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Chaplet to St. Monica for Despondent
Mothers
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Saint Monica, model of patience, prayer and perseverance,
intercede for us, that we, too, may be awakened to the sacred,
and trust in God's perfect timing.
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A brilliant son with a promising future leaves home for advanced studies. His
mother, a devout Christian, soon finds her son falling into the wrong crowd, which leads to vice and
loose living. He abandons the faith of his youth, lives in sin with a woman, and even has an
illegitimate child. Finally he joins a strange religious cult. The family is torn apart and the
despondent mother is left in tears, fearful for her son's life, to pray for the safe return of her boy
to his family and his faith.
Does this story sound familiar to you? Perhaps it sounds like a family you
know? or worse yet, your own family?
But the this scenario isn't a story from the twenty-first century!!! The grieving
mother lived in the fourth century A.D. in the Roman territories of northern Africa. Her brilliant son
did eventually return to the Church to become a great bishop, founder of a religious order, Saint and
Doctor of the Church. The figures are St. Augustine of Hippo and his long suffering mother, St.
Monica, who prayed thirty-two years for her son's conversion. Their story reveals to us how unchanging
is this human drama, which has played out time and time again for centuries.
~ from the
Sodality of St. Monica
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See our
catalog
for available rosaries and chaplets.
Below are examples of previous designs.
Write
us to inquire about a custom design!
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View
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This chaplet feels powerful in the hand ... something to hold onto when "the
sky is falling". Large sterling-capped handmade lampwork, in soothing blues and greens,
used for this novena chaplet --- an expedient comfort when time is limited. The Chaplet is
completed with a magnificent 1.5" medal of St. Monica offering her tears and prayers; in the
background, a ship under full sail approaches the horizon. In this linear dormat, a sterling icon
crucifix graces the other end of the chaplet.
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Somber colors reflect St. Monica's many years of tears and prayers. The Aves
are 8mm octagonal jet glass, capped with a picasso finish. The earth-colored vintage Petition
beads have a soft luster, the light that shone on her last few months of life. The Chaplet is
completed with a 2" bronze medal by the artist Egino Weinert: in the background, the wayward
Augustine surreptitiously sails from his mother; in the lower left-hand corner stands the bishop we
know as St. Augustine.
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Large 12x8mm sapphire crystals count St. Monica's tearful years. The Petition
beads are handmade lampwork. The Chaplet is completed with a magnificent 1.5" medal of St.
Monica offering her tears and prayers; in the background, a ship under full sail approaches the
horizon.
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Feast Day of St. Monica - August 27
Feast Day of St. Augustine - August 28
Feast of Our Lady of Consolation - Saturday after August 28
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Composed by M. Kadala and R. Eicher
This chaplet comprises a medal and 32 beads --- one for each year St. Monica wept and prayed for
the conversion and salvation of her son, Augustine. There are two beads on the pendant, and six
groups of five beads (one large and four small).
Begin on the medal with the prayer of St. Monica:
"O holy Monica, by your burning tears and unceasing prayers, you did save your son from eternal
damnation. Obtain for us the grace ever to comprehend what is most conducive to the salvation of our
children, so that we may effectively restrain them from the way of sin and lead them by that of virtue
and piety to heaven!"
On the first pendant bead, pray Our Father
On the second pendant bead, pray Come, Holy Spirit,
Come, Holy Spirit,
and fill the hearts of your faithful, and kindle in them the
fire of Your Divine Love. Send forth Your Spirit and they
shall be created, and You shall renew the face of the earth.
Oh God, Who by the light of the Holy Spirit instructed the
hearts of the faithful, Grant, that by the same Spirit we may
be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolation. We ask this
through Christ Our Lord.
On the loop:
For each group of five, on the large bead, pray one of the petitions below, followed by Hail Mary
on each of the four small beads:
1) I join my tears to yours --- against the spirit of Despair, toward the spirit of
Hope --- Saint Monica, pray for me (us) in the Holy Name of Jesus!
4 Hail Marys...
2) I join my tears to yours --- against the spirit of Anger, toward the spirit of Love --- Saint
Monica, pray for me in the Holy Name of Jesus!
