St. Albert of Sicily

  Posted on August 20, 2024  by admin  No comments

Born: 1250 to 1257 (sources vary) at Trapani, Sicily, Italy

Died: 7 August 1306 at Messina, Italy of natural causes

Canonized: 31 May 1476 by Pope Sixtus IV

Patronage: Carmelite schools, Messina, Italy, Trapani, Italy.

Also known as Albert of Trapani, Albert degli Abbati Albert’s parents promised that if they were blessed with a son, he would be dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Educated in a Carmelite monastery, and joined the Order at age 18. Priest. Teacher in the monastery. Mendicant preacher to the Sicilians, making many conversions; especially devoted to, and successful with, Sicilian Jews. Miracle worker. Sicilian Carmelite provincial in 1257, and worked both as preacher and administrator. In 1301, the city of Messina, Italy was under siege and blockade by Duke Robert of Calabria, Italy. Disease ridden and facing imminent starvation, the Messina city fathers asked Albert and the monastery for intervention. Albert celebrated Mass, offering it as a plea for God’s deliverance. As he finished, three ships loaded with grain ran the blockade. The city was saved from starvation, and Robert lifted the seige. Albert was so well remembered for this intervention that a city gate was dedicated in his honor over 300 years later. In his later years, Albert retired to a small monastery near Messina, and spent his time in prayer, meditation, and communion.