Feastday: November 14
Death: 784
Bishop and missionary, a nephew of St. Gregory of Utrecht and a friend of the great scholar Alcuin. Little is known of his life before his entrance into the Benedictine Order at Utrecht, Netherlands. He served as prior of the cathedral of Utrecht, and was known for his piety and preaching. In 775 he was made bishop of Utrecht, succeeding St. Gregory, who had administered the area without being a prelate. Alberic spent the rest of his life preaching to the Teutons who populated the region. Alberic died on August 21, 784.
Saint Alberic of Utrecht, Dutch: Alberik I van Utrecht, (died 21 August 784) was a Benedictine monk and bishop of Utrecht, in what is today the Netherlands.
Alberic was the nephew of Saint Gregory of Utrecht. Little is known of Alberic before he joined the Order of Saint Benedict. It is known that he served as prior of the Cathedral of Saint Martin. When Gregory died in 775, Alberic succeeded his uncle as the bishop of Utrecht. His bishopric was noted for the success of its mission among the pagan Teutons, as well as the reorganization of the school of Utrecht. In addition, Alberic directed the mission of Ludger in Ostergau.
Alberic was a good friend of Alcuin, a teacher and poet from York, England, preeminent among the scholars of that era. This relationship likely speaks to Alberic's own intelligence, as the saint has been noted for his "encyclopedic knowledge of the faith."
