When the Virgin Mary uses soaked bread to heal

Saint Nicholas of Tolentino (1246-1305), a monk of the Order of the Hermits of St Augustine, fasted on all feast days of the Blessed Virgin and every Saturday of the year, on bread and water only.

One day he became upset because his superiors had forced him to break his fast. The Virgin Mary appeared to him and told him how touched she was by his great devotion. She revived the two roasted partridges that had been served to Nicholas, and the birds flew away. The next evening, she presented him with bread soaked in a glass of water, and this food cured him of a malignant fever that no doctor had been able to treat.

The Virgin also promised Nicholas that this same remedy could be used, after his death, by all those who would use it while invoking him. This is the origin of the miraculous bread rolls of Saint Nicholas, blessed every year in the convents of St Augustine, which work wonders to this day.

Brother Raphael, Discalced Augustinian priest

In Le Trésor inconnu, Editions bénédictines