November 15
Saints of the Day...and Events

St. Albert the Great, 1206-12-80, Albertus Magnus; Doctor Expertus; Doctor Universalis, Doctor of the Church
The German Dominican teacher of Saint Thomas Aquinas, writer of a Compendium of Knowledge

    Albert is the patron of scientists and philosophers. Theological writer. Doctor of the Church.

Born 1206 at Lauingen an der Donau, Swabia (now Germany)

Died 15 November 1280 at Cologne, Prussia (in modern Germany)

Beatified 1622; Canonized 1931 by Pope Pius XI
Gallery of images of Saint Albert
Albertus Magnus
http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/1115.htm  

Readings

It is by the path of love, which is charity, that God draws near to man, and man to God. But where charity is not found, God cannot dwell. If, then, we possess charity, we possess God, for "God is Charity" (1 John 4:8) Saint Albert the Great

"Do this in remembrance of me." Two things should be noted here. The first is the command that we should use this sacrament, which is indicated when Jesus says, "Do this." The second is that this sacrament commemorates the Lord's going to death for our sake.

This sacrament is profitable because it grants remission of sins; it is most useful because it bestows the fullness of grace on us in this life. "The Father of spirits instructs us in what is useful for our sanctification." And his sanctification is in Christ's sacrifice, that is, when he offers himself in this sacrament to the Father for our redemption to us for our use.

Christ could not have commanded anything more beneficial, for this sacrament is the fruit of the tree of life. Anyone who receives this sacrament with the devotion of sincere faith will never taste death. "It is a tree of life for those who grasp it, and blessed is he who holds it fast. The man who feeds on me shall live on account of me."

Nor could he have commanded anything more lovable, for this sacrament produces love and union. It is characteristic of the greatest love to give itself as food. "Had not the men of my text exclaimed: Who will feed us with his flesh to satisfy our hunger? as if to say: I have loved them and they have loved me so much that I desire to be within them, and they wish to receive me so that they may become my members. There is no more intimate or more natural means for them to be united to me, and I to them.

Nor could he have commanded anything which is more like eternal life. Eternal life flows from this sacrament because God with all sweetness pours himself out upon the blessed. (from a commentary by Saint Albert the Great on the Gospel of Luke).

 

Knowledge:
1- "There are some who desire knowledge merely for its own sake; and that is shameful curiosity.
2- And there are others who desire to know, in order that they may themselves be known; and that is vanity, disgraceful too.
3- Others again desire knowledge in order to acquire money or preferment by it; that too is a discreditable quest.
4- But there are also some who desire knowledge, that they may build up the souls of others with it; and that is charity.
5- 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" (St. Bernard, Sermon on the Canticle of Canticles).