From the proper first lesson of the Mass:

My son, from your youth embrace discipline;
thus will you find wisdom with graying hair.
As though plowing and sowing, draw close to her;
then await her bountiful crops.
For in cultivating her you will labor but little,
and soon you will eat of her fruits.
How irksome she is to the unruly!
The fool cannot abide her.

If you are willing to listen, you will learn;
if you give heed, you will be wise.
Frequent the company of the elders;
whoever is wise, stay close to him.
Be eager to hear every godly discourse;
let no wise saying escape you.

If you see a man of prudence, seek him out;
let your feet wear away his doorstep!
Reflect on the precepts of the Lord,
let his commandments be your constant meditation;
Then he will enlighten your mind,
and the wisdom you desire he will grant. (Sirach 6.18-21, 33-37)

From Our Holy Father’s Audience in honor of St. Albert (24 March 2010):

He was born in Germany at the beginning of the 13th century. When he was still young he went to Italy, to Padua, the seat of one of the most famous medieval universities. He devoted himself to the study of the so-called “liberal arts”: grammar, rhetoric, dialectics, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music, that is, to culture in general, demonstrating that characteristic interest in the natural sciences which was soon to become the favourite field for his specialization.

During his stay in Padua he attended the Church of the Dominicans, whom he then joined with the profession of the religious vows. Hagiographic sources suggest that Albert came to this decision gradually. His intense relationship with God, the Dominican Friars’ example of holiness, hearing the sermons of Blessed Jordan of Saxony, St Dominic’s successor at the Master General of the Order of Preachers, were the decisive factors that helped him to overcome every doubt and even to surmount his family’s resistence. God often speaks to us in the years of our youth and points out to us the project of our life. As it was for Albert, so also for all of us, personal prayer, nourished by the Lord’s word, frequent reception of the Sacraments and the spiritual guidance of enlightened people are the means to discover and follow God’s voice.

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