JMJ
Today before Mass someone challenged
me by asking the question: “What do you know of St. Nicholas of Tolentino?”
Today, of course, was his feast day in the calendar of the 1962 Missale Romanum.1
At a loss for a sufficient answer to his question, I decided to look into why
the Church honored him today, and more importantly, how his life is a model of
holiness which one could use as an example of how to live.
Starting at the beginning, St.
Nicholas was born, Nicholas Gurutti Sant’Angelo, Italy in the year 1245.2
Known for being a model of innocence and virtue since the days of his youth3,
he grew up to become a friar at the age of 18 and was ordained a priest 7 years
later. He lived a life of holiness characterized by penance, fasting, works of
mercy, and much time spent in prayer. He became well known as a preacher and a
confessor.
St. Nicholas worked in his years as
friar feeding the poor at the monastery gates and tending to those whom Our
Blessed Lord called “the least of His brethren”, those who by which we exercise
the Corporal Works of Mercy we shall do unto Our Lord Himself. (D-R St. Matthew
25:35-36,40, 42-43)
Augustinians have a custom in which
they bless and give away bread known as St. Nicholas bread. That custom came
from a mystical vision of St. Nicholas which occurred in his time working with
the poor and the suffering. After a long fast, St. Nicholas found himself
feeling very weak. He received a vision of the St. Augustine and Our Lady who
told him to eat bread marked with a cross dipped in water. He regained his
strength and gave these rolls to the ailing and afflicted people while
devotedly praying to Mary. The suffering people to whom this saint gave bread
were often cured of their afflictions. 4
This was not the only mystical
experience which is believed to have happened to St. Nicholas. St. Nicholas
received visions of Purgatory. St. Nicholas, in his life, was very devoted to
the souls in Purgatory which resulted in Pope Leo XIII pronouncing him patron
of the souls of Purgatory in 1884, a year which only dates 129 years ago. 5
One story holds that while Nicholas
was in bed a deceased Friar whom he had known pleaded him to say Mass for him
and for the salvation of other souls in Purgatory. Nicholas offered Mass for 7
days for the salvation of these souls. The deceased Friar returned to Nicholas
in another vision assuring him that many souls were now in heaven as a result.
Nicholas was a model pastor to his
flock. Tolentino, a city which was divided by the conflict between the Guelfs
who supported Papal control of Italy and The Ghibellines who supported the Holy
Roman Emperor’s control of Italy. In the midst of this crisis between the
Church and the Empire which became manifest in a very real way within the city
of Tolentino in the form of conflict, he kept up his priestly ministry and tended
to the poor, the imprisoned, and worked wonders and healed the afflicted. 7
Conscious of his instrumental
relationship as an instrument of the Lord, he continued the mortifications and
fasting of his life up to the day of his death. He died on this day, September
10, 1305-- 708 years ago.8 His body is kept in the Shrine of St.
Nicholas in the city of Tolentino for veneration.
St.
Nicholas was canonized in the year 1446 by Pope Eugene IV, and became the first
Augustinian friar to become a saint after what is known as the Grand Union of
the Order of St. Augustine in 1256. 9
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1 “Liturgical
Calendar” The Roman Catholic Daily Missal
(1962). Kansas City: Angelus Press, 2009. p. 15
2 “St. Nicholas of Tolentino” Catholic Online. (accessed September 10,
2013) www.catholic.org
3 “St. Nicholas of Tolentino” The Roman Catholic Daily Missal (1962). Kansas City: Angelus Press, 2009. p.1400
4 Province of Our Mother of Good
Counsel of the Augustinian Order. “St. Nicholas of Tolentine” (accessed
September 10, 2013) www.midwestaugustinians.org
5 “St. Nicholas of Tolentino” Wikipedia. (accessed September 10, 2013)
www.wikipedia.org
6 Province of Our Mother of Good
Counsel of the Augustinian Order. “St. Nicholas of Tolentine” (accessed
September 10, 2013) www.midwestaugustinians.org
7 “St. Nicholas of Tolentino” Wikipedia. (accessed September 10, 2013)
www.wikipedia.org
8 “St. Nicholas of Tolentino” The Roman Catholic Daily Missal (1962). Kansas City: Angelus Press, 2009. p.1400
9 Province of Our Mother of Good
Counsel of the Augustinian Order. “St. Nicholas of Tolentine” (accessed
September 10, 2013) www.midwestaugustinians.org
