Albert was born in 1206 in the Swabian town of Lauingen Germany. He studied at Padua and Paris. He joined the Dominicans and taught theology; his pupils included St Thomas Aquinas. He went to Cologne followed by Thomas. He became provincial and then bishop of Regensburg in 1260. He resigned two years later and returned to teaching. A profound and holy professor, he died at Cologne in 1280, aged over 70. He was canonised in 1931. The encyclopaedic breadth of his writings earned him the title of “universal doctor” and patron of students of the natural sciences. – CTS New Daily Roman Missal 2012, p 3146; Vatican II Weekday Missal 1975, p 1808-09
