Every August for many years, I have prayed the St. Monica novena. She was the mother of St. Augustine, a philosopher and theologian and one of the Catholic Church’s most highly revered saints, but it took seventeen years of her prayers for him to convert to Christianity (she also worked to convert her husband and mother-in-law). She’s one of my favorites and I believe that I owe her intercession to my husband’s conversion to the Catholic church.
I don’t have a wayward son who causes me grief, an adulterous and explosive pagan husband, or a difficult mother-in-law living in my home like St. Monica did, but she still appeals to me for her persistent prayers in the face of what must have seemed to be insurmountable obstacles. It’s that whole “insurmountable obstacles” thing that I understand.
