Monica, Augustine and Faustina: The Spiritual Power of Tears

Every year in the liturgical calendar on August 27& 28 we commemorate the memorials of Sts. Monica and Augustine, a mother and son duo back-to-back, who provide us with one of the greatest conversion stories in the history of the Church.  Monica was a deeply devout woman, wife and mother of faith…her son Augustine however became enamored with worldly glory, intellectual pride and lust of the flesh.  Naturally, this dynamic was a source of great pain for Monica..who knew her son’s immortal soul was on the line.  It is well known that Augustine had a massive conversion to the Catholic Faith at the age of 33 and became one of the greatest bishops, priests and theologians in the history of the Church…but why was this?!?!? Well friends, there are many factors..but one key ingredient was definitely the TEARS of St. Monica. 

The tears that Monica shed out of motherly grief made a deep and lasting impact both on the heart of God and on the heart of her son Augustine. Listen to how Augustine describes this impact in his autobiography : “And You sent Your hand from above, and raised my soul out of that depth of darkness because my mother, Your faithful one, wept to You for me more bitterly than mothers weep for the bodily deaths of their children.”

Monica’s tears were continuously flowing.. Augustine tells us of one such tear filled episode that she had with the bishop St. Ambrose at that time..Monica had sought him out to counsel her son and bring him to his senses: “my mother would not be satisfied but urged him with repeated entreaties and floods of tears to see me and discuss with me. He, losing patience, said: “Go your way; as sure as you live, it is impossible that the son of these tears should perish.” In the conversations we had afterwards, she often said that she had accepted this answer as if it had sounded from heaven.”

What Augustine is saying here is that Monica saw in Ambrose’s words a reassurance from Heaven that her tears were spiritually effective in obtaining the grace of conversion for her wayward son. There is something here that we need to zone in on…we walk this life through what is called the valley of tears..tears for loss, tears for loved ones, tears of depression, tears of happiness…as much as it pains to say it, these are always going to be with us in this earthly journey. Praise God though who brings the deepest happiness out of the deepest pain, I just want to encourage you to make it a spiritual practice TO OFFER YOUR TEARS, DON’T WASTE THAT PRECIOUS SPIRITUAL GOLD! 

How is this done? Well, when I miss my family member because their away and im struck with tears I say “God use these tears to keep them safe”..when im heart sick because my child is going deeper and deeper into sin I say “God take these tears and use them for the grace of conversion”...when i’ve lost a parent or someone near and dear to me “God use these tears to deliver them from purgatory if they be there.” TEARS ARE PRECIOUS AND A DEEPLY ACCEPTABLE OFFERING TO THE LORD MOST HIGH. 

Psalm 56:8 states this: “you have kept count of my tossings, put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?” Dear friends, Jesus wept at the depth of his friend Lazarus and sent up supplications to his Father with loud cries and tears, He is not a stranger to our tears. Did you know that there is a passage in the Diary of Divine Mercy where Jesus tells St. Faustina to stop crying because He can’t take it anymore? 

“Then suddenly I saw the Lord, who clasped me to His Heart and said to me, My daughter, do not weep, for I cannot bear your tears. I will grant you everything you ask for, but stop crying.” (Diary of St. Faustina, 928).

These beautiful stories from the lives of the saints are not meant to be just anecdotal but to bring to our attention one of the great means of drawing down Divine Mercy into our lives, the lives of our loved ones and also our family members in the “forgotten Church” the holy souls in Purgatory.  When the tears hit you..purify them and sanctify them as a spiritual offering to the most loving of Fathers!!!! The great philosopher and author Dr. Peter Kreeft puts it this way: 

“Tears are like blood: they come from a broken heart. They are also water: they produce new life. If they proceed from faith, hope, and charity, they are participations in the blood and water that poured from Christ’s pierced heart on the Cross.”

May Sts. Monica, Augustine and Faustina intercede for all of us, that we never forget these lessons they won for us when they took their own journey through this valley of tears. May they intercede for us when our hearts are broken, our words are silent, and our tears are flowing.