4 Hail Marys...
3) I join my tears to yours --- against the spirit of Blame, toward the spirit of
Forgiveness --- Saint Monica, pray for me in the Holy Name of Jesus!
4 Hail Marys...
4) I join my tears to yours --- against the spirit of Suspicion, toward the spirit of Trust --- Saint
Monica pray for me in the Holy Name of Jesus!
4 Hail Marys...
5) I join my tears to yours --- against the spirit of Doubt, toward the spirit of
Faith --- Saint Monica, pray for me in the Holy Name of Jesus!
4 Hail Marys...
6) I join my tears to yours --- against the spirit of Fear, toward the spirit of Peace --- Saint
Monica, pray for me in the Holy Name of Jesus!
4 Hail Marys...
Returning to pendant, on the first bead pray:
"Saint Monica, Exemplary mother of the great Augustine, you perserveringly pursued your wayward
son not with wild threats but with prayerful cries to heaven. Intercede for all mothers in our day so
that they may learn to draw their children to God. Teach them how to remain close to their children,
even the prodigal sons and daughters who have sadly gone astray."
On the next pendant bead, pray:
"O great Saint Augustine, take our children under your protection! To our efforts in their
behalf, join your intercession for them with God. Exert all your influence and, with the compassion of
your loving heart, intercede with the Most Holy Trinity for them. Permit not that our children,
sanctified in the waters of baptism, should through mortal sin be banished from the presence of God
and suffer eternal punishment."
On the medal:
"Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Eternal Father, have mercy on us and on our children! Lord,
graciously hear us! Amen."
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~ from the Triduum prayers of the
Sodality of St. Monica
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Introductory Prayer
On the medal pray:
Eternal and merciful Father, I give You thanks for the gift
of Your Divine Son Who suffered, died and rose for all mankind.
I thank You also for my Catholic Faith and ask Your help that I
may grow in fidelity by prayer, by works of charity and penance,
by reflection on Your Word, and by regular participation in the
Sacraments of Penance and the Holy Eucharist.
You gave Saint Monica a spirit of selfless love manifested in
her constant prayer for the conversion of her son Augustine.
Inspired by boundless confidence in Your power to move hearts,
and by the success of her prayer. I ask the grace to imitate her
constancy in my prayer for [name(s)] who no longer
share(s) in the intimate life of Your Catholic family. Grant
through my prayer and witness that (he/she/they) may be open to
the promptings of Your Holy Spirit, and return to loving union
with Your Church. Grant also that my prayer be ever hopeful and
that I may never judge another, for You alone can read hearts. I
ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Prayer for Faith
On the first triplet, pray:
O glorious St. Monica, transfixed with sorrow when you saw
your beloved child Augustine living in the dark and gloomy abyss
of error and vice, and straying far from the right path which
leads to true felicity in the possession of God and his holy
grace, hear our prayer, O afflicted mother.
By that cruel sorrow which, with so much patience, you bore; and by
those earnest sighs and bitter tears with which you appealed to
God to change the heart of your prodigal son; by your wondrous
confidence in God, which was never shaken, O grant to us, your
children, that we may, like you, place all our trust in God, and
in our trials and troubles be ever resigned to his holy will;
while we ask you,
O glorious mother St. Monica, to
supply for us our special needs, we here earnestly ask you to
pray for the erring children of Jesus, so many Augustines,
straying from God and hurrying to ruin. Let that earnest prayer
of yours go forth once more for us and for sinners, that we may
live in the light of divine grace, and be united again
thereafter to bless the bounty of a loving God for eternity.
Amen.
Followed by:
Our Father . . . Hail Mary . . . Glory Be . . .Saint Monica,
pray for us.
Prayer for Hope
On the second triplet, pray:
O glorious mother, St. Monica, who, despite the many means
you employed to accomplish the conversion of your son Augustine
seemed fruitless, though for a long time God himself appeared
deaf to your earnest prayer and unmoved by your ever-flowing
tears, did never lose confidence in obtaining the long-sought
grace for Augustine.
