FEAST AND BIOGRAPHY OF SAINT ALBERT THE GREAT

              Saint Albert the Great

Also known as

• Albert of Lauingen
• Albertus Magnus
• Doctor Expertus
• Doctor Universalis

Memorial

• 15 November

Profile

Son of a military nobleman. Dominican. Priest. Taught theology at Cologne, Germany, and Paris, France. Teacher of Saint Thomas Aquinas. Influential teacher, preacher, and administrator. Bishop of Regensburg, Germany. Introduced Greek and Arabic scienceand philosophy to medieval Europe. Known for his wide interest in what became known later as the natural sciences – botany, biology, etc. Wrote and illustrated guides to his observations, and was considered on a par with Aristotle as an authority on these matters. Theological writer. Doctor of the Church.

Born

• 1206 at Lauingen an der Donau, Swabia (part of modern Germany)

Died

• 15 November 1280 at Cologne, Prussia (part of modern Germany) of natural causes

Beatified

• 1622 by Pope Gregory XV

Canonized

• 1931 by Pope Pius XI

Patronage

• Cincinnati, Ohio, archdiocese of
• medical technicians
• natural sciences
• philosophers
• schoolchildren
• scientists (proclaimed on 13 August 1948 by Pope Pius XII)
• students
• theology students

Representation

• man dressed as a Dominican bishop lecturing from a pulpit
• man arguing with Saint Thomas Aquinas

Storefront

• medals and pendants
• hand painted medals

Prayers

Dear Scientist and Doctor of the Church, natural science always led you to the higher science of God. Though you had an encyclopedic knowledge, it never made you proud, for you regarded it as a gift of God. Inspire scientists to use their gifts well in studying the wonders of creation, thus bettering the lot of the human race and rendering greater glory to God. Amen

Readings

It is by the path of love, which is charity, that God draws near to man, and man to God. But where charity is not found, God cannot dwell. If, then, we possess charity, we possess God, for “God is Charity” (1 John 4:8) – Saint Albert the Great

The greater and more persistent your confidence in God, the more abundantly you will receive what you ask. – Saint Albert the Great

He could not have commanded anything more beneficial, for this Sacrament is the fruit of the tree of life. Anyone who receives this Sacrament with the devotion of sincere faith will never taste death. It is a tree of life for those who grasp it, and blessed is he who holds it fast. The man who feeds on Me shall live on account of Me. – Saint Albert the Great on the Eucharist

“Do this in remembrance of me.” Two things should be noted here. The first is the command that we should use this sacrament, which is indicated when Jesus says, “Do this.” The second is that this sacrament commemorates the Lord’s going to death for our sake. This sacrament is profitable because it grants remission of sins; it is most useful because it bestows the fullness of grace on us in this life. “The Father of spirits instructs us in what is useful for our sanctification.” And his sanctification is in Christ’s sacrifice, that is, when he offers himself in this sacrament to the Father for our redemption to us for our use. Christ could not have commanded anything more beneficial, for this sacrament is the fruit of the tree of life. Anyone who receives this sacrament with the devotion of sincere faith will never taste death. “It is a tree of life for those who grasp it, and blessed is he who holds it fast. The man who feeds on me shall live on account of me.” Nor could he have commanded anything more lovable, for this sacrament produces love and union. It is characteristic of the greatest love to give itself as food. “Had not the men of my text exclaimed: Who will feed us with his flesh to satisfy our hunger? as if to say: I have loved them and they have loved me so much that I desire to be within them, and they wish to receive me so that they may become my members. There is no more intimate or more natural means for them to be united to me, and I to them. Nor could he have commanded anything which is more like eternal life. Eternal life flows from this sacrament because God with all sweetness pours himself out upon the blessed. – from a commentary by Saint Albert the Great on the Gospel of Luke