Nicholas of Tolentino
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Saint Nicholas of Tolentino | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Confessor | |
| Born | c. 1246 AD |
| Died | 1305 AD |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Feast | September 10 |
| Attributes | Augustinian giving bread to a sick person; Augustinian holding a container of bread; Augustinian holding a container of money; Augustinian holding a lily; Augustinian holding crucifix garlanded with lilies; Augustinian with a star above him; Augustinian with a star on his breast; basket with bread rolls; crucifix garlanded with lilies; lily |
| Patronage | animals; babies; boatmen; diocese of Cabanatuan, Philippines; dying people; Lambunao, Philippines; mariners; diocese of Mati, Philippines; sailors; sick animals; souls in purgatory; diocese of Tandag, Philippines; watermen; St. Nicolas de Tolentino Parish, Naujan Or., Mindoro Philippines |
 Saints Portal |
|
Saint Nicholas of Tolentino (Italian: Nicola da Tolentino) (c. 1246 — 1305), known as the Patron of Holy Souls, was an Italian saint.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
He was born at Sant'Angelo in Pontano in Italy, in what was then the March of Ancona. His parents, Compagnonus de Guarutti and Amata de Guidiani, were originally unable to have a child, but after praying at a shrine of St. Nicholas of Myra, Amata became pregnant, and they named their son after the saint.
At the age of 18, Nicholas became an Augustinian Friar and was a student with Blessed Angelus de Scarpetti. He became a monk at Recanati and Macerata, and at the age of 25, he was ordained. He was a canon of Saint Saviour's. Had visions of angels reciting "to Tolentino"; he took this as a sign to move to that city in 1274, where he lived the rest of his life.
He became ill and received a vision of Blessed Virgin Mary and Saints Augustine and Monica who told him to eat a certain type of bread roll that had been dipped in water. He started distributing these rolls while praying to Mary. These rolls became known as Saint Nicholas Bread.
He worked as a peacemaker in a city torn by civil war. He preached, worked wonders, healed people, and visited prisoners. He always told those he helped, "Say nothing of this." He received visions, including images of Purgatory, which friends ascribed to his lengthy fasts. He 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.
[edit] Miracles
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 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.
[edit] Veneration
He died in 1305 and was canonized by Pope Eugene IV. St Pius V did not include him in the Tridentine Calendar, but he was inserted later and given 10 September as his feast day. Because of what was judged to be his limited importance worldwide, his liturgical celebration is no longer included among those to be commemorated universally, wherever the Roman Rite is celebrated.[1], but he is still recognized as one of the saints of the Roman Catholic Church.[2]
A number of churches and oratories are dedicated to him, including the church of San Nicolò da Tolentino in Venice; San Nicola da Tolentino agli Orti Sallustiani in Rome; the Oratorio di San Nicola da Tolentino (Oratory of San Nicola da Tolentino) in Vicenza; and finally the Basilica di San Nicola a Tolentino in the saint's hometown of Tolentino in the province of Macerata.
[edit] References
- ^ Calendarium Romanum (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1969), p. 138
- ^ Martyrologium Romanum (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2001 ISBN 88-209-7210-7)
