Anselm was born at Aosta, a town on the confines of Italy, of noble and Catholic parents, Gondolphe and Hermenberga. From his early childhood he gave great promise of future holiness and learning by his love of study and his longing after a life of perfection. The ardour of youth made him indulge for a while in worldly pleasures, but he speedily returned to his former virtuous life. And then, leaving his country and all that he possessed, he repaired to the Monastery of Bec, of the Order of Saint Benedict. There he made his religious profession under the Abbot Herluin, a most zealous lover of monastic discipline, and (Prior) Lanfranc, a man of great repute for learning. Such was the fervour of his piety, his application to study, and his desire to advance in virtue, that everyone held him in the highest veneration as a model of holiness and learning.
So mortified was he in eating and drinking, and so frequent were his fasts, that he seemed to have lost the sense of taste. He spent the day in the performance of monastic duties and in giving answers, both by word of mouth and by letters, to the several questions proposed to him concerning matters of religion. He passed a considerable portion of the time allotted to sleep in nourishing his soul with holy meditations, during which he shed abundant tears. Being made Prior of the Monastery, certain of his brethren were jealous at his promotion but he so far gained them over by charity, humility and prudence that their jealousy was changed into love both of their Prior and their God, to the great advantage of regular discipline.
At the death of the Abbot Anselm was chosen to succeed him, and reluctantly accepted the office. It was then that his reputation for learning and virtue began to spread far and wide, and secured him the respect of kings and bishops. Not only so, but even Gregory VII who, at that time, was suffering much from persecution, honoured him with his friendship and wrote to him letters full of affection begging of him to pray for him and the Church. At the death of Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, who had been his former master, Anselm was compelled, much against his own will, to accept the government of that See. William, king of England, the clergy and the people all urged him to it. He immediately set himself to reform the corrupt morals of the people.
By word and example, first, and then by his writings, and by the holding Councils, he succeeded in restoring ancient piety and ecclesiastical discipline. But it was not long before King William attempted, both by violence and threats, to interfere with the rights of the Church. Then did Anselm resist him with priestly courage, for which his property was confiscated and he himself banished from the country. He turned his steps towards Rome, where Pope Urban II received him with great marks of honour, and passed a high enconium upon him at the Council of Bari where Anselm proved against the Greeks, by innumerable quotations from the Scriptures and the Holy Fathers, that the Holy Ghost proceeds also from the Son.
After William’s death, Anselm was recalled to England by King Henry, William’s brother. Shortly after his return, he slept in the Lord. He was justly venerated on account of his miracles and his virtues. among which latter may be mentioned his great devotion to the Passion, and to the Holy Mother of Jesus. He moreover acquired a high reputation by his learning which he used in the defence of the Christian religion, and for the good of souls. He first set the example to those theologians who have followed the scholastic method in treating on the sacred sciences. The works he wrote prove that his wisdom was a gift bestowed on him by Heaven.
Dom Prosper Guéranger:
In Persia, the birthday of St. Simeon, bishop of Seleucia and Ctesiphon. He was arrested by order of Sapor, king of Persia, loaded with irons and presented to the iniquitous tribunals. As he refused to adore the sun and openly and courageously bore testimony to Jesus Christ, he was confined a long time in a dungeon with one hundred other confessors, among whom were bishops, priests and clerics of various ranks. Afterwards Usthazanes, the king’s foster-father, who had been converted from apostasy by Simeon, endured martyrdom with great constancy. The day after, which was the anniversary of Our Lord’s Passion, the companions of Simeon whom he had feelingly exhorted were beheaded before his eyes, after which he met the same fate. With him suffered also several distinguished men: Abdechalas and Ananias, his priests, with Pusicius, the chief of the royal artificers. This last having encouraged Ananias, who seemed to falter, died a cruel death, having his tongue drawn out through a perforation made in his neck. After him, his daughter who was a consecrated virgin was put to death.
At Alexandria, the holy martyrs Arator, priest, Fortunatus, Felix, Silvius and Vitalis who died in prison.
Also the Saints Apollo, Isacius and Crotates who suffered under Diocletian.
At Antioch, St. Anastasius Sinaita, bishop.
And in other places, many other holy martyrs, confessors and virgins.
Thanks be to God.
So mortified was he in eating and drinking, and so frequent were his fasts, that he seemed to have lost the sense of taste. He spent the day in the performance of monastic duties and in giving answers, both by word of mouth and by letters, to the several questions proposed to him concerning matters of religion. He passed a considerable portion of the time allotted to sleep in nourishing his soul with holy meditations, during which he shed abundant tears. Being made Prior of the Monastery, certain of his brethren were jealous at his promotion but he so far gained them over by charity, humility and prudence that their jealousy was changed into love both of their Prior and their God, to the great advantage of regular discipline.
