St. Nicholas of Tolentino
The saint of the day for September 10 is St. Nicholas of Tolentino, a simple priest and Augustinian friar whose life influenced many. His powerful preaching and practice of the virtue of charity brought many to Christ. His life of prayer, penance, and austerity shaped his holiness. He is known for his strong devotion to the poor souls in purgatory. Nicholas was born in 1245 in Sant’Angelo in the diocese of Fermo in Italy. His middle-aged parents named him in thanksgiving to St. Nicholas of Myra, to whose shrine they had made a pilgrimage after being childless for several years. Nicholas showed early signs of piety. At age seven, he hid away in a nearby cave and prayed there like the hermits whom he had observed in the mountains. He became an Augustinian friar at age eighteen and was ordained at twenty-five. Nicholas had visions of angels reciting "to Tolentino" and took this as a sign to move to that city in 1274, where he lived the rest of his life. Tolentino ...