Novena to St. Albert the Great

  Posted on November 28, 2018  by admin  No comments

First Day

St. Albert the Great and Faith

The least sign of appreciation a man can show for a gift given him by a friend is to examine it carefully, explore its hidden beauties, seek to discover its unseen perfections. To do less than this would be the shabbiest exhibition of ingratitude and misprizement.

Now the greatest gift of God to man is faith.  Man has no personal claim to it nor any right to expect it from the hand of God. It is a pure gift which the Almighty faith in his infinite wisdom bestows as He sees fit.

The least a man can do, therefore, is to appreciate this ineffable gift at its proper worth, search into its latent beauties, investigate its many relations to his every day life.

That St. Albert appreciated the gift of faith is plain from the sustained interest he showed in it not only in preaching it to the unbeliever and seeking to strengthen it among believers but also in studying its every phase, aspect and implication. With the exception of St. Thomas Aquinas, his favorite pupil, no theologian has ever studied so thoroughly and profoundly the mystery of faith, the nature of the act of faith with all it implies and connotes. If he devoted so much time to a study of the natural sciences that he won for himself the enviable distinction of being called the Great, it was for the sole purpose of defining clearly the limits of science, lest it impinge upon the supernatural domain of faith. Centuries ago Albert drew clearly the lines between revealed religion and the positive sciences, establishing the fact, so frequently denied in our own superficial age, that there is no conflict between them.

Prayer

St. Albert, who didst appreciate so highly the unmerited gift of faith, as every act of thy life plainly shows, obtain for me from God the grace of setting proper value upon this pure bounty of God’s goodness to me. Do thou help me to understand more fully the mysteries of my holy religion which, whilst I may never hope to fully explore, I can always more clearly grasp. Help me to begin in this world what I hope to carry to perfection in the world to come; namely, a constantly increasing insight into the loving condescension of the heavenly Father towards the creatures of His hand. Make faith a living, vital and energizing thing in my everyday life so that, having developed the theological virtue of faith given me in baptism, together with hope and charity, I may live more fully each day in the light of this same faith, performing my every act and conforming my every thought to the high demands which it makes upon my intellect and the ordering of my life.

Do thou shield me from the blighting influence which a proud so-called science may exercise over my mind. Let me see in the discoveries of modern science only a partial revelation of that truth which is vouchsafed to me on God’s own authority in the faith which I profess. Amen

Second Day

St. Albert and Zeal

Every upright man wishes to share with his less fortunate fellows the riches of truth he may possess. The worst miser is that man who deliberately shuts off from the ignorant or miss instructed the light shining unfailingly in the heavens.

The light of faith was given man so that he might walk in it on the narrow road leading to his eternal home beyond the stars. For man has a supernatural destiny and in order to attain it must use supernatural means. These supernatural means come to man through faith and its practical translation into every day life. Our Savior bade His Apostles spread the Gospel in every corner of the world. Every Catholic has the obligation in conscience of seeking to extend the kingdom of God by giving testimony through word and example to the truth he possesses.

St. Albert possessed an ardent zeal to spread the Gospel. Not only did he preach it constantly to believers for the purpose of strengthening their faith but on occasion he went to the pagans on the far-flung frontiers of Europe to spread a knowledge of Christ and His Church. He preached the Crusade so that thus the truth of Christ might be brought to the Mohammedans and unbelievers of the Orient. He multiplied books so as to arm the accredited teachers of the faith with weapons against its enemies. The great ambition of his life was to save souls and as many as he could.

