A Sonnet for Monica

 We bear our children twice, I’m finding out;

Once in our bodies in the light of Time,

And every moment after, in our minds

And hearts, with joy and tears, in hope and doubt.

Your life is proof. For more than thirty years

You bore your son in all his wandering ways,

Trusting the love that found you, love that saves

And gives us rest as we trust, love made clear

To him by your words but more by your life;

Your works and prayers were all a sweet fragrance

Of love. In your heart, he felt His presence.

What more could you ask? In you, he saw Christ,

And knew, before he penned the words, their truth:

"Our hearts are restless till at rest in You."

Saint Augustine and Monica, Ary Scheffer