“St. Monica Prays for her Eldest Wayward Child” by Jen Norton. 20×16″ Acrylic on wood, $1600.
God hears a mother’s prayer
When I think of St. Monica, I’m not sure if I want to revere her for her perseverance in prayer, or criticize her for being a “helicopter mom.” Like Monica, I can spend a lot of time worrying about the welfare of my fellow family members…especially my own child. If only she’d listen to me, do what I do, not question! But God has gifted her with seeing things differently than I do, and I know he is speaking to her heart in HER soul language, not mine. Still, it takes an active practice of trust on my part to let go. Like St. Monica and most mothers, my prayers for her will never stop.
St. Monica was the mother of St. Augustine of Hippo (ancient Hippo is in present day Algeria). We now know St. Augustine to have been a great theologian and a Doctor of the Church. But this wasn’t always the case. In his early years, he lived a life that was worldly and sinful, abandoned Christianity and embraced the gnostic heresy of Manichaeism. His devoted mother, a committed Christian, felt helpless to do anything about it except the most powerful thing she could do: pray.
Encouraged by a bishop who assured her that “it is not possible that the son of so many tears should perish,” she prayed unceasingly. She even went so far as to actually follow him from Africa to Italy, hoping to influence his early adult faith! (I must proudly interject here that I did not follow my own child to college…) In the end, her prayers were fruitful and she realized that “Nothing is far from God” — not even her wayward son.
About the art
In my painting, the foliage patterns and bright colors reflect Monica and Augustine’s African home before their move to Rome. She is dressed in luxurious garments of her homeland because it is believed she had some degree of wealth and status and was highly respected in her community. Her two younger children are safely with her, but she watches (and worries) as Augustine ventures across the sea. Her prayers and concerns ride with the wind and the Holy Spirit flies alongside him as he sails to other lands.
So many Catholic parents today worry about their children leaving the faith and venturing out into both material and spiritual wildernesses. So many influences reach their minds that we cannot control. But remember the example of St. Monica: Prayer is powerful and nothing is far from God! She walked a line between fear and trust that many parents know well. And I am glad to have St. Monica and her example of unceasing prayer and petition.
Modern life gives us plenty of opportunities to pray for the intercession of St. Monica…St. Monica, pray for us!
Her feast day is August 27 and she is the patroness of married women, difficult marriages, disappointing children, victims of adultery and verbal abuse and the saint of conversion of relatives.
