Daniel Flores Jr.

In his fourth century autobiography, “Confessions,” the church father Augustine wrote down the words his mother Monica shared with him just before her death:

“My son, for my part I find no further pleasure in this life. What I am still to do or why I am here in the world, I do not know, for I have no more to hope for on this earth. There was one reason, and one alone, why I wished to remain a little longer in this life, and that was to see you a Christian before I died. God has granted my wish and more besides, for I now see you as his servant, spurning such happiness as the world can give. What is left for me to do in this world?”

…Then watching us closely as we stood there speechless with grief, she said ‘You will bury your mother here.’ I said nothing, trying hard to hold back my tears, but my brother said something to the effect that he wished for her sake that she would die in her own country, not abroad. (they were in Ostia near Rome, far from her native North African homeland) When she heard this, she looked at him anxiously and her eyes reproached him for his worldly thoughts. She turned to me and said, ‘See how he talks!’ and then, speaking to both of us, she went on, ‘It does not matter where you bury my body. Do not let that worry you! All I ask of you is that, wherever you may be, you should remember me at the altar of the Lord.” (9.2)

Augustine reports that once alone, he wept for his mother in grief over her death. He remembered her fondly as a modest and temperate woman who was a peacemaker in many ways. She was known to mediate arguments between family and friends without taking sides and  remained committed to an unfaithful husband in marriage in order to win him to faith. Augustine recognized her as a pivotal part of his own conversion to Christianity at the age of 33. He left behind a life of immoral affairs and the ancient pagan religion known as Manichaeism, and became one of the most prominent theologians the church has known in its 2,000 year history.

As I reflect on their story, I am reminded of the many moms I see today who exhibit Monica’s qualities and smile with the thought of how these great women nurture their families toward a life of faith.