Saint of the Day: St. 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.  

For prayer and reflection

“In the midst of the Church he opened his mouth,
and the Lord filled him with the spirit of wisdom and understanding
and clothed him in a robe of glory.”—Entrance antiphon from the Mass for a Doctor of the Church

Spiritual bonus

On this day, the Church also remembers Saint Joseph Mukasa. A member of the Kayozi tribe of Uganda, he was major-domo to King Mwanga and captain of the king’s pages. He converted to the Catholic Faith in 1885. He was fearless in denouncing the king’s immoral advances toward the royal pages, as well as for the king’s order for the death of the Anglican missionary-bishop James Hannington. Joseph Mukasa became the first Catholic to die during the persecution of Christians by King Mwanga and he was beheaded on November 15, 1885, in Nakivubo. He was canonized with other martyrs of Uganda in 1964. 

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,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(from The Roman Missal)
Saint profiles prepared by Fr. Silas Henderson, S.D.S