The Golden Eagle

A man found an eagle’s egg and put it in the nest of a backyard hen. The eaglet hatched with the brood of chicks and grew up with them. All his life the eagle did what the backyard chickens did, thinking he was a backyard chicken. He scratched the earth for worms and insects. He clucked and cackled. And he would thrash his wings and fly a few feet into the air.
Years passed and the eagle grew very old.  One day he saw a magnificent bird far above him in the cloudless sky. It glided in graceful majesty among the powerful wind currents, with scarcely a beat of its strong golden wings. The old eagle looked up in awe. “Who’s that?” he asked. “That’s the eagle, the king of the birds,” said his neighbor. “He belongs to the sky. We belong to the earth – we’re chickens.” So the eagle lived and died a chicken, for that’s what he thought he was. (Anthony DeMello, The Song of the Bird)

Today is the feast of St. Monica (323 – 387).  When I first began to review readings about the life of Monica, I was somewhat stunned to read the following title: St. Monica, Widow.  That’s it?  At first I thought, isn’t there more?  She lived into her mid-60’s – quite uncommon for those days. Then I reflected again that she really had lived a very full life. I thought, what if there would be an abundance of descriptive words that would trail behind her name – what they would tell about her story of faith and perseverance? Monica certainly was not a chicken – in my eyes and heart – she was an eagle!! A courageous woman for the time in which she lived. Today, as we celebrate her, I name her who I believe she really was – Monica – Christian, woman of patience, woman of prayer, woman most determined, who believed in potential, woman of authentic voice, woman of fortitude, woman visionary, woman dreamer, woman of integrity, woman of long suffering, wife who endured abuse, faithful mother, and widow.

Monica was born to Christian parents, yet they arranged her marriage to a non-Christian, Patricius. He was a man of a violent temper.  Her mother-in-law lived with them. She was quite verbally abusive to Monica, yet Monica was patient with them and prayed for their openness to be received into the Christian faith.

Eventually both were received into the faith and remained very respectful of Monica’s generosity to the poor, her deep faith and her constant prayer life. However, when she was 40 years old, her husband died.  She had bore three children – the oldest being Augustine.  He was a brilliant student and at the age of 17, he left home for the wild life, and lived recklessly taking on the truths and ideals of the heresies of his day.  He was particularly troubled by the mystery of evil.  Monica followed him to Rome and when she arrived there, Augustine had moved on to Milan, Italy.  So she went to Milan to find him and did so, and lived with him. 

During which time they met up with (St.) Ambrose, bishop of Milan, who eventually became Augustine’s teacher and Monica’s spiritual director.  It was there that Monica lived to see the day that Augustine accepted Christianity and was baptized.  Shortly thereafter, she died.  She had prayed for nearly 18 years for her son to choose Christianity.  Her life and her relationship with her son, Augustine, can be found in his autobiography.

So what is the Good News for us today?  As Joan Chittister once remarked, “The good news is that great women have always walked the earth; that their footprints are still clear; that their presence has changed things both in the church and society.” And in another place it is written: “The purpose of life is not to be happy; the purpose of life is to matter, to have it make a difference that you lived at all.”

And so Monica – your life made a difference in the faith of your husband, children and especially in the life of Augustine.  He mattered to you – and your life has made a difference in the lives of many people throughout the centuries. 

So let us pray the words of Thessalonians in honor of Monica – “The news of your faith in God is celebrated everywhere.  We call to mind how you proved your faith by your actions, laboring in love, and showing constancy of hope in Jesus Christ. We thank you, Monica – Widow, Saint and Golden Eagle!!