Bl. Anthony of Amandola

A native of Amandola (Ascoli Piceno), Italy, Anthony was inspired by the life and example of the famed preacher, Saint Nicholas of Tolentino (+1305), to enter Nicholas' order, the Augustinians. Anthony's devotion to Nicholas was to be further satisfied when around the age of thirty he was appointed sacristan of the Augustinians' church in Tolentino, which contained the tomb of Nicholas. He also made a pilgrimage to the shrine of Nicholas of Tolentino's own patron saint, Nicholas of Myra, in Bari. As an Augustinian priest, Anthony excelled in humility, patience, obedience, self-denial, and apostolic zeal. He was known for his devotion to the poor and for the numerous miracles attributed to his prayers. In 1400 he returned to the Augustinian monastery of his native city of Amandola, where he spent the rest of his life, dying at the advanced age of ninety-five. His body, having remained incorrupt for over five centuries, is exposed for veneration in the Augustinians' church of Amandola.