Saint Nicholas of Tolentino

Saint Nicholas of Tolentino was an Italian Augustinian friar and priest who for about thirty years served in Tolentino as a preacher and confessor, caring for the poor and the sick. He is venerated as patron of the souls in purgatory. His memorial falls on September 10, the anniversary of his death.

He was born around 1245 at Sant’Angelo in Pontano, in the diocese of Fermo in the Marche region. According to tradition, his parents, who had long been childless, prayed for a son through the intercession of Saint Nicholas of Bari and therefore gave him that saint’s name. Already as a boy he came to know the Augustinians. The old lives relate that his choice was settled by a sermon one of the friars preached on the words “Do not love the world or the things of the world.” He entered the Order of Hermits of Saint Augustine in his hometown and made his profession while still very young.

For several years he lived in various houses of the order in the Marche, where he studied and prepared for the priesthood. He was ordained a priest at Cingoli. According to tradition, at the hermitage of Valmanente near Pesaro the souls suffering in purgatory appeared to him and asked him to offer Mass for them. Prayer for the dead, which remains part of his cult to this day, is linked to this account. Around 1275 his superiors assigned him permanently to the friary in Tolentino.

He spent the rest of his life in Tolentino. He preached almost every day, spent many hours in the confessional, visited the poor and the sick in their homes, and reconciled those at odds. He himself led a very ascetic life: he ate no meat, fasted at least three days a week, and devoted much time to prayer. The Roman Martyrology says of him that he was severe with himself but merciful to others, and often took penance upon himself for the sake of others.

The custom of Saint Nicholas bread is connected with him. According to tradition, when he was gravely ill toward the end of his life, the Mother of God told him to eat a piece of bread dipped in water, and he regained his strength. From then on he himself blessed bread and gave it to the sick, and to this day the Augustinians bless small rolls known as Saint Nicholas bread on his memorial. He died in Tolentino on September 10, 1305, after a long illness.

The canonization process was opened in 1325 by Pope John XXII. According to the bull of canonization, 371 witnesses were examined to confirm 301 miracles. The cause stalled, however, after the death of John XXII and then in the time of the schisms that divided the Church. Pope Eugene IV declared Nicholas a saint in 1446 and ordered his feast to be kept on September 10. He was the first member of his order to be raised to the altars by canonization.

His mortal remains rest in the Basilica of Saint Nicholas in Tolentino. For centuries the exact place of his burial was unknown, and it was found only in 1926. The faithful ask his intercession for the dead, and also in times of epidemic and fire.