On praising God, On St Augustine and On St Monica

Nancy Tondy
Aug 31
3 min read

St. Augustine and St. Monica, stained glass at St. Augustine Catholic Church, Washington DC.

September 1, 2025, Community of St. Bridget

Great are you O God and greatly to be praised.

“You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” Confessions 1.1.1

In the Western Catholic Church, Wednesday August 27, is the feast of St Monica (331-387 CE) and Thursday 28 August is the feast of her son, St Augustine, (354-430 CE), Bishop and Doctor of the Church. I have always been intrigued at the decision to allocate these consecutive days to this mother and son. Monica was not a Bishop, nor was she made a Doctor of the Church. But she prayed for 20 years for her son to be converted from his hedonistic ways and return to the Catholic faith. Which indeed he eventually did. In Augustine’s autobiography, Confessions, he seems forthright and honest in his own assessment of himself and his wayward life, and his expressed appreciation for the love his mother had bestowed on him for all of his life. I wonder about how their feast days are together, about the respectful way he speaks of her, what we can learn about her from his descriptions in Confessions, about her capacity as a mother to keep on praying for him and now, today, in the light of the Augustinian origins of our new Pope, what it means to be an Augustinian.

Understanding Augustinianism is an ongoing voyage of discovery for me, and Augustine’s writing is engaging and interesting. I haven’t yet read anything Monica has written, nor about her own faith, but I will try to search this out as in this small way I might seek to notice myself as embedded in a patriarchal culture that does not give equal voice to men and women, and perhaps I can make an effort to loosen the structures sufficiently to allow alternative voices, by this seeking out of Monica’s voice. We can be sure it consisted of a strong faith, and that these prayers and beliefs were taught to her children. At one point she threw Augustine out of the house for his heretical views but is said to have been persuaded in a vision to be reconciled with him. It is also of note that reverence to Monica among the Christian community has grown over the years, and her intercession sought often, particularly for women’s issues.

What we do know from Augustine’s writings is that he regarded praising God as something inherently human. Confessions begins with praise of God; “Great are You, … and greatly to be praised.”

For, that You are to be praised is shown “from the earth, dragons, and all deeps; fire and hail; snow and vapors; stormy winds fulfilling your word. Mountains and all hills; fruitful trees and all cedars; beasts and all cattle; creeping things and flying fowl; kings of the earth and all people; princes and all judges of the earth; both young men and maidens; old men and children” (Ps 148). Praise Your name.

Augustine believed that praise and petition are inextricably linked, as expressions of faith; you cannot but praise the God who made you and loves you. There is an intimacy to Augustine’s words which is quite moving, and certainly sufficient to act as a prompt; so let us all praise God…