Tolentino - Shrine of Saint Nicholas

There are many gifts for which St. Nicholas of Tolentino
is best known. One is his great devotion to the Poor Souls in
Purgatory.

When his superiors encouraged him to enter the seminary
in preparation for the priesthood, he hesitated.

He wanted nothing
to take away from his prayer time for the Poor Souls. It wasn’t until
he was convinced that the greatest prayer he could pray for those
suffering in Purgatory was the Sacrifice of the Mass, and that he
could do best as a priest of God, that he finally consented to enter the
seminary.

He was ordained a priest in the order of St. Augustine.
He remained a man of prayer, praying day and night for the
Poor Souls in Purgatory, sometimes as much as six to eight hours a
night. But his devotion to those in Purgatory had to take a back seat
to his vow of obedience.

One evening, while he was in prayer, a friar who had recently
passed away, Pellegrino of Osimo, appeared to Nicholas.

It was
all too obvious from the expression on his face that Pellegrino was
in agony. He mournfully shared with Nicholas that he was in the
pits of Purgatory, suffering the most excruciating pain. He knew of
Nicholas’ devotion to the Poor Souls in Purgatory, and so he pleaded
with his old friend to offer Mass, not only for himself, but for the
many other souls who had asked him to implore the aid of Nicholas.
Nicholas immediately consented. Then he remembered that he was under obedience to offer the conventual Mass of the Order for the
next week.

Pellegrino brought Nicholas into the pits of Purgatory, so
that he could see first-hand, the suffering of all those who had asked
for his intercession. Before him were a multitude of souls of all ages
and conditions, experiencing terrible torment. Pellegrino turned to
Nicholas and said,

“Behold the state of those who sent me to you. Since you are
agreeable in the sight of God, we have confidence that He will refuse
nothing to the oblation of the Sacrifice offered by you, and that His
Divine Mercy will deliver us.”

Nicholas could not hold back the tears. He went into prayer,
after which he went to his superior and asked permission to pray the
Mass for the Dead.

When he shared his vision, and the agonizing
condition of the souls who had asked for his help, the superior, too,
broke down into tears. He gave Nicholas a special dispensation
from praying the conventual Mass for that next week, and granted
him permission to dedicate his Masses as well as all his prayers,
toward the deliverance of the Poor Souls from Purgatory.

Nicholas of Tolentino celebrated those Masses passionately as (and with) the Victim Priest
before him, the One Who came that no one would have to suffer the
pains of eternal damnation.

The Shrine of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino is located in the Augustinian friary. The murals of his life are well preserved. We included many of them in our dvd.