STATION 1

NICHOLAS of Tolentino
Also known as Patron of Holy Souls
Memorial:
10 September
Born:
1245 at Sant'Angelo, March of Ancona, diocese of Fermo
Died:
September 10, 1305 at Tolentino, Italy following a long illness;
relics rediscovered at Tolentino in 1926; in previous times they
were known exude blood when the Church was in danger.
Canonized:
5 June (Pentecost) 1446 by Pope Eugene IV; over 300 miracles
were recognized by the Congregation
Patronage:
Souls in Purgatory, animals, babies, boatmen, dying people,
mariners, sailors, sick animals, 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
Quote:
"The Heavens are not pure in the sight of Him Whom I serve;
how then shall I, a sinful man, stand before Him?"

-Saint Nicholas
STATION 2
ST. NICHOLAS OF TOLENTINO, CONFESSOR
{1245- 1305} or {1306-1246}
Born at -- Sant' Angelo, in Pontano, near
Fermo, in the March of Ancona
His parents, said to have been called
Compagnonus de Guarutti and Amata de
Guidiani (these surnames may merely indicate
their birth-places), were pious folk, perhaps
gentle born, living content with a small
substance. His mother was a model of
holiness. They were childless until a pilgrimage
to a shrine of the original Saint Nicholas at
Bari, Italy where his mother asked for a son
whom she promised to dedicate to God's
service. When her wish was granted, she
named the boy Nicholas. He soon gave unusual
signs of saintliness. Already at seven he would
hide away in a nearby cave and pray there like
the hermits whom he had observed in the
mountains.
 STATION 3
His religious formation was greatly influenced by the
spirituality of the hermits of Brettino, one of the
congregations which came to form part of the "Grand
Union" of Augustinians in 1256, whose communities were
located in the region of the March where Nicholas was born
and raised. Characteristic of these early hermits of Brettino
were a great emphasis on poverty, rigorous practices of
fasting and abstinence, and long periods of the day
devoted to communal and private prayer.
After hearing the inspired preaching by Reginaldo da
Monterubbiano, Prior (local superior) of the Augustinian
monastery in Sant'Angelo, he felt a call to embrace the
religious life. His parents gave a joyful consent. His
piousness so impressed the Bishop of Fermo that he
permitted Nicholas to join the minor orders as young boy.
As soon as he was old enough he was received into the
Order of Augustinian friars and made his novitiate in 1261.
At age eighteen he made his profession and entered the
monastery at Tolentino where he was very active in
administering the sacraments to the local community. He
quickly won over the trust and love of the locals; he was
often called upon to pray for the deceased loved ones and
was affectionately referred to as the "Patron of Holy
Souls".
 STATION 4
As Nicholas entered the Order at its inception
he learned to combine the ascetical practices
of the Brettini with the apostolic thrust which
the Church now invited the Augustinians to
practice. At times Nicholas devoted himself to
prayer and works of penance with such
intensity that it was necessary for his superiors
to impose limitations on him.
At one point he was so weakened through
fasting that he was encouraged in a vision of
Mary and the child Jesus to eat a piece of bread
signed with the cross and soaked in water, to
regain his strength.

Nicholas repeated these steps throughout the

community to help the sick, resulting in
numerous miracles of healing. In his honor the
custom of blessing and distributing the "Bread
of Saint Nicholas" is continued by the
Augustinians in many places to this day
including his shrine.
 STATION 5
On account of his kind and gentle manner
his superiors entrusted him with the daily
feeding of the poor at the monastery
gates, but at times he was so free with the
friary's provisions that the procurator
begged the superior to check his
generosity. Even before his ordination he
was sent to different monasteries of his
order, at Recanati, Macerata etc., as a
model of generous striving after
perfection.
He was ordained in 1271 and said his first
Mass with exceptional fervor; thereafter,
whenever he celebrated the holy Mystery
he seemed aglow with the fire of his love.
He lived in several different monasteries of
the Augustinian Order, engaged principally
in the ministry of preaching.
 STATION 6
In 1275 he was sent to Tolentino, and
remained there for the rest of his life. He was
known for his humility, meekness and sanctity.
His preaching, instructions and work in the
confessional brought about numerous
conversions, and his many miracles were
responsible for more, yet he was careful not to
take any credit for these miracles. "Say
nothing of this," he would insist, "give thanks
to God, not to me. I am only a vessel of clay,
a poor sinner."
As a priest and religious, he was full of charity
towards his brother Augustinians as well as
towards the people to whom he ministered. He
visited the sick and cared for the needy. He
was a noted preacher of the Gospel. He gave
special attention to those who had fallen away
from the Church. People considered him a
miracle worker. He often fasted and performed
other works of penance. He spent long hours
in prayer.
 STATION 7
Nicholas worked to counteract the decline of
morality and religion which came with the
development of city life in the late thirteenth
century. A fellow religious describes Nicholas’
ministry in these words:
"He was a joy to those who were sad, a consolation
to the suffering, peace to those at variance,
refreshment to those who toiled, support for the
poor, and a healing balm for prisoners."
Nicholas’ reputation as a saintly man and a worker
of miracles led many people to the monastery of
Tolentino.

