| Albert the Great by Sr. M. Albert Hughes, O.P.
4 Bishop of Regensburg |
  Autumn 1987 Vol. 39 Supplement |
WHEN the superiors of the order relieved Albert of the office of provincial it was for the purpose of allowing him the leisure in which to devote himself to the furthering of his own and the order's studies, and we may be sure that the prospect of resuming the quiet academic life of a simple friar was most pleasing to the saint himself. But the peace of the cloister was not to be his lot for long; in 1260 his appointment as Bishop of Regensburg deprived him of it entirely.
The church and diocese of Regensburg had been reduced to a deplorable state by the misrule of its unworthy bishop, Albert I, Count of Pietengau. He had been deposed and condemned to a period of penance, and the appointment of a successor had been left to the Holy See. During Albert's sojourn at the papal court, Alexander IV had had ample opportunity of noting his outstanding gifts of both mind and heart, while stories of his successes as diplomat and peacemaker must surely have reached Rome. In addition the saint's intimate friend, the gifted and pious Hugh of St. Cher, was at that time at the papal court and almost certainly put Albert forward as admirably suited for the difficult post of bishop. On 5th January 1260, therefore, the pope addressed to the saint a Bull nominating him Bishop of Regensburg, in which after speaking of the state of the diocese and its dire need he continues:
It seems to us that we shall satisfactorily supply this need in your person, acceptable to us and to our brethren by the merit of your probity. For as you have drunk the waters of saving doctrine at the fount of the divine law, in such wise that you carry its fullness within your breast, while you are possessed of a true and quick judgment in what pertains to the things of God, we entertain the firm hope that by your diligence you will be able to heal the wounds and repair the ruin of the aforesaid diocese which is sadly deficient in things both spiritual and temporal....He proceeds to command Albert to undertake the government of the diocese, "using the prudence which God has given you." The laudatory tone of this Bull might perhaps be ascribed to the pope's desire to overcome Albert's hesitancy to accept a very delicate task, but this can be no explanation of the terms used by Blessed Humbert in what must be the most remarkable letter ever addressed by one saintly and therefore humble man to another.
The Master begins by declaring that he has been "profoundly moved by the news which has reached me from the Roman Curia, news which would have caused in me an immense sadness were I not comforted by the holy and unswerving confidence I have in you where any good cause is concerned." The news in question is that Albert is to be promoted to a bishopric, such a thing might be believed on the part of the Curia, but "could I be expected to believe that you would ever be persuaded to consent to such a step? Could I ever believe that you of all people, at the end of your life, would thus tarnish your own glory and that of the order which you have rendered so glorious?" The most dear and most beloved son is thereupon reminded of the terrible scandal he would give by abandoning his vow of poverty to accept such a dignity; he is exhorted not to take heed of the solicitations of prelates nor of a command of the pope which is merely verbal, which is not meant to express any wish or intention and could easily be overridden. The difficulties of the task are presented -- the difficulty of avoiding offence to God and man and the impossibility of pursuing a life of contemplation and study amid the cares of such an office. Finally Humbert appeals to him as to one who has the salvation of souls deeply at heart not to undo all the good which his fame, his example, and his writings have effected; to consider the well-being of the order "which is now delivered from grievous tribulations" and enjoys a great peace, but which he threatens to plunge into even greater distress. "I would sooner see this the most beloved child of my predilection in prison than seated on a bishop's throne!... I conjure you by the humility of the Immaculate Virgin and of her Son, not to abandon your lowly state.... Send us a reply which will console us and our and your beloved brothers, and will calm our fears."
This document bears witness to the esteem in which Humbert, himself a saint, if not canonized, held the virtue of Albert, whose humility he considered deep enough to remain unaffected by such laudatory language while it also testifies to the services that Albert had rendered to the order. The reason for such violent opposition to the acceptance of the bishopric on the part of the Master must be sought in the ordinations of the superiors of the order, dating from that of Blessed Jordan in 1233 which forbade under heavy penalties the acceptance of episcopal dignities without the consent of the provincial or master, except in cases where a direct precept had been given by the Holy See.
