We are pleased to partner with YMCA to provide before and after school care at St. Monica Catholic School. Call our child care partner at 289-923-1382 to learn more about their services.
About Our School
At St. Monica Catholic School, it is our mission to be an inclusive Catholic learning community that inspires every student to achieve their full potential through faith and education. We recognize our call to love and serve from our Master teacher Jesus Christ, and we are committed to creating a Catholic learning community under the protection of Mother Mary.
The Catholic Graduate Expectations are our foundation as we strive for academic excellence and the acknowledgement of those who achieve it. We recognize God as the source of all life and actively work to focus on social issues within our local and global communities.
We celebrate the diversity within our community with a collaborative approach to learning, in cooperation with parents, the Catholic faith community, and other organizations that recognize the value of our mission. Within the context of Catholic teaching and Sacramental living, our school community strives to demonstrate respect and reverence for all life, thus nurturing a safe, Christian environment for the entire school community.
Our patron saint is St. Monica. She is remembered as a model of patience. Her long years of prayer, coupled with a strong, well-disciplined character led to the conversion of her son, Saint Augustine.
St Monica was a widow; born of Christian parents at Tagaste, North Africa, in 333; died at Ostia, near Rome, in 387.
We are told but little of her childhood. She was married early in life to Patritius who held an official position in Tagaste. He was a pagan, though like so many at that period, his religion was no more than a name; his temper was violent and he appears to have been of dissolute habits. Consequently Monica's married life was far from being a happy one, more especially as Patritius's mother seems to have been of a like disposition with himself. There was of course a gulf between husband and wife; her almsdeeds and her habits of prayer annoyed him, but it is said that he always held her in a sort of reverence. Monica was not the only matron of Tagaste whose married life was unhappy, but, by her sweetness and patience, she was able to exercise a veritable apostolate amongst the wives and mothers of her native town; they knew that she suffered as they did, and her words and example had a proportionate effect.
Three children were born of this marriage, Augustine the eldest, Navigius the second, and a daughter, Perpetua. Monica had been unable to secure baptism for her children, and her grief was great when Augustine fell ill; in her distress she besought Patritius to allow him to be baptized; he agreed, but on the boy's recovery withdrew his consent. All Monica's anxiety now centred in Augustine; he was wayward and, as he himself tells us, lazy. He was sent to Madaura to school and Monica seems to have literally wrestled with God for the soul of her son. A great consolation was vouchsafed her in compensation perhaps for all that she was to experience through Augustine Patritius became a Christian. Meanwhile, Augustine had been sent to Carthage, to prosecute his studies, and here he fell into grievous sin. Patritius died very shortly after his reception into the Church and Monica resolved not to marry again. At Carthage Augustine had become a Manichean and when on his return home he ventilated certain heretical propositions she drove him away from her table, but a strange vision which she had urged her to recall him. It was at this time that she went to see a certain holy bishop, whose name is not given, but who consoled her with the now famous words, "the child of those tears shall never perish." There is no more pathetic story in the annals of the Saints than that of Monica pursuing her wayward son to Rome, wither he had gone by stealth; when she arrived he had already gone to Milan, but she followed him. Here she found St. Ambrose and through him she ultimately had the joy of seeing Augustine yield, after seventeen years of resistance. Mother and son spent six months of true peace at Cassiacum, after which time Augustine was baptized in the church of St. John the Baptist at Milan. Africa claimed them however, and they set out on their journey, stopping at Civit Vecchia and at Ostia. Here death overtook Monica and the finest pages of his "Confessions" were penned as the result of the emotion Augustine then experienced.
St. Monica was buried at Ostia, and at first seems to have been almost forgotten, though her body was removed during the sixth century to a hidden crypt in the church of St. Aureus. About the thirteenth century, however, the cult of St. Monica began to spread and a feast in her honour was kept on 4 May. In 1430 Martin V ordered the relics to be brought to Rome. Many miracles occurred on the way, and the cultus of St. Monica was definitely established. Later the Archbishop of Rouen, Cardinal d'Estouteville, built a church at Rome in honour of St. Augustine and deposited the relics of St. Monica in a chapel to the left of the high altar. The Office of St. Monica however does not seem to have found a place in the Roman Breviary before the sixteenth century.