You did lovingly and tenderly admonish your erring son; you did
watch over him ever with all a mother's love, and fearless of
danger and heedless of fatigue, follow him from place to place
in his weary and wayward wanderings; in a word, all that a
mother's tender love could suggest, all that a mother's anxious
solicitude could inspire, all that a wondrous prudence and true
wisdom could dictate, you, O great St. Monica, cheerfully did to effect the return
to God of your firstborn and darling child.
By all these generous
efforts, so happily crowned in the end, hear, O mother, the
petitions we make to you. Pray for us, too, and pray especially
for those who are unmindful of and ungrateful to God. To you, O
dearest mother, we are especially dedicated; look upon us, then,
as your children, and win for us the grace we need. Regard
mercifully the most destitute amongst us, that sin being
diminished, the number of the faithful may increase, and greater
glory may be given to Him who is the best of friends, the truest
of benefactors, our first beginning and last end, the source of
all our hope, our Savior, our God. Amen
Followed by:
Our Father . . . Hail Mary . . . Glory Be . . . Saint Monica,
pray for us.
Prayer for Charity
On the third triplet, pray:
O glorious mother St. Monica, who can conceive the
consolation that abounded in your heart, so long the home of
brooding sorrow, when you saw your child Augustine rising in the
light of grace and giving himself generously to God; when you folded
your converted son in your arms, and tears of very
joy streamed forth to tell the glowing jubilee of your heart.
Oh,
how in that moment God in his mercy recompensed your years of
sorrow and anxiety, your long and weary days of racking suspense.
It was impossible that a child of tears like yours should
perish; and when your son Augustine heart the call of God, he
obeyed it, and his life and his deeds flung a luster all their
own on you, St. Monica.
O fortunate mother, twice mother of your
child, deign to listen to our prayers and present our petitions
to God; look lovingly, and with all a mother's interest on us
assembled here, under your protection, to honor you. We love
you; let us become, as St. Augustine of old, the objects of your
maternal love. Pray that we, too, like St. Augustine, may have
strength to cling to God, and triumph over sin and temptation.
By your prayers break the fetters of sin that hold in cruel
bondage the souls of your sinful children in this world.
O
mother, pray that the miracle of grace in the heart of Augustine
may again and again be repeated in these days of universal sin,
and that the erring children of Jesus may be let back to the
fold; that, united here on earth, we may securely go through the
dangers of life and be united with you, our mother, in heaven
for ever. Amen
Followed by:
Our Father. . . Hail Mary . . . Glory Be . . . Saint Monica,
pray for us.
Concluding Prayers
On the crucifix pray:
O God, look graciously down upon your children who sigh in
this valley of tears. Hopefully we pray for our daily bread, for
the forgiveness of our sins, for the never-failing help of your
grace, and for the faithful fulfillment of your promises: to
find life everlasting and a happy abode with you in heaven,
through the merits of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Redeemer.
May God, through the merits and intercession of Saint Monica,
increase our faith, strengthen our hope, and enkindle the fire
of charity in our hearts.
Amen |
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Daily Novena Prayer
Dear St. Monica, once the sorrowing mother of a wayward son, please present our novena petitions
before God in whose presence you stand. Remember, dear St. Monica, the joy that flooded your
heart when Augustine, the son of your prayers and tears, turned his life over to the Lord. Obtain for
us, if it be His holy will, the graces we request through your intercessory power, that we may
experience the happiness of answered prayer. Amen.
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St. Monica was married by arrangement to a pagan official in North Africa, who was
much older than she, and although generous, was also violent tempered. His mother lived with them and
was equally difficult, which proved a constant challenge to St. Monica. She had three children:
Augustine, Navigius, and Perpetua. Through her patience and prayers, she was able to convert her
husband and his mother to the Catholic faith in 370. He died a year later.
Perpetua and Navigius entered the religious Life. St. Augustine was much more difficult, as she
had to pray for him for 17 years, begging the prayers of priests who, for a while, tried to avoid her
because of her persistence at this seemingly hopeless endeavor. One priest did console her by
saying, "it is not possible that the son of so many tears should perish."
