St. Monica Offers Hope

 

If I had to describe What Would Monica Do?, the new book by Patti Maguire Armstrong and Roxane Beauclair Salonen, in one word, it would be “hope”. The “Monica” in the title refers to St. Monica, the mother of St. Augustine. She had a pagan husband and a son (Augustine) who turned away from the Church as a young man. After seventeen years of prayer, her faith was rewarded and Augustine returned to the faith, ultimately becoming one of the Church’s greatest saints. The Church celebrates St. Monica’s feast day on August 27^th and St. Augustine’s on August 28^th.

What Would Monica Do? is especially geared towards parents like me who have had children leave the faith. The authors are trudging that same road. It is a sad consolation, but there are a lot of parents in the same situation. The authors quote a 2021 survey that found 41% of Millennials  don’t know if God exists, don’t care, or don’t believe if God exists. I’d be willing to bet that the numbers for Gen Z are even higher. It can make a Catholic mom want to give up in despair. Armstrong and Salonen channeling the example of St. Monica, encourage us not to do that.

The authors discuss the grief Catholic parents may feel when a child abandons the Faith. We may also feel a sense of failure and self-blame. As one mother shared in the book, “There is a piece of my heart that is always broken.” But even in the midst of that pain and sorrow, we can move forward in faith. In these pages, the authors hope to offer “an eternal perspective that can help ease your worry and deepen your relationship with God.”

Armstrong and Salonen share their own stories as well as the stories of other parents who were willing to share their trials and experiences of prayers answered. They acknowledge the pain we may be experiencing but also offer ways to find God even in the heartache. We are all broken, but “it is through our brokenness that we come to experience our need for salvation — and seek healing and freedom in Jesus.” Even in the midst of our struggle, especially in the midst of our struggle, we need to turn to the Lord. This cross can offer us the opportunity to deepen our faith. Even as we pray for our children (whom the Lord is also seeking as lost sheep), the Lord is also working on us, helping us grow closer to Him.

Ultimately, we need to trust that God wants our children close to Him even more than we do. We can and should pray and sacrifice for our children, but saving them is not within our power. That is God’s job. We may never get to see the fruits of our prayers (although I hope that we do), but there are many stories of late-in-life conversions, some of which are shared in this book.

Trusting in God is hard, especially when it comes to our children, but as the authors remind us, “We can’t always see what God is doing, but he is always doing something.” God can bring good for us and our children out of this difficult road we are walking. There is hope.

The chapters in What Would Monica Do? are short which makes this a great book to read in bite-sized chunks. I highly recommend it for any Catholic parent going through the heartache of having a child away from the Faith. Those praying for other family members away from the Faith may also find hope in these pages. I wish that this book wasn’t so needed in this world, but it is. Armstrong and Salonen have provided a great service in sharing the stories, advice, and what we can learn from the example of St. Monica in these pages.  

 

This post contains Amazon affiliate links. Purchases made after clicking a link help support this site. Thank you! 

Nature Quilt

 It took me nearly two years to complete this one, but that is okay. It is good that it takes me a long time to complete these quilts (I sew by hand). My family has plenty of blankets! (And yes, I have given a few of my quilts away as gifts.) This quilt was based on nature photos I found, some of which my daughter picked for me. Each block was pieced and then embellished with stitching. 

 

 

Here are some close-ups of a few of my favorite blocks:

 

 

While my last few quilts have been art quilts (which I do love making), I've decided to return to geometric piecing for my next quilt. 

Open Book for August 2022

 

I'm joining up with Carolyn Astfalk who hosts an #OpenBook Linkup on CatholicMom.com. Here's what I've been reading this past month. The dates indicate when I finished the book. Thanks for stopping by!

7/10/22 - Stony the Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and The Rise of Jim Crow - Henry Louis Gates, Jr. - This was a painful (but important) read about white supremacy and the Black efforts to live as equal Americans from after the Civil War until the 1960s. The illustrations are particularly effective at demonstrating the racism inherent in the United States. 

 7/11/22 - Within These Gilded Halls - Abigail Wilson - This was an engaging mystery / treasure hunt / romance set in 1819 Southern England. Phoebe Radcliff is an artist working on a ballroom restoration when her patron is murdered, setting up a race to find the long-buried treasure on the property. (Read for a book review publication).

