Bl. Nicholas Puglia

As a child, Nicholas Puglia, of Giovenazzo, Italy, was both pious and studious. At the age of twenty, while studying in Bologna, he heard Saint Dominic preach. Nicholas was so moved by this sermon that as soon as Dominic exited the pulpit, he went to ask of him admission into his Order of Friars Preachers. As a Dominican novice, Nicholas exhibited an exceptional determination to make steady, daily progress in the spiritual life. As a Dominican priest, he obtained through his prayers and words the return of numerous sinners to the sacraments and the conversion of many Jews to the Catholic faith. He was particularly efficacious in his apostolic labors across the Italian regions of Bari and Apulia. Nicholas served two terms as provincial of the Dominicans' Roman province. Near the end of his life, he obtained permission to withdraw from his heretofore very active ministry in order to devote his remaining time fully to prayer, in preparation for his approaching death.