Today, September 10, is the memorial of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino.
Patron saint of the holy souls in Purgatory.
Nicholas was born in 1245 in Sant’Angelo in Pontano, Italy and was named after St. Nicholas of Myra.
He so impressed the Bishop of Fermo with his holiness and intelligence that the latter admitted him to minor orders even when Nicholas was still a minor. He entered the Augustinian monastery.
He was ordained in 1271, and afterwards became a successful preacher, especially in Tolentino where he spent the remaining 30 years of his life.
Nicholas performed many miracles, but he always told those he helped, “Say nothing of this. Thank God, not me.” He was the recipient of mystical experiences, being granted visions, including images of Purgatory, which friends ascribed to his lengthy fasts. Nicholas 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.
When Nicholas became gravely sick, he had a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Augustine of Hippo, and St. Monica. They told him to eat a certain type of bread that had been dipped in water. He was cured and thus began healing others by giving bread over which he recited Marian prayers. The rolls became known as Saint Nicholas Bread.
He died of natural causes in 1305. He was canonized by Pope Eugene IV in 1446.