Sacred Calendar

Fourth Lesson - Learning Begun in Prayer and Religious Obedience

Albert, called the Great because of his singular learning, was born at Lauingen on the Danube in Swabia and was diligently educated from childhood. Leaving his native land for study, he stayed at Padua and, at the urging of Blessed Jordan, Master General of the Order of Preachers, asked to be admitted into the Dominican family despite the resistance of his uncle. Received among the brethren, he excelled in religious observance and piety and burned with filial and tender devotion toward the Blessed Virgin Mary. By forestalling every course of study with prayer, he disposed himself, once professed in the apostolic religious life, to become a suitable minister of the word of God and of the salvation of souls. Sent to Cologne to complete his studies, he advanced so greatly that he surpassed almost all his contemporaries in the most diligent investigation of secular knowledge and in the knowledge and use of divine law. Pope Alexander IV testified that the fullness of salutary doctrine flourished in his breast.

Fifth Lesson - Philosophy Recalled to Right Reason and Faith

To communicate the treasures of knowledge to others, he was appointed lecturer at Hildesheim, then at Freiburg, Regensburg, and Strasbourg. Turning the eyes of all upon himself, he received the doctorate in the sacred faculty at the renowned University of Paris and was named master of theology. He recalled the teaching of the philosophers to the rule of right reason and demonstrated clearly the agreement of their teaching with the Faith. He explained divine things wonderfully. He treated almost every branch of learning and cultivated all the disciplines, especially the sacred sciences, with ardent genius and tireless study, as his many writings openly declare. When he presided over the general studies of his order at Cologne, he had Thomas Aquinas as a beloved disciple and was the first to perceive and proclaim the loftiness of his mind. At Anagni, before Pope Alexander IV, he restrained William, who was impiously attacking the mendicant orders, and prepared broader paths for the education of youth, so that the zeal of so great a teacher appeared widely in the Church.

Sixth Lesson - Bishop, Counselor, Peacemaker, and Doctor

Elected prior of the Province of Teutonia by his brethren, he excelled by the example of religious life while carrying out most serious duties. Summoned to Anagni, he restrained William's attack upon the mendicant orders before Pope Alexander IV, who afterwards appointed him Bishop of Regensburg. Care for his flock did not prevent him from most zealously preserving humility of conduct and love of poverty. Having resigned that office, he was ready and eager to serve the spiritual needs of the dioceses throughout Germany. Kings and princes often called him from distant regions to settle disputes, and he deserved to be called a peacemaker. St. Louis, King of France, gave him a relic of the Passion of Christ, which Albert devoutly cherished. He discharged very serious business at the Second Council of Lyons. At length, worn out by old age, he ceased teaching and devoted himself to contemplation. He departed to the joy of his Lord in 1280. The veneration already paid to him in many dioceses and within the Order of Preachers was confirmed by the authority of the Roman Pontiffs; Pope Pius XI extended the feast of St. Albert the Great to the universal Church, adding the title of Doctor and gladly receiving the vote of the Sacred Congregation of Rites.