St. Monica Medallion Tote Bag (Charcoal)

These custom made-on-demand Tote Bags ship world-wide directly from our exceptional craftsmen in China. When placing your order, please use a physical street address for DHL Express delivery. DHL Express can not deliver to a PO Box. Destination tracking is available for most countries. A tracking number will be emailed to you once your order has shipped.

Production Time: 5-7 working days
DHL Express Ship Time: 3-6 days

Please Note: During peak shopping seasons, production and ship time may take a little longer than normal. If you are buying this item as a gift, please order as early as possible. We don't want to disappoint you or the gift recipient with a potentially delayed order.

For countries where tracking numbers are not available, this item should arrive by regular post within 2-4 weeks. Orders that have not arrived within 45 days of order processing are eligible for a free reshipment or a refund.

MATERIALS 
These Tote Bags are made with a high quality, textured imitation leather with a Safiano Finish created by the luxury designer brand Prada. This material is made with split leather (that’s the fibrous part of the hide left over from making genuine leather) which has been bonded with polyurethane. This material is extremely durable and the image will not fade, peel or flake. The interior lining is a soft, brushed polyester. These Tote Bags are vegan and eco friendly.

CARE
Your freshly made bag might arrive with a "new bag smell" (similar to a new car smell) that some people love and others do not. When you receive your bag, please unwrap it and allow the bag breathe for 24-48 hours to absorb the natural scents of its surroundings. To clean your tote bag, use a soft, damp towel to wipe away any dust or dirt. You can use a mild soap or gentle cleaning spray if needed. Please do not put this tote bag in the washing machine.

ST. MONICA

332 — 387
Feast Days May 4 (Traditional) August 27 (New)
Patron Saint of married women, difficult marriages, widows, mothers, disappointing or wayward children, victims of adultery and abuse and conversion of relatives.

Monica's holy example and fervent intercession led to one of the most dramatic conversions in Church history. She is remembered and honored for her outstanding Christian values, particularly the suffering caused by her husband's adultery and abuse, and her prayerful life dedicated to the reformation of her son St. Augustine, who wrote extensively of her pious acts and life with her in his autobiographical work Confessions.

Monica is believed to have been a Berber born into a Catholic family in the North African city of Thagaste (present-day Souk Ahras, Algeria). She was raised by a maidservant who taught her the virtues of obedience and temperance.

While still relatively young, her parents gave her in marriage to a pagan, Patricius, a Roman civil servant with a violent temper and a disdain for his wife's religion. Monica dealt patiently with his distressing behavior, which included abuse and infidelity to their marriage vows. But she experienced a greater grief when he would not allow their three children – Augustine, Nagivius, and Perpetua – to be baptized.

Monica's long-suffering patience and prayers eventually helped Patricius to see the error of his ways, and he was baptized into the Church one year before his death in 371. Her oldest son, Augustine, however, soon embraced a way of life that brought her further grief, as he fathered a child out of wedlock, was living a reckless and immoral life and he began to practice the occult religion of Manichaeism. For a while, she refused to let him eat or sleep in her house. Then one night she had a vision that assured her Augustine would come to the faith.

From that time on, she stayed close to her son, praying and fasting for him. When he was 29, Augustine decided to go to Rome to teach rhetoric. One night he told his mother that he was going to the dock to say goodbye to a friend. Instead he set sail for Rome. Monica was heartbroken when she learned of Augustine’s trick, and decided to follow him. Yet even this painful event would serve God's greater purpose, as Augustine left to become a teacher in the place where he was destined to become a Catholic.

She arrived in Rome only to find that he had left for Milan. Although travel was difficult, Monica pursued him to Milan. Once in Milan, Monica drew encouragement from her son's growing interest in the saintly preaching of the bishop St. Ambrose. After three years of struggle against his own desires and perplexities, on Easter 387, St. Ambrose baptized Augustine and several of his friends. Soon after, his party left for Africa.

Although no one else was aware of it, Monica knew her life was near the end. She became ill shortly after and suffered severely for nine days before her death. Monica died at age 56, in the year 387. She has become the inspiration for the St. Monica Sodality, which encourages prayer and penance among Catholics whose children have left the faith.