St. Nicholas of Tolentino: A Biography

The Journey of a Great Confessor

At times God desires that the design for sanctity in a soul be etched early in life. Born in 1245, in Sant' Angelo, a town in the Italian Marches, a province east of the Central Appennines, Nicholas was the answer to the prayers of his middle-aged parents. He displayed a desire for prayer and solitude at an early age, and at seven began various practices of penance and mortification. He was tutored by a local priest and made rapid and gifted progress, which brought him to the attention of the bishop of Fermo.


While still a boy, Nicholas received minor orders. Refusing a career in the secular clergy, he desired a way of life in which he could consecrate himself completely to God. He chose the order of Hermits of Saint Augustine after hearing one of the friars preach, and made his profession before he was eighteen. He was sent to San Ginesio for his theological studies and while there was given the charge of distributing food to the poor at the gate of the monastery. So great was his generosity with the food of the house that the procurator complained and reported him to the prior. It was here, too, that Nicholas performed the first of his many miracles by placing his hand on the head of a sick child who had come to the gate. Nicholas said, "The good God will heal you," and the child was cured. Nicholas was ordained about 1270 and during his first Mass was rapt in ecstasy. From this time on, he had the gift of conversions through his sermons and his instructions in the confessional.

While visiting a relative who was the abbot of a monastery near Fermo, Nicholas was invited to give up the hard life he had chosen and stay at this more comfortable monastery, but while he was praying in the church, he seemed to hear a voice saying, "To Tolentino, to Tolentino. Persevere there."

And so Nicholas went to Tolentino. Tolentino at this time was still suffering from the Guelf and Ghibelline struggle, and the weakening of religious faith that resulted from war and heresy. A campaign of street preaching was necessary to revitalize Tolentino, and Nicholas was put to this work, making a great success of it. Even those who tried to drown out his voice and disband the crowds that gathered to listen to him finally stayed to hear him and to repent their own sins. Nicholas also worked in the slums of Tolentino, comforting and caring for the sick and appealing to sinners. Miracles always accompanied this work.

Less public than this apostolate to the sinners and to the suffering were the practices of penance and the long hours of prayer that were the source both of his success and of his sanctity. Always exceptionally faithful to the community office in the monastery church, he added many more hours of prayer both day and night, in the church and in his own cold cell. Only humble obedience to his superiors kept him from the strict fasts and harsh self-denial that threatened to make him an invalid.

Nicholas died in 1305, and the miracles that followed were so numerous that the case for his canonization was immediately drawn up. The grave difficulties of the Holy See that resulted from the transfer of the papacy to Avignon delayed any action on his cause until 1446, when he was canonized by Pope Eugenius IV.

Source: Welcome to the Catholic Church 3.0 by Harmony Media, Inc., PO Box 9179, Salem, OR 97305 USA.

San Nicolas Parish History

Patron: ST. NICHOLAS OF TOLENTINE
Founded in 1584

The beautiful church of San Nicolas de Tolentino Parish speaks of the numerous people who kept the Catholic faith alive despite the turmoil of the past 400 years brought about by calamities that destroyed the church building and by the Aglipayan schism, which threatened the Christian community.

The community began as a visita of Vigan in 1575. Every year, an Augustinian missionary visited this community of Malay origin that settled south of the Padsan River. Under the patronage of St. Lawrence the Deacon, the first chapel of bamboo and cogon was built for the visita. This was replaced with a small church of masonry, wood and cogon. But this was soon destroyed by earthquake and typhoons.

In 1701, Fray Antonio de Villanueva constructed a bigger and more massive church about half the size of the present one. This construction was completed in 1703 only to be toppled down by a strong earthquake on November 14, 1707.

In 1733, a strong typhoon ravaged Ilocos Norte, and many of the townspeople took refuge in the church. They asked for the help of St. Lawrence, but the typhoon did not stop. Later, they turned to St. Nicholas of Tolentino, and the typhoon and ensuing flood miraculously subsided. This was the time that the town and the parish took the name of St. Nicholas of Tolentino.

In 1895, the church belfry was constructed under the leadership of Fray Victoriano Garcia, himself an architect and an engineer. Molasses was mixed with lime as a strengthening chemical for the stones and bricks.

During the revolution of 1898, the Katipuneros occupied the church. A year later, the American forces took over the church and used it as headquarters. However, the U.S. government ordered that churches be vacated by military forces. Gregorio Aglipay, together with renegade priests, took this opportunity to take over the church. Majority of the Catholics in the town embraced the Aglipayan Church. However, the Supreme Court decreed that the sequestered properties of the Catholic Church be returned by the Aglipayan rebels. The building was returned, but its records and movable properties could not be retrieved anymore.

During World War II, the church was occupied by Japanese forces, and its belfry became a watching post. After the war, Rev. Catalino Racca started the repairs of the church.

Before the turn of the millennium, the church façade and belfry went through a major facelift. New bells were added to the old set. Today, the parish boasts of having the only automated belfry in Ilocandia.

In 2004, the church underwent yet another makeover. But more than the physical transformation which is immediately palpable is the fervor of the faithful to wield greater zeal and strength of spirit to renew and be renewed and courageously walk the stretch ahead. Moreover, the faithful, motivated by their pastors, are invigorated with the spirit of charity and unity that fires up their hearts and spurs them on to do what they can for the good of the Church. Now, all they have to do is stay on course.

Since the creation of Laoag as a diocese, the following priests have served in the parish: Rev. Catalino Racca, Rev. Mauro Resurrecion, Rev. Juan Ballesteros, Rev. Policarpo Albano, Rev. Sylvio Lacar, Rev. Gil Albano, Jr., Rev. Rodolfo Nicolas, Rev. Amador Foz, Rev. Domingo Albano, Rev. Jose Agustin, Rev. Ruben Abaya (with Rev. Rey Magus Respicio then Rev. Engelbert Elarmo as assistants), Rev. Mario Garaza (with Rev. Joel Reynold Castillo then Rev. Nolasco "Tom" Pascua, Jr. then Rev. Lorenzo Torreflores as assistants), Rev. Ramon Danilo Laeda (with Rev. Melchor Palomares as assistant).