Novena to Saint Monica

Novena to Saint Monica: Prayer for Nine Days

The novena to Saint Monica ranks among the most trusted devotions for parents praying over a child who has drifted from faith. Believers turn to her because she lived that exact struggle herself and she never once gave up hope. Because her patience eventually helped shape one of the Church’s greatest theologians, her intercession carries genuine weight for anyone still waiting on an answer. Let us look at the history behind her devotion, followed by an original nine-day novena we can pray in her honour.

Saint Monica’s Feast Day Falls on August 27

The Catholic Church celebrates Saint Monica every year on August 27, positioned deliberately the day before her son’s own feast on August 28. This traditional pairing follows an old liturgical principle placing the mother’s memorial just ahead of her son’s. Many devotees pray this novena to Saint Monica beginning on August 18, so the full nine days conclude right at her feast, though the prayer suits any season of waiting.

A Difficult Marriage Met With Quiet Strength

Monica was born around 331 in Thagaste, a town in Roman North Africa now known as Souk Ahras, Algeria, to a devoutly Christian family. She was given in marriage while still young to Patricius, a pagan official known for his harsh temper and repeated infidelities. Rather than responding with bitterness, Monica bore his anger patiently and let her own quiet example speak louder than argument. Her gentleness eventually persuaded both Patricius and his difficult mother-in-law toward the Catholic faith and Patricius was baptized shortly before his death around 371.

Years of Tears for a Wayward Son

Monica and Patricius had three children together and her eldest, Augustine, caused her the deepest and most prolonged sorrow. As a young man, Augustine embraced the Manichaean sect and lived a life increasingly distant from the values his mother had taught him. Monica wept for him more than most mothers weep even over death itself and she prayed for his conversion for roughly seventeen years without ever losing hope. When a local bishop grew weary of her persistent pleading, he reportedly assured her that a child watered by so many tears could not possibly be lost.

Following Her Son to Milan

Determined to remain close to Augustine, Monica followed him first to Carthage and later across the sea to Milan, where he had taken a prestigious teaching position. There she sought guidance from Bishop Ambrose, whose preaching eventually helped draw her son back toward the Catholic faith. Augustine received baptism from Ambrose at the Easter Vigil of 387, with his mother present to witness the moment she had prayed toward for nearly two decades.

A Final, Sacred Conversation at Ostia

Traveling together back toward North Africa, Monica and Augustine stopped at the port city of Ostia to await their ship. There, leaning together at a window overlooking a garden, mother and son shared an intense spiritual conversation later described in Augustine’s Confessions as a shared glimpse of eternal wisdom. Monica told her son that her life’s purpose had been fulfilled, since she had lived to see him become a Catholic Christian. Days later, she fell ill with fever and died at Ostia at fifty-six years old, asking only that Augustine remember her at the Altar wherever he served.

Praying the Novena to Saint Monica

Pray this for nine consecutive days, especially while waiting on the conversion or healing of someone you love. Each day opens with the Sign of the Cross and an invocation of the Holy Spirit, followed by a full prayer for that day.