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CNA Staff, Aug 27, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

On Aug. 27, one day before the feast of her son St. Augustine, the Catholic Church honors St. Monica, whose holy example and fervent intercession led to one of the most dramatic conversions in Church history.

Monica was born into a Catholic family in 332 in the north African city of Tagaste, located in present-day Algeria. She was raised by a maidservant who taught her the virtues of obedience and temperance. While still relatively young, she married Patricius, a Roman civil servant with a bad temper and a disdain for his wife’s religion.

Patricius’ wife dealt patiently with his distressing behavior, which included infidelity to their marriage vows. But she experienced a greater grief when he would not allow their three children — Augustine, Nagivius, and Perpetua — to be baptized. When Augustine, the oldest, became sick and was in danger of death, Patricius gave consent for his baptism but withdrew it when he recovered.

Monica’s long-suffering patience and prayers eventually helped Patricius to see the error of his ways, and he was baptized into the Church one year before his death in 371. Her oldest son, however, soon embraced a way of life that brought her further grief. He fathered a child out of wedlock in 372 and a year later began to practice Manichaeism, a religion founded in the third century by the Parthian prophet Mani.

In her distress and grief, Monica initially shunned her oldest son. However, she experienced a mysterious dream that strengthened her hope for Augustine’s soul in which a messenger assured her: “Your son is with you.” After this experience, which took place around 377, she allowed him back into her home and continued to beg God for his conversion.

This would not take place for another nine years, however. In the meantime, Monica sought the advice of local clergy, wondering what they might do to persuade her son away from the Manichean heresy. One bishop, who had once belonged to that sect himself, assured Monica that it was “impossible that the son of such tears should perish.”

These tears and prayers intensified when Augustine, at age 29, abandoned Monica without warning as she passed the night praying in a chapel. Without saying goodbye to his mother, Augustine boarded a ship bound for Rome. Yet even this painful event would serve God’s greater purpose, as Augustine left to become a teacher in the place where he was destined to become a Catholic.

Under the influence of the saintly Bishop Ambrose of Milan, Augustine renounced the teaching of the Manichees around 384. Monica followed her son to Milan and drew encouragement from his growing interest in Ambrose’s preaching. After three years of struggle against his desires and perplexities, Augustine succumbed to God’s grace and was baptized in 387.

Shortly before her death, Monica shared a profound mystical experience of God with Augustine, who chronicled the event in his “Confessions.” Finally, she told him: “Son, for myself I have no longer any pleasure in anything in this life. Now that my hopes in this world are satisfied, I do not know what more I want here or why I am here.”

“The only thing I ask of you both,” she told Augustine and his brother Nagivius, “is that you make remembrance of me at the altar of the Lord wherever you are.”

St. Monica died at the age of 56 in the year 387. In modern times, she has become the inspiration for the St. Monica Sodality, which encourages prayer and penance among Catholics whose children have left the faith.

This article was first published on Aug. 27, 2024, and has been updated.

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 26, 2025 / 17:27 pm (CNA).

This week hundreds of vocation directors, staff, and collaborators are gathering to draw closer to Christ, grow in brotherhood, and learn best practices for creating a culture of vocations at the annual National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors (NCDVD).

Every year members of the NCDVD organization travel from across the United States and from at least 10 different countries to gather for what many describe as “one of the highlights of their year.” They not only receive spiritual renewal and practical knowledge but also enjoy activities and community with brother priests.

The NCDVD is a fraternity of vocation directors who provide one another support as they help guide men discerning priesthood. The organization encourages priests to collaborate on projects and offer insights from their personal experiences. It also welcomes religious brothers and sisters, vocation office personnel, and laypeople to collaborate in the ministry.

NCDVD focuses on a number of key aspects including community, regional gatherings, the annual convention, fundraising, and its Vocare Institute for New Vocation Directors — an in-depth training held for new directors held before the conference.

Vocation directors have a tremendous responsibility that can often draw a lot of pressure. The overall goal of the conference is to provide knowledge to help them feel properly equipped to tackle such an important role.

This year the conference, held at the Retreat and Conference Center of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington, New York, welcomed Father Stephen Rossetti as the keynote speaker on Monday, Aug. 25. The well-known exorcist, psychologist, and author held a talk titled “Deliverance Ministry for Priests.” He discussed how priests can “safely and effectively assist” the laity who come to them for guidance. 

On Tuesday, Aug. 26, priests also had the opportunity to hear from Father Boniface Hicks, OSB, about “the impact of the spiritual direction relationship on personal discernment and prayer.” The discussion tapped into the importance of the formative relationship between a spiritual director and directee.

Throughout the week attendees also participate in workshops held by priests, sisters, and other Catholic leaders. They will address topics including how to operate an effective vocation office, strengthen campus ministries, and encourage younger generations to serve the Church.

Bishop Edward Lohse of the Diocese of Kalamazoo, Michigan, will also join to offer needed guidance for vocation directors as many often struggle to decipher “what can or should be asked of candidates and what should not.”

While many aspects of the conference focus on resources and roles of the directors, a number of workshops also tackle hot topics that are relevant to the changing times.

This year Tanner Kalina will lead a workshop called “Create Digitally, Connect Personally” focused on social media. Kalina, who stars in EWTN’s online series “James the Less,” will discuss how to utilize the tool of social media “in a way that Jesus would if he were in our shoes.”

Another workshop will be led by Miguel Naranjo, who is the director of the Religious Immigration Services section of Catholic Legal Immigration Network. He will address immigration issues in the United States with “attention to the religious worker immigration law programs.”