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http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01264a.htm
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St.
Albertus Magnus Saint Albertus Magnus
Known as Albert the Great;
scientist,
philosopher, and theologian, born c. 1206; died at
Cologne, 15 November
1280. He is called "the Great", and "Doctor Universalis"
(Universal Doctor), in recognition of his extraordinary genius and
extensive
knowledge, for he was
proficient in every branch of learning cultivated in his day, and
surpassed all his contemporaries, except perhaps
Roger Bacon (1214-94), in
the
knowledge of
nature.
Ulrich Engelbert, a contemporary, calls him the wonder and the
miracle of his age: "Vir
in omni scientia adeo divinus, ut nostri temporis stupor et miraculum
congrue vocari possit" (De summo bono, tr. III, iv).
I. LIFE
Albert, eldest son of the Count of Bollstädt, was born at Lauingen,
Swabia, in the year 1205 or 1206, though many historians give it as
1193. Nothing certain is known of his primary
or preparatory
education, which was
received either under the paternal roof or in a
school of the
neighborhood. As a youth he was sent to pursue his studies at the
University of Padua; that
city being chosen either because his uncle resided there, or because
Padua was famous for its culture of the
liberal arts, for which
the young Swabian had a special predilection. The
date of this journey to
Padua cannot be accurately determined. In the year 1223 he joined the
Order of St. Dominic,
being attracted by the preaching of Blessed Jordan of
Saxony second Master
General of the Order. Historians do not tell us whether
Albert's studies were continued at
Padua,
Bologna, Paris, or
Cologne. After completing
his studies he taught
theology at
Hildesheim,
Freiburg (Breisgau),
Ratisbon,
Strasburg, and
Cologne. He was in the
convent of
Cologne, interpreting
Peter Lombard's "Book of
the Sentences", when, in 1245, he was ordered to repair to
Paris. There he received
the Doctor's degree in the
university which, above
all others, was celebrated as a
school of
theology. It was during
this period of reaching at
Cologne and
Paris that he counted
amongst his hearers
St. Thomas Aquinas, then
a
silent, thoughtful youth,
whose genius he recognized and whose future greatness he foretold. The
disciple accompanied his
master to
Paris in 1245, and
returned with him, in 1248, to the new Studium Generale of
Cologne, in which
Albert was appointed Regent, whilst Thomas became second professor and
Magister Studentium (Master of Students). In 1254
Albert was elected
Provincial of his Order
in
Germany. He journeyed to
Rome in 1256, to defend
the
Mendicant Orders against
the attacks of
William of St. Amour,
whose book, "De novissimis temporum periculis", was condemned by
Pope Alexander IV, on 5
October, 1256. During his sojourn in
Rome
Albert filled the office of
Master of the Sacred Palace
(instituted in the
time of
St. Dominic), and
preached on the Gospel of St. John and the Canonical
Epistles. He resigned the office of
Provincial in 1257 in
order to devote himself to study and to teaching. At the
General Chapter of the
Dominicans held at
Valenciennes in 1250, with
St. Thomas Aquinas and
Peter of Tarentasia (afterwards
Pope Innocent V), he drew
up rules for the direction of studies, and for determining the system of
graduation, in the Order. In the year 1260 he was appointed
Bishop of
Ratisbon. Humbert de
Romanis, Master General of the
Dominicans, being loath
to lose the services of the great Master, endeavoured to prevent the
nomination, but was
unsuccessful. Albert governed the
diocese until 1262, when,
upon the
acceptance of his
resignation, he
voluntarily resumed the
duties of a professor in
the Studium at
Cologne. In the year 1270
he sent a memoir to
Paris to aid
St. Thomas in combating
Siger de Brabant and the
Averroists. This was his
second special treatise against the
Arabian commentator, the
first having been written in 1256, under the title "De Unitate
Intellectus Contra Averroem". He was called by
Pope Gregory X to attend
the Council of
Lyons (1274) in the
deliberations of which he took an active part. The announcement of the
death of
St. Thomas at Fossa Nuova,
as he was proceeding to the Council, was a heavy blow to
Albert, and he declared that "The Light of the
Church" had been
extinguished. It was but natural that he should have grown to
love his distinguished,
saintly pupil, and it is said that ever afterwards he could not restrain
his tears whenever the name of
St. Thomas was mentioned.
Something of his old vigour and spirit
returned in 1277 when it was announced that Stephen Tempier and others
wished to condemn the writings of
St. Thomas, on the plea
that they were too favourable to the unbelieving
philosophers, and he
journeyed to
Paris to defend the
memory of his
disciple. Some
time after 1278 (in which
year he drew up his testament) he suffered a lapse of
memory; his strong
mind gradually became
clouded; his body, weakened by vigils, austerities, and
manifold labours, sank under the weight of years. He was
beatified by
Pope Gregory XV in 1622;
his
feast is celebrated on
the 15th of November. The
Bishops of
Germany, assembled at
Fulda in September, 1872,
sent to the
Holy See a petition for
his
canonization; he was
finally
canonized in 1931.
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