The patron saint of Pope Leo XIV: the Augustinian devotion that marked his spiritual life

Perhaps many Catholics wonder today who is the Holy Header of Pope Leo XIV. A Peruvian missionary priest, close friend of the Pontiff and a man of his trust, revealed the story of this unknown devotion of the Holy Father, who used to pray his knees in a small chapel located in Chiclayo, in northern Peru.

“San Nicolás de Tolentino is undoubtedly his Holy Header. He is the protector of his perpetual profession, his great devotion within Augustine spirituality,” said Peruvian priest David Farfán Guerrero, whom the Holy Father met in 1985 in Chulucanas, in the department of Piura.

Fr. Farfán, who serves as a pastor of the Temple of Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo de Zaña for about 10 years, received Aci Press in the town center of San Nicolás, specifically in the humble chapel of the town dedicated to San Nicolás de Tolentino, considered the first saint of the Order of San Agustín and lived in the thirteenth century.

“This place is very special in the life of its holiness, because this is where, as I usually say, ‘tested your knees‘. As soon as he arrived, entered and prayed to the patron saint of his perpetual profession, ”said the priest, who in the past was a missionary in Canada and the Philippines.

The then Fray Robert Prevost – today Leo XIV – professed his solemn (or perpetual) votes with the Augustinians on August 29, 1981 and took this Italian mystic as a patron saint. Years later, his brothers in the order appointed Prevost the Prior General during the Ordinary General Chapter of 2001, and renewed him confidence for a second term in 2007.

Adopting a saint when making the votes – also called “patron” or “intercessor” – is a common custom in some religious orders. It consists in choosing a saint whose life serves as an example and spiritual help to live better delivery to God and fulfill the commitments assumed.

According to Fr. Farfán, the then Bishop of Chiclayo (2015-2023), Mons. Robert Prevost, “never imagined that, in Chiclayo, within the diocese, he would find a chapel and a town center dedicated precisely to this saint.”

“When he arrived as bishop, he discovered his existence, and then he adopted the habit of asking for the temple key, entering alone and praying there in front of the image of the saint. Here,” he said with emotion.

The link with this chapel was even more strengthened when the then Mons. Prevost was in charge of the formation of the Augustinians in Trujillo.

“I used to make the novices pilgrimage on foot from the District of Guadalupe so far (more than 50 km), and then continued to Pomalca and Tumán (about 40 km), where there was also an agustine presence. I myself have received several novices here,” concluded the presbyter with a smile.

The image of San Nicolás in Zaña is not only witness of centuries of faith, but also visible echo of the devotion that accompanies Pope Leo XIV since its inception as a friar.

The history of the image of San Nicolás

When referring to the image of San Nicolás de Tolentino inside the chapel, Fr. Farfán explained that he is the oldest in Zaña. According to the restorer who intervened it, ”explains the presbyter – is over 450 years old, which directly links it with the arrival of the Augustinians to this region.

The history of the Agustina presence in Zaña dates back to the 16th century, when the convent of San Agustín was founded, one of the most important devotion centers to San Nicolás de Tolentino in northern Peru.

“That indicates that the Augustinians who arrived at the San Agustín de Zaña convent brought it from Europe; the image already existed there, it was simply transferred. We do not know who did or the exact year in which it arrived, but as we know the date on which the convent was founded, we assume that it came along with the first friars that settled there,” he explained.

Fr. Farfán believes that, most likely, this image has originally been on the main altar of the convent, where there was a presbytery and a main altar. “It’s almost certain that he was there,” he said.

According to the chronicler Fray Antonio de la CalanchaSan Nicolás de Tolentino worked numerous miracles in the town of Zaña, which attracted great popular devotion and generous alms for the order.

A close and austere saint: San Nicolás de Tolentino

San Nicolás de Tolentino was a humble Augustine friar who dedicated his life to comfort the sick, preach with the example and pray for the souls of purgatory.

The Italian saint is considered the first saint of the order of St. Augustine. He was born around the year 1245 in Sant’Agelo in Pontano, Italy, but his name was forever linked to Tolentino, where he lived and served for 30 years. From a young age he entered the Agustina community of his town, where he began his way as novice and student. He was ordained a priest around 1273 and shortly after sent to Tolentino, a city that would become the center of his intense pastoral work.

According to the order of San AgustínNicolás did not stand out for his scholarship or by writing great works, but for something much more important: his closeness to the people, his deep life of prayer and their total delivery to the most needy. He toured the humble neighborhoods, comforted the sick and dying, confessed without rest and always sought to relieve suffering, both physical and spiritual. He lived austerity, but with a joy he spread. Shortly before he died, when asked why he looked so happy, he replied serenity: “Because my God and Lord Jesus Christ, accompanied by his Holy Mother and my Holy Father Agustín, is telling me: Come on! Good and faithful servant, enter your Lord’s joy.”

Throughout his life – and even after his death in 1305 – numerous miracles were attributed to him. He is a patron of the souls of purgatory and protector against plague, fires and stuttering. His canonization was celebrated by Pope Eugenio IV in 1446, in full solemnity of Pentecost, and for many it remains a model of silent delivery, constant prayer and charity without limits.

The deep devotion of Pope Leo XIV to San Nicolás de Tolentino not only reveals his Augustinian roots, but also the soul of a shepherd who, like the saint of the thirteenth century, comforts, prays and humbly walks next to his people.

Prayer to San Nicolás de Tolentino for the souls of purgatory

Oh glorious taumatic and protector of the souls of purgatory, San Nicolás de Tolentino! With all the affection of my soul, I beg you to file your powerful intercession in favor of those blessed souls, getting from the divine clemency the forgotten of all their crimes and sorrows, so that leaving that dark prison of Dolores, they will enjoy in the sky of the Beatific Vision of God. And to me, your devout servant, Alcánzame, oh great saint!, The most living compassion and the most burning charity towards those beloved souls.

Amen.