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Saint Albert the Great, the "Doctor Universalis"

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On November 15th, the Church celebrates the optional memorial of Saint Albert the Great. The son of a German nobleman, he was studying at Padua when the Master General of the Dominicans, Jordan of Saxony, succeeded in attracting him to that Order. He was to become one of the Dominicans' greatest glories. After taking his degrees at the University of Paris, he taught philosophy and theology at Paris and then in Cologne. Saint Thomas Aquinas was among his pupils. St. Albert, the "light of Germany," called the Great because of his encyclopedic knowledge, was born in 1193 at Lauingen, Donau. He joined the newly-founded Order of Preachers in 1223. Soon he was sent to Germany where he taught in various cities. In 1248 he received the honor of Master in Sacred Theology at Paris. Throngs attended his lectures, drawn by his piety and towering intellect. In 1254, Albert was chosen provincial of his Order in Germany. For a time, he lived at the court of Pope Alexander II, who