St. Albert the Great (Albertus Magnus, c. 1206–1280) was a German Dominican friar, bishop and scholar who studied everything from theology to botany and taught St. Thomas Aquinas. His learning was so vast that he was called the “Universal Doctor.” He is a Doctor of the Church and the patron saint of scientists, and he showed that faith has nothing to fear from the careful study of nature. His feast is November 15, which in 2026 falls on a Sunday, so the memorial is not celebrated at Mass that year. Below are his life, his place in the history of science, and prayers to St. Albert.
Who was St. Albert the Great?
- Born in Swabia. Albert was born at Lauingen on the Danube, in southern Germany, the eldest son of the Count of Bollstädt, around 1206 (some historians say 1193).
- A Dominican. While a student at Padua he heard Blessed Jordan of Saxony, the successor of St. Dominic, preach, and in 1223 he entered the Order of Preachers.
- Teacher. He taught theology at Hildesheim, Freiburg, Regensburg, Strasbourg and Cologne, and in 1245 was sent to the University of Paris, where he became a master of theology.
- Teacher of St. Thomas Aquinas. Among his students in Paris and Cologne was a silent young Italian whom the others nicknamed “the dumb ox.” Albert recognized his genius, and tradition has him telling the class that the ox’s bellowing would one day be heard throughout the world. That student was St. Thomas Aquinas.
- Provincial and bishop. He served as provincial of the Dominicans in Germany (1254–1257) and in 1260 was named bishop of Regensburg. After two years he resigned and went gladly back to teaching in Cologne.
- Defender of his student. He took part in the Second Council of Lyons in 1274, the year Thomas died on his way there. When some at Paris sought in 1277 to condemn Thomas’s writings, the old master traveled to Paris to defend the memory of his disciple.
- Death. His memory failed in his last years. He died at Cologne on November 15, 1280. His relics rest in the church of St. Andrew in Cologne.
- Saint and Doctor. He was beatified in 1622. In 1931 Pope Pius XI canonized him and declared him a Doctor of the Church, and in 1941 Pope Pius XII named him patron of those who study the natural sciences.
Albert and the study of nature
Albert wrote commentaries on nearly all of Aristotle and treatises on minerals, plants, animals, the heavens and geography, alongside his works on Scripture, the sacraments and theology. He insisted on observation. As he put it in his book on minerals:
The aim of natural science is not simply to accept the statements of others, but to investigate the causes that are at work in nature.
The 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia quotes a nineteenth-century historian of botany who judged that no botanist before Albert could be compared with him except Theophrastus. For Albert there was no conflict between studying creation and adoring the Creator: the world God made is intelligible because it comes from divine wisdom. The Second Vatican Council taught the same: because the things of the world and the things of faith come from the same God, research carried out in a truly scientific way and respecting moral norms can never really conflict with faith (Gaudium et Spes, 36).
Prayers to St. Albert the Great
A prayer for students and scientists
Written for this page:
Saint Albert the Great, you studied the stars, the stones, the plants and the animals,
and in all of them you found the wisdom of God.
Pray for scientists, doctors, engineers and all who search out the secrets of nature,
that they may serve life and the truth.
Pray for students and teachers, that they may love learning and be humble before it.
And help me to see the hand of the Creator in all that he has made.
Saint Albert, pray for us. Amen.
Before study
Many students pray to St. Albert together with his pupil. See the prayer of St. Thomas Aquinas before study.
What is St. Albert the Great the patron saint of?
- Scientists and students of the natural sciences, by the decree of Pope Pius XII (1941).
- Students, teachers and scholars, as the “Universal Doctor.”
- Philosophers and theologians.
- Many Catholic universities, colleges and schools bear his name, including Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, Connecticut.
Frequently asked questions
When is the feast of St. Albert the Great?
November 15, the day he died in 1280. It is an optional memorial in the Roman calendar.
Why is he called “the Great”?
Because of the extraordinary range of his learning. His contemporaries called him “the Great” and the “Universal Doctor,” since he was proficient in every branch of knowledge studied in his day.
Was St. Albert the Great the teacher of St. Thomas Aquinas?
Yes. Thomas studied under Albert in Paris and Cologne, and Albert later defended his former student’s teaching after Thomas’s death.
Is St. Albert the Great a Doctor of the Church?
Yes. Pope Pius XI declared him a Doctor of the Church when he canonized him in 1931.
More saints and prayers
Texts and sources
- Daniel Joseph Kennedy, “Bl. Albertus Magnus,” Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 1 (1907), Wikisource, including the quotation from Albert’s De Mineralibus, book II, tract ii, chapter 1.
- Second Vatican Council, Gaudium et Spes, 36.