To those who were averse to religious discipline, a bishopric offered an easy escape from the rigors of the rule, above all, perhaps, those of the vow of poverty. And there were those who did their best to obtain such alleviation, often with the unfortunate results prophesied by Humbert. Yet the examples of bishops who remained true to their vows were many -- Hugh of St. Cher, Innocent V, Benedict XI, Blessed Walter, and St. Antoninus, to mention only a few -- while thirty Dominican bishops attended the Council of Lyons, "doing honor to the Order in their persons and to themselves in the order under the habit of the Order." Humbert must have known that his worst fears were hardly likely to be realized in Albert's case. And while Albert was obviously acting against his will and only under pressure from the Holy See to whom, after all, he owed obedience even before the master, one can only say that saint's vision was wider than that of his superior, who appeared to be putting what he thought the interests of the order before those of the Church. Albert was able to combine the two, and on the 29th of March 1260, he entered his episcopal city. But he was to leave it again in two years, and in a very different state from that of his entry.
Temporalities presented if not the most important, certainly the most pressing problem. "He found not a penny in the exchequer, not a drop of wine in the cellar, not a grain of wheat in the granary, and heavy debts to boot." In a short time, however, accounts were balanced and large sums remained which were given to the poor and to needy religious institutions. Once this reform was achieved, Albert confided the temporal affairs to trustworthy administrators while he busied himself with the much more important and congenial occupation of saving souls. This task was all the more difficult since the feuds and wars which had shaken the diocese for many years had left the district in a state of unrest and discord, and although the saint managed to keep the peace during his pastoral charge, the rival factions were not reconciled and not at all pleased to be kept apart. It is said that their dissatisfaction with such a peaceful bishop had not a little to do with Albert's resignation.
Believing that the laity would never be converted while their spiritual superiors gave an unworthy example, Albert set about reforming the clergy and religious of the diocese. In 1261 he carried out a general visitation of Benedictine monasteries and was ever at pains to assist any religious, both spiritually and at times materially also. His zeal toward the clergy was perhaps even more marked and was enkindled by a letter addressed by the Holy See to several German bishops, including Albert, exhorting them to do all in their power to reform their clergy, especially in the matter of chastity.
The reformation of the clergy was at once the crying need of the day and the bishop's greatest preoccupation. His sentiments on the subject are enshrined in his commentary on St. Luke's Gospel, which if not written at this time, as some critics imagine it to have been, was at least completed during the short period of the saint's episcopal rule. In it he denounces the vices which were rampant; simony, usurpation of Church goods, luxurious and immoral living, and neglect of the care of souls. These denunciations were couched in language so uncompromising that Albert's biographer asserts that many believed that he would never be canonized because of the opposition of the unworthy people who feared that any honor done to him would be tantamount to an approbation by the Church of his condemnation of their sinful lives. Yet the strongest condemnation of such vices came not from the saint's words but from the example of his own life.
Although more fully alive than most people to the dignity and responsibility of the episcopal state whose privileges he fully upheld and exercised when it was fitting that he should do so, he remained all the while the simple humble friar, quite unaffected by all the pomp and distractions with which he was surrounded. (1) He wore the coarse woollen habit of the religious and the wooden clogs which had always been his footwear, his retinue was as small as possible, and although a beast of burden accompanied him on his journeys it was not to carry him but his books and episcopal insignia. He himself visited his whole diocese on foot, pilgrimwise, preaching, hearing confessions, instructing, giving alms, and where necessary correcting abuses. During solemn functions he had the appearance of an angel from heaven, completely absorbed in God. He wore a white rochet without lace but marked with five red stripes in memory of the Five Wounds of our Redeemer; his cope had a gold-edged cross in front and behind, his crosier was very plain, made of wood with an ivory crook on which was carved the Archangel Gabriel inclining before our Blessed Lady; while his miter was small and very sparingly adorned.
So distasteful to him were the honors which were everywhere paid to him in virtue of his office that he avoided public appearances as much as possible while always being most punctilious in the performance of his episcopal duties. His ideal of the bishop was that of the early Church -- the shepherd and the teacher of the flock; not that of the Middle Ages, when every bishop was a temporal prince and had oftentimes to be a soldier also so as to maintain the integrity of his diocese against those who cast covetous eyes on the church property and so as to preserve internal order in spite of the various warring factions who composed it. This second ideal was so much of the age that while Albert's sanctity and example inspired many and earned him the gratitude of those who had the reform of the Church at heart, it also made him unpopular in many circles, because he seemed to lack the exterior power and dignity of a bishop, and it may be queried whether he would have been able to rule his diocese for any long period without the support of an army. (2)
It is quite certain, however, that he had no intention of ruling it for any considerable period. Even if there had been no explicit arrangement with the pope, he had from the outset been fully determined to lay aside so uncongenial an office so soon as the crisis with which he had been called upon to deal had been safely passed. By rigid economy and wise management, as well as by intervening with great severity against those who were injuring the Church in her temporal possessions, he settled the greater part of the debts and put a stop to the worst of the distress. By word and example he kindled the clergy to a life of purity and piety and to fidelity to the care of the souls entrusted to them. His example would remain as an inspiration even when a less otherworldly successor took his place.