In 1850 there was established at Notre Dame de Sion at Paris an Association of Christian mothers under the patronage of St. Monica; its object was mutual prayer for sons and husbands who had gone astray. This Association was in 1856 raised to the rank of an archconfraternity and spread rapidly over all the Catholic world, branches being established in Dublin, London, Liverpool, Sydney, and Buenos Aires. Eugenius IV had established a similar Confraternity long before.
As Catholic educators, we live according to our Father's code and to lead our students, by example, to live the basic truths of the gospel message. This is an awesome, yet inspiring challenge which we share with the parents of our young men and women.
Children learn what they live. Each day we have the opportunity to teach our students:
- to love by the way we love;
- to be generous by our generosity;
- to be passionate by our compassion; and
- to be forgiving by the way we forgive.
However, a person cannot give what he or she does not have. Unless we are living the Gospel message, we cannot lead our students to do so.
There are many hallmarks of a Catholic educator, including:
- Prayer - The challenges of our vocation, and indeed life in general, are great. To meet them we need to follow Christ's advice that we "ask the father in My name". Each Catholic educator has a duty to expose students to his or her particular style of prayer in order to assist students to recognize the value of prayer in daily life.
- Eucharist - Parish, school, and staff liturgies provide opportunities to celebrate our faith. Our example can testify to the Eucharist as a joyful source of strength and community building.
- Social Justice - This is the heart of the Christian message, that we "love one another as I have loved you". As our brother's and sister's keepers, we must be concerned about the aged, the poor, the oppressed, and any other marginalized group - both at home and abroad.
St. Monica Catholic School opened in 1987 to serve the growing west Pickering community and has been a welcoming, faith-filled learning environment ever since. Named after St. Monica, whose unwavering faith and perseverance inspired the conversion of her son, St. Augustine, the school is rooted in the values of prayer, compassion, and dedication to others. Since moving into its permanent facility in November 1987 and expanding in 2003, St. Monica has built a strong tradition of academic excellence, family engagement, and community service. In partnership with families and local parishes, the school continues to nurture students as they walk in the light of Christ and make a positive difference in their community.
St. Monica’s Feast Day is August 27.
Our school prayer is
St Monica,
Help our school
To become a more loving community,
To show friendship as Jesus did.
Help us to live the way of the Lord,
To understand the power of God,
And to be kind to others in a peaceful way.
Pray that those who are challenged
Receive the courage and strength,
And others the insight to recognize
that challenge.
St. Monica, We ask for your prayers for our families,
Our friends, our homes, our school
And our staff.
St. Monica, pray for us.
Amen.
Prière à Sainte Monica
Chère Sainte Monica,
Aidez notre école à devenir une communauté
Remplie d'amour et à montrer
L'amitié comme notre Seigneur Jésus l'a fait.
Aidez-nous à vivre l'enseignement de Jésus,
À comprendre la puissance de Dieu
Et à être gentils vers les autres
Dans une façon paisible.
Priez que ceux qui sont défiés de faire
Comme les autres qu'ils reçoivent le courage
Et la force, et que les autres reçoivent
L'aperçu de reconnaitre ce défi.
Sainte Monica, nous vous demandons
Vos prières pour nos familles, nos amis,
Nos foyers, notre école et pour nos professeurs.
Sainte Monica, priez pour nous.
Amen.
Our board's School Year calendar is now available. We encourage parents and guardians to visit our school calendar webpage to learn more about activities happening at school.
We welcome your questions, comments and concerns.
275 Twyn Rivers Dr
Pickering, ON L1V 1E3
Phone: (905) 509-6691
Fax: (905) 509-5933