Volume 1
Elogium of Blessed Albert the Great
A marker with ≈ is an approximate page boundary, placed by measure of the text; the page photographs remain the authority. In the paired views, clicking a page marker brings that page into view.
B. ALBERTI MAGNI, ORDINIS PRAEDICATORUM, ELOGIUM.
ALBERTUS Deiparae Philosophus, THOMAS Verbi Theologus fuit, Bene hic de Filio, bene ille scripsit de Matre: Uterque Magnus, sed ille Magister, hic discipulus; Uter plura sciverit ambiguum est, Uterque aliquid scivit post omnia. In ALBERTO aliquid eminet unde supra alios Magnus est, Rudis aetate prima et ultima: Parum debuit naturae, ut omnia deberet gratiae; Momento eruditus, momento indoctus, Didicit omnia simul, omnia simul dedidicit, Abstulit scientiam quae dederat, Ut sciret qui reddit, alienum esse quod redditur. Bene usus Scientiis, quas acceperat commodatas, Implevit Orbem octingentis Libris, Satis unus omnibus Bibliothecis; Nec mirum si omnibus sufficit qui THOMAE discipulo satis fuit. Nec tantum erudivit orbem, sed correxit, Emendavit in Gulielmo a sancto Amore errores futuros, Praeparavit antidotum venenis venturis: Fallaces Aurelii et Pseudo Augustini Expugnati sunt ab ALBERTO diu antequam nati. Nulla opinio etiam falsa fefellit ALBERTUM, Modum posuit Artibus curiosis ne ultra pergerent, Ostendit ubi desineret natura, unde inciperet gratia; Petiit a Virgine ne falli posset, addidit illa ne falleret, Nemo erravit sub ALBERTO Magistro, et THOMA Discipulo. Media aetas ALBERTI illustris, omnis humilis fuit, Magister Sacri Palatii maluit Germaniam docere quam Romam, Ratisbonenses Infulas sponte exuit, quas invitus acceperat; Vix inter suos provinciam regere voluit, qui Ordini regendo par erat, Fundator Ordinis futurus, nisi Dominicus praecessisset. Qui omnia didicit a Maria, nihil melius didicit quam Mariam, Scivit illam antequam aliquid disceret, Illam scivit postquam omnia dedidicit, Prima haec vox erupit infanti, et ultima seni. Denique dum ex Cathedra dictat, non tam verba quam oracula, Obmutuit extemplo oraculum Orbis, Et cujus memoria Sapientiae promptuarium erat, Id tantum tunc meminit se nihil amplius meminisse. Nec mutum tamen ALBERTI silentium fuit, ALBERTUS senex et rudis adhuc Orbis Magister erat, Probabat immemor divinum esse quidquid memor dictaverat. Obiit anno aetatis 87, clarus miraculis, Ipse eruditus et rudis miraculum fuit, Nec minori prodigio amisit Scientias quas accepit, Beatus qui amittere Scientiam voluit, ut innocentiam retineret.
ELOGIUM OF BLESSED ALBERT THE GREAT, OF THE ORDER OF PREACHERS.
ALBERT was philosopher of the Mother of God, THOMAS was theologian of the Word; This one wrote well about the Son, that one well about the Mother. Each was Great, but that one the Master, this one the disciple; Which knew more is uncertain; Each knew something after all things. In ALBERT something stands out, whence he is Great above others, Untaught in his first and last age: He owed little to nature, so that he might owe all things to grace; Learned in a moment, untaught in a moment, He learned all things together, he unlearned all things together; He took away the knowledge which he had given, So that the one who gives back might know that what is given back is another's. Having used well the Sciences which he had received on loan, He filled the World with eight hundred Books, One man enough for all Libraries; Nor is it wonderful if he suffices for all, who was enough for the disciple THOMAS. Nor did he only instruct the world, but corrected it; In William of Saint-Amour he amended future errors; He prepared an antidote for poisons to come: The deceptive works of Aurelius and Pseudo-Augustine Were stormed by ALBERT long before they were born. No opinion, even false, deceived ALBERT; He set a limit for curious Arts, lest they go further; He showed where nature would cease, whence grace would begin; He asked the Virgin that he might not be deceived; she added that he might not deceive; No one erred under ALBERT as Master and THOMAS as Disciple. The middle age of ALBERT was illustrious, all of it humble; The Master of the Sacred Palace preferred to teach Germany rather than Rome; He willingly put off the Regensburg miters, which he had received unwillingly; He scarcely wished to rule a province among his own, he who was equal to ruling the Order; He would have been founder of the Order, had Dominic not preceded him. He who learned all things from Mary learned nothing better than Mary; He knew her before he learned anything; He knew her after he had unlearned all things; This first voice broke forth for him as an infant, and the last as an old man. Finally, while he dictates from the Chair, not so much words as oracles, Immediately the oracle of the World became mute; And he whose memory was a storehouse of Wisdom Then remembered this only, that he remembered nothing further. Yet the silence of ALBERT was not mute; ALBERT, old and untaught, was still the Teacher of the World; Forgetful, he proved that whatever he had dictated when mindful was divine. He died in the eighty-seventh year of his age, renowned for miracles; He himself, learned and untaught, was a miracle; Nor by a lesser prodigy did he lose the Sciences which he had received: Blessed the man who wished to lose Knowledge, that he might retain innocence.
Petrus LABBE, soc. Jesu.
Peter Labbé, of the Society of Jesus.
If a page does not appear, its photograph has not been uploaded yet.