Today, August 7, is the feast of Saint Albert of Trapani.
Carmelite provincial.
When Albert was born in 1240 in Sicily, his parents promised that if they were blessed with a son, he would be dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel. He studied in a Carmelite monastery, and joined the Order of Carmelites at age 18.
He was ordained priest and served as teacher in the monastery. As a mendicant preacher to the Sicilians, Albert converted many. He became a Carmelite provincial in 1257.
In 1301, the city of Messina, Italy was under siege and blockade by Duke Robert of Calabria, Italy. The city’s elders were worried by the disease and imminent starvation there. They requested Albert and his community to pray for the city. Albert celebrated Mass, and when he finished doing so, three ships loaded with grain ran the blockade. The city was saved from starvation, and the duke lifted the siege. Albert was credited for this miracle that a city gate was dedicated in his honor over 300 years later.
In his later years, Albert retired to a small monastery near Messina, and spent his time in prayer, meditation, and communion.
He died of natural causes at age 67 in 1306. He was beatified by Pope Nicholas V in 1454 and was canonized by Pope Sixtus IV in 1476.
Among his devotees were St. Teresa of Avila and St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi.