Not just a saint, but a GREAT saint!

Today's saint lived in the 13th century and was an intellectual giant in the history of science, philosophy and theology. He spent some 20 years writing a compendium of knowledege and learning (Opera Omnia): two decades of encyclopedic writing. I wonder what St. Albert the Great would have thought of a world in which Google and Wikipedia are at our fingertips! To learn more about this man whose family did not want him to enter religious life, click on Saint of the Day under LINKS in the sidebar. Here's some background on the icon above:

The icon of St. Albert the Great, like most Byzantine portrait icons, shows the saint on a background of gold which indicates that one is seeing the transformed, transfigured, glorified body of St. Albert as he will appear at the end of time. He wears a conical hat, in medieval Christendom a privilege usually reserved for a sage or scholar. The patron saint of peace and science, he is dressed in the Dominican habit and stands in the Byzantine posture of supplication, hands extended with palms up. With his left hand he offers to Christ his collected works, Opera Omnia. The chapel of St. Albert Priory, Oakland, California, which he holds in his left hand, is a symbol of his having been declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius XI. The chapel was the first canonical house erected to bear the name of St. Albert after his canonization in 1931.

His countenance, in the Byzantine tradition, is sober as he offers his works and honors to Christ who appears in the upper right corner in "luminous darkness," which signifies heaven. Christ carries a scroll indicating that He is the is fulfillment of the law and the prophets. With his right hand He blesses St. Albert. The inscription on his cruciform inscribed halo reveals his divine nature, "I Am," the God of the Hebrews, while the inscription next him, IC XC "Jesus Christ," identifies his human nature.