Saint Albert the Great

Dominican Bishop and Doctor of the Church (1206-1280)

His life

+ Albert was born in Italy and was educated in Padua and Pavia prior to entering the Order of Preachers in 1223.

+ A brilliant scholar, he is most especially remembered as the teacher of the great Thomas Aquinas. Albert’s collected works fill 38 volumes and he possessed encyclopedic knowledge of logic, theology, astronomy, zoology, chemistry, and a number of other fields. His great love, however, was philosophy, and he was a great proponent of the teachings of Aristotle.

+ Albert was consecrated as bishop of Regensburg in 1260 and, as bishop, he was known as a man of peace of worked tirelessly to promote concord among peoples and cities.

+ Saint Albert “the Great” died on November 15, 1280, and was canonized in 1931. Having been declared a Doctor of the Church at the time of his canonization, he is also honored as the patron saint of philosophers and scientists.

Spiritual bonus

On November 15, the Church also remembers Blessed Marie of the Passion (Helen-Marie-Philippine de Chappotin), the foundress of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary. This courageous and charitable missionary dedicated much of her life to serving the poor in missions in India and today sisters of the community she founded serve in more than 80 communities on four continents. Blessed Marie of the Passion died in 1904 and was beatified in 2002.

For reflection

“It is by the path of love, which is charity, that God draws near to man, and man to God.”—Saint Albert the Great

Prayer

O God, who made the Bishop Saint Albert great
by his joining of human wisdom to divine faith,
grant, we pray, that we may so adhere to the truths he taught,
that through progress in learning
we may come to a deeper knowledge and love of you.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(from The Roman Missal)

Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.