November 15th - St. Albert the Great, Doctor of the Church.

Albert was born about the year 1200. He belonged to the family of Bollstädt and
was probably born at the castle of Lauingen on the Danube in Germany. Little is
known of his early life, but he was the eldest son and his father was wealthy
and held a military office. He attended the University of Padua, studying the
liberal arts.

While at the university, Albert met Blessed Jordan of Saxony, the Master General
of the Dominican friars. Against the strong opposition of his uncle and father,
he decided to enter the Dominicans. He was sent to study theology in Germany and
about 1233 he received a lectureship and taught in several primary cities of
Germany. He was sent to the University of Paris about the year 1241 to study for
a mastership in theology and there he came to know the works of Aristotle.
Aristotelian philosophy was just making itself known in Europe and this was to
have a profound effect on Albert's studies and direction of thought.

Albert was the first German Dominican to receive a mastership in Paris. There
are numerous books detailing the teachings of Albert which are beyond the scope
of this presentation. Suffice it to say that he was an authority, teaching and
writing treatises on logic, mathematics, metaphysics, geography, chemistry,
mineralogy, biology, astronomy, ethics and other subjects.

Perhaps Albert is best known for rewriting the works of Aristotle in a way which
made them acceptable to Christian critics. He also laid the ground work for
applying Aristotelian principles and methodology to the study of theology. Best
known among his students was Thomas Aquinas who would build upon the groundwork
Albert had laid.

In 1256, along with Bonaventure and his former pupil Thomas Aquinas, Albert
defended the mendicant orders' cause. In 1257 He returned to Cologne, Germany
and taught, but was called away on different occasions to help reform abuses in
the clergy. He was elected bishop of Regensburg in 1260 to help in the
reformation of that diocese, with moderate success. Two years later he was able
to resign and return to teaching until 1278. At this time Albert's memory began
to fail and he gave up teaching and devoted the remainder of his life to prayer.

Albert died peacefully on November 15, 1280 at Cologne. It has been said that
during his long teaching career, one could see in his writings a great holiness,
but there was lacking that suppression of self which is a mark of the true
saint. It wasn't until after his retirement that this sense of self disappears
into his seeking totality only in God. He was declared a doctor of the Church by
Pope Pius XI on December 16, 1931.