Blessed Augustine Kazotic, O.P. of Nocera

BLESSED AUGUSTINE OF NOCERA August 8th THIS holy Bishop was born at Trau, a small seaport in Dalmatia, on the shores of the Adriatic. Dalmatia was dependent on the kingdom of Hungary at the time when Blessed Augustine came into this world. His father, Nicolas de Caczioth, was one of the most honorable and influential men of the town, and much respected for his virtuous life. His mother, Droslawa, was a daughter of the ancient house of the Draseovics, of Sign, a town near Trau. She was no less pious than her husband. They were blessed by God with a numerous family. The exact date of Augustine's birth has not been recorded, but is supposed to have been about the year 1259. All the ancient lives state that he was born in the same year that Bela, King of Hungary, took refuge in Trau, from the fury of the Tartars. Those fearful scourges of Christianity ravaged Hungary twice in the thirteenth century, in 1241, and again in 1259, and it was during this second invasion that it is supposed Augustine was born, for he was still young when he entered the Dominican Order in 1277 or 1278. The contagion of the world had not tar- nished the brightness of his innocence, when he asked to be admitted as a novice about the age of eighteen. He gave great satisfaction in the novitiate, and after his profession began his studies, in which he advanced so rapidly that his superiors sent him to Bologna in Italy, and afterwards to Paris to study. He set out for France in the year 1286, on foot according to the general custom of those days. He was accompanied by a young novice, Jacopo Orsini, nephew to the Cardinal of the same name. Jacopo was no less distinguished for his rare virtues than for his high rank. The students had not been many days on the road when they were attacked by two hired ruffians, who threw themselves upon them, and speedily killed Jacopo. They were the emissaries of the Counts of Casanatense, the deadly enemies of the Orsini. Blessed Augustine was wounded, and left for dead in the snow for it was in the middle of winter. Happily, a gentleman of the neighborhood, Augustine Pagan de Petra, a staunch friend of the Dominican Fathers, happened to pass that way, and found the two novices lying upon the snow, to all appearances dead. He took them to his castle of Rebec, where Augustine revived, and after seeing his murdered companion buried in the neighboring Dominican Convent at Pavia, continued his journey alone. Arrived at Paris, Blessed Augustine resumed his studies, and gave the same satisfaction that he had already given in Italy and Hungary. He cultivated a very special devotion to the Angelic Doctor, Saint Thomas Aquinas, and sought so to model his life upon his that some of his ancient biographers have called him a disciple of that holy doctor.

• | Author: A. Of the Dominican Order
• | Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• | Publication Date: Apr 23, 2018
• | Number of Pages: 36 pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Paperback
• | ISBN-10: 1717315690
• | ISBN-13: 9781717315694