"It Is Impossible That a Son of So Many Tears Should Be Lost."

Monica had a hard lot. Her pagan husband was a cheating, abusive drunk; her son, Augustine, was a heretic and had a mistress and an out-of-wedlock child. Monica kept praying, though. Her husband eventually repented and became a Christian, but still she was greatly troubled by Augustine's sinful behavior. She tried to tag along with her son on a long trip; he made sure to leave early and avoid her. Out of desperation, Monica tried banning Augustine from her house - then relented. Despite everything, a bishop told her not to worry: "It is impossible that a son of so many tears should be lost." The bishop was correct and that wayward rogue of a son became a bishop and one of the four Doctors of the Western Church, famous for his writings, including Confessions and City of God. Augustine is also considered one of the forefathers of the Reformation.

"The day on which she was to die came closer and closer. It was a day unknown to us, but You were fully aware of it. I firmly believe that in Your inscrutable ways You had arranged that she and I were alone at the window and looking out into the inner garden of that house on the Tiber at Ostia. Away from the crowds, we had retired there after a long and tiresome journey to renew our strength for the ocean voyage.

"It was a sweet and pleasant talk we had together in the peaceful and quiet retreat, our thoughts straining forward to what is before, forgetting what is behind (Phil. 3:13). In Your presence, You who are Truth Itself, we would ask each other how wonderful the heavenly life of Your saints must be, a life that no earthly eye has as yet seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man (1 Cor. 2:9). We noted that the fleshly pleasures of sense, even when most intense or presented in the most alluring light, cannot be compared to the joys of eternal life, in fact, should not even be mentioned in the same breath."