St. Nicholas of Tolentino

Who they were

Nicholas was an Augustinian friar in the Italian March town of Tolentino, a gentle and unremarkable looking man who spent thirty years there preaching daily, visiting the sick and the imprisoned, and sitting with the dying. What set him apart was the direction of his prayer. The accounts of his life say he experienced a vivid awareness of the dead who still needed praying for, once reporting a vision of a deceased friar begging his Masses, and from then on he gave the dead a living man's persistence.

He became the first canonized saint of the Augustinian order in 1446, and the Church attached to his intercession a particular devotion for the holy souls. The blessed bread of St. Nicholas, given to the sick, is a custom that continues in Augustinian churches today. In art the star on his chest marks him. In devotion, he is the specialist the grief pages on this site have been pointing toward.

Why people turn to St. Nicholas of Tolentino

Anyone who prays for their dead, which in a funeral town is everyone. He is the tradition's designated advocate for the souls being purified, and November is his season even though September holds his feast.

How to ask their intercession

Offer a rosary for one specific person who has died, and ask Nicholas to add his prayer to yours. The Glorious Mysteries suit this, with eternal rest prayed at the close of each decade.