I was blessed to attend an all-boys Catholic high school in the suburbs of Philadelphia run by the Augustinian religious order. Although my particular school was founded in the late 1950s to serve the baby-boomer generation that had migrated to the suburbs after World War II, the Augustinian order itself was begun in 1244 when several communities of hermits scattered throughout Europe came together under one common rule of life based on St. Augustine himself.
Augustine truly became a role model for many of the high school young men who were often taught about the sinner-turned-saint’s early life: his quest for truth and initial rejection of Christianity; his mother’s non-stop prayers for her son’s conversion; the fact that Augustine had a son with a woman to whom he was not married; and the prayer Augustine reportedly prayed on his road back to Catholicism: “Lord, grant me chastity … but not yet.” (Undoubtedly a favorite prayer of many young men at my high school!)
This coming week, the Church celebrates the feast days of Augustine and his mom, Monica, back-to-back (Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively). It was ultimately a mother’s tears and prayers that brought her son back to the faith, along with God’s grace. And it was a son’s love for his mother which inspired him to say: “She helped me not to chain myself to the past and push forward to what lies ahead.”
A mother’s love, the power of prayer and God’s incredible truth and grace: working to form two saints from the same family. The same call holds true for our families, too. Never doubt that. At the same time, never stop praying and offering your little daily sacrifices for a child or grandchild who has walked away from his or her faith. The Father’s heart is forever attuned to such pleas.
May Monica and Augustine pray for us as we strive constantly to push forward in hope to what lies ahead. After all, as Augustine famously proclaimed: “Our hearts are restless, O Lord, until they rest in Thee.”