Reformed Women of History 02

Monica of Hippo

(Augustine's Mother)

I wanted to go back a little further for this one and short of going to Acts or the Gospels I think this is as far back as it gets. You are welcome of course to make a comment and prove me wrong. I haven't read very much on early church history (my bad) but am willing to learn.

Okay, So why Monica of Hippo?

Well, to be honest this is meant to be a learning experience for myself. Don't get me wrong I love having lovely people like you along for the ride but I have always been very selfish with this blog and don't intend to change that now. I use it as a journal, a release, a place to "flesh out" ideas and principles for living, express the things that God is teaching me as I consider His works, words, and ways. So, I invite you to suck up what you can and leave the rest for me and my distractable self. Happy reading. I hope you learn something you didn't know about Monica or her more famous son.

I confess that the only thing I knew about Monica of Hippo is that her son was greatly influenced by her faithfulness to follow Christ and spoke of that in his writings. So here's some of what I've learned these past couple of days.

Monica was born in 332 AD just when it was becoming okay to be a Christian all over the Roman Empire. This was made more acceptable by the Edict of Milan announced by Emperor Constantine I in 313 AD which removed penalties for professing Christianity (under which many had been martyred in previous persecutions of Christians) and proclaimed religious toleration in the Roman Empire. Constantine's lengthy rule, conversion, and patronage of the Church redefined the status of Christianity in the empire. But you can read more about him later. I brought that up so you might understand a little about the environment she grew up in. Her parents were Christians and most likely knew other believers who were heavily persecuted and even martyred for the faith. There were probably stories shared among family friends around the dinner table about "So & So" who were burned or hunted by lions as prey. It very possibly could have been like the eye-witnesses to Foxe's Book of Martyrs coming round to dinner to discuss the writings of the apostles. Cool Right?

Okay, so it's not really clear where she was born but most sources agree that it was probably in the northern regions of Africa, based on the location of her marriage and some other stuff. She was born to Christian parents who were of Berber descent (pagan) so they most likely were converts themselves. When Monica was about twenty-two she was married to an older man named Patricius. Patricius was a city magistrate and was known as a generous man at times however he was not a believer and often gave himself over to violence and adultery. To make home-life even more challenging Monica's pagan mother-in-law lived with the newlyweds.

Instead of giving into sadness or bitterness, Monica took this as a faith-growing opportunity. She was proved in time to be "chaste and respectful" in her behavior. Eventually her "gentle and quiet spirit" won over the character of her verbally abusive mother-in-law and though she herself never made a profession of faith, she began to respect her new daughter-in-law. She is said to have counseled her peers in similar marital situations with the words "If you can master your tongue, not only do you run less risk of being beaten, but perhaps you may even, one day, make your husband better."

After nearly twenty years of marriage to an abusive and adulterous husband Monica saw fruit of her careful labors. Patricius became a Christian just a few months before his death in 371 AD. The rejoicing over this great victory of the Lord would be immeasurable to any loving wife. The only grief left for our lovely Monica was the waywardness of her seventeen-year-old son Augustine.

Although Monica strived, as with all three of her children, to compel her son to follow in the teachings of Christ. He had rejected the faith which she held so dear and chosen to place his hope in the philosophy of men and the highest education of the times. Which we know from Romans chapter 1 to be vanity. Among other worldly teachings Augustine at that time began to follow the teachings of Manichaeism (there are two forces, Light and Darkness, one good and one evil, both equal in power. You know, Star Wars Theology). After some years, Monica consulted with a church leader concerning her son and was given advice to continue in prayer for her son for "It is impossible that the son of so many tears should perish."

At the age of Thirty-two Augustine had become a popular professor in the city of Milan and yet continued to experience personal turmoil. His curiosity in the charismatic preaching style of Ambrose of Milan led him to sit under his teaching for some time. Slowly his mind began to change through an understanding of the Gospels but he "wanted to be as certain of these things as [he] was that seven plus three equals ten." The conversion of the heart was yet to come. After an emotional wrestling within his sin he opened a book containing the letters of Paul and read "Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is near Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts." (Romans 13:11-14)

Okay, I said I was distractable. I can't believe you let me get so far off track. Let's get back to Monica. So, shortly after the death of her husband, Monica went to live with her son in Milan, along with his mistress and their son, Adeodatus. Surely her constant example of faith was a source of conviction for her son and his family. About fifteen years after the death of her husband saw the change she longed for in her son. His conversion was indeed a process as He tried to reason it all out and finally yielded to the power of the Spirit. Can you imagine the joy of his mother, the quiet smiles as he read the gospels in the corner of the room, trying to grasp their meaning, the warmth of prayer for her son as he sat beside her during sermons she knew must lead him to the cross. Wow! Take comfort mothers of wayward children. God is at work, for He alone can accomplish what is needed.

Finally her beloved son, Augustine "received grace" and professed saving faith in the work of Christ on his behalf. (a little dance of rejoicing, maybe the running man) After a year of concerted study and prayer under the guise of Ambrose along-side his mother, son and close friends, Augustine was baptised as a believer on the eve of Resurrection Sunday 387 AD along with his son, Adeodatus.

About six months later, Monica prepared to follow her son and grandson back to her homeland in northern Africa (modern-day Algeria). While waiting in the port-city of Ostia she sat alone with her son discussing "what the eternal life of the saints could be like" when both were overwhelmed with peace and Monica turned to her son and said "My son, as to me, I no longer find any pleasure in this life. What more I have to do here, and why I am still here I do not know...Put this body anywhere. Do not let it disturb you." Within five days our dear Monica was ill with fever. On the 13th of November 387 AD Monica died of fever - malaria was common in the area at the time.

Augustine wrote of his mother's funeral. "It was not fitting that her funeral should be conducted with moaning and weeping, for such is normal when death is seen as only misery or as the complete end of existence. But she had not died in misery, and death was not her end...Of the one fact we were certain by reason of her character, of the other by our faith."

What can I (we) learn form Monica of Hippo?

I think that her value to us is found in her gentle and submissive way of leading those she loved to the truth. Both of her men (husband and son) looked to the world for something to fill their God-shaped hole and found nothing that fit. Yet when they observed this woman in her contentedness they saw that her hole was complete. Although, she couldn't have been silent in her faith because both men knew what filled that hole and must have heard it from her lips as well as felt it in her love for them. I'll quote a little James Taylor then the infinitely more authoritative Word of God.

"Shower the people you love with love" - JT

1 Peter 3

1In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives,
2as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior.
3Your adornment must not be merely external--braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses;
4but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.
5For in this way in former times the holy women also, who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves, being submissive to their own husbands;
6just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, and you have become her children if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear.