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Vocation Office E-Newsletter, October 2024
St. Albert the Great
By Sister Eva Marie, O.P.
St. Albert was called “the Great” even while still alive. A native of Bavaria, he was an expert in biology, botany, physics, zoology, astronomy, geology, meteorology, medicine, and chemistry; his all-encompassing knowledge has earned him the title of “Universal Doctor.” As a young man studying at the University of Padua, Albert encountered the great Dominican friar Blessed Jordan of Saxony, who at the time was Master of the Order. First Jordan won Albert’s friendship, then the Order won his heart, and he was received as a novice in 1223.
Despite his encyclopedic knowledge of the natural sciences, the young Brother Albert found the study of theology extremely difficult. Discouraged, he resolved to leave the Order and resume his secular studies. When he was at the point of departure, having leaned a ladder against the wall to facilitate his escape, the Blessed Virgin appeared to him. Ever the good Mother, she scolded him gently for failing to ask her help in his studies, bestowed on him the ability to understand theology, and vanished. Albert persevered in his vocation and was soon renowned as one of the greatest scholars of all time, adding philosophy and theology to his list of areas of expertise His love for truth, his confidence that truth can be known, and his joy in synthesizing faith and reason are quintessentially Dominican traits.
Albert was an early pioneer in the Christian study of Aristotle. In addition to his studies, he served the Church by teaching on the faculties at the University of Paris and the University of Bologna. At Paris, he had the pleasure of instructing a stocky, soft-spoken young friar by the name of Thomas Aquinas. When Thomas’ classmates mocked his heavyset build and quiet demeanor, calling him a “dumb ox,” Albert defended his young protege with a prophecy: “You call him the dumb ox, but in his teaching he will one day produce such a bellowing that it will be heard throughout the world.” Years later, when Thomas’ writings were accused of heresy, Albert stood by him, defending his orthodoxy and fidelity to the Church.
It seems that Albert the Great has been all but eclipsed by Thomas Aquinas. Yet perhaps that is what Albert himself wanted He did not study the natural world in order to control it, but because he was in love with its Creator; he did not teach in order to become famous, but so that many souls would be saved. When he saw how deeply his own students knew, loved, and preached the truth of Christ, he could only rejoice A model of Dominican study, preaching, and humility, he is the patron saint of scientists, philosophers, and students.
