It's good of Bill East to draw attention to the little-known St Albert of
Jerusalem (or of Vercelli), honoured by us Carmelites on 17 September as
"legislator ordinis".
Albert has a large recent study devoted to him: Vincenzo Mosca, _Alberto,
patriarca di Gerusalemme: tempo, vita, opera_, Textus et studia historica
carmelitana 20, Roma: Edizioni Carmelitane, 1996, (780 p.; ISBN
88-7288-042-4). Mosca deals exhaustively with Albert's career as a canon
regular of Mortara, bishop of Bobbio, bishop of Vercelli, papal diplomat,
patriarch of Jerusalem, his work with the Humiliati, his legislation for
the hermits of Mount Carmel, and the later tradition about him among the
Carmelites. His conclusion that Albert was the true founder of the Order
of Carmelites does not seem to have garnered much support, but the book is
a most thorough, probably definitive, piece of research.
The best brief treatment is Adrian Staring's article "Alberto, patriarca
di Gerusalemme", in _Santi del Carmelo_, ed. Ludovico Saggi, Roma:
Institutum Carmelitanum, 1972, 157-159 [the same article may be in the
_Bibliotheca Sanctorum_]. It is translated by Gabriel Pausback in _Saints
of Carmel_, Fatima: Blessed Nuno House, 1975.
Like so many things on the internet, Bill East's source is not 100%
accurate. The name "Brocard" is a much later expansion of the initial B.,
all we really know of the prior of the hermits of Carmel at whose request
Albert wrote a _formula vitae_. This cannot be dated certainly to 1209,
but only to the years Albert was in Acre, 1206-1214. He was assassinated
during a procession on the feast of the Holy Cross (14/9/1214), not
exactly by a madman discharged from hospital, but by the Master of the
Hospital of the Holy Spirit, whom he had rebuked and deposed.
His Rule was approved and slightly emended by Innocent IV not in 1254 but
in 1247. It is perhaps the shortest of medieval monastic rules (about 1100
words), and is still in use today. The standard study, with much material
on Albert, is Carlo Cicconetti, _La Regola del Carmelo: origine, natura,
significato_, Textus et studia historica carmelitana 12, Roma: Institutum
Carmelitanum, 1973.
Says Staring: "Brief and laconic, his _Formula of life_ is a precious
example of the insight and of the spirit of Albert, and must be considered
as an important text of medieval spirituality. Without doubt, Albert
codified the monastic tradition of Carmel, but he also undoubtedly
manifested in this code the characteristic traits of his own soul.
Tellingly, the _Formula of life_, so brief and discreet on disciplinary
matters, particularly insists on the spirit of the new institute oriented
towards continual prayer and meditation on the word of God, and to the
interior and exterior climate of silence, recollection and detachment
which favor contact with God."
--
Paul Chandler || Yarra Theological Union
[log in to unmask] || Melbourne College of Divinity
On Fri, 17 Sep 1999, Bill East wrote:
> At 09:21 17/09/99 GMT, you wrote:
> >Today is the feast of . . . St Albert of Jerusalem. At least, it is in the
> >Carmelite Order; the rest of the Church celebrates him (if at all) on
> >September 25th. I know because I was asked to go this morning to celebrate
> >Mass at the Carmelite monastery [sic] of nuns [or sisters] at Thicket Priory
>
> Since I posted this notice, only two minutes ago, someone has come to my
> door with a copy of Northern Cross, the newspaper of the Diocese of Hexham
> and Newcastle. I find on the front page:
>
> "MONASTERY FOR HERMITS. An Albertine Monk - describing himself as a hermit
> who follows the rule of St Albert, has embarked on a project to establish a
> monastery in Northumberland . . .
>
> "Not all that much is known of St Albert. Brother Thomas knows three facts
> about him - that he was Patriarch of Jerusalem, wrote the Rule for a group
> of monks from Mount Carmel who came to see him in 1206-1214, and was
> assassinated by an unknown hand on September 14, 1214."
>
>
> Listmembers will understand that this Monk, though he describes himself as a
> Hermit, is actually a Friar.
>
> The Supple Doctor.
>
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