Prayer

St. Albert who like another St. Paul wert eaten up with zeal for spreading a knowledge of the truth, help me by thy intercession before the throne of God to give a reasonable account of the faith which I profess. By the example of thy holy life help me to provide the world with the best argument for the truth which I possess and which by its own intrinsic powers can compel others to enter the fold, the perfect fulfilling of the law of Christ. Stir up within mind an ardent thirst to know more profoundly the mysteries my religion so that I may be able to explain them to all who are seeking to come to a knowledge of Christ. Do not ever permit me to overlook an occasion of contributing my part to the spread of Christ’s kingdom in this world. Obtain for me the courage to profess my faith fearlessly before men and the perseverance to translate its every law into daily practice so that men, seeing the manner of life I lead, may be impelled to investigate for themselves the truths which my Savior Jesus Christ made known to me and which are taught me without hesitation by the Church He established in this world. Give me something of thine own zeal for souls so that by laboring for the salvation of others I may make more certain my own election. Amen

Third Day

St. Albert and the Blessed Eucharist

A wise man seeks to benefit others in a lasting way. He may on occasion afford temporary relief but, even in the act of assuaging pain or lightening poverty, he dreams of doing something which will have permanent effects. Parents strive after this world’s goods in order to leave a rich inheritance to their children. The state makes wise laws in order to benefit future generations of citizens.

When Christ preached His Gospel and established His Church He had in mind not only the people of His own age but of all the ages to come. So that there might be no stepchildren in His family of the redeemed He left Himself truly and substantially to the world in the real presence of the Blessed Sacrament, so much so, indeed, that we of this late day and hour may feel that the Savior is as near to us as He was to the men and women who looked upon Him in the flesh during the days of His earthly sojourn. Truly our God is with us in all His humanity and divinity, His body and soul, in the august and adorable Sacrament of the Altar. He is not only our Friend whom we may visit and consult in times of stress, our Immaculate Lamb who is slain for us mystically in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for the remission of our sins, but also our soul’s Food in Holy Communion for the long journey to eternity.

The devotion of St. Albert to the Hidden Christ colored his whole life and all his actions. Not only did he seek to penetrate as far as the human mind can hope to do into the august Mystery of the Altar, but he spent long hours of the night, after days of weary toil, in the presence of the Unseen Guest. He celebrated Mass with the love of a seraph and preached the wonders of the Eucharist to the people with irresistible power. He contributed as much as any man of his age to a spread of deep and fiery love for the Eucharistic Christ.

Prayer

St. Albert, chosen friend of the Eucharistic Master, help me to understand in some poor way something of the love which impelled my Savior to leave Himself behind in the tabernacle, really and substantially. as a trusted Friend, a divine Victim and the supernatural Bread of my soul. Teach me to find delight in visiting the Eucharistic Christ in order to learn from Him practical lessons for the guidance of my every day life. Give me something of thine own ardor when receiving into my soul the Body of my Lord. Instruct my lips to preach always and everywhere the condescension of a Savior who finds His delights in being with the children of men so that this dark, dank place of pilgrimage may, by reason of the Real Presence, be an image of that heavenly home where I shall see my Savior, no longer veiled, darkly, but face to face as He is. Amen

Fourth Day

St. Albert and the Passion of Christ

Even the hardest heart is moved by the sight of a sacrifice which does not spare the giver. Words of sympathy may be very welcome in moments of sorrow, but, on consideration, they seem utterly cheap unless accompanied by acts of real compassion and commiseration. When a man empties himself in any way whatsoever for the sake of his fellows, then we may be certain that the most stubborn heart is on the point of submitting to what is noble, generous and magnanimous. Self-sacrifice reveals the best in man and elicits the finest qualities in the heart of the onlooker.

St. John tells us that Christ knew what was in the heart of man. With all his faults and propensities to evil there is always in the human heart a strain which, by the sight and exhibition of sacrifice, can be brought in accord with what is beautiful. It is for this reason that we read in the Holy Scriptures: “If I he lifted up I shall draw all things to myself.” Jesus hanging on the Cross subdued the thief on His right, the Roman Centurion, the countless men and women who were struck by the regal generosity of His Passion. The Cross of Christ, if it be but allowed to exercise its appeal over the human heart, is irresistible.

Like every experienced teacher of souls St. Albert knew the: power of the Cross and never ceased to preach its saving mercies. In the sermons he preached almost every day he never failed to speak of Christ’s mercies as shown forth by that symbol of pardon which is the Cross. He inculcated devotion to the Five Wounds of Our Lord and made men understand that, howsoever great and numerous their sins, there was abundance of redemption in the cleansing Blood of the Redeemer. When he preached to the pagans along the frontiers of Russia it was always the Cross which he held up to their eyes. Accustomed to all kinds of cruelties these people were subdued by the rigors to which Christ submitted for the weal of the world. Like another St. Paul, Albert preached Christ and Him crucified and thus won countless souls to the Church.

