Dear Friends, 

 FEAST OF ST. ALBERT THE GREAT: I grew up in Jersey City which was heavily Catholic. I was baptized and received the sacraments in Sacred Heart Church, which was the “Church of the Dominicans.”  The priory had a number of priests. We always had fine preachers. It was one of the most beautiful churches in the city. It was modeled on a Spanish cathedral and had beautiful stained-glass windows of all the Dominican Saints: Dominic, Martin de Porres, Thomas Aquinas, Catherine of Siena, Vincent Ferrer, Hyacinth, Pius V, Rose of Lima, Albert the Great and numerous other saints and martyrs, all Dominicans. As I write this, it is St. Albert the Great’s feast. I said a few words about him at the 7:30am Mass this morning. He taught Thomas Aquinas and was one of the most brilliant men not only in theology and spirituality but also mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology, chemistry, economics etc. He taught in the great universities of Paris and Cologne. Favorite sayings from his wisdom: “To forgive those who have injured us in our body, reputation or goods is more advantageous to us than to cross the seas and go venerate the Holy Sepulcher of the Lord.” Here’s another: “An egg given in life for love of God is more profitable for eternity than a cathedral full of gold given in our name after death.”