LA CONSOLACION COLLEGE – BAIS SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

Name:
Year and Section: :
“St. Augustine’s Mother, a Model Housewife”

At the end of this lesson, the you are expected to:

1. discuss the role of a mother;
2. appreciate the significant contributions of mothers to a child’s growth and
development;
3. write a pledge of loyalty and dedication to one’s mother

Activity 1: “God's Special Creation”

The hand that rocks the cradle

also makes the house a home. What is the poem all about?
It is the prayers of the mother
that keeps the family strong.

Mother rises early in the morning

and bathes her day in prayer.
She talks to God about her family
and places them in His care.

Mother communicates her love

in a thousand different ways.
When there's a need, she is there,
Why do you think mothers are
whether it is night or day.
considered “God’s Special Creation”?
Mother seasons life with love
and gives so much of herself.
God placed in her the best He had
and made her unlike anyone else.

When challenges come our way

and when trials block our view,
Mother kneels down beside her bed
and prays the family through.

Mother is God's special creation.

She is a light shining in the dark,
illuminating the path for her family
and pointing them toward God.

Source: https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/gods-special-creation

AUGUSTINIAN SPIRITUALITY 1
LA CONSOLACION COLLEGE – BAIS SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

Monica was born in the year 332. Thagaste is given

as her birthplace, and this is based less on historical
evidence and more on the presumption that she was raised
in the district where later she wed. During her infancy,
Christians were just emerging from the period when they
kept their religion secret for fear of persecution. There has
been speculation among historians as to whether Monica
may have begun life as a schismatic Christian within
Donatism. This possibility is raised because Thagaste only
became progressively anti-Donatist during the years 348-
361, when Monica was aged between sixteen and twenty
nine years. It is known via the writings of Augustine that
some of her relatives were Donatist (and Augustine had
cousins who were Donatists).

There is no suggestion anywhere in the writings of Augustine that she may ever
have been, willingly or unwillingly, a Donatist communicant. Such an insinuation was
not even raised by any of the Donatist opponents of Augustine. At any rate, she is
unlikely to have been completely untouched by such controversies, and Augustine's
childhood - even in a Catholic household - was surely not completely insulated from
Donatism either. When she was about twenty-two years of age, Monica was married to
Patricius, aged 40 and one of the city magistrates at Tagaste.

Patricius did not follow any religion. He was also violent and loose-living. He
came from a good family and could be generous at times. Following the marriage
Monica shared her house with her mother-in-law. This was a constant source of
friction. Patricius did not change with the marriage. He continued to be violent, and
was not faithful to his vows of marriage.

Yet Monica resolutely refused to give way to sadness or bitterness. Instead, she
worked towards cultivating a gentle, understanding way with her husband. He became
a Christian shortly before his death about the year 371. As Patricius was dying, his
eldest son, Augustine, was seventeen years old. In spite of all the efforts of Monica to
provide a good Christian foundation to Augustine's life, he lapsed. It is a strange
paradox that as Patricius began to embrace the Christian faith, Augustine was still
rejecting it. As a widow, Monica made great sacrifices for the education of Augustine.
To her distress, however, she witnessed the rejection by Augustine of all that she held
dear. Augustine moved in with a girl who as his concubine was to bear him a son,
Adeodatus. They never married, but stayed together for over fifteen years.

The distress of Monica was aggravated by the cynical attitude of Augustine

towards her advice. For a time after he returned from his studies in Carthage, she
refused him, his concubine and their son a place in her home - but more because he
had joined the Manichean sect than because of his concubinage. Only a memorable
dream altered her decision. In this dream, she saw a radiant being approach her as
she lamented the spiritual ruin of her son. The angel bade her to be consoled, for where
she was, there too her son should be. Augustine suggested that this might indicate
that his mother's belief might end. But she instantly rejoined that the words were not
"Where he is, there you shall be." This was nine years before his conversion.

AUGUSTINIAN SPIRITUALITY 2
LA CONSOLACION COLLEGE – BAIS SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

About the same time she received consolation from a bishop. He was wearied
with her entreaties that he should reason with Augustine on her behalf. Finally he told
her, "Go, I beg you. The son of so many tears cannot perish." By the time these words
proved true, Monica had been praying for the baptism of Augustine for seventeen years.
When Augustine became the Professor of Rhetoric in Milan, Monica came from their
family home in Thagaste, North Africa and stayed with him there. She soon precipitated
the departure back to Carthage of the woman who had been the concubine of
Augustine for the previous fourteen years. She then arranged his marriage to a young
woman similar to him in social class. He would legally be able to marry her a year or
two later when she reached the legal age for marriage.

Monica participated in the time of prayer and

rest by Augustine at Cassiciacum, in the hills
outside of Milan, in the summer of 386. There she
figured as one of the characters written down in her
son's earliest writings: his dialogues, De Vita Beata
("On the Blessed Life") and De Ordine ("On Order').
Eventually Augustine returned to his faith and with
the help of Ambrose the bishop of Milan became one
of the greatest figures in the history of the Church.
In his Confessions Augustine acknowledged that
without the example and continual prayers of his
mother he would have been lost.

At Ostia outside of Rome in November 387, after a prayer experience of joy and
happiness of Augustine and herself had passed, Monica became silent. Almost as if a
premonition of her death, Monica however later turned to her son and said, "Son, as
far as I am concerned, nothing in this life now gives me any pleasure. I do not know
why I am still here, since I have no further hopes in this world... I did have one reason
for wanting to live a little longer: to see you become a Catholic Christian before I died.
God has lavished his gifts on me in that respect, for I know that you have even
renounced happiness here on earth to be his servant. So what am I doing here?"