Prayer

True lover of the Cross, St. Albert, do thou obtain for me the light to see in the saving wood a pledge of mercy and salvation. Help me to realize that by my own sins I have made my Savior undergo the bitterness of the Passion and the cruel agony of the death on the Cross. As thou werefilled with sorrow for thine own few sins by a study and contemplation of the Cross, so do thou help me to weep over my own countless offenses, like Mary Magdalen, in the shadow of the Cross. Bring my wandering feet to this fountain of pardon so that, through a true sorrow for my sins, I may merit fellowship with the redeemed. Let me never be ashamed of the Cross nor fearful of preaching its saving mercies to a world which seeks to avoid it. As thou didst take up thy Cross daily in order to make thyself more conformable to thy crucified Master, so do thou help me to accept in good spirit the crosses which my heavenly Father sends me for my soul’s purification. And do thou teach me after thy own example to perform voluntary penances and mortifications so that I may never get out of step with those followers of Christ who go after Him on the road of suffering to the mount of crucifixion. Amen

Fifth Day

St. Albert and Mary

A mother’s love is greater than any other love in this world. It counts no costs or labors and finds supreme delight in multiplying itself in countless ways to come to the assistance of those who owe their life to her generosity and sacrifice. The only man about whom the world has a right to despair is the unfortunate one who has killed off in his heart love for his mother. And, perhaps, the most touching thought at sight of such an ingrate is the assurance that, though the child erase from his mind the memory of the mother from whom he took life, she never forgets, she never re- pels, she never refuses to spend herself for her own.

In order to reach the human heart quickly and surely Our Savior came to us in a human way. Through the operation of the Holy Spirit He took flesh in the virginal breast of Our Lady and permitted her to exercise in His regard all the tenderest offices of real motherhood. His love for her was oceanic and no man can hope to measure it by earthly measures. Her love for Him staggers the imagination. And that we might feel the blessed influence of her tender regard for us, Jesus on the Cross handed us over to the tender keeping of His Mother in the person of His beloved disciple St. John. The love which Mary lavished on Jesus during the days of His earthly life she now pours upon us who in the words of St. Paul may look upon Him as our “elder brother.” The virtuous Mary solicits by the example of those virtues which shine forth from her life. Those who have strayed far afield she brings back to Jesus by the tenderness, understanding and pity which she, as the Refuge of Sinners, never fails to manifest.

St. Albert’s devotion to the Blessed Virgin was part and parcel of his spiritual life. From tenderest youth he looked upon her and treated her as his mother. He preached With special delight upon her glories and prerogatives and her countless claims on the hearts of the faithful. He wrote the finest book of his age on the various offices of the Blessed Mother, both as regards Jesus and all those creatures who were re- deemed by His love. And in the closing years of his life he spoke of her as a child Who was homesick for a sight of a long lost mother. In the fervor of his love he broke forth in hymns and canticles in her honor as he, a broken man, shuffled up and down the long shady Cloisters of the convent at Cologne. And as his soul was leaving the body the soft strains of the Salve Regina brought to his face the smile which made it Winsome even in death.

Prayer

St. Albert, faithful son of the heavenly Mother and powerful preacher of her beauty and glory, help me to appreciate the gift which Jesus gave me when, dying on the Cross, He handed over to me His Blessed Mother. And as thou didst manage to follow over the way which Jesus pointed out because of thy devotion to His Blessed Mother so do thou obtain for me the grace to practise my faith in everyday life, because thus I shall please her who brought into this world the Savior of the peoples. Help me to imitate the virtues of Mary, to sing her praises, to promote her glory, to instill into the hearts of all with whom I come in contact a deep devotion to the heavenly Queen. Let me comport myself in life like a true child of Mary so that when the final hour comes I need not fear that my Blessed Mother will not be present to receive my soul in order to pre sent it at the throne of her heavenly Son, Jesus Christ, my Lord and God. Amen

Sixth Day

St. Albert and Loyalty to the Church

There is no more repugnant sight in this world than a rebel who turns against the country which has afforded him opportunities of all kinds. A traitor against his fellow man is considered the worst of all out casts. A chronic critic Who vents his lack of allegiance to his country goes without honor at home and abroad and is shunned by upright men everywhere.

