November 15

Happy Memorial of St. Albert the Great, Bishop and Doctor.

The saint celebrated by the Church today is one of the most impressive figures in human history and thus the nickname, “the great,” is most appropriate. St. Albert of Cologne, was born around the year 1200 in Lauingen, now in Bavaria. At a young age he went to Padua, Italy, “the seat of one of the most famous medieval universities,” where he devoted himself to the study of the liberal arts: “grammar, rhetoric, dialectics, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music,” (Benedict XVI, General Audience, March 24, 2010). While studying at Padua, he attended a church run by the Dominicans. Over time and moved by “the sermons of Blessed Jordan of Saxony, St. Dominic’s successor as the Master General of the Order of Preachers,” Albert discerned a vocation to religious life despite the protests of his family (ibid.). Eventually, Blessed Jordan would bestow upon Albert the Dominican habit. Already during his lifetime Albert’s contemporaries attributed to him titles of excellence, “one of his disciples, Ulric of Strasbourg, called him the ‘wonder and miracle of our epoch’” (ibid.). This, in itself is quite a mouthful, when one pauses to consider that among Albert’s contemporaries were two other Doctors of the Church, St. Bonaventure and, Albert’s student, St. Thomas Aquinas. The fact that Albert was the teacher of Aquinas is alone enough to deem his being recalled by history books, however, it is not likely to merit the nickname of “the great.” No, for that Albert would have had to have done great things, and a brief survey of his life presents to us a man not only of nearly unparalleled intellect, but extraordinary humility, courage, and magnanimity.

There are two characteristics displayed by St. Albert’s life that deem that he should likewise be remembered and considered by us today as being great, for these qualities are sorely in need of imitation in our society today. The first of these is Albert’s servant leadership. It is in this area of life that Albert most displayed the virtues of humility and courage. Unfortunately, we live in a time and place where we hear, nearly daily, of the abuses of power committed by our ecclesial and political leaders, on both national and local levels. Not much has changed. Albert’s time too was plague by moral laxity among the clergy, and abuse of power among its bishops. Over the course of his life, Albert, the great scientist-theologian was appointed to leadership roles despite his desire to remain in the library and the classroom, furthering his studies. In 1254, Albert was elected Dominican provincial “in charge of the massive and burgeoning province of Germany” (Kevin Vost, St. Albert the Great: Champion of Faith and Reason, 84). Over the course of his tenure, Albert continually preached to his Dominican brothers and sisters of the need to live in accordance with the rule of their order, especially adherence to the vows of poverty and obedience. Albert’s leadership began with his example. He had taken the role, which he had not sought out, out of obedience, and, in holy poverty, he covered the vast territory under his care travelling by foot, refusing the luxury of carriage, horse, or donkey (ibid., 85-86). By the end of his tenure, Albert had established three new convents for men and one for women, and enlarged several others, and, after having established order and nourished growth in the province, Albert quietly stepped down, returning to his studies (ibid., 86-87).

Similarly, in 1260, Pope Alexander IV appointed a yet again hesitant but obedient Albert as the bishop of Ratisbon. Out of humility, Albert avoided the pomp and circumstance normally associated with the installation of a new bishop, and “quietly entered the city unannounced on the night of March 29, 1260” (ibid., 92-93). It is said that when Albert arrived, there was “not a penny in the exchequer, not a drop of wine in the cellar, not a grain of wheat in the granary, and heavy debts to boot” (ibid., 93). In order to set things right, Albert saw spiritual reform and conversion as the first necessity, and so he went about his diocese, visiting the clergy and laity under his care, preaching holiness and virtue to the people, again, always travelling by foot, earning him the nickname episcopus cum bottis, or “Bishop Boots” (ibid., 94-95). In just two years time, the reforms Albert initiated proved successful, bringing order and financial stability to the diocese. In fact, “so successful was Albert in his reforms that despite the brevity of his tenure, some count him among the greatest of all German bishops.” And, just as he had when he served as Dominican provincial, having brought order and flourishing to the diocese, Albert humbly stepped down, and returned to his studies (ibid., 97).

