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Baptism of Saint Augustine 16th Centenary of the Conversion of Saint Augustine Scott 780 (1987) August 27 is the feast of Saint Monica, mother of Saint Augustine of Hippo (whose feast day is tomorrow, August 28). Although Vatican City has not issued a stamp specifically portraying Saint Monica, a set of four stamps (Scott 779-782) was issued in 1987 to commemorate the conversion and baptism of Saint Augustine, which is closely tied to Saint Monica's story. The woman dressed in black on the right-hand side of the stamp, although not specifically identified, is most likely Saint Monica. The stamp above is modeled after a painting by Nicolo di Pietro from around 1415:  Saint Augustine Baptized by Saint Ambrose By Nicolo di Pietro, Vatican Museums (Pinacoteca Vaticana) From Wikimedia Commons, in the Public Domain Most all that is known about Saint Monica comes from the writings of Saint Augustine, particularly from his Confessions. She was raised as a Christian but was given in marriage to a pagan while living in Tagaste in North Africa. Through prayer and living a life of charity and piety, she eventually convinced her husband Patricius to be baptized. Saint Monica had at least three children who survived infancy, the oldest being Augustine. He was a student of rhetoric living in Carthage and was leading 'an immoral life'. A woman of great prayer, she stayed close to him and prayed for his conversion. In 383 AD, at age 29, he secretly left for Rome. Monica was determined to follow him. She was eventually reunited with him in Milan, where he was studying under Saint Ambrose (who came to also serve as her spiritual director). Augustine was baptized at Easter in 387, and returned to Africa in 388. Saint Monica died shortly thereafter.  Saint Monica, by Francesco Botticini (circa 1475) Basilica di Santo Spirito, Florence, Italy From Wikimedia Commons, in the Public Domain Personal and VPS Connections to Saint Monica and Saint Augustine Most all of us can connect to one or more of the multitude of Saints through their veneration in the naming of Catholic churches and institutions across the country and around the world. I would like to share an interesting set of connections. My father's parents emigrated to the United States from Forli, Italy, in the early 20th century and settled in South Boston, Massachusetts. Devout Catholics, they lived in the parish of Saint Augustine's Church, the oldest Catholic church in Massachusetts (built in 1819). Due to the massive influx of immigrants to South Boston in the early 1900's from many foreign countries (most notably Italy, Ireland, Poland and Lithuania), a new church and parish was created within a short walk of my grandparent's home--appropriately named Saint Monica's Church. As a kid, we would visit my grandmother on Sunday afternoons, and she would frequently talk about that day's Mass, in her broken English, at Santa Monica Church (although she technically was still a parishioner at Saint Augustine's, and was buried from that church in 1974). Coincidentally, my father's birthday is August 28--the feast day of Saint Augustine. As a further connection to Saint Monica's Church, one of the founding members of the Vatican Philatelic Society, Father Herbert Phinney (VPS Member #3) served as pastor at Saint Monica's (it was his last assignment prior to his retirement in the early 1970's). Old issues of Vatican Notes talk about meetings of the Eastern Massachusetts Chapter of VPS meeting at Saint Monica's Church. In another interesting coincidence, prior to World War II (before my time), Father Phinney served as a parish priest at Saint Mary's Church in Waltham, Massachusetts--a church I frequently attended as a child. In additiony, I am a graduate of Merrimack College in North Andover, Massachusetts, which was founded following World War II by the Augustinian Fathers. They continue to administer it today, inspired by the Catholic faith and the Augustinian tradition of seeking truth through inquiry and dialogue. And of course, in 2025, we had the election of Robert Francis Prevost as Pope Leo XIV, the first pope of the Augustinian Order. So many connections... REFERENCES: |
