Nicholas of Tolentino - Biography

Biography

Born at Sant'Angelo in Pontano in Italy, in what was then the March of Ancona, Nicholas was the son of parents who had been childless into middle age. Compagnonus de Guarutti and Amata de Guidiani, prayed at the shrine of Saint Nicholas of Myra for his intercession, and when Amata became pregnant they named their son after the saint.

A studious, kind and gentle youth, at the age of 18 Nicholas became an Augustinian Friar and was a student of the Blessed Angelus de Scarpetti. A monk at the monasteries at Recanati and Macerata as well as others, he was ordained in 1271 at the age of 25, and soon became known for his preaching and teachings. Nicholas, who had had visions of angels reciting "to Tolentino", in 1274 took this as a sign to move to that city, where he lived the rest of his life.

In Tolentino, Nicholas worked as a peacemaker in a city torn by strife between the Guelfs and Ghibellines who, in the conflict for control of Italy, supported the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor respectively. He ministered to his flock, helped the poor and visited prisoners. When working wonders or healing people, he always asked those he helped to "Say nothing of this", explaining that he was just God's instrument. Towards the end of his life he became ill, suffering greatly, but still continued the mortifications that had been part of his holy life. Nicholas died in September 10, 1305.

During his life, Nicholas 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, often late into the night. Once, when very ill, he 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. Upon doing so he was immediately cured. He started distributing these rolls to the ailing, while praying to Mary, often curing the sufferers; the rolls became known as Saint Nicholas Bread and are still distributed at his shrine.