The Mother Who Never Quit

A mother’s patience changed history. Saint Monica endured betrayal, anger, and disappointment—yet never gave up on her husband or her son. Her faith turned a broken family into a story of redemption, remembered every August 27.

The Story of Saint Monica

Picture a family today.
The dad is barely home—quick-tempered, unfaithful, chasing his own pleasures. The son is smart, but wasted on parties, hookups, and his own ego. He thinks he’s above faith, above rules, and too brilliant to listen. The mom? She’s the glue, stuck holding it all together, crying at night, praying for change that never seems to come.

That family sounds modern. But it already happened more than 1,600 years ago.

In 331 AD, in Tagaste, North Africa, there was a woman named Monica. Her marriage was heavy. Her husband, Patricius, was a pagan with a violent temper and wandering eyes. Most wives would have shouted back, or walked away. Monica didn’t. She stayed patient, answered his rage with calm, and lived her faith right in front of him. Over time, her quiet strength broke through his pride. Before he died, Patricius finally turned to Christ.

But her son, Augustine, was an even bigger battle. A brilliant mind wasted on pleasures. He lived with a partner outside of marriage, had a child, and joined a false religion that excused his lifestyle. How did Monica handle him? Not by nagging, not by force—but by refusing to disappear. She followed him across cities, begged priests and bishops to guide him, and cried when words failed. Her love became a shadow he could never outrun.

Years passed. Then the breakthrough came. The same son who once mocked faith, who argued against his mother’s tears, finally surrendered to God. And not just as a believer—he became Saint Augustine, one of the greatest saints and thinkers the Church has ever known.

Saint Monica’s life began as a story of betrayal, anger, and disappointment. But it ended with redemption, not just for her family but for the world. Her story shows that no family is too broken, no heart too far, no story too ruined—if love refuses to quit. Every year on August 27, the Church remembers her faith.

𝚃𝚢𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙾𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙱𝚕𝚞𝚎
𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎𝚛.𝚌𝚘𝚖

People Don’t Want to Change

People accept bad change so easily, but ignore the good change that brings peace, freedom, and love. This reflection asks the same question since 1988: How can we tell the world that love is what matters?

Back in 1988, I wrote a song with one simple question: How?

How can we tell the world that love is all that matters now?

Decades later, the same question is still here—maybe even louder.

The world talks about love, but avoids the part that makes love real—change. And this is where many struggle when they hear the Bible. Its words are not weak or unclear. They cut deep, because they ask us to live differently: to leave comfort, to give up pride, to let go of pleasures, and to admit when we are wrong. Many would rather turn away—and choose another path, a different change, but one that leads in the wrong direction.

The sad thing is, people accept bad change so fast. Violence, hate, and selfishness spread like nothing. People absorb them like background noise. Now, with the internet, evil does not even need the news. The ones doing it post it themselves. What was hidden before is now open for all to see. And the scary part? People have grown numb.

When the Bible asks us to change, it is not to ruin life. God does not want us miserable. He wants us free. He wants peace for us. He wants us to live with real love. The bitter pill is not poison—it is the cure.

So maybe that is why love feels useless to many today. Not because it lost power, but because people would rather avoid what calls them to grow. To love means to change. To forgive means to change. To believe means to change. And most people just don’t want that.

The world may flaunt darkness now, bolder than before, but that only makes the light more urgent. My question from 1988 is still the same: How can we tell the world that love is what matters? Maybe we cannot force people to listen. Maybe the only way is to live it—until someone sees, and remembers that change was never the enemy.

𝚃𝚢𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙾𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙱𝚕𝚞𝚎
𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎𝚛.𝚌𝚘𝚖

How?

People never seem to care
About the way the world is made
Ego trips and worldly pleasures
That’s everything in it

Some fight for survival
The outcome—violence and death
Some hungered for food
But that’s the way it is

How can we tell the world
That love is all that matters now
How can we explain the things we saw
That they did not see

People try to look for peace
Some—temporary relief
Others go with the world
But still nothing left to bear

©1988 Darem Placer Music