A Sicilian Saint

If you have ever been to Sicily, you might have taken the ferry from the mainland to the port of Messina.  It was there that a great Carmelite saint died on this day in 1307.  He was St Albert of Trapani – little known in the English-speaking world but a legendary figure among the early Carmelites, known as a gifted preacher who practised a fiercely ascetic life.  Among other charitable acts attributed to him was the saving of three persons from drowning.  I particularly like the story of how his parents – members of the Sicilian nobility - had been married for many years but without being blessed with children.  They vowed that if they had a son, they would consecrate him to Our Lady of Mount Carmel.  After Albert had been born around 1240 his father was inclined to forget the vow and marry him off early, but his mother remained firm and Albert entered a Carmelite monastery of his own volition in 1258.  Vows and promises are a very serious matter.