Perpetual Novena to St. Monica

Each Friday after Mass we pray this Perpetual Novena to St. Monica for those who have left the faith or who never were given faith or don’t believe that they return to or join the Catholic Church. We have written the names of those specific people we are praying for and have put them in the box placed by the altar. We would love to have you join us on Friday mornings but if you can’t, please pray with us from home.

All: We beseech you, St. Monica – hear our prayer

Exemplary Mother of the Great Augustine, you perseveringly pursued your wayward son not with wild threats but with prayerful cries to heaven.
We beseech you, St. Monica – hear our prayer

Intercede for all mothers in our day so that they may learn to draw their children to God.
We beseech you, St. Monica – hear our prayer

Teach them how to remain close to their children, even the prodigal sons and daughters who have sadly gone astray. We beseech you, St. Monica – hear our prayer

Dear St. Monica, troubled wife and mother, many sorrows pierced your heart during your lifetime. Yet you never despaired or lost faith. With confidence, persistence, and profound faith, you prayed daily for the conversion of your beloved husband, Patricius, and your beloved son, Augustine.
We beseech you, St. Monica – hear our prayer

Grant us that same fortitude, patience, and trust in the Lord. Intercede for us, dear St. Monica, that God may favorably hear our pleas.
We beseech you, St. Monica – hear our prayer

And grant us the grace to accept His will in all things, and to faithfully persevere in prayer for the conversion of loved ones.
We beseech you, St. Monica – hear our prayer

Let us pray. O God, who console the sorrowful and who mercifully accepted the motherly tears of Saint Monica for the conversion of her son Augustine, grant us, through the intercession of them both, that we may bitterly regret our sins and find the grace of your pardon. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, you son, who lives and reign with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen