Biography
ST. NICHOLAS
OF TOLENTINO, CONFESSOR {1245- 1305} or {1306-1246}
Born at
-- Sant' Angelo, in Pontano, near Fermo, in the March of Ancona
His parents,
said to have been called Compagnonus de Guarutti and Amata de Guidiani
(these surnames may merely indicate their birth-places), were pious
folk, perhaps gentle born, living content with a small substance. His
mother was a model of holiness. They were childless until a pilgrimage
to a shrine of the original Saint Nicholas at Bari, Italy where his
mother asked for a son whom she promised to dedicate to God's service.
When her wish was granted, she named the boy Nicholas. He soon gave
unusual signs of saintliness. Already at seven he would hide away in
a nearby cave and pray there like the hermits whom he had observed in
the mountains.
His religious
formation was greatly influenced by the spirituality of the hermits
of Brettino, one of the congregations which came to form part of the "Grand
Union" of Augustinians in 1256, whose communities were located
in the region of the March where Nicholas was born and raised. Characteristic
of these early hermits of Brettino were a great emphasis on poverty,
rigorous practices of fasting and abstinence, and long periods of the
day devoted to communal and private prayer.
After hearing
the inspired preaching by Reginaldo da Monterubbiano, Prior (local superior)
of the Augustinian monastery in Sant'Angelo, he felt a call to embrace
the religious life. His parents gave a joyful consent. His piousness
so impressed the Bishop of Fermo that he permitted Nicholas to join
the minor orders as young boy. As soon as he was old enough he was received
into the Order of Augustinian friars and made his novitiate in 1261.
At age eighteen he made his profession and entered the monastery at
Tolentino where he was very active in administering the sacraments to
the local community. He quickly won over the trust and love of the locals;
he was often called upon to pray for the deceased loved ones and was
affectionately referred to as the "Patron of Holy Souls".
As Nicholas
entered the Order at its inception he learned to combine the ascetical
practices of the Brettini with the apostolic thrust which the Church
now invited the Augustinians to practice. At times Nicholas devoted
himself to prayer and works of penance with such intensity that it was
necessary for his superiors to impose limitations on him.
At one point
he was so weakened through fasting that he was encouraged in a vision
of Mary and the child Jesus to eat a piece of bread signed with the
cross and soaked in water, to regain his strength.
Nicholas repeated these steps throughout the community
to help the sick, resulting in numerous miracles of
healing. In his honor the custom of blessing and distributing the "Bread
of Saint Nicholas" is
continued by the Augustinians in many places to this
day including his shrine.
On account
of his kind and gentle manner his superiors entrusted him with the daily
feeding of the poor at the monastery gates, but at times he was so free
with the friary's provisions that the procurator begged the superior
to check his generosity. Even before his ordination he was sent to different
monasteries of his order, at Recanati, Macerata etc., as a model of
generous striving after perfection.
He was ordained
in 1271 and said his first Mass with exceptional
fervor; thereafter, whenever he celebrated the holy Mystery he seemed
aglow with the fire of his love. He lived in several different monasteries
of the Augustinian Order, engaged principally in the ministry of preaching.
In
1275 he was sent to Tolentino, and remained there for the rest of his
life. He was known for his humility, meekness and sanctity. His preaching,
instructions and work in the confessional brought
about numerous conversions, and his many miracles were responsible for
more, yet he was careful not to take any credit for these miracles.
"Say nothing of this," he would insist, "give thanks to
God, not to me. I am only a vessel of clay, a poor
sinner."
As a priest
and religious, he was full of charity towards his brother Augustinians
as well as towards the people to whom he ministered. He visited the
sick and cared for the needy. He was a noted preacher of the Gospel.
He gave special attention to those who had fallen away from the Church.
People considered him a miracle worker. He often fasted and performed
other works of penance. He spent long hours in prayer.
Nicholas
worked to counteract the decline of morality and religion which came
with the development of city life in the late thirteenth century. A
fellow religious describes Nicholas’ ministry in these words:
"He
was a joy to those who were sad, a consolation to the suffering, peace
to those at variance, refreshment to those who toiled, support for the
poor, and a healing balm for prisoners."
Nicholas’
reputation as a saintly man and a worker of miracles
led many people to the monastery of Tolentino.
He worked
as a peacemaker in a city torn by civil war. Preached every day, wonder-worker
and healer, and visited prisoners. Received visions, including images
of Purgatory, which friends ascribed to his lengthy fasts. Had a great
devotion to the recently dead, praying for the souls in Purgatory as
he traveled around his parish, and often late into the night.
Reported
to have resurrected over one hundred dead children, including several
who had drowned together. Legend says that the devil once beat Nicholas
with a stick; the stick was displayed for years in the his church. A
vegetarian, Nicholas was once served a roasted fowl; he made the sign
of the cross over it, and it flew out a window. Nine passengers on ship
going down at sea once asked Nicholas' aid; he appeared in the sky,
wearing the black Augustinian habit, radiating golden light, holding
a lily in his left hand; with his right hand he quelled the storm. An
apparition of the saint once saved the burning palace of the Doge of
Venice by throwing a piece of blessed bread on the flames.
He spent
the last thirty years of his life in Tolentino preaching with wonderful
success, where the Guelfs and the Ghibellines were in constant strife.
Nicholas saw only one remedy to the violence: street preaching, and
the success of this apostolic work was astounding. "He spoke of
the things of heaven," says his biographer St. Antonine. "Sweetly
he preached the divine word, and the words that came from his lips fell
like flames of fire. Among his hearers could be seen the tears and heard
the sighs of people detesting their sins and repenting of their past
lives."
Towards
the end diseases tried his patience, but he kept up his mortifications
almost to the hour of death. He died surrounded by his community. He
possessed an angelic meekness, a guileless simplicity, and a tender
love of virginity, which he never stained, guarding it by prayer and
extraordinary mortifications. Many of the cures obtained through Saint
Nicholas’ prayers were received while he himself was infirm.
In 1345
a lay Brother cut off the arms of his body intending to take them to
Germany as relics, and the friars then hid his body to prevent further
attempts of this kind. It has not been found to this day, but the arms
have been preserved. It is recorded that they have bled on several occasions,
usually; it is said, before some calamity that befell the Church or
the world.
When in
1884 Nicholas was proclaimed "Patron of the Souls in Purgatory"
by Pope Leo XIII, confirmation was given to a long-standing
aspect of devotion toward this friar which is traced to an event in his
own life. On a certain Saturday night as he lay in bed, Nicholas heard
the voice of someone who identified himself as Fra Pellegrino of Osimo,
a deceased friar whom Nicholas had known. Fra Pellegrino revealed that
he was in purgatory and begged Nicholas to offer Mass for him and for
other suffering souls so that they might be set free. For the next seven
days Nicholas did so and was rewarded with a second vision in which the
deceased confrere expressed his gratitude and assurance that a great number
of people were now enjoying the presence of God through Nicholas’ prayers.
As this event became known, many people approached Nicholas, asking his
intercession on behalf of their own deceased relatives and friends.
Like many
of the saints, Nicholas received from God a particular calling. It was
not to feed the poor, although he did, nor to be zealous for the salvation
of souls, although he was. His call was to help the Holy Souls in Purgatory.
St. Nicholas
had a great love for the Holy Souls. He would offer Mass, pray and do
penance for them so they could more quickly enter Heaven. Because many
Catholics have forgotten about the souls in Purgatory, except when November
2nd - All Souls Day - comes around, St. Nicholas can teach a valuable
lesson.
Nicholas
died in Tolentino on 10 September 1305. He was canonized by Eugene IV
in 1446: the first member of the Augustinian Order to be canonized.
Saint Nicholas’
body is "preserved" and venerated by the faithful in the basilica
in Tolentino in the city of Tolentine which bears his name. His feast
is celebrated by the Augustinian Family on 10 September.
With so
little attention given to the Holy Souls today we thought why not follow
the example of St. Nicholas and do something about it? Since the Church
has dedicated the month of November to the Holy Souls.
Let us follow
the example of St. Nicholas and start praying for them daily!
St. Nicholas
of Tolentino, pray for us!
