Saint Monica : Pope Francis set to visit her tomb...
(Vatican Radio ) Hidden away in the heart of Rome, up an elegant flight of travertine
steps lies the imposing Renaissance Church of Saint Augustine. When on the 28th
of August Pope Francis steps into this great Church, which houses a myriad of artistic
masterpieces from Raphael to Caravaggio, on a private visit to preside over Holy
Mass, he does so on the day the Church remembers Saint Augustine. But he’ll
know too that this Church is linked to mothers in a special way. First of all to
the mother of Saint Augustine, Saint Monica whose feast day is on the eve of the
28th. It is here that her mortal remains were brought in the 13th century,
at the request of the Pope of the time, to be entombed in the Chapel of a Church
dedicated to her son. A great mother, born in 332 AD at Tagaste an old Roman City
on the road to Carthage, to whom her son Augustine refers throughout his ‘Confessions’,
attributing to her his rescue from a wasteful and heretical life. Highlighting the
love he had for this mother, today often referred to as the patron saint of ‘mothers
of awkward sons’.. A mother, whom according to the Prior General of the Augustinians
Father Robert Prevost, Pope Francis has over the years had a special devotion to. “Many
people have a devotion to Saint Monica, including Pope Francis who used to frequent
that Church as Cardinal Bergoglio when he would come to Rome. He stayed near there
and he would visit the Church and pray especially to Saint Monica whose feast is
the 27th of August. So we celebrate both of them one after the other. It’s
also a beautiful occasion to understand how significant the relationship between Saint
Monica and Saint Augustine was and continues to be”. I'm Veronica Scarisbrick
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