!
Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
Please give us the grace to respond with joy!
+ Mikel Amigot w/ María Blanca | RosaryNetwork.com, New York
