Who was Saint Monica?
Saint Monica (333-387) was the mother of Saint Augustine of Hippo, the patron saint of the Diocese of Bridgeport. Born and raised in North Africa, Monica was a humble and pious woman who by example and prayer converted her pagan (and unfaithful) husband and his mother to the Catholic faith. Two of her three children entered religious life. Monica had a much harder time with Augustine, who abandoned his faith at age 19 and lived an immoral and self-indulgent life. Heart-sick, Monica prayed intensely for his conversion for nearly 20 years, never giving up hope in God’s saving love. A priest, moved by her perseverance and faith, consoled Monica by saying, “It is not possible that the son of so many tears should perish.” SAINT MONICA greets her son, Saint Augustine of Hippo (the patron saint of the Diocese of Bridgeport), in this beautiful stained glass window, one of three which adorn the new Saint Monica Mausoleum at Gate of Heaven Cemetery. (Photo by John Glover) He did not. One year be
