One of the sisters this past weekend told the following story, which I have remembered several times since (and it's only been a few days!). It has really been a source of comfort and hope for me.
A legend is told of the period when St. Albert the Great was entered the Dominican Order and was completing his studies. The story serves to bring out both the greatness of Albert's science and his love for Our Lady. Albert, it is related, had not worn the white habit for long when it became plain to him that he was no match for the mental wizards with whom he was studying. Anything concrete, which he could take apart and study, he could understand, but the abstract sciences were too much for him.
He was too embarrassed to go to the abbot to tell him of his difficulties. He decided to run away from it all; planning a quiet departure, he carefully laid a ladder against the wall and climbed up. At the top of the wall, Our Lady appeared to him.
"Albert, where are you going?" she asked.
He explained the situation, telling her that he could never succeed in the Order of Preachers, and that he had to leave.
She reproached him gently for his forgetfulness of her: "I am your mother. Why didn't you ask me for help?"
Then she gave him the gift of science he so much desired, and disappeared. Whatever the truth behind the legend--and it has survived, almost unchanged, through the many years--it is equally certain that Albert was a devout client of Our Lady and a master scientist.
I asked Our Lady for help today.
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