This thought, coupled with a vision that she had received, strengthened her. St. Augustine was
baptized by St. Ambrose in 387. St. Monica died later that same year, on the way back to Africa
from Rome in the Italian town of Ostia.
(From
www.catholic.org
)
More about St. Monica from:
www.osa-west.org
www.newadvent.org
www.mycatholictradition.com
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St. Augustine of Hippo is the patron of brewers because of his conversion from a
former life of loose living, which included parties, entertainment, and worldly ambitions. His
complete turnaround and conversion has been an inspiration to many who struggle with a particular vice
or habit they long to break.
This famous son of St. Monica was born in Africa and spent many years of his life in wicked living and
in false beliefs. Though he was one of the most intelligent men who ever lived and though he had been
brought up a Christian, his sins of impurity and his pride darkened his mind so much, that he could
not see or understand the Divine Truth anymore.
Through the prayers of his holy mother and the marvelous preaching of St. Ambrose,
Augustine finally became convinced that Christianity was the one true religion. Yet he did not become
a Christian then, because he thought he could never live a pure life. One day, however, he heard about
two men who had suddenly been converted on reading the life of St. Anthony, and he felt terrible
ashamed of himself.
"What are we doing?" he cried to his friend Alipius. "Unlearned
people are taking Heaven by force, while we, with all our knowledge, are so cowardly that we keep
rolling around in the mud of our sins!"
Full of bitter sorrow, Augustine flung himself out into the garden and cried out to
God, "How long more, O Lord? Why does not this hour put an end to my sins?" Just then he
heard a child singing, "Take up and read!" Thinking that God intended him to hear those
words, he picked up the book of the Letters of St. Paul, and read the first passage his gaze fell on.
It was just what Augustine needed, for in it, St. Paul says to put away all impurity and to live in
imitation of Jesus. That did it! From then on, Augustine began a new life.
He was baptized, became a priest, a bishop, a famous Catholic writer, Founder of
religious priests, and one of the greatest saints that ever lived. He became very devout and
charitable, too. On the wall of his room he had the following sentence written in large letters:
"Here we do not speak evil of anyone."
St. Augustine overcame strong heresies, practiced great poverty and supported the
poor, preached very often and prayed with great fervor right up until his death. "Too late have I
loved You!" he once cried to God, but with his holy life he certainly made up for the sins he
committed before his conversion. His feast day is August 28th.
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In Augustinian tradition the particular devotion to Mary under the title of Mother of
Consolation appears to have sprung from two different sources. both originating from a mother's distress
over a son in danger. The earliest story has been treasured by the Order of Saint Augustine.
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It tells of
Saint Monica
in the fourth century, distraught with grief and anxiety for her wayward son, Augustine, confiding her
distress to the Mother of God, who appeared to her dressed in mouning clothes but wearing a shining
cincture. As a pledge of her support and compassion, Our Lady removed the cincture and, giving it to
Monica, directed her to wear it and to encourage others to do the same. Monica gave it to her son, who
in turn gave it to his community, and so the Augustinian devotion to the wearing of a cincture as a
token of fidelity to our Mother of Consolation came into being.
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In the sixteenth century the flourishing
devotion gave rise to the Confraternity of the Cincture and to
the popular picture of Mary with the Child Jesus, who holds the
end of the cincture in his right hand.
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The tradition of praying to the Mother of God for the gift of consolation dates back
to the early centuries, an expression of the Church's belief that the cloud of witnesses, the elect in
glory, never cease to pray for the Church on earth. The first written evidence of prayer to the Mother
of God, theotokos, is written in Greek on a scrap of Egyptian papyrus dating from between
300-540. And she is invoked as the compassionate one:
Beneath the shelter of your tender compassion
we fly for refuge, Mother of God.
Do not overlook our supplications in adversity
but deliver us out of danger.
This prayer, perhaps written by a believer in danger of death because of allegiance
to Christ, makes clear a vivid faith in Mary's consoling role. It has been hallowed by centuries of use,
private and liturgical, in both the Eastern and Western Churches.
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