While carrying out this task for which he had been specially chosen by the pope, he regarded himself and acted as the true father of his people, even while intending his paternity to be but a temporary one. Priests and religious, the chosen portion of the flock, received material as well as spiritual assistance. He assigned to his cathedral chapter the revenues of the church of Cham, so that the canons might enjoy a suitable income (16th July 1260); and he granted indulgences to the faithful who should offer alms to various religious houses, thereby indirectly assisting the communities in question. The Hospital of St. Catherine benefitted by similar and other measures; while one of the processions held annually at the Benedictine church of Profening was transferred to the Sunday after Ascension when the faithful would be able to assist in greater numbers. During his short pontificate Albert also introduced into his diocese the feast of the Holy Patriarch St. Dominic, while he is said to have composed an office in honor of St. James and so perhaps to have given the first impetus to a devotion which the friars were to propagate throughout Europe.
All this was done in a very short space of time. He had taken possession of his cathedral on 30th March 1260, and by 25th May 1261 he was in Italy begging the pope to accept his resignation. (3) He had finished the work given him to do and almost certainly felt that this was not his life's work but was rather keeping him from it. He doubtless realized that he was not a bishop according to the hearts of many of his flock: most certainly unpopular with those whose vices he castigated so severely, and falling short of the requirements of even his worthier children, who looked for a prince as well as a bishop. For his part, Albert's distaste for the distractions and pomp of his state, and his longing for the silence and solitude of the cloister, became ever more acute. Whatever may have been his reasons and the pope's motives, his resignation was accepted. On 11th May 1262 the chapter's choice of their dean, Leo, as his successor was confirmed by the pope.
Albert retained the episcopal dignity and also some of the revenues of the see -- an act which may at first sight appear strange in one vowed to poverty. It was the custom, however, for prelates who were religious to be dispensed from this vow; and in his will Albert speaks of such a dispensation in his case being a well-known fact. He may have retained this income in order to purchase the books which were necessary in the studies to which he hoped to devote the remainder of his days, or he may have feared or been told that his desire to return to religious life was not yet to be granted, and that some private means of support would be required for some years. One thing is certain: the saint did not retain these revenues out of any wish to escape from the common life to which he returned as soon as he was allowed, or to mitigate a life of poverty, which he had followed even in his episcopal palace. It is equally certain that this action was not a source of scandal to his contemporaries, unusual as it may appear to us. (4)
The saint had arrived in Italy about 25th May 1261, the day on which Alexander IV died at Viterbo, and his successor as bishop was not confirmed until a year later. During this interval he may have remained at the papal curia where there was a university at which he had already lectured in 1256 or 1257 and in which St. Thomas also had taught, having been called there by Urban IV during the year 1261. If Albert was there at this time, the two saints must have met after several years of separation, and the question of their forthcoming writings and teaching must have been the subject for discussion and comparison. However, Albert's hopes of a speedy return to conventual life and his studies were not to be realized. He was kept with the curia until 1263, and when at last the pope sanctioned his departure, it was not to a life of study that he returned but to fill the arduous office of papal nuncio -- to preach the crusade to all the German-speaking peoples.
1. "Like another Martin of Tours," wrote Rudolph of Nymegen, "he preserved in all their pristine vigor both his humility and his inviolable love for the Lily of Virginity."
2. Ptolemy of Lucca wrote that "In Germany the episcopate was encumbered with many military obligations, and its rights could only be defended by the sword."
3. Bernard Gui says that "he threw down the episcopate like a burning coat which he held in his hand."
4. Perhaps the explanation is supplied by St. Thomas, Summa Theologiae, II-II, Q. 185, a. 8 ad 3: "If, however, by the pope's permission, he make a will, he is not to be understood to be bequeathing property of his own, but we are to understand that by apostolic authority the power of his administration has been prolonged so as to remain in force after his death."
| BACK | CONTENTS | NEXT | INDEX |