Albert of Pontida, St.
ALBERT OF PONTIDA, ST.
Monastic reformer; d. Pontida, Italy, May 1, 1095. After recovering from a near mortal wound, he gave up the life of a soldier, made a pilgrimage to santiago de compostela, and entered the benedictine Order during the height of the reform movement led by hugh of cluny. He founded the monastery of Saint James at Pontida, located between the towns of Bergamo and Lecco, c. 1080 and became its first prior. He continued to direct the fortunes of this foundation as part of the Cluniac organization until his death, and he was buried there. When the monastery was destroyed by fire in 1373, his remains were transferred to the church of St. Mary Major in Bergamo, where they were honored until 1911, when they were returned to Pontida to the restored abbey church.
Feast: Sept. 5, Sept. 2 in Pontida.
Bibliography: j. mabillon, Annales Ordinis S. Benedicti, 6 v. (Lucca 1739–45) 5:322. l. secomandi, S. Alberto di Pontida ed il suo monasterio (Bergamo 1895). p. f. kehr, Regesta Pontificum Romanorum. Italia Pontifica. (Berlin 1906–35) 6.1:392–394. r. biron, Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, ed. a. baudrillart et al. (Paris 1912) 1:1545–46. g. morin, in Revue Bénedictine 38 (1926) 53–59. j. baur, Lexicon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner (Freiburg 1957–65) 1:280.
[k. nolan]