On an Orthodox Facebook page the other day, someone mentioned that they've had visitors to their Eastern Orthodox parish put off by the lack of icons of black saints on the walls and iconostasis. If you find yourself in the same situation, here are just four of the saints that might be missing.
St. Monica of Hippo was a Berber woman born in what is now Algeria around the year 322. She was married young to a Roman official named Patricius, who was violent and dissolute. He is said, however, to have held his wife in respect, however annoyed he would become at her almsgiving and prayer life. Monica herself became a disciple of St. Ambrose of Milan, her daughter Perpetua became an abbess, but she wept for her son Augustine's dissolute ways for many years. She finally followed him to Italy, where she became a disciple of St. Ambrose of Milan and finally succeeded in converting Augustine to Christianity. He subsequently became one of the most influential saints in the Western church. His Confessions were inspired by his grief at her death in 387.
In the name of the Lord, Saint Monica, pray for us!
The icon was written by Sr Hannah Mauldin.