Lives Of The Saints
September 10
St. Nicholas of Tolentino
Quick answer
At a glance
- What it is
- Nicholas of Tolentino joined Augustinian prayer and penance to preaching, reconciliation, and generous care for the poor.
- Feast
- September 10
- Source
- Butler's Lives of the Saints, Volume III (July-August-September), September 10, St Nicholas of Tolentino, Christian Classics 1990, pp. 524-527. Read the source standards.
Saint Nicholas of Tolentino, Piero della Francesca (1454-1459)
Brief life
Nicholas of Tolentino became a saint through the steady fire of prayer, penance, preaching, and charity. His parents had long prayed for a child, and from boyhood Nicholas showed an unusual attraction to prayer. He entered the Augustinian life, embraced its discipline with generosity, was ordained a priest, and spent most of his ministry in Tolentino.
His austerity never hardened him toward others. Nicholas preached with force, heard confessions patiently, gave food and help to the poor, and worked to reconcile neighbors in a town troubled by faction. The miracles remembered in his life rise from this deeper pattern rather than replacing it: a friar purified by prayer and made compassionate through penance. His holiness was persevering, pastoral, and quietly fruitful.
Historical note
The account keeps the central line of Nicholas's life: his Augustinian vocation, years at Tolentino, penance, preaching, reconciliation, and charity to the poor.
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