Aug. 28, 2012 Tuesday: St. Augustine
Aug. 27 was feast day of St. Monica, Augustine's mother
Patience, Endurance, Charity, Prayer and Conversion
These five words where so much the life of St. Monica.
Patience - The waiting must have been terrible for St. Monica who watched her son, St. Augustine drift into paganism and eventually come back to the Catholic faith.
Endurance - Having to marry a cruel, pagan man whom she didn't know or love. Knowing that she must obey her parents and there choice for her suitor.
Charity - She had been taught to love the poor and the suffering, and to serve them at her own expense and inconvenience, and the service of others makes one unselfish. She showed this charity to her servants and to her aging mother-in-law who was a very controlling woman.
Prayer - The unceasing prayers of St. Monica helped many including her husband, Patricius; his mother, her children - Navigius, Perpetua and her eldest son, Augustine. Never underestimate the power of prayer.
Conversion - Her constant prayers and intercessions brought about the conversions of her mother-in-law, her husband and finally her son, Augustine; who came back to the faith and was baptized at the age of 33 by St. Ambrose.
Mother's Prayer For The Intercession Of St. Augustine
O God, Who enlightened St. Augustine by Thy grace and inflamed him with Thy love amid the darkness and miseries of a life of sin, have mercy likewise on my poor soul and upon those of my children and relatives! Pardon our ingratitude, our disobedience, our want of reverence, our indifference, and all the offenses of which we have ever been guilty against Thy holy Name.
We acknowledge that there is in this world no pain or punishment so severe as that which we deserve; therefore, full of dread of what is in store for us, we invoke the intercession of Thy holy servant Augustine, so inflamed with love of Thee!
O holy penitent Augustine, seraph of divine love, unspeakable miracle of divine mercy, obtain for us from God a true, perfect and heartfelt sorrow for our sins, a devout and constant love of God, a love that triumphs over all difficulties, temptations and tribulations, and a wise and unremitting fervor in the observance of the divine Commandments and the fulfillment of our duties.
Assist us especially in the training of our dear children. Their virtue and innocence are exposed to many dangers in the world! See how numerous are the snares and deceits prepared for the ruin of their souls by the flesh, and through the words and example of evil and worldly-minded men. If they do not receive extraordinary help, how can they withstand such allurements?
O great St. Augustine, take them under your protection! To our efforts in their behalf, join your intercession for them with God. Exert all your influence and, with the compassion of your loving heart, intercede with the Most Holy Trinity for them. Permit not that our children, sanctified in the waters of Baptism, should through mortal sin be banished from the presence of God and suffer eternal punishment.
Preserve them from the greatest of all evils here below, namely, that of denying the love of Jesus Christ through affection to some creature or the fear of some misfortune. Rather let them, and us their parents, die in the grace of God than live to offend Him mortally. This favor we implore through your intercession, O holy son of a sainted mother, you who gladly receive and graciously hear the prayers of a mother. I confidently hope that you have already heard my petitions, and that you will obtain for me a favorable answer from God. Amen.
From http://www.yeoldewoburn.net/Monica.htm
Patience, Endurance, Charity, Prayer and Conversion
These five words where so much the life of St. Monica.
Patience - The waiting must have been terrible for St. Monica who watched her son, St. Augustine drift into paganism and eventually come back to the Catholic faith.
Endurance - Having to marry a cruel, pagan man whom she didn't know or love. Knowing that she must obey her parents and there choice for her suitor.
Charity - She had been taught to love the poor and the suffering, and to serve them at her own expense and inconvenience, and the service of others makes one unselfish. She showed this charity to her servants and to her aging mother-in-law who was a very controlling woman.
Prayer - The unceasing prayers of St. Monica helped many including her husband, Patricius; his mother, her children - Navigius, Perpetua and her eldest son, Augustine. Never underestimate the power of prayer.
Conversion - Her constant prayers and intercessions brought about the conversions of her mother-in-law, her husband and finally her son, Augustine; who came back to the faith and was baptized at the age of 33 by St. Ambrose.
Mother's Prayer For The Intercession Of St. Augustine
O God, Who enlightened St. Augustine by Thy grace and inflamed him with Thy love amid the darkness and miseries of a life of sin, have mercy likewise on my poor soul and upon those of my children and relatives! Pardon our ingratitude, our disobedience, our want of reverence, our indifference, and all the offenses of which we have ever been guilty against Thy holy Name.
We acknowledge that there is in this world no pain or punishment so severe as that which we deserve; therefore, full of dread of what is in store for us, we invoke the intercession of Thy holy servant Augustine, so inflamed with love of Thee!
O holy penitent Augustine, seraph of divine love, unspeakable miracle of divine mercy, obtain for us from God a true, perfect and heartfelt sorrow for our sins, a devout and constant love of God, a love that triumphs over all difficulties, temptations and tribulations, and a wise and unremitting fervor in the observance of the divine Commandments and the fulfillment of our duties.
Assist us especially in the training of our dear children. Their virtue and innocence are exposed to many dangers in the world! See how numerous are the snares and deceits prepared for the ruin of their souls by the flesh, and through the words and example of evil and worldly-minded men. If they do not receive extraordinary help, how can they withstand such allurements?
O great St. Augustine, take them under your protection! To our efforts in their behalf, join your intercession for them with God. Exert all your influence and, with the compassion of your loving heart, intercede with the Most Holy Trinity for them. Permit not that our children, sanctified in the waters of Baptism, should through mortal sin be banished from the presence of God and suffer eternal punishment.
Preserve them from the greatest of all evils here below, namely, that of denying the love of Jesus Christ through affection to some creature or the fear of some misfortune. Rather let them, and us their parents, die in the grace of God than live to offend Him mortally. This favor we implore through your intercession, O holy son of a sainted mother, you who gladly receive and graciously hear the prayers of a mother. I confidently hope that you have already heard my petitions, and that you will obtain for me a favorable answer from God. Amen.
From http://www.yeoldewoburn.net/Monica.htm