He worked as a peacemaker in a city torn by civil

war. Preached every day, wonder-worker and
healer, and visited prisoners. Received visions,
including images of Purgatory, which friends
ascribed to his lengthy fasts. 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.
 STATION 8
Reported to have resurrected over one hundred dead
children, including several who had drowned together.
Legend says that the devil once beat Nicholas with a stick;
the stick was displayed for years in the his church. A
vegetarian, Nicholas was once served a roasted fowl; he
made the sign of the cross over it, and it flew out a
window. Nine passengers on ship going down at sea once
asked Nicholas' aid; he appeared in the sky, wearing the
black Augustinian habit, radiating golden light, holding a
lily in his left hand; with his right hand he quelled the
storm. An apparition of the saint once saved the burning
palace of the Doge of Venice by throwing a piece of blessed
bread on the flames.
He spent the last thirty years of his life in Tolentino
preaching with wonderful success, where the Guelfs and
the Ghibellines were in constant strife. Nicholas saw only
one remedy to the violence: street preaching, and the
success of this apostolic work was astounding. "He spoke
of the things of Heaven," says his biographer St. Antonine.
"Sweetly he preached the divine word, and the words that
came from his lips fell like flames of fire. Among his
hearers could be seen the tears and heard the sighs of
people detesting their sins and repenting of their past
lives."
 STATION 9
Towards the end diseases tried his patience,
but he kept up his mortifications almost to the
hour of death. He died surrounded by his
community. He possessed an angelic
meekness, a guileless simplicity, and a tender
love of virginity, which he never stained,
guarding it by prayer and extraordinary
mortifications. Many of the cures obtained
through Saint Nicholas’ prayers were received
while he himself was infirm.
In 1345 a lay Brother cut off the arms of his
body intending to take them to Germany as
relics, and the friars then hid his body to
prevent further attempts of this kind. It has not
been found to this day, but the arms have been
preserved. It is recorded that they have bled
on several occasions, usually; it is said, before
some calamity that befell the Church or the
world.
 STATION 10
When in 1884 Nicholas was proclaimed "Patron
of the Souls in Purgatory" by Pope Leo XIII,
confirmation was given to a long-standing
aspect of devotion toward this friar which is
traced to an event in his own life. On a certain
Saturday night as he lay in bed, Nicholas heard
the voice of someone who identified himself as
Fra Pellegrino of Osimo, a deceased friar whom
Nicholas had known. Fra Pellegrino revealed
that he was in Purgatory and begged Nicholas
to offer Mass for him and for other suffering
souls so that they might be set free. For the
next seven days Nicholas did so and was
rewarded with a second vision in which the
deceased confrère expressed his gratitude and
assurance that a great number of people were
now enjoying the presence of God through
Nicholas’ prayers. As this event became
known, many people approached Nicholas,
asking his intercession on behalf of their own
deceased relatives and friends.
 STATION 11
Like many of the saints, Nicholas received
from God a particular calling. It was not to
feed the poor, although he did, nor to be
zealous for the salvation of souls, although
he was. His call was to help the Holy Souls
in Purgatory.
St. Nicholas had a great love for the Holy
Souls. He would offer Mass, pray and do
penance for them so they could more
quickly enter Heaven. Because many
Catholics have forgotten about the souls in
Purgatory, except when November 2nd -
All Souls Day - comes around, St. Nicholas
can teach a valuable lesson.
Nicholas died in Tolentino on 10
September 1305. He was canonized by
Eugene IV in 1446: the first member of the
Augustinian Order to be canonized.
 STATION 12
Saint Nicholas’ body is "preserved" and
venerated by the faithful in the basilica
in Tolentino in the city of Tolentine
which bears his name. His feast is
celebrated by the Augustinian Family
on 10 September.
With so little attention given to the
Holy Souls today we thought why not
follow the example of St. Nicholas and
do something about it? Since the
Church has dedicated the month of
November to the Holy Souls.
Let us follow the example of St.
Nicholas and start praying for them
daily!
St. Nicholas of Tolentino, pray for us!