O God, the Lord of the sciences, we praise and bless you with all our hearts and voices, for you have raised up a great teacher from among our fathers.

Tommaso da Modena's St. Albert the Great

Today the Dominican Order celebrates with particular solemnity one of its own, St. Albert the Great, the medieval bishop and scholar renowned for his expertise in nearly all the intellectual disciplines, including natural science, philosophy, and theology.  St. Albert was the teacher of another Dominican great, St. Thomas Aquinas.

From the Dominican Ordo:

Albert of Lauingen was born in Swabia (Germany) at the beginning of the thirteenth century.  While a student at the University of Pavia he was attraced to the Order by Blessed Jordan of Saxony.  From 1242 until 1249 he taught at the University of Paris where Thomas Aquinas was one of his students.  Albert helped to introduce Aristotelian physics as interpreted by Jewish and Arabian philosophers into Western thought.  From 1248 he taught at Cologne and served as provincial of Germany (1254-1257).  Together with Saint Bonaventure he defended the right of the Mendicant Orders to teach at in the universtities.

He was named bishop of Ratisbon in 1260, but after two years he resigned because he considered himself unworthy.  He continued his teaching at Wurzburg, Strasbourg and Cologne.  In his attempts to blend the wisdom of the saints with human knowledge he was a distinguished writer and teacher, but he was even more distinguished in his life of holiness and his pastoral charity.  He had a deep devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and to the Virgin Mary, who according to legend led him to the Order of Preachers.  Because of his writings he is called “the Great” and the “universal doctor.”  He died at Cologne on November 15, 1280.  In 1459 Pius II declared him a doctor of the Church; in 1931 Pius XI declared him a saint; and Pius XII named him patron of those involved in the natural sciences.

For more on St. Albert’s life and thought, click here and here.

One of the stained glass windows in the nave of the church is dedicated to St. Albert.  Click here for a view and an explanation of its iconography.  Of particular note are the two figures that flank St. Albert—Aristotle and St. John the Evangelist—who represent the heights of knowledge attainable by the human mind through the distinct but not opposed paths of reason and revelation.  Albert and his student Aquinas remain icons of the Catholic task to reconcile the seeming contradictions between faith and reason.

Besides being a famous scholar, St. Albert was also a saint.  His expertise in prayer and the science of the blessed was the pearl of great price in his crown of intellectual achievement.  Below is a brief instruction he once gave on the proper preparations necessary for fruitful prayer.  He shares with is readers the fruit of his own experience.  This passage is one of the options for the second lesson in today’s Office of Readings.

 

From the treatise On the Manner of Praying
attributed to Saint Albert the Great

We should prepare ourselves for prayer.  This preparation is of two kinds: remote and immediate.

Similarly remote preparation is of two kinds: interior and exterior.  Interior preparation consists of three things.  First, there is the purification of the conscience: If our hearts do not reprove us, we have this confidence in God: that God hears us whenever we ask for anything.  Secondly, there is the humbling of the mind, for the Lord hears the cry of the humble and does not spurn their petition.  Thirdly, there is the forgiveness of injuries: Whenever you stand to pray, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father in heaven may in turn forgive you your trespasses.

Exterior preparation likewise consists in three things.  First, there is the fulfillment of the commandments of God, for as Saint Isidore said: “If we do what the Lord commands, we will without doubt obtain what we ask for.”  Secondly, there is reconciliation with anyone we have offended: If you bring your gift to the altar and there recall that your brother or sister has anyitng against you, leave your gift before the altar and go; first be reconciled with your brother or sister and then come and offer your gift.  Thirdly, there is the practice of fasting and almsgiving which supports prayer, for Isaiah says: Share your bread with the hungry and take the poor and homeless into yoru house; then when you call, the Lord will hear you.

Immediate preparation is likewise of two kinds: again, interior and exterior. Interior preparation consists in three things.  First, there is personal recollection: Whenever you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father in private.  Entering into your room is that personal recollection of the heart and closing the door is the maintenance of a spirit of recollection.  Personal recollection is accomplished by gathering within oneself the thought and emotions which have had free range.

Secondly, we focus our attention upon the Lord.  For we pray in truth when we do not think about other matters.  Thus, the soul must first be purified and thoughts about temporal concerns must be set aside so that the pure eye of the heart may be directed truly and simply to the Lord.  Let every carnal or worldly thought depart, lest the soul think of anything else than that alone for which it prays.  The priest in proclaiming the preface prepares our hearts by saying: “Lift up your hearts,” to which we reply: “We lift them up to the Lord.”  Thus, the heart is closed to its adversary and opened to God alone, lest we have one thing in our hearts and another on our lips.

How can you be heard by God, you ask, when you cannot hear yourself?  You want the Lord to be mindful of you when you are not mindful of yourself!  This is to offend the majesty of God by negligence in prayer.  This is to watch with the eyes and sleep with the heart, while the Christian ought to be watching with the heart even while sleeping.  

Thirdly, there is the stirring up of devotion ot God, which is brougth about especially by meditating upon our miserable condition and upon the goodness and mercy of God.  In meditating upon our miserable condition we learn what it is necessary to ask for, and in meditating upon the mercy of God we learn with what devotion we ought to ask.

Exterior preparation consists in three things, namely, place, appearance and gesture.  With regard to place it is certian that one can pray while standing as well as sitting, or even while lying down.  Nevertheless in public prayer we ought to observe the form established by the Church or by the majority of us.  With regard to appearance keep in mind that a humble and abject demeanor is appropriate to prayer.  With regard to gesture not that it includes genuflecting, lifting up one’s heands, striking the breast, raising or lowering the eyes and countenance, closing the lips or silencing the voice, the shedding of tears, the emitting of groans, sighing, etc.

 

For a translation of a short spiritual work of St. Albert entitled On Cleaving to God, click here.

God of truth,
you make Albert renowned for the gift
of combining human wisdom with divine faith.
May we remain true to his teachings
and through the advance of human science
come to a deeper knowledge and love of you.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.