By Rosemarie Miele
"For I will restore health to you and heal you of your wounds," says the LORD...
~Jeremiah 30:17
When I was a little girl and lost something, my mother always said, "Pray to St. Anthony." When I got older and had problems in school, Mom would say, "Pray to St. Jude." We didn't pray to the saints, but through them, believing in their intercession with God to help with our needs. Over the years, there was always a saint I could count on for help.
"For I will restore health to you and heal you of your wounds," says the LORD...
~Jeremiah 30:17
When I was a little girl and lost something, my mother always said, "Pray to St. Anthony." When I got older and had problems in school, Mom would say, "Pray to St. Jude." We didn't pray to the saints, but through them, believing in their intercession with God to help with our needs. Over the years, there was always a saint I could count on for help.
When my husband and I took a cruise with our friends, Barbara and I, like most moms, spent some time talking about our families. I shared a personal problem one of my children was having and how I'd been awake nights trying to figure out how to resolve it. I had even considered canceling the trip.
Barbara immediately said, "Pray to St. Monica. She's the saint for parents who need help; she's the patroness of mothers."
I'd never heard of St. Monica, so Barbara eagerly told me that she was St. Augustine's mother back in the fourth century. Apparently her son Augustine was a real handful in his youth. He abandoned his Christian faith and gave his mother a lot of grief. St. Monica devoted herself to prayer and fasting for Augustine's conversion, and after a time, he turned himself around.
I thought to myself, "I've had lots of help from St. Anthony and St. Jude, so why not St. Monica?"
My husband and I left the cruise ship with our friends and boarded a tour bus to visit La Popa Monastery, located high on a hill in Cartagena, Columbia.
Built in the early 1600s, the monastery's grounds were green and lush and the view of the city spectacular. We all entered a tiny chapel and marveled at the huge gold leaf altar and gold statues standing in front of it. I knelt down to say my first prayer to St. Monica. I looked up at the sun shinning on these, the first gold statues I'd ever seen. Their faces radiated beauty. I glanced to the carving at the bottom of one: St. Augustine. And on the other: St. Monica.
Stunned, as if by a bolt of lightning, I knew in that instant that all I had to do was ask St. Monica for help and I would receive it.
When I got home, I found the longstanding problem resolved.
Barbara immediately said, "Pray to St. Monica. She's the saint for parents who need help; she's the patroness of mothers."
I'd never heard of St. Monica, so Barbara eagerly told me that she was St. Augustine's mother back in the fourth century. Apparently her son Augustine was a real handful in his youth. He abandoned his Christian faith and gave his mother a lot of grief. St. Monica devoted herself to prayer and fasting for Augustine's conversion, and after a time, he turned himself around.
I thought to myself, "I've had lots of help from St. Anthony and St. Jude, so why not St. Monica?"
My husband and I left the cruise ship with our friends and boarded a tour bus to visit La Popa Monastery, located high on a hill in Cartagena, Columbia.
Built in the early 1600s, the monastery's grounds were green and lush and the view of the city spectacular. We all entered a tiny chapel and marveled at the huge gold leaf altar and gold statues standing in front of it. I knelt down to say my first prayer to St. Monica. I looked up at the sun shinning on these, the first gold statues I'd ever seen. Their faces radiated beauty. I glanced to the carving at the bottom of one: St. Augustine. And on the other: St. Monica.
Stunned, as if by a bolt of lightning, I knew in that instant that all I had to do was ask St. Monica for help and I would receive it.
When I got home, I found the longstanding problem resolved.
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