Saint Nicholas of Tolentino, Confessor
S. Nicolai de Tolentino Confessoris
Saint Nicholas of Tolentino, an Augustinian friar of great penance and gentleness, spent his life preaching, hearing confessions, and caring for the poor and the souls of the faithful departed.
Saint Nicholas was born about the year 1245 at Sant’Angelo in Pontano, in the March of Ancona, in Italy. His parents, long childless, are said to have obtained his birth through prayer and pilgrimage, and to have named him in honour of Saint Nicholas of Bari; from his earliest years he was inclined to piety and to the things of God. While still young he entered the Order of the Hermits of Saint Augustine, and was in due time ordained a priest.
A life of penance and mercy
For the greater part of his life Saint Nicholas dwelt in the town of Tolentino, from which he takes his name. There he gave himself to a life of strict penance, prayer, and humble service. He was untiring in preaching the word of God to the people, plainly and with charity; he spent long hours in the confessional, drawing sinners gently back to God; and he went about the streets and the houses of the poor, the sick, and the imprisoned, comforting the afflicted and relieving their wants. The tradition remembers his tenderness toward the suffering and his readiness to spend himself for the least of Christ’s brethren.
He was known also for his great devotion to the holy souls in purgatory, offering Mass and prayer and penance for the faithful departed; and from this long tradition he is invoked to this day as a special patron and intercessor for the souls in purgatory. Many wonders were attributed to his prayers, both in his lifetime and after his death, though the saint himself, in deep humility, shrank from any honour and ascribed all to the goodness of God.
His holy death
After many years of labour, his strength worn down by penance and toil, Saint Nicholas died at Tolentino on the tenth of September, 1305. His tomb became a place of pilgrimage, and he was canonised in the fifteenth century, the first of the Augustinian Order to be so honoured.
The collect of his feast prays that, as the Lord granted Saint Nicholas to overcome the things of the world, so we may by his example be ever set free from the snares of this present age. In him the Church honours a friar of penance and mercy, a preacher of repentance, and a faithful friend of the souls of the dead. His feast is kept on the tenth of September.
The Collect
Patronage
He is venerated as a patron of the holy souls in purgatory, for whom he prayed and offered penance throughout his life.
In the Modern Calendar
In the modern calendar his memorial is observed on the same day, 10 September, as an optional memorial.
Common Questions
When is the feast of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino?
His feast is kept on 10 September in the calendar of the 1962 Roman Missal, as a Third Class feast. The modern calendar likewise observes him on 10 September, as an optional memorial.
Who was Saint Nicholas of Tolentino?
He was an Italian friar of the Order of the Hermits of Saint Augustine, born about 1245, who lived most of his life in the town of Tolentino. Renowned for his penance, his preaching, his hours in the confessional, and his care of the poor and the sick, he died in 1305 and was canonised in the fifteenth century.
Why is he invoked for the souls in purgatory?
Saint Nicholas had a deep devotion to the faithful departed, offering Mass, prayer, and penance for the holy souls throughout his life. From this long tradition the Church invokes him as a special patron and intercessor for the souls in purgatory.
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