Our Lord established a visible society in this world to continue His work until the end of time. He promised to abide with it forever, that it might echo His genuine thought and body forth His real spirit until the consummation of the world. He sent His Church the Holy Spirit who will never depart from her. The Church is nothing else than the continuation and extension of Jesus Christ down the centuries to the end of time. In a real but mystic manner every phase of His life is rennacted at some time or other, in one corner or other of the world, in the vicissitudes which befall the interior and exterior life of the Church. Therefore, disloyalty to the Church is nothing else than frank dis loyalty to Christ Himself.

St. Albert’s love of the Church was manly and courageous. A forthright, straightforward man, St. Albert gave unconditional allegiance to the Church and her authorities. His loyalty prompted him to believe everything which the Church taught and also to think and feel with her in all questions outside the realm of dogma. The critical word was never on his lip nor the vacillating thought in his mind. As soon as Rome spoke Albert was satisfied. And with the native courage of his heart he sought in every possible way to promote the reign of the Church in the world. He preached the Crusade because the Pope saw in these holy wars a sublime undertaking for the spread of the faith. He preached to the pagans on the confines of Europe so that they might come under the benign rule of the Mother Church. In his written works he confounded vehemently those who in any way laid unholy hands upon the dogmas of religion or the pious practices fostered by the Church.

Prayer

Loyal son of Holy Mother Church, St.Albert, do thou obtain for me a spirit of undivided allegiance to Rome. Help me to stop my ears against those who criticize her words and mistrust her guidance. Obtain for me the light to understand my religion more profoundly so that I may love it more deeply. Make my heart strong against those who in their pride arrogate the right to find fault with the spiritual guides whom God has appointed over me. Make me feel that in this age of apostasy I can have no higher calling than to be like thee. a loyal and fearless champion of that truth which Christ left behind in His Church and which she has preserved unsullied until this day and will maintain untarnished until the end of time. Make me believe in my Church and, like a dutiful and loyal child, share With her all her joys and sorrows. Amen

Seventh Day

St. Albert and Work

A man who believes that he has no work to do in this world must necessarily lead an aimless, pointless existence. He has no noble ambitions. He has nothing to call forth his latent talents. There is no zest in his life. There is nothing on which he can concentrate his powers. He is of all beings the most pitiful and despised. No wonder that so many of the idle rich, filled with ennui for their purposeless existence, commit suicide.

Our Savior made it very plain that, as a consequence of the sin of our first parents, every man must labor in the sweat of his own brow for an honest, decent living and existence. He Himself gave the example of a laborious life not only at Nazareth where He worked in a carpenter shop but during the three years of His Public Life when He spent His physical powers in preaching the Gospel both in the cities and in the back- water stretches of the land. At Nazareth He was never too tired to come to the assistance of St. Joseph and the Blessed Mother. During His Public Life He was never too fatigued to go out of His way to preach the truth or perform a miracle. He did not even disdain to steal hours from His sleep in order to instruct a single man, Nicodemus, in the great mysteries of the faith. And he left it as an inheritance to His followers that they must be up and doing during the hours of the day for the night cometh When no man can work. He made it abundantly plain that the glory of man’s eternity would be conditioned by the amount of consecrated labor performed in life.

St. Albert realized well this universal law of labor. There was never an idle moment in his life. Not only did he teach long hours in the classroom, not only did he preach daily to the people, not only did he sit for hours at a time in the confessional but he deprived himself of sleep in order to compose that vast library of books which are the admiration of the ages and are even yet a storehouse of valuable erudition and suggestive thought. When traveling by foot as Provincial of his Order, Papal Legate to Poland and Russia and Preacher of the Crusade, he recited the psalms when not actually engaged in spiritual conversation with those who gladly joined with him. At the age of eighty he undertook the composition of a second Summa of theology in which he meant to gather up his best thought for the benefit of coming generations. His death was the result of a life of ceaseless consecration to the tasks of his state of life.

