Monica's life was defined by tears and prayers—tears for the souls of those she loved, and prayers that heaven eventually answered in extraordinary ways.
Wife Witnessing to Unbelieving Husband
Born around 331 AD in Thagaste, North Africa, Monica was raised Christian in an era when faith and paganism still contended for hearts. Her arranged marriage to Patricius, a pagan Roman official, brought her into a household where her faith was tested daily. Patricius had a violent temper, a wandering eye, and little interest in his wife's religion. His mother, who lived with them, was equally difficult.
Yet Monica refused to respond to harshness with harshness. Following the counsel of 1 Peter 3—that wives might win unbelieving husbands without words, through their conduct—she devoted herself to patient love and ceaseless prayer. Other wives in Thagaste complained of their husbands' abuse, and Monica counseled them: "Since you became servants when you married, you should consider your position and not proudly oppose your masters."
Year after year, Monica prayed. Year after year, Patricius resisted. But her prayers and example were working on his heart. Around 370 AD, near the end of his life, Patricius asked to be baptized. The man who had resisted Christianity for decades came to faith through the witness of a wife who loved him through his worst.
Mother Praying for Unbelieving Son
Patricius died within a year of his conversion, but Monica's work was not done. Her brilliant son Augustine had rejected the faith of his childhood, first for the Manichaean heresy, then for philosophical skepticism, all while living with a mistress and fathering a child outside marriage.
For seventeen years, Monica prayed and wept for Augustine. She followed him from Africa to Rome to Milan, never giving up hope. When she begged a bishop to debate with her wayward son, the bishop refused—but offered words that would sustain her: "Go your way; as you live, it is impossible that the son of these tears should perish."
Prayers Answered After Years Waiting
In Milan, Augustine finally surrendered to Christ. Monica lived to see her son baptized by Ambrose on Easter 387. Shortly after, as they prepared to return to Africa, Monica fell ill and died—but not before telling Augustine: "Son, nothing in this world now affords me delight. What I am still to do here, and why I am here, I know not, now that my hopes in this world are satisfied. One thing there was for which I desired to linger in this life, that I might see you a Christian before I died. My God has done this for me more abundantly."
