Saint Nicholas of Tolentine
Also known as
Saint Nicholas of Tolentino
Niccolò da Tolentino
Nicola da Tolentino
Nicolás de Tolentino
Patron of Holy Souls
memorial
10 September
Profile
Like with Saint Nicholas of Flue, I think I avoid doing Our Saint for today because I don’t want to confuse myself or you with all these saint Nicks roaming around. What fun is a Saint Nick that doesn’t drive a sleigh anyway?
Anyhoo…..Nick of Tolentine had parents who were childless and were generally beyond the child bearing years. That is until a prayerful visit to a shrine of Saint Nicholas of Myra at Bari, Italy. They were blessed with a son and named him Nicholas in gratitude.
Nicholas became an Augustinian friar and received visions of angels reciting the phrase “to Tolentino.” He listened to the heavenly choir and moved to Tolentino he lived there for the rest of his life. I’m glad that wasn’t me…I think I would have heard “To Toblerone” and spent the rest of my days eating triangular chocolate bars…..
With the constant fasting, Nicholas received visions. He claimed to have seen the souls in purgatory, and as such he had a special devotion to praying for the recently dead and dying, as well as the imprisoned.
In his lifetime he was called a wonderworker, he was a known healer and a peacemaker. He always told those he helped “Say nothing of this.”
Legends abound about our saint, it is said he was very sick, and in this state he was visited in his visions by the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Augustine of Hippo and Saint Monica. They instructed him to eat a certain type of roll that had been dipped in water, which cured him. He began healing others by administering bread over which he recited Marian prayers. The rolls became known as Saint Nicholas Bread, and are still distributed at his shrine.
In what may be confusion with the legends that surround Nicholas of Myra it is said he resurrected over one hundred dead children, including several who had drowned together.
As such a potent miracle worker cannot be left unmolested by the infernal regions, the Devil himself came to beat Nicholas with a stick; the stick was displayed for years in his church.
My favorite story about our Saint involves his dietary habits; he was a vegetarian, accidentally Nicholas was once served a roasted fowl; he made the sign of the cross over the bird, and it flew out a window. More miracles: He miraculously quenched the burning flames engulfing the palace of the Doge of Venice.
It was said that after his death, his bones would exude blood when the Church was in danger. For a while his relics were lost, they were re-discovered at Tolentino in 1926. The cause for his sainthood recognized over 300 miracles.
There is a big beautiful Church in the Bronx run by the Augustinians named for Our Saint today on the corner of Fordham Road and University Ave. In 2010 a suspicious fire broke out in the sanctuary, the church was evacuated through the rectory as the doors were blocked. A few of New York’s Bravest were injured fighting the blaze from debris falling from the ceiling. There were a string of Church arson attacks in the Bronx around that time.
Born
1245
Died
10 September 1305 following a long illness
Patronage
animals
babies
boatmen
dying people
mariners
sailors
sick animals
souls in Purgatory
Tolentino, Italy
watermen
Saint Nicholas of Tolentino
Niccolò da Tolentino
Nicola da Tolentino
Nicolás de Tolentino
Patron of Holy Souls
memorial
10 September
Profile
Like with Saint Nicholas of Flue, I think I avoid doing Our Saint for today because I don’t want to confuse myself or you with all these saint Nicks roaming around. What fun is a Saint Nick that doesn’t drive a sleigh anyway?
Anyhoo…..Nick of Tolentine had parents who were childless and were generally beyond the child bearing years. That is until a prayerful visit to a shrine of Saint Nicholas of Myra at Bari, Italy. They were blessed with a son and named him Nicholas in gratitude.
Nicholas became an Augustinian friar and received visions of angels reciting the phrase “to Tolentino.” He listened to the heavenly choir and moved to Tolentino he lived there for the rest of his life. I’m glad that wasn’t me…I think I would have heard “To Toblerone” and spent the rest of my days eating triangular chocolate bars…..
With the constant fasting, Nicholas received visions. He claimed to have seen the souls in purgatory, and as such he had a special devotion to praying for the recently dead and dying, as well as the imprisoned.
In his lifetime he was called a wonderworker, he was a known healer and a peacemaker. He always told those he helped “Say nothing of this.”
Legends abound about our saint, it is said he was very sick, and in this state he was visited in his visions by the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Augustine of Hippo and Saint Monica. They instructed him to eat a certain type of roll that had been dipped in water, which cured him. He began healing others by administering bread over which he recited Marian prayers. The rolls became known as Saint Nicholas Bread, and are still distributed at his shrine.
In what may be confusion with the legends that surround Nicholas of Myra it is said he resurrected over one hundred dead children, including several who had drowned together.
As such a potent miracle worker cannot be left unmolested by the infernal regions, the Devil himself came to beat Nicholas with a stick; the stick was displayed for years in his church.
My favorite story about our Saint involves his dietary habits; he was a vegetarian, accidentally Nicholas was once served a roasted fowl; he made the sign of the cross over the bird, and it flew out a window. More miracles: He miraculously quenched the burning flames engulfing the palace of the Doge of Venice.
It was said that after his death, his bones would exude blood when the Church was in danger. For a while his relics were lost, they were re-discovered at Tolentino in 1926. The cause for his sainthood recognized over 300 miracles.
There is a big beautiful Church in the Bronx run by the Augustinians named for Our Saint today on the corner of Fordham Road and University Ave. In 2010 a suspicious fire broke out in the sanctuary, the church was evacuated through the rectory as the doors were blocked. A few of New York’s Bravest were injured fighting the blaze from debris falling from the ceiling. There were a string of Church arson attacks in the Bronx around that time.
Born
1245
Died
10 September 1305 following a long illness
Patronage
animals
babies
boatmen
dying people
mariners
sailors
sick animals
souls in Purgatory
Tolentino, Italy
watermen
Representation
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
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
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