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Pope Benedict XVI- Angelus |
Angelus Message
On Sts. Monica and Augustine
Their testimonies can be of great help for families
H.H. Benedict XVI
August 27, 2006
www.zenit.org
Dear Brothers and Sisters:
Today, 27 August, we
commemorate St Monica and tomorrow we will be commemorating St
Augustine, her son: their witnesses can be of great comfort and help to
so many families also in our time.
Monica, who was born into a Christian family at Tagaste, today
Souk-Aharąs in Algeria, lived her mission as a wife and mother in an
exemplary way, helping her husband Patricius to discover the beauty of
faith in Christ and the power of evangelical love, which can overcome
evil with good.
After his premature death, Monica courageously devoted herself to caring
for her three children, including Augustine, who initially caused her
suffering with his somewhat rebellious temperament. As Augustine himself
was to say, his mother gave birth to him twice; the second time required
a lengthy spiritual travail of prayers and tears, but it was crowned at
last with the joy of seeing him not only embrace the faith and receive
Baptism, but also dedicate himself without reserve to the service of
Christ.
How many difficulties there are also today in family relations and how
many mothers are in anguish at seeing their children setting out on
wrong paths! Monica, a woman whose faith was wise and sound, invites
them not to lose heart but to persevere in their mission as wives and
mothers, keeping firm their trust in God and clinging with perseverance
to prayer.
As for Augustine, his whole life was a passionate search for the truth.
In the end, not without a long inner torment, he found in Christ the
ultimate and full meaning of his own life and of the whole of human
history. In adolescence, attracted by earthly beauty, he "flung himself"
upon it - as he himself confides (cf. Confessions, 10, 27-38) - with
selfish and possessive behaviour that caused his pious mother great
pain.
But through a toilsome journey and thanks also to her prayers, Augustine
became always more open to the fullness of truth and love until his
conversion, which happened in Milan under the guidance of the Bishop, St
Ambrose.
He thus remained the model of the journey towards God, supreme Truth and
supreme Good. "Late have I loved you", he wrote in the famous book of
the Confessions, "beauty, ever ancient and ever new, late have I loved
you. You were within me and I was outside of you, and it was there that
I sought you.... You were with me and I was not with you.... You called,
you cried out, you pierced my deafness. You shone, you struck me down,
and you healed my blindness" (ibid.).
May St Augustine obtain the gift of a sincere and profound encounter
with Christ for all those young people who, thirsting for happiness, are
seeking it on the wrong paths and getting lost in blind alleys.
St Monica and St Augustine invite us to turn confidently to Mary, Seat
of Wisdom. Let us entrust Christian parents to her so that, like Monica,
they may accompany their children's progress with their own example and
prayers. Let us commend youth to the Virgin Mother of God so that, like
Augustine, they may always strive for the fullness of Truth and Love
which is Christ: he alone can satisfy the deepest desires of the human
heart.
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After the Angelus:
I am happy to greet all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors
present for this Sunday Angelus, including the new students from the
Pontifical North American College and the former All- Ireland Hurling
champions from Offaly. Today's Gospel invites us to join Peter and
profess our complete trust in the Lord, who alone has the words of
eternal life. May your stay in Castel Gandolfo and Rome renew your faith
in Christ, and may God bless you all!
I wish you all a good Sunday!
© Copyright 2006 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
This page is the work of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and
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