St. Anselm

St. Anselm was born of noble parents at Aosta, in Piedmont, around the year 1033. His pious mother took care to give him an early tincture of piety, and the impressions her instructions made upon him were as lasting as his life. From his earliest years, Anselm showed a deep inclination toward the religious life and a remarkable intellectual capacity that would later make him one of the greatest theologians of the medieval period.

At the age of fifteen, desirous of serving God in the monastic state, he petitioned an abbot to admit him into his house, but was refused out of apprehension of his father's displeasure. This early setback, combined with the death of his mother, led to a period of spiritual tepidity in his life. He began to walk in the broad way of the world, neglecting the divine seed that had been planted in his heart. The saint, in his genuine meditations, would later express the deepest sentiments of compunction for these disorders, which his perfect spirit of penance exceedingly exaggerated to him, and which, like another David, he never ceased most bitterly to bewail to the end of his days.

The ill usage he met with from his father, induced him, after his mother's death, to leave his own country, where he had made a successful beginning in his studies. After a diligent application to them for three years in Burgundy and France, invited by the great fame of Lanfranc, prior of Bec in Normandy, he went thither and became his scholar. This marked the beginning of a new chapter in Anselm's life, one that would lead him to the heights of theological and philosophical achievement.

On his father's death, Anselm advised with Lanfranc about the state of life he was to embrace: whether he should live upon his estate to employ its produce in alms, or should renounce it at once and embrace a monastic and eremitical life. Lanfranc, feeling an overbearing affection for his promising disciple, dared not advise him in his vocation, fearing the bias of his own inclination, but sent him to Maurillus, the holy archbishop of Rouen. By him Anselm, after he had laid open to him his interior, was determined to enter the monastic state at Bec, and accordingly became a member of that house at the age of twenty-seven in 1060.

Three years after his entrance into the monastery, Lanfranc was made abbot of St. Stephen's at Caen, and Anselm prior of Bec. At this promotion several of the monks murmured on account of his youth, but by patience and sweetness, he won the affections of them all. He had indeed so great a knowledge of the hearts and passions of men, that he seemed to read their interior in their actions, by which he discovered the sources of virtues and vices, and knew how to adapt to each proper advice and instructions, which were rendered most powerful by the mildness and charity with which he applied them.

St. Anselm applied himself diligently to the study of every part of theology, by the clear light of scripture and tradition. While he was prior at Bec, he wrote his Monologium, so called because in this work he speaks alone, explaining the metaphysical proofs of the existence and nature of God. Also his Proslogium, or contemplation of God's attributes, in which he addresses his discourse to God, or himself. These and other works show the author to have excelled in metaphysics over all the doctors of the church since St. Augustine.

Anselm's reputation drew to Bec great numbers from all the neighboring kingdoms. When Herluin died in 1078, he was chosen abbot of Bec at the age of forty-five, of which he had been prior fifteen years. The abbey of Bec being possessed at that time of some lands in England, this obliged the abbot to make his appearance there in person at certain times. This occasioned Anselm's first journeys to England, which his tender regard for his old friend Lanfranc, at that time archbishop of Canterbury, made the more agreeable.

In the year 1092, Hugh, the great earl of Chester, by three pressing messages, entreated Anselm to come again into England to assist him, then dangerously sick, and to give his advice about the foundation of a monastery which that nobleman had undertaken at St. Wereburge's church at Chester. A report that he would be made archbishop of Canterbury, in the room of Lanfranc, deceased, made him stand off for some time, but he could not forsake his old friend in his distress, and at last came over.

The metropolitan see of Canterbury had been vacant ever since the death of Lanfranc in 1089. The sacrilegious and tyrannical king, William Rufus, who succeeded his father in 1087, by an injustice unknown till his time, usurped the revenues of vacant benefices and deferred his permission, or Conge d'elire, in order to the filling the episcopal sees, that he might the longer enjoy their income. However, after a serious illness that brought him to extremity, the king nominated Anselm to the see of Canterbury, and he was consecrated with great solemnity on the 4th of December, 1093.

Liturgical Celebration

The feast of St. Anselm is celebrated on April 21st, commemorating his death in 1109 and his life as one of the greatest theologians and archbishops of the medieval Church. This feast honors his extraordinary contributions to theology and philosophy, his courageous defense of Church rights, and his exemplary pastoral leadership. It is a day to remember that faith and reason are not opposed but complementary, and that true wisdom comes from seeking to understand what we believe.

Historical Context

St. Anselm lived during the late 11th and early 12th centuries, a time of great intellectual and spiritual ferment in the Church. The period was marked by the Investiture Controversy, which pitted the Church against secular rulers over the appointment of bishops and abbots. Anselm's life and work were deeply influenced by these conflicts, and his writings and actions helped to establish important principles about the relationship between spiritual and temporal authority. His theological works also contributed to the development of scholasticism, which would dominate medieval thought for centuries.

Devotional Practices

On his feast day, Catholics pray for his intercession, especially for theologians and philosophers, for those seeking to understand their faith more deeply, for Church leaders facing difficult decisions, for those defending the rights of the Church, and for the grace to combine faith and reason in their spiritual journey. His example inspires us to seek understanding through faith and to defend truth with courage and charity.