St. Monica Lesson Plan
Food
St. Monica was the mother of St. Augustine. She would take gruel, bread and wine with her to oratory. (That’s a place for prayer.) St. Monica was very patient. She prayed for a very long time that her husband, mother-in-law, and son would come to know Jesus and be saved.
Oatmeal (Gruel)
Craft
St. Monica spent a great deal of time praying in front of the Eucharist for her family to get to know Jesus. Make a monstrance. http://www.catholicicing.com/catholic-abcs-week-18-letter-of-week-m/
Include prayers for in front of the monstrance.
Game
St. Monica had a vision one night in her dreams that told her that her son (St. Augustine) would return to the faith. From that time on she stayed close to her son. Praying and fasting for him. Sometimes she was much closer than Augustine wanted. One day, he told her that he was going to the dock to say goodbye to a friend but instead he got on a boat and sailed to Rome. When she found out, she sailed to Rome after him. Before she got there, he left for Milan. She followed him there.
Play Follow the leader.
Conga Line.
St. Monica stand in the middle of a circle. All children stand around the outside of the circle with their hands behind their backs pretending to hold “St. Augustine” a small stuffed animal. The idea is for St. Monica to find St. Augustine.
Food
St. Monica was the mother of St. Augustine. She would take gruel, bread and wine with her to oratory. (That’s a place for prayer.) St. Monica was very patient. She prayed for a very long time that her husband, mother-in-law, and son would come to know Jesus and be saved.
Oatmeal (Gruel)
Craft
St. Monica spent a great deal of time praying in front of the Eucharist for her family to get to know Jesus. Make a monstrance. http://www.catholicicing.com/catholic-abcs-week-18-letter-of-week-m/
Include prayers for in front of the monstrance.
Game
St. Monica had a vision one night in her dreams that told her that her son (St. Augustine) would return to the faith. From that time on she stayed close to her son. Praying and fasting for him. Sometimes she was much closer than Augustine wanted. One day, he told her that he was going to the dock to say goodbye to a friend but instead he got on a boat and sailed to Rome. When she found out, she sailed to Rome after him. Before she got there, he left for Milan. She followed him there.
Play Follow the leader.
Conga Line.
St. Monica stand in the middle of a circle. All children stand around the outside of the circle with their hands behind their backs pretending to hold “St. Augustine” a small stuffed animal. The idea is for St. Monica to find St. Augustine.
St. Monica Research
Feast August 27th
Today, with Internet searches, e-mail shopping, text messages, tweets and instant credit, we have little patience for things that take time. Likewise, we want instant answers to our prayers. Monica is a model of patience. Her long years of prayer, coupled with a strong, well-disciplined character, finally led to the conversion of her hot-tempered husband, her cantankerous mother-in-law and her brilliant but wayward son, Augustine.
The circumstances of St. Monica’s life could have made her a nagging wife, a bitter daughter-in-law and a despairing parent, yet she did not give way to any of these temptations. Although she was a Christian, her parents gave her in marriage to a pagan, Patricius, who lived in her hometown of Tagaste in North Africa. Patricius had some redeeming features, but he had a violent temper and was licentious. Monica also had to bear with a cantankerous mother-in-law who lived in her home. Patricius criticized his wife because of her charity and piety, but always respected her. Monica’s prayers and example finally won her husband and mother-in-law to Christianity. Her husband died in 371, one year after his baptism.
Monica had at least three children who survived infancy. The oldest, Augustine (August 28) , is the most famous. At the time of his father’s death, Augustine was 17 and a rhetoric student in Carthage. Monica was distressed to learn that her son had accepted the Manichean heresy (all flesh is evil) and was living an immoral life. For a while, she refused to let him eat or sleep in her house. Then one night she had a vision that assured her Augustine would return to the faith. From that time on, she stayed close to her son, praying and fasting for him. In fact, she often stayed much closer than Augustine wanted.
When he was 29, Augustine decided to go to Rome to teach rhetoric. Monica was determined to go along. One night he told his mother that he was going to the dock to say goodbye to a friend. Instead, he set sail for Rome. Monica was heartbroken when she learned of Augustine’s trick, but she still followed him. She arrived in Rome only to find that he had left for Milan. Although travel was difficult, Monica pursued him to Milan.
