At the end of today’s general audience, the Pope recalled the fact that today is the liturgical feast of St. Albert the Great, "who made ceaseless efforts to establish peace among the peoples of his time," he said,
"May his example," the Holy Father continued, "stimulate you, dear young people, to work for justice and build reconciliation." For the sick, may it be "an encouragement to confide in the Lord Who never abandons us in moments of trial," and for newlyweds, "a stimulation to find in the Gospel the joy to welcome and serve life, the priceless gift of God."
Many more Albertus Magnus links here.
In 1254 Albert was chosen provincial of his Order in Germany. For a time he lived at the court of Pope Alexander II, who in 1260 made him bishop of Regensburg; two years later, however, he returned to his community at Cologne. There he acted as counselor, peacemaker, and shepherd of souls with great success. He died at the age of eighty-seven. Pope Pius XI numbered him among the ranks of the saints on December 16, 1931, and declared him a doctor of the Church. Much of his life was given to writing. His twenty-one folio volumes are devoted to commentaries on Aristotle (whose works were just then becoming known in the West) and the Bible. Legend credits him with drawing the ground plans for the cathedral at Cologne. Albert, the greatest German scholar of the Middle Ages, was outstanding in the fields of natural science, theology, and philosophy.
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