Commemoration
April 21
Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, Teacher, d.
1109
Reflection
Anselm forsook his considerable inheritance to enter the
Benedictine monastery of Bec in Normandy.
His attraction was devotion to faith wedded with intellectual rigor, particularly
as practiced by the prior Lanfranc, a fellow Italian. After Lanfranc left for
another appointment, Anselm assumed the position of prior and eventually abbot
and raised the reputation of Bec even higher that before. In 1093, Anselm
succeeded Lanfranc a second time, this time as Archbishop of Canterbury.
Anselm’s tenure set him overagainst more than one king of England. Anselm
is known, among other things, for his argument for the existence of God “than
whom nothing greater can be conceived,” as well as his so-called satisfaction theory of atonement.
Prayer
I acknowledge, Lord, and I give thanks that you have created
your image in me, so that I may remember you, think of you, love you. But this
image is so obliterated and worn away by wickedness, it is so obscured by the
smoke of sins, that it cannot do what it was created to do, unless you renew
and reform it. I am not attempting, O Lord, to penetrate your loftiness, for I
cannot begin to match my understanding with it, but I desire in some measure to
understand your truth, which my heart believes and loves. For I do not seek to
understand in order to believe, but I believe in order to understand. For this
too I believe, that “unless I believe, I shall not understand” (Isaiah 7:9).
(Anselm, Proslogion, Preface, I)
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