Saint Albert the Great University Parish

Saint Albert the Great (1206-1280)

Patron Saint of Natural Scientists

Feast Day: November 15th

Catholic student centers on college and university campuses have traditionally been named "Newman Clubs" after Cardinal John Henry Newman of England (1801-1890). A scholar and saintly theologian, Newman believed in educating the whole person intellectually, physically, and spiritually.

During the late 1950's as the Catholic Newman and Aquinas Clubs at Houghton's Michigan College of Mining and Technology were outgrowing their facility at 1301 Ruby Avenue (where Phi Kappa Theta fraternity is located), plans were conceived to build a new chapel and student center on campus. It was decided that the new center should have a patron saint: St. Albert the Great (1206-1280), who as patron of the natural scientists made his love of truth about nature into an instrument of his love of Christ. On October 6, 1963, the cornerstone was laid for our parish which is entrusted to the patronage of St. Albert the Great.

Born in 1206 at Swabia, Germany, St. Albert was the eldest son of a powerful and wealthy German lord of military rank. With fierce determination and against strong family wishes St. Albert joined the Dominican Order when he was about 17. After teaching at several universities he received his doctorate from the University of Paris in 1245. Having served as provincial for the Dominican Order as well as personal theologian and canonist for the Pope, St. Albert was appointed bishop of Regensburg, Germany in 1260. He resigned two years later to resume his love of teaching at Cologne.

St. Albert's knowledge of biology, chemistry, physics, astronomy, mineralogy, geography, and economics was so encyclopedic that he was often accused of magic. He cultivated all branches of philosophy and wrote profusely on logic, metaphysics, mathematics, the Bible, and theology. He argued that sound philosophy never contradicts God's revelation. When asked by fellow Dominicans for help understanding Aristotelian physics, he engaged in a process of making the philosophy of Aristotle compatible with the Church's intellectual tradition. A keen student of arabic learning and culture, St. Albert's method of applying Aristotelian methods to revealed Christian doctrine led to the scholastic method of education for Catholic clergy worldwide.

In his lifetime St. Albert was sometimes called "Albertus Magnus" (Latin for Albert the Great). His writings fill thirty-eight quarto volumes in print. A great preacher and member of a religious order, St. Albert was one of the first and among the greatest of natural scientists. His explanation of learning took 20 years to complete. He was concerned that many of his fellow religious were uninterested in learning about things they thought irrelevant to salvation. Having found vestiges of the creator in all creatures, St. Albert even lectured on Aristotle's zoology. To him it was apparent that training in the secular sciences was invaluable for theologians.

There were many who either misunderstood or refused to accept St. Albert's enlightened teachings. Often he was called upon to defend his teachings as well as those of his fellow Dominicans and students, one of them being St. Thomas Aquinas. A good friend of his teacher, St. Thomas used St. Albert's works to develop his own synthesis of Greek wisdom and Christian theology. Today St. Albert and St. Thomas are known as "Doctors of the Church" because of their brilliance and erudition as teachers of the faith.

During a lecture in 1278, St. Albert's memory suddenly failed. After two years of ailing health and mind he died in Cologne in 1280. Pope Pius XI canonized him and declared him a Doctor of the Church in 1931.

St. Albert's way of life is an inspiration to anyone seeking advanced knowledge in any field. His vocation seems to be summed up with a quote from St. Bernard, in his sermon on the Canticle of Canticles:

"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."

Prayer

God, You made St. Albert great by enabling him to combine human wisdom and Divine Faith. Help us so to adhere to his teaching that we may progress in the sciences and at the same time come to a deeper understanding and love of you. Amen.