Paste your essay in here…While Saint Augustine’s endeavor with spirituality and philosophy is in part self-motivated, Augustine’s mother, Monica, plays a significant role in his eventual conversion to Catholicism. Though teenage Augustine is quick to trivialize his mother’s concerns, it is ultimately Monica that is the source of stability and guidance in Augustine’s life. Throughout his journey with Catholicism, his mother is in the background, worrying about his wellbeing and encouraging him to convert. In fact, Augustine comes to believe that Monica is the vehicle for the voice of God, constantly foreshadowing events in Augustine’s life that he is too ignorant to understand at the time. Without this voice in his life, Augustine may not have converted to Catholicism or have been as compelled to praise God to the extent that he does.
Early in Augustine’s Confessions, he characterizes Monica as a devout Catholic, responsible for introducing him to Catholicism at a young age. We are first presented with his mother’s devotion when Augustine falls ill. With death seemingly looming, Augustine requests to be baptized. Monica hastily complies. According to Augustine, “With a pure heart and faith in you she even more lovingly travailed in labour for my eternal salvation” (Conf. 1.17). This theme that Augustine’s spirituality is a labor that Monica must endure is one that is echoed throughout the text. Monica’s influence and commitment to Augustine’s salvation is crucial to his eventual conversion. Because of Monica, Augustine’s life begins with Catholicism, and in some ways, the rest of his narrative is an account of his return to the religion. In addition to her strong faith, we are also introduced to Monica’s persistent worry for Augustine in all aspects of his life. When Augustine begins exhibiting lustful desires, his mother takes note and cautions him against fornication and adultery. However, Augustine, in his ignorant youth, is unappreciative of his mother’s concern. Augustine writes, “These warnings seemed to me womanish advice which I would have blushed to take the least notice of. But they were your warnings and I did not realize it” (Conf. 2.7). While Monica’s worry is ever present, Augustine’s belief that God speaks to him through Monica is not fully realized until much later in his life. In Augustine’s reflection of his adolescence, he recognizes that his mother acted as a voice of truth in his youth, but was unable to appreciate it until his spiritual conversion was complete. Echoes of Monica’s guidance and its divine implications exist throughout the rest of the text. The concerned voice of Monica that is introduced in the first two books proves to be crucial to Augustine’s conversion, as it offers insight into the future that will result in ultimate fulfillment for both Augustine and Monica.
Monica continues to impact Augustine into his adulthood, repeatedly reminding him of the man she prays he will become. As Augustine matures and travels to Carthage, he soon gives in to his sinful desires and discovers Manicheism, a sect of Christianity with pagan elements. When Monica learns of her son’s newfound alignment with Manicheism and subsequent refusal of Catholicism, she mourns as though her son has died. She then has a vision which proves to be influential through the rest of Augustine’s life. In the dream, which according to Augustine is ordained by God, Monica is told that where she is, her son will be also. When Augustine asserts that it means she will one day convert to Manicheism, she quickly reaffirms her belief that the dream is instead meant to signify that Augustine will one day return to Catholicism. Augustine reflects, “I confess to you Lord that to the best of my memory (and it is a matter which I have frequently discussed) I was more moved by your answer through my vigilant mother than by the dream itself. My misinterpretation seemed very plausible. She was not disturbed and quickly saw what was there to be seen, and what I certainly had not seen before she spoke. By the dream the joy of this devout woman, to be fulfilled much later, was predicted many years in advance to give consolation at this time in her anxiety” (Conf. 3.20). Once again, Augustine is deaf to the word of God as presented to him through Monica. Though he is provided with yet another accurate telling of the future, he is unable to accept Monica’s interpretation of her vision. This prompts Augustine to continue his philosophical endeavors, still blind to the divine plan he believes God was trying to convey to him all along. Though Monica continues to pressure Augustine to convert to Catholicism, he believes that his spiritual wanderings were part of God’s plan and ultimately inescapable. This sentiment is expressed when Augustine recounts his leaving of Carthage for Rome against his mother’s wishes. He contends that although his mother vehemently wept and prayed for Augustine’s enlightenment, Augustine’s conversion at this point in time was not what God intended. Augustine asserts, “You were using my ambitious desires as a means towards putting an end to those desires, and the longing she felt for her own flesh and blood was justly chastised by the whip of sorrows. As mothers do, she loved to have me with her, but much more than most mothers; and she did not understand that you were to use my absence as a means of bringing her joy” (Conf. 5.15). In this passage, Augustine argues that his sinfulness, though he is ashamed of it, was necessary for him and his mother’s ultimate happiness. In Augustine’s perspective, his navigation of lust and material desires was crucial to his eventual understanding of God and spirituality. Additionally, he comments upon his mother’s unconditional love and her incomplete understanding of God’s plan. Though her vision proves to be true, she is incapable of understanding that the suffering she must endure while he son gains wisdom is necessary for her eventual joy. As seen in Augustine’s narrative, both instances are particularly important, and he reflects on them as such once he concludes they were a part of God’s plan.
While Monica’s impact on Augustine’s life is communicated throughout the text, we do not witness the extent to which Monica influenced her son’s life until Augustine has converted and Monica is ready to die. After finally converting in Milan, Augustine rushes to tell his mother, who is overcome with joy. Augustine’s decision to tell Monica immediately of his conversion demonstrates how important his mother’s happiness is to him. The effect of his conversion is that he is now able to appreciate his mother’s concerns throughout his life and has a better understanding of God’s will. With her son now Catholic, Monica feels as though she has nothing left to do on Earth and submits to death. With is beloved mother dead, Augustine reveals his most powerful confession: “And now, Lord, I make my confession to you in writing. Let anyone who wishes read and interpret as he pleases If he finds fault that I wept for my mother for a fraction of an hour, the mother who had died before my eyes who had wept for me that I might live before your eyes, let him not mock me but rather, if a person of much charity, let him weep himself before you for my sins; for you are the Father of all the brothers of your Christ” (Conf. 9.33). Augustine is now able to recognize the benevolence that was Monica. He is grateful for her endless toils to help her son realize God in a manner she deemed fit. With this final confession, Augustine demonstrates an understanding of the impact his mother had on his life. Without her prayers and divine conclusions, Augustine may not have been drawn to Catholicism to the extent that he was. Though Ambrose played a large role in his conversion as well, it is the presence of Catholicism in his life due to Monica’s devotion that guided him toward his ultimate truth. Augustine ends the autobiographical section of Confessions by stating, “So as a result of these confessions of mine may my mother’s request receive a richer response through the prayers which many offer and not only those which come from me…” (Conf. 9.37). This final sentence of the nine autobiographical books showcases the fact that Augustine’s confessions were driven by Monica. His journey to seek spiritual fulfillment truly began and ended with his mother.
Though Augustine’s religious identity was ultimately defined by himself, the importance of his Mother’s influence cannot be overlooked. It was she that offered him the unrelenting concern for his spiritual and moral health, two areas that he could have very well paid no attention to in the folly of his youth. While he did sin and fall into belief systems he thinks were obstructing him from the truth of God, he finds solidity in believing they were all part of God’s plan. The strength of his character guided him through his trials and tribulations, but had Monica not been a voice in the darkness, Augustine may have strayed even farther from his spiritual truth.