Saint of the day November 15, 2024

He was known as the "teacher of everything there is to know," was a scientist long before the age of science, was considered a wizard and magician in his own lifetime, and became the teacher and mentor of that other remarkable mind of his time, St. Thomas Aquinas.

St. Albert the Great was born in Lauingen on the Danube, near Ulm, Germany; his father was a military lord in the army of Emperor Frederick II. As a young man Albert studied at the University of Padua and there fell under the spell of Blessed Jordan of Saxony, the Dominican who made the rounds of the universities of Europe drawing the best young men of the universities into the Dominicans.

After several teaching assignments in his order, he came in 1241 to the University of Paris, where he lectured in theology. While teaching in Paris, he was assigned by his order in 1248 to set up a house of studies for the order in Cologne. In Paris, he had gathered around him a small band of budding theologians, the chief of whom was Thomas Aquinas, who accompanied him to Cologne and became his greatest pupil.

In 1260, he was appointed bishop of Regensburg; when he resigned after three years, he was called to be an adviser to the pope and was sent on several diplomatic missions. In his later years, he resided in Cologne, took part in the Council of Lyons in 1274, and in his old age traveled to Paris to defend the teaching of his student Thomas Aquinas.

It was in Cologne that his reputation as a scientist grew. He carried on experiments in chemistry and physics in his makeshift laboratory and built up a collection of plants, insects, and chemical compounds that gave substance to his reputation. When Cologne decided to build a new cathedral, he was consulted about the design. He was a friend and adviser to popes, bishops, kings, and statesmen and made his own unique contribution to the learning of his age.

He died a very old man in Cologne on November 15, 1280, and is buried in St. Andrea's Church in that city. He was canonized and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1931 by Pope Pius XI. His writings are remarkable for their exact scientific knowledge, and for that reason he has been made the patron saint of scientists.

Thought for the Day: St. Albert the Great was convinced that all creation spoke of God and that the tiniest piece of scientific knowledge told us something about Him. Besides the Bible, God has given us the book of creation revealing something of His wisdom and power. In creation, Albert saw the hand of God.

From "The Catholic One Year Bible": Since we have a kingdom nothing can destroy, let us please God by serving him with thankful hearts, and with holy fear and awe. For our God is a consuming fire.—Hebrews 12:28-29

Reflection

Saint Albert the Great was a man with a mind on fire with the Holy Spirit. Mere human intellectual capacity could never achieve what he achieved. Some saints are filled with the fortitude necessary to die as martyrs, some are mystics whose lives reveal the holiness of God, some are founders who build up the Church through new charisms and religious communities, and some, like Saints Albert and Thomas, receive the gift of intellect, infused with the highest degree of the virtues of wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and prudence, by which they are able to leave the Church a solid theological foundation upon which it can continue to be built.
As we honor the “Great” Saint Albert, Doctor of the Church, who was designated as Universal Doctor because he mastered every subject, ponder the simple fact that, despite his having one of the greatest minds in the history of thought, his proficiency is but a drop of water in the ocean compared to the mind of God. This humble truth is something Saint Albert would have readily professed, yet it never stopped him from striving to become that one drop, given that it was one small way of comprehending and articulating what God has revealed to us. And that which comes from God, no matter how small in comparison to Reality, has infinite value. Seek to imitate Saint Albert by renewing your commitment to the study of your faith so that your mind will experience a drop of the grace given to this greatest of men.