Prayer

St. Albert, thou tireless worker for the good of souls, do thou help me to realize that so long as I am about my daily tasks I am about my Father’s business. The duties of my life were meant by a loving God to be the means of my spiritual purification. Even as Adam and Eve were forced to labor in the sweat of their brows as a medicinal remedy against the soul sickness brought about by the first sin in Eden, so I have been charged to apply myself to my daily tasks as a sure means of winning a heavenly crown. I can sanctify the meanest of my daily tasks by the good intention of doing all “whether I eat or drink or whatever else I do” for the glory of the Name of Jesus. Give me the courage to return to the monotony of my daily labors with the firm determination of always doing my best. Obtain for me the grace of perseverance so that I may carry through my tasks always for the glory of God, the good of my own soul and the salvation of those with whom I live. Let me understand that in work there lies the cure for the native sloth of my mind and heart and the sure remedy against the temptations of the devil. But do thou help me never to forget that in all I do I must seek to please my Lord and Master. Amen

Eighth Day

St. Albert and Suffering

Man by nature involuntarily shrinks from suffering. He casts about on all sides for means and methods of avoiding or escaping it. If it overtake him he proves himself remarkably resourceful in finding means of relief and easement.

Our Divine Savior preached the Gospel of the Cross. He did not shirk labor with all its fatigue, its monotony and its exhaustion. Though. He might have redeemed the world without undergoing the Passion He did embrace it eagerly not only to save us from our sins but also to show Himself a model for us in the time of affliction. He did not complain during the Passion nor seek any way to escape its rigors. He did not refuse to accept His Cross but gladly embraced it. He did not recoil from the bitterness of death but drank the chalice to the dregs. And He laid it down as a fundamental principle that all who wish partnership with Him must take up their Cross daily and follow Him. He sent His Apostles to martyrdom. He condemns His saints to suffering. He invites His followers to share in His own pains. His Gospel is a gospel of hard sayings. His religion is a school of penance and mortification. He assured His followers that only by losing their life could they find it. A cross less Christian must ever fear that he will one day be a crownless Christian.

Gladly St. Albert submitted himself to the penitential laws of the Church. He ob- served the fasts and abstinence and took upon himself penances of his own. As a Dominican he embraced the rigors of the rule and added to them incessant labor for the good of souls. Although a sufferer for years from chronic rheumatism he crossed Europe in all directions on foot, even up to his eightieth year, for the sole purpose of making known the kingdom of God. No where in all his works do we find the least reference to this chronic affliction from which he suffered constantly. As Bishop of Ratisbon he endured silently the opposition of those against whose worldly ways he inveighed so vigorously. Because he was a man deeply acquainted with suffering he compassionate those whose bodies were upon the rack, seeking always to make them see in their afflictions a loving dispensation of Divine Providence bent on purifying their souls in the crucible of suffering.

Prayer

True disciple of the crucified Master, St. Albert, do thou help me to understand that if I am to have a portion some day with Christ in heaven, I must needs submit myself in this present time to the refining influence of suffering borne for the love of God. Let the example of thy life teach me not to be too indulgent to the flesh lest thus I imperil my own soul. Give me the courage to rise superior to the effeminate appeals of my own unmortified body so that, even in the acme of affliction, I may not curtail the work of my own soul’s sanctification and the sanctification of others. When my body is racked with pain and my spirit is troubled with worries, help me to keep my eyes fixed in the direction of Mount Calvary. Obtain for me the grace to crucify my flesh now, whether by voluntary mortifications or by a resigned acceptance of sufferings sent me, so that I may entertain the certain hope of rising glorious from the tomb to enjoy with thee in heaven the light of my Master’s face. Amen

Ninth Day

The Intersession of St. Albert

Real lovers can never be persuaded that death is the absolute end of all. It is only those who have criminally wasted life or misprized it who look for final extinction. Death does not separate hearts forever but binds them more closely together. It is for this reason that those who really love, hope one day to be reunited in the land where separation is unknown.

