Today’s Thoughts to Live by, Sat, 32nd Week in Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Albert the Great, Bishop and Doctor of the Church.
He was known by his contemporaries as Albertus Magnus, Albert the Great, the only scholar of his age to be called “the Great,” a title used even before his death. The most prolific writer of his time, he was a scientist, philosopher, theologian and teacher of St. Thomas Aquinas. One contemporary called him the wonder and miracle of his age. He was a proponent of Aristotelianism and established the study of nature as a legitimate science in the Christian tradition.
He was born into a noble family in Swabia (Bavaria, Germany) c. 1206. He was sent to study at the University of Padua and joined the Order of Preachers (OP). He taught theology at Hildesheim, Freiburg, Ratisbon, Strasburg, and Cologne. He was sent to the University of Paris, where he earned his Doctorate.
It was in Cologne and in Paris that he taught and recognized the genius of St. Thomas Aquinas, who accompanied him to Paris, then in 1248 to Cologne. There, Albert became the Regent of the Studium Generale and Thomas the Master of Students.
In 1254, Albert was elected Provincial of the Dominicans in Germany. He went to Rome to defend the Mendicant Orders against the attacks of William of St. Amour. In Rome, he filled the office of Master of the Sacred Palace and preached on the Gospel of St. John and the Epistles.
In 1259, he was appointed Bishop of Regensburg, much to the dismay of the Dominican Master General who would lose a great teacher.
Albert served as Bishop for only two years, resigning his office to resume his teaching in Cologne. He wrote a treatise to combat the Averroists.
From 1263 to 1264, he was a legate of Pope Urban, preaching the Crusade throughout Germany and Bohemia. He took an active part at the Council of Lyons (1274).
On his way to the Council, he learned of the death of Thomas Aquinas. He declared that “the Light of the Church” had been extinguished. It is said that ever afterwards he could not restrain his tears whenever the name of his beloved and brilliant student was mentioned.
When some scholars wished to condemn the writings of Thomas for being too favorable to philosophers who were unbelievers, Albert defended Thomas.
It was probably in Paris that he began working on his monumental presentation of the entire body of knowledge of his time. He wrote commentaries on the Bible and on the Sentences of Peter Lombard. Among the medieval scholars, he alone made commentaries of all the well-known works of Aristotle. He is considered to be the greatest German philosopher and theologian of the Middle Ages.
Sometime after 1278, he suffered a lapse of memory. Weakened by vigils, austerities, and manifold labors, his health began to fail. He died on 15 November 1280 in Cologne. His tomb is in the crypt of the Dominican Church of St. Andreas in Cologne.
A modern critic wrote: “Whether we consider him as a theologian or as a philosopher, Albert was undoubtedly one of the most extraordinary men of his age... one of the most wonderful men of genius....” In Albert’s time, philosophy embraced science, physics, mathematics and metaphysics. He favored Aristotle for the natural sciences.
Albert’s erudition was vast, covering the science of nature, geography, astronomy, mineralogy, chemistry, zoology and physiology. He demonstrated that the study of science was compatible with religious faith, so said Pope Benedict XVI.
A sign of the secret of his sanctity, St. Albert the Great said, “It is by the path of love, which is charity, that God draws near to man and man to God. Mary is the divine page on which the Father wrote the Word of God, his Son.” St. Albert was deeply devoted to the Eucharist and the Mass. He preached 32 sermons on the Eucharist. With his devotion to Mary, he composed hymns and poetry in her honor.
Albert was beatified in 1622. In 1939, Pope Pius XII canonized him and declared him a Doctor of the Church. He is known as “Doctor Universalis.”
Prayer: Almighty and merciful God, graciously keep from us all adversity, so that, unhindered in mind and body alike, we may pursue in freedom of heart the things that are yours, through Christ our Lord. Amen (Collect for today’s Mass).