VATICAN - At the Angelus prayer the Pope recalls Saint Augustine and his mother Saint Monica: to Mary “we entrust Christian parents that like Monica they may accompany the growth of their children with their example and their prayers. To the Virgin Mother of God we also entrust young people that, like Augustine, they may seek Christ, the fullness of Truth and Love”

Castel Gandolfo (Agenzia Fides) - At midday on Sunday 27 August Pope Benedict XVI led the recitation of the Angelus prayer with several hundred people gathered in the inner courtyard of his Summer Residence in Castel Gandolfo. Before the prayer the Pope reflected on the figures of Saint Monica since it was her feast-day and her son Saint Augustine: “may their witness be of great comfort and help to families of our day” the Pope said adding that Saint Monica “lived in an exemplary manner her mission as wife and mother, helping her husband Patritius to discover the beauty of faith in Christ and the power of the love taught by the Gospel”. When her husband died she devoted herself with courage to bringing up her three children including Augustine who caused her great suffering because of his rebellious behaviour. After many tears and prayers at last Monica had the joy of “seeing him not only embrace the faith and receive Baptism, but also dedicate himself entirely to the service of Christ”. The Holy Father encouraged all mothers who are worried “about children who have taken the wrong paths”, not to be discouraged but to follow the example of Saint Monica, “persevering in the mission as wife and mother, with firm trust in God and clinging to prayer with perseverance ”.
The whole life of Saint Augustine was a passionate search for truth, “finally, after long inward torment, he discovered in Christ the ultimate and full meaning of his own life and that of human history” the Holy Father underlined. In his adolescence “attracted to earthly beauty ‘he threw himself’ upon it - as St Augustine himself confides - in an egoistic and possessive manner with behaviour which caused much pain to his saintly mother. However by means of an arduous path, thanks also to the prayers of his mother, Augustine opened himself to the fullness of truth and love, until he was converted … He remains a model of the path towards God, supreme Truth and total Goodness”. Pope Benedict XVI asked Saint Augustine to “intercede that all young people who are thirsting for happiness, seeking it along the wrong paths and are lost in blind alleys, may receive the gift of a sincere and profound encounter with Christ”.
Before the Marian prayer, the Pope said: “Saint Monica and Saint Augustine invite us to pray to Mary, seat of Wisdom. To her we entrust Christian parents that they may accompany with example and prayers the growth of their children. To the Virgin Mother of God we also entrust young people that, like Augustine, they may seek Christ, the fullness of Truth and Love: He alone can satisfy the deepest longings of the human heart.”
After the Angelus the Pope greeted the visitors in various languages. In Italian he recalled that on September 1st Catholics in Italy will celebrate the 1st Day for the Protection of Creation, “God’s great gift exposed to serious risk by decisions and life styles which degrade it. Degradation of the environment renders the life of the earth’s poorest people unbearable. In dialogue with Christians of the different confessions we must protect creation, instead of squandering its resources we must share them with solidarity.” (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 28/8/2006 - righe 36, parole 540)