When Our Divine Savior was about to depart from this world He promised His own that He would be of more assistance to them in the eternal Session at the right hand of His heavenly Father than in His physical converse and communion with them. Because His love for the Apostles was so great Our Savior inspired them with the hope that quite unseen He would be with them always until the end of time, whispering in their ears words of consolation and courage, of light and love. So thoroughly convinced were the Apostles of the nearness of Jesus after His Ascension that, “rejoicing,” they went back to Jerusalem and immediately began the work of converting the world. And if they succeeded in doing one thing it was to convince their converts that, though unseen by bodily eyes, Christ walked with men down the path of life until that turn in the road where all earthly substance should fall away and they see Him face to face.

During his lifetime St. Albert revealed an uncommon capacity for friendship. Those with whom he came in contact were easily admitted to the secret cell of his soul. For him to part with them would have been a trial beyond words had he not had the hope and assurance that death would not put them beyond the pale of his love and help. If he had assisted them by his preaching and teaching in this world then, surely, in the world to come he would minister to them by pleading for them before the throne of heaven. It is not strange, therefore, that almost immediately after his death Albert appeared in glory to at least four persons who have since been canonized by the Church. The power of his intercession was so great that, Within a hundred years of his death, there was question of enrolling him amongst the saints because of the many miracles he had wrought. Down to our own days he has shown himself the friend of all those who invoke him. If he was the kind and com- passionate father of souls during the days of his earthly life then Albert has shown himself the friend of all those who call upon him for help. True friend of Jesus and Mary in life he can obtain almost anything from them now that he is in their blessed company in heaven.

Prayer

St. Albert who dost not forget in the heavenly mansions those exiles in this world who call upon thee for help, look down with favorable eyes upon me who have recourse to thee in the many tests and trials of this life. During thy earthly life thou didst so order thy days that thou wert found worthy of being admitted into the divine presence. Now that thou dost enjoy such great power before the throne of God make intercession for me so that, through God’s mercy, I may receive those things which will work for my eternal salvation. Since God does not despise thy prayer fill me with confidence in the power of thy intercession so that I may come to thee whenever I feel that I am not sufficient for myself in the great struggle to Win a heavenly crown. Pray God for me that I may follow the example of thy life and thus be found worthy to enjoy with thee the beatific vision.

Litany of St. Albert

Lord, have mercy on us! Christ, have mercy on
Lord, have mercy on us! Christ, hear us!
Christ, graciously hear us!

God, the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us!
God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us

God, the Holy Ghost,

Holy Trinitv one God, have mercy on us!

Holy Mary,

Holy Mother of God

Holy Virgin of Virgins,

St. Albert, Man after the heart of God,

Zealous client of Mary,

Worthy son of St. Dominic,

Mighty defender of the Faith,

Solid rock of hope,

Burning Seraphim of love,

Enlightened Cheruhim

Valiant defender of justice,

Sure norm of prudence,

Bright mirror of temperance,

Unshakable pillar of fortitude,

Living model of humility,

Shining example of poverty,

Pure lily of chastity,

True model of obedience,

Precious vessel of all virtues,

Zealous imitator of the Apostles,

Bright gem of bishops,

Singular ornament of doctors,

Special glory of thy Order,

Golden treasure of thy Fatherland,

Certain protector of thy clients,

Albert the Great,

In anguish and in need,

In tribulation and in persecution,

Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world spare us O Lord!

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, hear us, O Lord!

Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. O Lord!

Christ, have mercy on us!

Lord, have mercy on us!

Pray for us St. Albert That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ!

Prayer

O God who didst richly adorn St. Albert with Thy heavenly gifts and didst decorate him with all Virtues, grant us, Thy servants, that we may follow in his footsteps, may persevere in Thy service until death and securely obtain an everlasting reward through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Our Lord. Amen.

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