Prayer to St. Monica for Children Who Have Left the Faith
St. Monica (331-387) is the patron saint of mothers, wives in difficult marriages, and parents whose children have drifted from the faith. For years she prayed and wept for her brilliant, restless son Augustine, who was living far from God. A bishop comforted her with the words, "It is not possible that the son of so many tears should perish." Augustine was baptized in 387, became a bishop and Doctor of the Church, and wrote movingly of his mother's prayers in his Confessions.
Turn to St. Monica when a son, daughter, spouse, or friend has left the Church, and when you need perseverance in prayer. Her feast is August 27, the day before her son's. Below is the Church's traditional collect for her feast.
The Prayer
O God, the consoler of the sorrowful and the salvation of those who hope in Thee, who didst mercifully accept the loving tears of blessed Monica for the conversion of her son Augustine: grant us, through the intercession of them both, to bewail our sins and to find the grace of Thy pardon. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. St. Monica, patient mother, pray for our children and bring them home to God.
Sources: Collect for the feast of St. Monica, traditional Roman Missal (English), public domain; closing invocation written for this site.
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