 

 

7/12/22 Rescued: True Stories for Catholic Kids - Kathryn Griffin Swegart - This collection of short stories shares true-life rescues where people were miraculously rescued from dangerous situations (often with the help of their guardian angels). While it is geared to 8 - 12 year olds, adults will also enjoy these stories. At the end of the book, Swegart includes a "Facts Behind the Stories" section that provides additional information on the stories. This section is as interesting as the stories themselves. 

7-17-22 Overdue: Reckoning with the Public Library - Amanda Oliver - Anyone who knows me knows I love libraries. Libraries, churches, college campuses, and bookstores are my favorite places to visit. But this isn't a feel-good book about libraries. Instead, it is about libraries as safe spaces for homeless populations (or as Oliver refers to them, "houseless" populations) and the expectation that librarians serve as quasi-social workers. It is a difficult read, but an honest one. I live in a medium-sized city that has a significant homeless population. There are libraries in my city that I avoid because I don't feel safe there even with the security guards visibly standing guard. I've seen librarians deal with situations they shouldn't have to, and because of my privilege, I am able to go to the library in the more affluent suburb I live near because I am more comfortable there. This book raised a lot of questions about the place of libraries in our society and while disjointed in parts is an important book for that reason. 

7/18/22 Culture Club: The Curious History of the Boston Athenaeum - Katherine Wolff - I read a magazine article recently on the Boston Athenaeum, an incredibly beautiful member-based library / art gallery in Boston that I had never heard of! This sent me on an immediate search in my local library system for more information on this place. Culture Club discussed the beginnings of the Athenaeum in the 1820s through the start of the Civil War. Dr. Katherine Wolff pays special attention to its treatment of women and how it responded (or didn't) to the abolition issue. She also discussed its relationship to the Boston Public Library.  

7/23/22 The Amish Quiltmaker's Unconventional Niece - Jennifer Beckstrand - This is the third book in a series, but you don't need to have read the other two to enjoy it. Part comedy, part romance, it features a young Amish woman on her rumschpringe who decides to run for town council in order to fight a local law banning Amish buggies from streets. (Read for a book review publication)

7/24/22 Acquired Tastes: 200 Years of Collecting for the Boston Athenaeum - This book continued my foray into exploring the Boston Athenaeum. It is a coffee-table book which highlighted many of the special books / paintings / sculptures in their collection. I didn't read every word, but it was lovely to browse.
 

7/24/22 Write for Your Life - Anna Quindlen - I almost didn't read this one. I picked it out of the to-be-read pile two days before it was due back at the library, but I'm glad I did. It offered some lovely reflections on writing hand-written letters and journaling. 

7/31/22 The Other Alcott - Elise Hooper - This novel is based on the life May Alcott, the youngest sister of Louisa May Alcott of Little Women fame and the prototype for the character of Amy in that famous book. I really knew nothing about May Alcott before reading this and while much is fictionalized, I learned more about the Alcott family. I also greatly enjoyed the story about a young woman striving to be an artist in a man's world. Shortly before her death, May Alcott wrote Studying Art Abroad, and How to Do It Cheaply to help other young women with similar ambitions.

Since spring of 2019, I have been making my way through the Great Books Curriculum of Thomas Aquinas College (I'm currently working on the readings for sophomore year). 

7/8/22 Aeneid - Virgil - trans. by Robert Fagles.When I first started this project, I read the Iliad and the Odyssey by Homer. I really struggled to understand them (To be honest, I mostly read the Sparknotes.) I did much better with the Aeneid. I think that is because unlike the Iliad and Odyssey, this was written to be read not listened to. I also think the translation by Fagles was excellent and very accessible to the modern reader. Virgil was born in 70 BC and died in 49 BC. He was the supreme Roman poet. The Aeneid is based on Homer and uses many of Homer's characters. The first half is most like the Odyssey as Aeneas wanders while the second half is more like the Iliad as it describes a war. It combines a mythological epic with themes from Roman history.   

7/24/22 On the Nature of Things - Lucretius - trans by H.A.J. Munro. Lucretius was a member of a Roman senatorial or equestrian family who lived from 98-55 BC. This work was published after his death. It was his effort to explain how things come into existence. He spoke of first things - which we would probably refer to as atoms. He rejects the idea of creation myths and the Greek and Roman gods. He maintained that the soul died at death and that there was no afterlife.

 

My eleven-year-old daughter and I read the following book this month:

 

7-13-22 The Black Reckoning - John Stephens - We finished up The Books of Beginning series with this book in which Emma must find the Book of Death and the prophecy about the three children is fulfilled.

 

This post contains Amazon affiliate links. Purchases made after clicking a link help support this site. Thank you!