In Milan, Augustine came under the influence of the bishop, St. Ambrose, who also became Monica’s spiritual director. She accepted his advice in everything and had the humility to give up some practices that had become second nature to her (see Quote, below). Monica became a leader of the devout women in Milan as she had been in Tagaste.
She continued her prayers for Augustine during his years of instruction. At Easter, 387, St. Ambrose baptized Augustine and several of his friends. Soon after, his party left for Africa. Although no one else was aware of it, Monica knew her life was near the end. She told Augustine, “Son, nothing in this world now affords me delight. I do not know what there is now left for me to do or why I am still here, all my hopes in this world being now fulfilled.” She became ill shortly after and suffered severely for nine days before her death.
Almost all we know about St. Monica is in the writings of St. Augustine, especially his Confessions.
"the child of those tears shall never perish."
In place of a basket filled with fruits of the earth, she had learned to bring to the oratories of the martyrs a heart full of purer petitions, and to give all that she could to the poor--so that the communion of the Lord's body might be rightly celebrated in those places where, after the example of his passion, the martyrs had been sacrificed and crowned.
Feast August 27th
Today, with Internet searches, e-mail shopping, text messages, tweets and instant credit, we have little patience for things that take time. Likewise, we want instant answers to our prayers. Monica is a model of patience. Her long years of prayer, coupled with a strong, well-disciplined character, finally led to the conversion of her hot-tempered husband, her cantankerous mother-in-law and her brilliant but wayward son, Augustine.
The circumstances of St. Monica’s life could have made her a nagging wife, a bitter daughter-in-law and a despairing parent, yet she did not give way to any of these temptations. Although she was a Christian, her parents gave her in marriage to a pagan, Patricius, who lived in her hometown of Tagaste in North Africa. Patricius had some redeeming features, but he had a violent temper and was licentious. Monica also had to bear with a cantankerous mother-in-law who lived in her home. Patricius criticized his wife because of her charity and piety, but always respected her. Monica’s prayers and example finally won her husband and mother-in-law to Christianity. Her husband died in 371, one year after his baptism.
Monica had at least three children who survived infancy. The oldest, Augustine (August 28) , is the most famous. At the time of his father’s death, Augustine was 17 and a rhetoric student in Carthage. Monica was distressed to learn that her son had accepted the Manichean heresy (all flesh is evil) and was living an immoral life. For a while, she refused to let him eat or sleep in her house. Then one night she had a vision that assured her Augustine would return to the faith. From that time on, she stayed close to her son, praying and fasting for him. In fact, she often stayed much closer than Augustine wanted.
When he was 29, Augustine decided to go to Rome to teach rhetoric. Monica was determined to go along. One night he told his mother that he was going to the dock to say goodbye to a friend. Instead, he set sail for Rome. Monica was heartbroken when she learned of Augustine’s trick, but she still followed him. She arrived in Rome only to find that he had left for Milan. Although travel was difficult, Monica pursued him to Milan.
In Milan, Augustine came under the influence of the bishop, St. Ambrose, who also became Monica’s spiritual director. She accepted his advice in everything and had the humility to give up some practices that had become second nature to her (see Quote, below). Monica became a leader of the devout women in Milan as she had been in Tagaste.
She continued her prayers for Augustine during his years of instruction. At Easter, 387, St. Ambrose baptized Augustine and several of his friends. Soon after, his party left for Africa. Although no one else was aware of it, Monica knew her life was near the end. She told Augustine, “Son, nothing in this world now affords me delight. I do not know what there is now left for me to do or why I am still here, all my hopes in this world being now fulfilled.” She became ill shortly after and suffered severely for nine days before her death.
Almost all we know about St. Monica is in the writings of St. Augustine, especially his Confessions.
"the child of those tears shall never perish."
In place of a basket filled with fruits of the earth, she had learned to bring to the oratories of the martyrs a heart full of purer petitions, and to give all that she could to the poor--so that the communion of the Lord's body might be rightly celebrated in those places where, after the example of his passion, the martyrs had been sacrificed and crowned.