Saint Anselm of Canterbury
Also known as
• Anselm of Aosta
• Anselmo d'Aosta
• Anselmo of Canterbury
• Doctor of Scholasticism
Profile
Born to the Italian nobility. After a childhood devoted to piety and study, at age 15 Anselm wanted to enter religious life, but his father Gondulf prevented it, and Anselm became rather worldly for several years. Upon the death of his mother, Ermenberge, Anselm argued with his father, fled to France in 1056, and became a Benedictine monk at Bec, Normandy in 1060. He studied under and succeeded Lanfranc as prior of the house in 1063. Abbot of the house in 1078.
Because of the physical closeness and political connections, there was frequent travel and communication between Normandy and England, and Anselm was in repeated contact with Church officials in England. He was chosen as reluctant Archbishop of Canterbury, England in 1092; officials had to wait until he too sick to argue in order to get him to agree.
As bishop he fought King William Rufus's encroachment on ecclesiastical rights and the independence of the Church, refused to pay bribes to take over as bishop, and was exiled for his efforts. He travelled to Rome, Italy and spent part of his exile as an advisor to Pope Blessed Urban II, obtaining the pope's support for returning to England and conducting Church business without the king's interference. He resolved theological doubts of the Italo-Greek bishops at Council of Bari in 1098.
In 1100 King Henry II invited Anselm to return to England, but they disputed over lay investiture, and Anselm was exiled again only to return in 1106 when Henry agreed not to interfere with the selection of Church officials. Anselm opposed slavery, and obtained English legislation prohibiting the sale of men. He strongly supported celibate clergy, and approved the addition of several saints to the liturgical calendar of England.
Anselm was one of the great philosophers and theologians of the middle ages, and a noted theological writer. He was far more at home in the monastery than in political circles, but still managed to improve the position of the Church in England. Counsellor to Pope Gregory VII. Chosen a Doctor of the Church in 1720 by Pope Clement XI.
Born
1033 at Aosta, Piedmont, Italy
Died
• Holy Wednesday 21 April 1109 at Canterbury, Kent, England
• body believed to be in the cathedral church at Canterbury
Canonized
1492 by Pope Alexander IV
Representation
• Benedictine monk admonishing an evil-doer
• archbishop
• performing an exorcism on a monk
• ship
• with Our Lady appearing before him
• with a ship
Storefront
medals and pendants
Readings
O God, let me know you and love you so that I may find joy in you; and if I cannot do so fully in this life, let me at least make some progress every day, until at last that knowledge, love and joy come to me in all their plenitude. While I am here on earth let me know you fully; let my love for you grow deeper here, so that there I may love you fully. On earth then I shall have great joy in hope, and in heaven complete joy in the fulfillment of my hope. O, Lord, through your Son you command us, no, you counsel us to ask, and you promise that you will hear us so that our joy may be complete. Give me then what you promise to give through your Truth. You, O God, are faithful; grant that I may receive my request, so that my joy may be complete. - Saint Anselm
No one will have any other desire in heaven than what God wills; and the desire of one will be the desire of all; and the desire of all and of each one will also be the desire of God." - Saint Anselm, Opera Omnis, Letter 112
O Lord, we bring before you the distress and dangers of peoples and nations, the pleas of the imprisoned and the captive, the sorrows of the grief-stricken, the needs of the refugee, the impotence of the weak, the weariness of the despondent, and the diminishments of the aging. O Lord, stay close to all of them. Amen. - prayer for all classes of people by Saint Anselm
O Lord our God, grant us grace to desire Thee with our whole heart; that, so desiring, we may seek, and, seeking, find Thee; and so finding Thee, may love Thee; and loving Thee, may hate those sins from which Thou hast redeemed. Amen. - Saint Anselm.
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