This brings us to a consideration of the second important characteristic Albert displayed throughout his life, i.e., an innate sense of the natural harmony of faith and science and of faith and reason. Here again, Albert proves a timely exemplar. A Pew Research Center study from 2016 found that “one of the reasons that young people gave for abandoning religion and belief is that both are at odds with science” (Robert Barron, Renewing Our Hope, 12; cf. Pew Research Center and Michael Lipka, “Why America’s ‘Nones’ Left Religion Behind” (August 24, 2016). This displays a reductionist understanding of reality known as scientism, which is basically the belief that science can by its methods explain all there is to know about reality. Albert too had a great love for science, the best proof of this being that he has left us works on topics as wide ranging as botany, chemistry, geography, geology, and anatomy. Albert is said to have determined that there were landmasses to be discovered west of Europe, and that the Milky Way was a vast collection of stars. He also enjoyed putting his scientific discoveries to mechanical use. One example is the automaton Albert had constructed, a statue which he was able to animate and make speak by means of the chemical powers of mercury (see https://maritain.nd.edu/jmc/etext/staamp3.htm). It is said that one day, St. Thomas Aquinas walked in to master Albert’s workshop and was greeted by a voice “salve, salve, salve!” coming from the statue, which the bewildered and startled Thomas destroyed with a stick (Kevin Vost, St. Albert the Great, 13).

Thus, we see that Albert was a naturally inquisitive man of science. However, he displayed no scientistic tendency which would reduce all explanations of reality to science. Instead, he undertook his research of creation precisely because he believed that all of “the whole world was theology” because “the heavens proclaimed the glory of God” (ibid., 132). Because of this Albert took to his studies prayerfully, noting that “he always felt inspired to study by the Holy Virgin,” the Seat of Wisdom, “and that what he could not master by study, he mastered through prayer” (24).

The most beautiful example of Albert’s bringing together of scientific knowledge to his study of theology comes in his work on the Eucharist, De corpore domini (On the Body of the Lord). There, Albert examines the fittingness of the material substance of the Eucharist, drawing an analogy between the manner in which mundane food is chewed and made “subtle” so that it can be absorbed by every portion of the body in order to provide it nourishment. Analogously, Albert says, “the nourishment of the soul in the sacrament is completed in this way, namely, that it is spiritually chewed by dividing and by tearing, so that it may be made subtle by the fiery heat, so that it may be subtly sucked in by the subtle spiritual veins and may be carried by subtle ways to the spiritual members, so that it may be purified by the spiritual purifiers, and so that what is so subtle may be subtly infused proportionately to the members…” (On the Body of the Lord, Dist. 3, Tr. 1, Ch. 7). By drawing this analogy Albert wishes to impart upon us that consuming the Eucharist is meant to function on a spiritual level the way food works on a mundane level.

However, the analogy qua analogy needs adjustment. For, whereas we digest normal foodstuffs to transform it into our own bodies, in the Eucharist, a sort of reverse digestion occurs, such that we become what we consume. Accordingly, Albert writes: “how greatly, therefore, should we thank Christ, who has changed us into himself by his life-giving body” (ibid., Dist. 3, Tr. 1, Ch. 8). Our transformation into Christ, Albert goes on to say, takes place in five ways: we are made connatural with Christ, we are made like to Christ in virtue, we are made one of heart with Christ, we are conformed to the mind of Christ, and any distance between ourselves and Christ is eliminated (ibid.). The result of this, for Albert, is that all our virtues and operations are conformed to Christ, “his virtue flowing into us, since he does not abandon his own virtue, and he flows into us and communicates himself to us in his inflowing and communicated virtue. And so in him we live by his own virtue” (ibid.).

This divine sacramental transformation, this holy reverse digestion, was on full display in the life of St. Albert the Great. As both administrator and scientist-theologian, Albert cultivated the talents given to him by God alongside a life of virtue. Because of this the divine harvest of his life was great. We see in him the full flourishing of the virtues of humility, obedience, prudence and courage, combined in Albert to the point where we can truly see another, elusive virtue, magnanimity, i.e., greatness of soul. The reason for this was that Albert ever kept before him the teaching of our Lord, that “the greatest among you will be your servant. All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted” (Mt. 23:11-12). Albert incarnated this teaching with the whole of his life, and for this reason we remember him as “the great.”

St. Albert, great exemplar of Christian virtue, pray for us that we might desire true greatness of soul, sought not by honors, wealth or power, but in imitation of Christ, through humility, obedience and courage, so that we too might place all the talents given to us by God at the service of all for the greater glory of God. 

Your servant in Christ,

Tony