Venerable Albert of Trapani

Albert of Trapani (born Albert degli Abati; Sicilian: Sant’Albertu di l’Abati; c. 1240 – 7 August 1307) was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and a professed member of the Carmelites. He practiced great austerities upon himself to make himself poor in the spirit of Jesus Christ and went out preaching and evangelizing; he was known for working and maintaining a positive relationship with Jews as well as for his powers of healing. The saint was likewise attributed for the 1301 lifting of the siege in Messina that could have seen hundreds die from starvation had it not been for his intervention. His beatification received approval in 1454 from Pope Nicholas V and he was canonized sometime later in mid-1476; some sources suggest that Pope Callixtus III canonized the saint on 15 October 1457. Alberto degli Abati was born circa 1240 in Trapani as the sole child to the nobles Benedetto degli Abati and Giovanna Palizi. His father served as an admiral in the fleet of Frederick II of Hohensautfen. His parents - who married in 1214 - were sterile and promised that if blessed to have a son he would be consecrated to the Beata Vergine Maria del Monte Carmelo. In his childhood his father had thought of arranging a marriage for him but his mother was able to remind her husband to adhere to the vow the couple made that he be consecrated to the Lord. He received his education from the Carmelites and around this time set his heart on commencing his ecclesial studies for the priesthood so as to serve Jesus Christ and his fellow man and woman. He entered the convent in 1258 to join the order before his ordination in Trapani and his transfer to the order's house at Messina and he served as a mendicant preacher to the Sicilian people. He worked alongside Jews and converted some while collaborating with others and tending to their needs.