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 tht 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. Thereafter he followed this practice in ministering to the sick himself.
In his honor the custom of blessing and distributing the "Breadof Saint Nicholas" is
continued by the Augustinians in many places today.When in 1884 Nicholas was proclaimed "Patron Saint 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 Fra Pellegrino of Osimo, a deceased friar who Nicholas had known. Fra Pellegrino revealed that he was in purgatory and he begged Nicholas to offer Mass for him and for the 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 confrere expressed his gratitude and assurance that a 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. Nicholas died in Tolentino, Italy on September 10, 1305. He was canonized in 1446 by Pope Eugene IV thus becoming the first Augustinian Friar to be canonized. His remains are preserved and venerated at the Basilica of Saint Nicholas on the city of Tolentine. |
