The Nicene Age · AD 313–400
Monica of Thagaste
c. 331 – 387 · Mother of Augustine · Thagaste, Numidia → Ostia
The Nicene Age
Who Monica of Thagaste was
A devout North African Christian, mother of Augustine, whose decades of prayer and tears for her brilliant, wayward son became — through his Confessions — the most famous story of a mother’s faith in Christian history. She followed him across the sea to Milan, rejoiced at his conversion and baptism under Ambrose, and shared with him at Ostia, days before her death, a vision of eternal life in one of the most celebrated passages of the Confessions. A bishop had once consoled her that “the child of those tears shall never perish.” Through her son she became the archetype of the praying Christian mother.
Augustine alone — Confessions and the Cassiciacum dialogues are one witness, her son.
Also listed in women.
Common questions
When did Monica live?
Monica of Thagaste is dated c. 331 – 387 in the archive, which places Monica in the Nicene Age (AD 313–400). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.
Which early sources mention Monica?
Monica of Thagaste is named in 1 primary-source passage catalogued here, drawn from Augustine of Hippo. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Monica from?
The archive associates Monica of Thagaste with Thagaste, Numidia, Ostia. The sources record more than one location, so the places are listed in the order the record moves through them.
Who were Monica’s contemporaries?
The archive links Monica of Thagaste to 2 other figures, including Augustine of Hippo and Ambrose of Milan. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Primary-source mentions (1)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Confessions IX.10–12
c. AD 410We were saying then: If to any man the tumult of the flesh were silenced… and he alone should hear Him whom in these we love — could not this be, ‘Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord’? …And within a few days she fell sick of a fever.Augustine of Hippo · IX · source text
Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- AD 320 · Silvanus tried before Zenophilus, AD 320
- AD 325 · The Council of Nicaea, AD 325
- AD 339 · The persecution of Shapur II, AD 339
- AD 343 · The Council of Serdica, AD 343
- AD 361 · Julian’s pagan restoration, AD 361
- AD 366 · Damasus and the catacomb epigrams, AD 366
- AD 367 · Athanasius lists the 27 NT books, AD 367
- AD 372 · The martyrdom of Sabbas the Goth, AD 372
- AD 378 · Queen Mavia’s revolt, AD 378
- AD 380 · The Edict of Thessalonica, AD 380
- AD 381 · The Council of Constantinople, AD 381
- AD 381 · The Council of Aquileia, AD 381
- AD 384 · The Altar of Victory petition, AD 384
Place
Places served
The 3 places the sources put Monica, in the order the record moves through them. This is what the sources attest, not a reconstructed route.