Saint Monica

Monica lived in fourth-century North Africa, married to a man whose adultery marked her daily life. Her son Augustine spent his twenties chasing philosophy and mistresses, which she met with nightly tears and relentless prayer. She followed him across the Mediterranean, refusing to let him slip away. He converted in 387. She died that same year, her work finished. Augustine later wrote her into his Confessions, preserving her pious acts and suffering in prose that made her a model of maternal endurance. The Catholic and Orthodox Churches honor her on separate feast days.