About five days later she was taken ill by fever - possibly malaria. Her other son,
Navigius (i.e., a brother of Augustine - who was not a Christian), suggested she be
taken to their home in North Africa for burial. At one point previously she had wanted
to be buried with her husband, Patricius, but now changed her mind. Following her
Christian beliefs, she instructed her sons, "Bury my body anywhere you wish. Do not
let care about it disturb you. I ask only this: that you remember me at the altar of the
Lord, wherever you may be." [Saint Augustine, Confessions 9, 11, 27]

One day she was actually unconscious, regained consciousness another day, but
was confused of her surroundings. Towards her ending hours, she asked where she
was. She died at Ostia on 13 November 387, surrounded by her sons, grandson and
two of the lifelong friends of Augustine, Alypius and Evodius. She was buried at Ostia.
Anicius Auchenius Bassus, consul in 408, had an inscription placed on her tomb, a
part of which was found in 1945 near the Church of St Aurea at Ostia Antica. Her body
was removed during the sixth century to a hidden crypt in the church of Saint Aurea.
About the thirteenth century, however, the cult of Saint Monica began to spread and a
feast in her honour was kept on 4th May. In the year 1430 Pope Martin V ordered the
relics to be brought to Rome, and the cult of Monica was definitely established. Later
the Archbishop of Rouen, Cardinal William d'Estouteville, built a church at Rome in
honor of Saint Augustine and deposited the relics of Monica in a chapel to the left of
the high altar, where they still remain.

AUGUSTINIAN SPIRITUALITY 3
 LA CONSOLACION COLLEGE – BAIS SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

Augustine wrote about her death in his Confessions, not only as one more
demonstration of his conviction of the providence of God towards him through Monica
but also as a sign of appreciation to her for the years of anxiety that by then he realised
that he had caused her. Since her death, Monica has been presented as an inspiration
to mothers who are tempted to despair for the growth of Faith within their children. As
consolation to other concerned Christian mothers in subsequent centuries, it appears
that the seeds of Christian faith that Monica gave Augustine at her maternal knee had
in fact been more influential than Monica had noticed at the time. In Book Nine of the
Confessions, Augustine described Monica as "female in gender, with the faith of a man,
with the serenity of great age, the love of a mother, and the spirit of a Christian." In
Book Five of the Confessions he described her affection for him as "far more than that
of most mothers."

TRUE or FALSE
Instruction: Write “True” on the space provided before each number if the statement is true. Write
“False” if the statement is false.

ANSWER QUESTIONS/STATEMENTS
1. Monica was born in the year 332. Thagaste is given as her birthplace

2. During her infancy, Christians were just emerging from the period when they
kept their religion secret for fear of persecution.
3. When she was about sixteen years of age, Monica was married to Patricius,
aged 40 and one of the city magistrates at Tagaste.
4. Patricius did not follow any religion. He was also violent and loose-living.

5. Following the marriage Monica shared her house with her father in-law.

6. Monica worked towards cultivating a gentle, understanding way with her

husband. He became a Christian shortly before his death about the year 371.
7. As Patricius was dying, his eldest son, Augustine, was seventeen years old.

8. As a widow, Monica made great sacrifices for the education of Augustine.

9. Monica participated in the time of prayer and rest by Augustine at

Cassiciacum, in the hills outside of Milan, in the summer of 386.
10. In his Confessions Augustine acknowledged that without the example and
continual prayers of his mother he would have been lost.
11. Before her death, Monica told Augustine, “I did have one reason for wanting
to live a little longer: to see you become a Catholic Christian before I died.”
12. Following her Christian beliefs, she instructed her sons, "Bury my body
anywhere you wish. I ask only this: that you remember me at the altar of the
Lord, wherever you may be."
13. She died at Ostia on 13 November 387, surrounded by her sons, grandson
and two of the lifelong friends of Augustine, Alypius and Evodius.
14. Archbishop of Rouen, Cardinal William d'Estouteville, built a church at Rome
in honor of Saint Augustine and deposited the relics of Monica.
15. In Book Nine of the Confessions, Augustine described Monica as "female in
gender, with the faith of a man, with the serenity of great age, the love of a
mother, and the spirit of a Christian."

AUGUSTINIAN SPIRITUALITY 4
LA CONSOLACION COLLEGE – BAIS SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

Write a short description about your mother and

highlight her desirable qualities.

Write a short reflection on St. Augustine’s

description of St. Monica.
Augustine described Monica as:

"Female in gender, with the

faith of a man, with the
serenity of great age, the love
of a mother, and the spirit of
a Christian."

Write a pledge of loyalty and dedication to your

mother.

AUGUSTINIAN SPIRITUALITY 5
LA CONSOLACION COLLEGE – BAIS SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

St. Augustine: 10 Things to Know and Share. (n.d.). Retrieved September 02, 2020, from
https://www.ncregister.com/blog/jimmy-akin/st.-augustine-10-things-to-know-and-
share?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI64a4u5fK6wIVSKqWCh3qMgjaEAAYASAAEgKRSPD_BwE

1019 Monica. (n.d.). Retrieved September 02, 2020, from http://www.augnet.org/en/life-of-

augustine/growing-up/

McWhorter, L. (n.d.). Home. Retrieved September 02, 2020, from

https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/gods-special-creation

Authors panda, & Panda. (2020, August 14). 60 Simple Pencil Mother and Child Drawings.
Retrieved September 02, 2020, from http://hobbylesson.com/simple-pencil-mother-
and-child-drawings/

Liberan, P. (2019, March 12). Boy Scout Program Ideals. Retrieved September 02, 2020, from
https://thescouting101.wordpress.com/2019/03/12/boy-scout-program-ideals/

AUGUSTINIAN SPIRITUALITY 6