Namesake

Born in North Africa around 330 A.D., Monica famously prayed for years for her brilliant son, Aurelius Augustinus, to become Christian. She followed him to Rome, then Milan, where he was influenced by St. Ambrose, and converted before her death. She’s buried in Rome, and thanks to a request by that son (now known as St. Augustine), pilgrims still visit her tomb to pray. She’s the patron saint of mothers, women in difficult marriages, and parents whose children have left the Faith.

Through the Years

1911

St. Monica Church was established as a parish in 1911, after almost 20 years of contention between area Catholics who wanted a parish of their own and the nearby Franciscan parish of St. George, which served a large area. When the dust settled, St. George was designated the parish for Corryville and St. Monica, the parish for Clifton Heights.

1928

Built in 1928, the ornate limestone church designed by Edward Schulte was modeled on the Basilica of St. Apollinare in Ravenna. Its neo-Romanesque style has many Byzantine influences and features: a red clay tile roof, a 144-ft. campanile (freestanding belltower), ornate carved stonework, stone tile floors and wall ornaments, a curtain wall of German stained glass in the clerestory, more than 100 motifs and portraits of saints, multiple reredos, and an elaborate, eight-sided, brass baldachino. Almost every surface is carved, stenciled, or painted, including the wooden ceiling and trusses.

1938

In 1938, St. Monica became the temporary proto-cathedral for the archdiocese, when the Cathedral of St. Peter in Chains was in such disrepair that its future was in jeopardy and the building had to close. St. Monica served as the archbishop’s seat until the original cathedral reopened in 1957.

1993

In 1993, St. George merged with both St. Monica and the University of Cincinnati Newman Center, served by the friars of St. George until 2020. This merged parish is now part of the Uptown Catholic Family of Parishes, with Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Holy Name churches and schools.

2022

In 2022, the Covington-based Franciscan Daughters of Mary worked with prior pastor Fr. Ethan Moore to spearhead cleaning and repair of the sanctuary. Over several weeks and using scaffolding loaned by a Kentucky supply company, the sisters and more than 100 volunteers—many of them students and families—polished the blackened brass in the sanctuary to restore its golden shine.