A great idea, and much-needed.
From OSV News:
Father Jay Buhman still remembers the elderly gentleman he encountered weekly, in the middle of the night, during perpetual Eucharistic adoration. They would greet each other as they switched shifts to pray before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and go on their way. But, one day, the man revealed that his daughter had left the Catholic Church.
“I remember him, in the midst of sobs, asking me, ‘What can I do? What should I do?’” Father Buhman, a pastor in the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska, said, writing about the moment from 15 years ago. “I remember having very little to say except, ‘Keep praying for her…’”
He wanted to do something more. And so, five years later around 2015, Father Buhman began The St. Monica Project with the Masses and Tears devotion for parents and others praying for the return of loved ones to the faith. He drew inspiration from St. Monica, a 4th-century Christian mother from North Africa who begged God for the conversion of her son, St. Augustine of Hippo.
“It’s a devotion that I created to help parents — and to encourage parents — in their prayer for their children to return to the practice of the faith,” Father Buhman told OSV News ahead of St. Monica’s feast day on Aug. 27. “Just to encourage them, support them, help them, give them something a little more concrete as a way of continuing their prayer.”
The devotion created by Father Buhman, pastor of All Saints in Holdrege and St. John in Smithfield, Nebraska, centers around an image of St. Monica by a local artist, a prayer asking for the intersession of St. Monica by Father Buhman, and Masses offered for loved ones who have left the Catholic Church.
This is something many parents struggle with: A Pew Research Center report released earlier this year found that 43% of U.S. adults who were raised Catholic no longer consider themselves religiously Catholic.
Through his project, Father Buhman provides holy cards, note cards, Mass cards, brochures and bulletin inserts with the devotion’s image and prayer. Churches and chapels can also request canvas prints of the image. While the faithful can receive these materials free-of-charge, the project welcomes donations to cover the costs of materials and shipping.
Father Buhman also hopes, one day, to build a shrine supporting the devotion.
And discover more about the project here.
