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Teacher of Thomas Aquinas, huh?

Sanctus Albertus Magnus, Doctor Universalis

Magnus in Magia, Major in Philosophia, Maximus in Theologia

BUMP

BTTT on 11-15-04, Optional: St. Albert the Great!

American Cathlic's Saint of the Day

November 15, 2004

St. Albert the Great

(1206-1280)

Albert the Great was a 13th-century German Dominican who influenced decisively the stance of the Church toward Aristotelian philosophy brought to Europe by the spread of Islam.

Students of philosophy know him as the master of Thomas Aquinas. Albert’s attempt to understand Aristotle’s writings established the climate in which Thomas Aquinas developed his synthesis of Greek wisdom and Christian theology. But Albert deserves recognition on his own merits as a curious, honest and diligent scholar.

He was the eldest son of a powerful and wealthy German lord of military rank. He was educated in the liberal arts. Despite fierce family opposition, he entered the Dominican novitiate.

His boundless interests prompted him to write a compendium of all knowledge: natural science, logic, rhetoric, mathematics, astronomy, ethics, economics, politics and metaphysics. His explanation of learning took 20 years to complete. "Our intention," he said, "is to make all the aforesaid parts of knowledge intelligible to the Latins."

He achieved his goal while serving as an educator at Paris and Cologne, as Dominican provincial and even as bishop of Regensburg for a time. He defended the mendicant orders and preached the Crusade in Germany and Bohemia.

Albert, a Doctor of the Church, is the patron of scientists and philosophers.

Comment:

An information glut faces us Christians today in all branches of learning. One needs only to read current Catholic periodicals to experience the varied reactions to the findings of the social sciences, for example, in regard to Christian institutions, Christian life-styles and Christian theology. Ultimately, in canonizing Albert, the Church seems to point to his openness to truth, wherever it may be found, as his claim to holiness. His characteristic curiosity prompted Albert to mine deeply for wisdom within a philosophy his Church warmed to with great difficulty.

Quote:

"There are some who desire knowledge merely for its own sake; and that is shameful curiosity. And there are others who desire to know, in order that they may themselves be known; and that is vanity, disgraceful too. Others again desire knowledge in order to acquire money or preferment by it; that too is a discreditable quest. But there are also some who desire knowledge, that they may build up the souls of others with it; and that is charity. Others, again, desire it that they may themselves be built up thereby; and that is prudence. Of all these types, only the last two put knowledge to the right use" (St. Bernard, Sermon on the Canticle of Canticles).

BTTT on the optional Memorial of St. Albert the Great, November 15, 2005.

BTTT on the optional Memorial of St. Albert the Great, November 15, 2006!

St. Albert the Great, Bishop and Doctor

Saint Albert the Great,
Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Optional Memorial
November 15th

Tommaso da Modena
Saint Albert the Great
1352 -- Fresco
Chapter House, San Niccoló, Treviso

(1206-1280) Saint Albert was born in Germany and studied in Padua and Paris before entering the Order of Preachers where he was a doctor of theology. St. Thomas Aquinas numbered among his pupils. A man of great learning and a generous mind, St. Albert was at the forefront of the reception of Aristoltle into the Christian West. As bishop he worked to establish peace among peoples and cities.
Source: Daily Roman Missal, Edited by Rev. James Socías, Midwest Theological Forum, Chicago, Illinois ©2003

Collect:
God Our Father,
you endowed St. Albert with the talent
of combining human wisdom with divine faith.
Keep us true to his teachings
that the advance of human knowledge
may deepen our knowledge and love of you.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

First Reading: Sirach 15:1-6
The man who fears the Lord will do this, and he who holds to the law will obtain wisdom.
She will come to meet him like a mother, and like the wife of his youth she will welcome him.
She will feed him with the bread of understanding, and give him the water of wisdom to drink.
He will lean on her and will not fall, and he will rely on her and will not be put to shame.
She will exalt him above his neighbors, and will open his mouth in the midst of the assembly.
He will find gladness and a crown of rejoicing, and will acquire an everlasting name.

Gospel: Matthew 13:47-52
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net which was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind; when it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into vessels but threw away the bad. So it will be at the close of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous, and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth. "Have you understood all this?" They said to Him, "Yes." And He said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old."

Doctors of the Catholic Church

St Albert the Great (Albertus Magnus) is the Universal Doctor and the Doctor of Science. He discovered a science above all other sciences and it is called the lasting or eternal science. It is knowledge that only God imparts. You can not find it in a textbook. It is a heavenly wisdom that comes from reason and faith joined together in charity towards others in prayer and action.

Many scientists and believers have been blessed with independence of mind and great mental prowess. Most rely more on reason and memory than their faith. Albert's message to us is do not rely on anything or trust anyone more than God. Practice your faith daily and you will discover a far greater freedom, wisdom and happiness.

As many famous Dominican religious to which Albert belonged, Albert excelled as a teacher and his most notable student was Saint Thomas Aquinas. What Albert the Great, as he is sometimes called, impressed and imparted to Thomas was gratefully received and later continued by Albert after Thomas' death. This was a classical example of the student becoming the teacher to his first teacher. Both Sts Albert and Thomas proved without exception that there is no contradiction or conflict between faith and reason. In fact, both complement each other perfectly.

From Fr Renger's book (see below) "When we read the list of St. Albert's works in the field of science, we could easily conclude that here was the literary work of a lifetime. But science, of course, was just a part of his interest and work. There is a popular adage about St. Albert which runs: "He was great in magic, greater in philosophy, greatest in theology." "Magic" here would mean science. It has also been said that St. Albert was a scientist by temperament, a philosopher by deliberate choice and a theologian by mood."

St. Albert, 1200-1280. Doctor of Science, Feast Nov. 15th.