God of mercy, comfort those in sorrow, the tears of Saint Monica moved you to convert her son Saint Augustine to the faith of Christ. By their prayers, help us to turn from our sins and to find your loving forgiveness. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
I really think Monica is a saint for our time. So many times I hear from people about their sorrow and anguish at their children who don't go to church or seem to have forgotten about God. My own experience working in the parish confirms their complaint; each time I preside at a wedding and see the church filled with twenty- and thirty-somethings, I wonder where all these folks are on Sunday.
Several times I've expressed my opinion here that this is the fault of our preaching and religious education cultures that teach religious behavior rather than portable spiritual practice and vague moral lessons to follow rather than Mysteries to be stepped into. But that's not the point.
By Monica's prayers the grace of God saved Augustine from vanity, superstition, and concubinage. Seeing as these sins are flourishing in our society, our call to imitate Monica in prayer is clear.
Monica is also the name of the Dell Inspiron 6000 I use for blogging and everything else. It makes the monastery network diagram look funny.
Here in Denver with the Democratic Convention in town, I'd like to ask you and your readers to offer prayers to St. Monica so that the Catholic democratic leadership, especially Joe Biden, will become evermore steadfast in their adherence to the faith, especially concerning what the faith teaches about the value of life.
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