NICODEMO di MAMMOLA, saint. - Calabrian-Greek ascetic, born at Cirò ca. 900, died near Mammola on 25 March 990. As a young man he embraced the Basilian monastic rule in the famous monastic eparchy of the Mercurion (northern Calabria), under the spiritual guidance of s. Fantino, who was also the master of s. Nilo di Rossano.
He lived a life of great austerity, together with s. Antonio di Gerace, in a wood on Monte Celerano, where he slept on the bare ground and fed on chestnuts and lupins. Many monks came to place themselves under his direction, so that Celerano was transformed into a monastic laura.
But N., desirous of solitude, withdrew first near Gerace and then four miles from Mammola, where he founded a famous monastery, which after his death took his name. His liturgical feast falls on 12 March. Mammola has acclaimed him its patron since 1630.