September 10 | Saint Nicholas of Tolentino

Welcome, young history buffs and curious minds, to My Daily Saint, the podcast that digs deep into the incredible lives of the saints, those remarkable people who shaped history and continue to inspire us today. Forget dusty old portraits and boring stories. Today, imagine walking into a dim, stone-walled chapel in 13th century Italy. The air is thick with the smell of beeswax candles and incense. You look toward the front of the room, expecting to see a friar kneeling in deep, quiet prayer. Instead, you stop dead in your tracks.

The man isn't kneeling on the stone floor. He is hovering in mid-air. This isn't a magic trick, and it isn't special effects. Fellow friars actually witnessed this incredible sight time and time again. The man defying gravity was wrapped in intense, ecstatic prayer, achieving a physical union with the divine that literally lifted him off the ground. But that's not all. When he wasn't levitating, this same man was having vivid, startling visions of spirits crying out to him from the afterlife. This is the story of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino.

Nicholas was born in a town called Sant'Angelo in Pantano, Italy, right around the year 1245. His very existence felt like a total miracle to his family. His parents had prayed for a really long time to have a child. They finally asked for the intercession of another famous saint, Saint Nicholas of Myra, and when their son was born, they named the baby Nicholas in his honor.

From a super young age, Nicholas was incredibly serious about his faith and showed a strong disposition toward religious life. While other kids were probably playing in the chaotic streets of medieval Italy, Nicholas was already preparing for something greater. As a young man, he officially joined the Augustinian order. Eventually, he was ordained as a priest and assigned to a town in central Italy called Tolentino.

Now, here is where Nicholas is very different from a lot of other saints you might hear about. Many famous saints were huge missionaries who traveled across oceans, or they were founders of new orders who walked thousands of miles across Europe. Not Nicholas. His journey was all about stability. He moved to Tolentino, and he stayed right there for the rest of his entire life. He didn't need to travel the world to change it. He just transformed the exact place where he was planted.

But his day-to-day life was pretty intense. Nicholas practiced what we call severe penance. He fasted rigorously, barely slept, and spent incredibly long hours in prayer. You might think that someone who barely eats or sleeps would be grumpy, harsh, or easy to anger, but not Nicholas. Everyone who met him consistently described him as gentle, patient, and deeply attentive. To whoever he was talking to.

Even when he was preaching to the crowds and calling people to repent and change their lives, he always spoke with a tone of deep compassion rather than severity. He was exactly what the people of 13th century Italy needed. Remember, this was a time when the population was totally ravaged by civil war and fighting. Nicholas provided a tangible, living sign of God's favor and peace amidst all of this. All that chaos. One of the most fascinating parts of Nicholas's life was his connection to the afterlife.

Nicholas had a massive devotion to the souls in purgatory. He actually had multiple visions where souls appeared to him, specifically asking him to pray and intercede for them. Because of this, he became absolutely convinced that the church's mission wasn't just for the living, it extended to the dead, too. He made it his mission to offer Mass daily for these souls, and constantly encouraged everyone around him to pray for those who had passed away. He lived his life for those who could not repay him, the dead.

There's also an amazing story about his extreme fasting. At one point, Nicholas fasted so much that he made himself dangerously ill. While he was sick, he received a supernatural vision that instructed him to eat a piece of bread dipped in water. He did, and he miraculously recovered. After he got better, Nicholas started blessing bread and handing it out to the poor and the sick. This started a huge tradition.

The bread of St. Nicholas became famous for its healing properties, and that devotion actually continues today. Because of all these incredible moments, Saint Nicholas is known by several cool attributes in art, like a star, a crucifix, bread, and the souls in purgatory. And if you're wondering what he is the patron saint of, the list is pretty awesome. He is the patron saint of souls in purgatory, the dying, and, because of his miraculous healing bread, he is the patron saint of bakers.

After a lifetime of miracles, profound humility, and deep union with God, Nicholas died on September 10, 1305. His reputation as a living saint was so strong that his levitations and asceticism were seen as undeniable proof of his holiness, leading to his canonization in 1446 by Pope Eugene IV. Here is your challenge for today.

Pray for someone who can't pay you back. St. Nicholas spent his life praying for the souls in purgatory, people who had died and needed spiritual support but could offer him absolutely nothing in return. Today, take five minutes to pray for someone you don't usually pray for. Maybe it's a relative who passed away a long time ago, or maybe it's just a quick prayer for someone in the world who has no one else to pray for them.

And secondly, remember his gentleness. Even when he was tired, fasting, and doing difficult things, he always treated others with compassion and patience. Next time you're having a hard day, feeling stressed about school, or totally exhausted, try to channel St. Nicholas.

Instead of snapping at your friends or family, take a deep breath and respond with gentleness. Thank you for joining us on My Daily Saint. We look forward to sharing another incredible story of faith and courage with you tomorrow.