Today we celebrate the feast day of St. Monica, especially known for her unwavering faith and dedication to prayer.
Born in North Africa in the 4th century, St. Monica is remembered primarily for her tireless pleas for the conversion of her son, St. Augustine, who later became one of the most important fathers and doctors of the Church.
Her example of devotion and maternal love has been a source of inspiration for many Christian mothers throughout the centuries.
The story of Remedios Alvarez and her devotion to Santa Monica
Remedios Alvarez, a devoted parishioner from Torrelodones, Madrid, always felt a deep connection with St. Monica.
This bond was intensified when she participated in a trip to Rome with other members of her parish: during the visit to the Basilica of St. Augustine, where the remains of St. Monica rest, I received a prayer card with a prayer of the saint. Those words touched my soul and deeply touched my heart. Inspired by the example of St. Monica, who achieved the conversion of her husband Patrick and her son Augustine through constant prayer, Remedios felt called to do the same for her family.
Upon returning from Rome, Remedios’ concern about the estrangement of her husband and two children from the Church intensified and she shared these concerns with other mothers in her parish, who were also feeling anguished.
It was then when, by chance, Remedios received a small book by Father Ismael Ojeda Lozano, entitled. “Las madres cristianas Santa Monica” (St. Monica Christian Mothers) and decided to join the initiative. and decided to join the initiative.
St. Monica Christian Mothers: “support, tranquility, confidence“.
As Remedios explained, this initiative brings together mothers in the so-called ‘choirs‘ who, like the mother of St. Augustine, wish to pray for the conversion and spiritual welfare of their families.. For her, finding this group was a great support, an immense reassurance and a strong confidence.
He also recalls that every August 27, in the summer resort where he was at the time (in Galicia or Tenerife), he would talk to a priest to say the prayer to St. Monica during the Mass and make known in that parish, to the mothers who might be distressed, that the choirs of the Christian Mothers of St. Monica existed.
He admits that he was very pleased that both the priests and the faithful welcomed this announcement with great joy and very good predisposition.
“I’m going to keep praying And the fruit? God will say.”
As for the fruits that this initiative may have produced, she admits that, for the moment, there have not been any in her family. She points out that her children are teachers who became independent a long time ago and that her husband is not a believer either: ” I often feel anguished, but I know that the tears of St. Monica made it happen… and do you know my primary prayer, ‘May the Holy Spirit triumph in the minds and hearts of our husbands and children’ . May the Holy Spirit triumph in the minds and hearts of our husbands and our children’. This prayer gives me great confidence.
“He has his moments, which I don’t know about. Maybe all he asks of me is that I remain faithful.”
She also shows her certainty that – for what depends on her – she will continue to pray: I will persist in prayer…. And the fruit? Well, God will say. In this sense, she recalls a poem by Leon Felipe that says:
No one was yesterday,
nor is it going today,
nor will it go tomorrow
to God
down this same path
I’m going.
For every man keeps
a new ray of light the sun…
and a virgin road
God.
She insists that this prayer invites her to trust in God: the Lord loves His children, He loves you, more than your own mother… I am confident that He loves my children more than I do – which is a lot – but I know that they are in His hands. She shows her confidence that God will take into account her wishes as a mother, hers and those of all the women of the Christian Mothers of St. Monica: He has His moments, which I do not know. Perhaps all He asks of me is that I remain faithful.
St. Monica Mothers’ Communities yesterday and today
The Communities of Mothers of St. Monica are groups of women, mostly mothers, whose main objective is to seek ongoing conversion and personal salvation, as well as that of their children and families, through persevering prayer and the search for God’s will.
In the 15th century, with the blessing and support of Pope Eugene IV, the Association of Christian Mothers was born under the name and protection of St. Monica.
In contemporary times, during the 1980’s, it emerged in the Madrid parish of St. Rita, governed by the Augustinian Recollect Fathers.
Lorenzo Infante, on November 6, 1987, Cardinal Angel Suquía, Archbishop of Madrid, erected the Public Association of the Faithful called “Saint Monica Community of Christian Mothers”.
Since then, this community has spread to many countries.