St. Monica is the patron saint of mothers, wives in difficult marriages, and all who pray for a loved one who has wandered from God. For seventeen years she prayed and wept for her son Augustine, who lived far from the faith; he became one of the greatest saints of the Church. Her story gives hope to every parent whose child has left the Church.
Below are prayers to St. Monica for a child, for a spouse and for mothers, her words at the end of her life, and her story.
A prayer to St. Monica for a child who has left the faith
Written for this page:
St. Monica, you prayed and wept for years for your son Augustine,
and God answered your tears beyond all you had hoped.
I bring you my son (daughter), (name), who has drifted from God.
Pray for him (her); ask the Lord to open his (her) heart,
to send good friends and wise guides,
and to give me patience, hope and love while I wait.
Teach me to pray without ceasing, as you did. Amen.
A prayer to St. Monica for a husband or wife
St. Monica’s husband, Patricius, was unfaithful and quick-tempered; by her patience and prayer he was baptized before his death. Written for this page:
St. Monica, you won your husband to Christ by gentleness and prayer.
Pray for my husband (wife), (name), and for our marriage.
Give me patience, kindness and wisdom,
and bring us both closer to God. Amen.
A prayer for mothers
St. Monica, mother of tears and of hope,
bless all mothers, especially those who are worried, tired or grieving.
Give them strength, faith and joy in their children. Amen.
This prayer was written for this page. See also patron saints of the family.
“It is not possible that the son of these tears should perish”
When Monica begged a bishop to speak to her son, he told her to be patient and to keep praying, and finally sent her away with the words, as St. Augustine records, that the son of such tears could not be lost (Confessions III, 12). Augustine was baptized by St. Ambrose in Milan at the Easter Vigil of 387, when Monica was there to see it.
St. Monica’s last words
A few months later, at Ostia near Rome, as they waited for a ship home to Africa, Monica fell ill. She told her sons not to worry about where she would be buried:
“Lay,” she saith, “this body any where; let not the care for that any way disquiet you: this only I request, that you would remember me at the Lord’s altar, wherever you be.”
She died there in 387, at fifty-six. Her request, to be remembered “at the Lord’s altar,” is one of the earliest testimonies to the Christian custom of offering Mass for the dead. See Mass intentions for the dead.
Who was St. Monica?
Monica was born in 332 in Thagaste in North Africa, into a Christian family. She married Patricius, a pagan official, and had three children, of whom Augustine was the eldest. Her patience converted her husband and her difficult mother-in-law. After Patricius died, she followed Augustine to Italy, praying for him constantly. Her relics are in the Basilica of St. Augustine in Rome. Her feast is August 27, the day before her son’s.
Frequently asked questions
What is St. Monica the patron saint of?
Mothers, wives, widows, difficult marriages, alcoholics, and the conversion of children and family members.
How long did St. Monica pray for Augustine?
About seventeen years, from his youth until his conversion at thirty-two.
Is there a novena to St. Monica?
Yes, many people pray a novena from August 18 to 26, before her feast, using the prayers above with an Our Father, a Hail Mary and a Glory Be each day.
More prayers
- Catholic prayer for patience
- Catholic prayer for addiction and sobriety
- St. Ambrose prayer before Mass
- The St. Augustine prayer
- Catholic prayer for children
- Catholic prayer for family
- The St. Rita prayer (difficult marriages)
- Intercessory prayer
Texts and sources
- St. Monica’s last words: St. Augustine, Confessions, trans. E. B. Pusey (1838), Book IX, public domain (Project Gutenberg).
- Confessions III, 12 (the bishop’s words); Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), “St. Monica.”
- The prayers were written for this page.