Millions of Monicas ministry was founded with an idea of praying for souls to return to the Church. It has expanded to be a source of consolation for families in Columbus.
Amy Liss, a parishioner at Columbus St. Andrew Church, was inspired to start a local chapter at her parish while experiencing heartache from having children leave the faith. The group includes members from various diocesan parishes and meets monthly in St. Andrew Church.
Millions of Monicas began in 2021 as a prayer ministry for mothers seeking their children’s and loved ones’ return to the Catholic faith. It has expanded to 2,000 members in more than 100 parishes.
The group is open to mothers and all individuals with loved ones away from the faith. Many are mothers, but those who unite can pray for any individual no longer in the Church.
“The Millions of Monicas is not just for the return of our children – it’s for all of our fallen away loved ones,” Liss said. “I’ve had many people come to the Millions of Monicas prayer ministry and they thought it was only for children, and they didn’t realize they could be praying for their niece, their aunt, so on.”
Since the local chapter was founded in 2023, “Monicas” in the diocese have united in prayer for their loved ones to return home.
Liss is the mother of four children ages 21 to 39, three of whom no longer practice the Catholic faith.
“The guilt and the pain and the embarrassment that I think many moms go through when their children were brought up Catholic, went to Catholic high schools, had all the sacraments and all of the sudden they’re completely away from the Catholic Church – it’s quite devastating,” she said.
Three years ago, Liss started the St. Monica Book Club at St. Andrew. The group meets monthly in the parish center to read and discuss a book related to the topic. After continued prayer in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, she was inspired to bring Millions of Monicas ministry to Columbus.
“The St. Monica Book Club and the Millions of Monicas, very different ministries, just allow us to come together to support, to understand, to know that God loves our children more than we do and wants their return more than we do, and there’s a lot of comfort in that,” she said.
St. Monica was born in 332 in Tagaste, a north African city located in present-day Algeria. Her oldest son, St. Augustine, embraced a wayward lifestyle that brought her much grief.
Her son fathered a child out of wedlock and began practicing Manichaeism, a religion that originated in Persia in the third century.
St. Monica prayed for her son’s conversion for years. A bishop assured her that it was “impossible that the son of such tears should perish.” St. Augustine was later baptized and went on to become a priest and bishop of Hippo.
St. Monica is the patroness of mothers, wives, difficult marriages, abuse victims, alcoholics and the conversion of relatives, especially children.
The Monicas in Columbus relate to St. Monica’s years of suffering during her son’s years away from the Church. They follow her example in staying faithful.
“You see these poor choices, these bad pattern behaviors and you just see who has them in their grip, and it’s certainly not Christ,” Liss said of individuals the group prays for.
“There are several mothers who are truly holy women – saints, if you ask me – and there’s a real deep embarrassment because it’s like, how can you be so faith filled and so convicted and so holy and have your child or your fallen away loved one off doing Lord knows what … How can that be?”
Mothers often blame themselves for their child’s choice to leave the faith.
“We have many, many, many women who (have) just that guilt of, ‘What did I do wrong? What happened? What could I have done differently?’” Liss explained.
“Sometimes you just get into the routine of, ‘I’m going to pray, pray, pray,’ but when you really stop and take the time to realize how catastrophic that so many people are fallen away from the Church, it’s devastating, because you see where it’s taken the world and where it’s taken our children and our fallen-away loved ones.”
Millions of Monicas meetings begin with reflection and contemplation. The group often uses a reflection from the Millions of Monicas national organization that is posted online weekly. Gatherings also include a Scripture reading.
The group reflects on tangible ways they see God working in their lives and in their fallen-away loved ones through a “Signs & Sowings” activity.
“I remember my oldest son, Joseph, started to ask me questions about the Millions of Monicas, and I was kind of blown away because I’ve been doing this for quite a long time, and those are the kinds of signs and sowings that are relatable to me and others,” Liss reflected, “when you have those little conversations that are completely unexpected, and you know God’s at work, is at hand here and to have faith and trust and hope in that.”
Monicas also strive to plant seeds of faith in other people. As an example, they might ask a person they meet at the store how they can pray for them. They strive to plant seeds of faith in all children of God, not simply their own.
After reflecting on seeds planted and signs of growth during the meeting, Monicas place a card with their signs and sowings written out in a basket before the tabernacle. While prayers are between each mom and Christ privately, Liss takes the cards to Adoration and offers each up to the Lord.
The group also prays the “Trust Me” prayer and spends time praying for a person by name.
Monicas gather in groups of three or four, and each shares a name with her small group. Group members pray for the individuals by name while holding a small crucifix.
“We just fixate on Christ on the crucifix and pray for each of these names that the moms have given,” Liss said. “It’s really a beautiful, beautiful way just to really fixate on Christ and His sacrifice for us as we sit in the pew praying for all of our loved ones who have fallen away to come back to the Church.”
Those gathered also pray the rosary, the Millions of Monicas mom prayer and a prayer for St. Monica’s intercession during monthly meetings. Small groups pray for their group members’ loved ones throughout the month.
“It really gives, I think, the women hope and inspiration to continue on this journey of praying ceaselessly – like St. Monica did – forever or as long as we can pray for them,” Liss said.
A special Mass will be held at St. Andrew Church at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 27, the feast of St. Monica. All individuals with fallen-away loved ones are invited to attend.
To learn more about the ministry or starting Millions of Monicas at a parish, contact Liss at AmyLiss14@gmail.com.
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