At the death of the Abbot Anselm was chosen to succeed him, and reluctantly accepted the office. It was then that his reputation for learning and virtue began to spread far and wide, and secured him the respect of kings and bishops. Not only so, but even Gregory VII who, at that time, was suffering much from persecution, honoured him with his friendship and wrote to him letters full of affection begging of him to pray for him and the Church. At the death of Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, who had been his former master, Anselm was compelled, much against his own will, to accept the government of that See. William, king of England, the clergy and the people all urged him to it. He immediately set himself to reform the corrupt morals of the people.
By word and example, first, and then by his writings, and by the holding Councils, he succeeded in restoring ancient piety and ecclesiastical discipline. But it was not long before King William attempted, both by violence and threats, to interfere with the rights of the Church. Then did Anselm resist him with priestly courage, for which his property was confiscated and he himself banished from the country. He turned his steps towards Rome, where Pope Urban II received him with great marks of honour, and passed a high enconium upon him at the Council of Bari where Anselm proved against the Greeks, by innumerable quotations from the Scriptures and the Holy Fathers, that the Holy Ghost proceeds also from the Son.
After William’s death, Anselm was recalled to England by King Henry, William’s brother. Shortly after his return, he slept in the Lord. He was justly venerated on account of his miracles and his virtues. among which latter may be mentioned his great devotion to the Passion, and to the Holy Mother of Jesus. He moreover acquired a high reputation by his learning which he used in the defence of the Christian religion, and for the good of souls. He first set the example to those theologians who have followed the scholastic method in treating on the sacred sciences. The works he wrote prove that his wisdom was a gift bestowed on him by Heaven.
Dom Prosper Guéranger:
A Monk, a Bishop, a Doctor of the Church — such was the Saint whose feast comes gladdening us on this twenty-first day of April. He was a Martyr, also, at least in desire, and we may add, in merit too, for he did enough to earn the glorious palm. When we think of Anselm, we picture to ourselves a man in whom are combined the humility and meekness of the cloister with the zeal and courage of the episcopal dignity: a man who was both a sage and a saint; a man whom it was impossible not to love and respect. He left his native country of Piedmont for the Monastery of Bec in France where he became a Benedictine monk. Being elected Superior, he realised in himself the type of an Abbot as drawn by Saint Benedict in his Rule: “He that is made Abbot,” says the holy Patriarch, “should study to give help rather than to give commands.” We read that the love entertained for Anselm by his brethren was beyond description. His whole time was devoted to them, either in giving them spiritual direction, or in communicating to them his own sublime knowledge of the sacred sciences. After governing them for several years, he was taken from them and compelled to accept the dignity of Archbishop of Canterbury. He was a worthy successor of Augustine, Dunstan, Elphege and Lanfranc. And by his own noble example of courage he prepared the way for the glorious Martyr Thomas, who succeeded him in less than a century.
As Bishop, his whole life was spent in fighting for the Liberty of the Church. Though gentle as a lamb by nature he was all energy for this great cause. He used to say: “Christ would not have His Spouse be a slave. There is nothing in this world that God loves more than the Liberty of His Church.” There was a time when the Son of God allowed Himself to be fettered with bonds in order that He might loosen us from the chains of our sins, but now that He has risen in triumph from the dead, He wills that His Spouse should be, like Himself, free. She cannot otherwise exercise the ministry of salvation confided to her by her Divine Lord, and yet there is scarcely a single hundred years of her existence in which she has not had to fight for this holy Liberty. The rulers of this Earth, with a very few exceptions, have ever been jealous of her influence, and have sought to lessen it by every possible means. In our own times there are numbers of her children who do not even know that she has any rights or privileges. They would be at a loss to understand you if you told them that she is the Spouse of Christ, and therefore a Queen. They think it quite enough for her if she enjoy the same amount of Freedom and Toleration as the Sects she condemns, and they cannot see how, under such conditions as these, the Church is not the kingdom He wished her to be, but a mere slave. Saint Anselm would have abominated all such theories as these. So does every true Catholic. He is not driven into disloyalty to the Church by the high-sounding words Progress and Modern Society. He knows that there is nothing on Earth equal to the Church. And when he sees the world convulsed by revolutions he knows that all comes from the Church having been deprived of her rights. One of these is that she should not only be recognised in the secret of our conscience as the one only true Church, but that, as such, she should be publicly confessed and outwardly defended against every opposition or error. Jesus, her Divine Founder, promised to give her all nations as her inheritance. He kept his promise, and she was once the Queen and Mother of them all. But nowadays a new principle has been asserted, to the effect that the Church and all Sects must be on an equal footing as far as the protection of the State goes. The principle has been received with acclamation and hailed as a mighty Progress achieved by modern enlightenment. Even Catholics, whose previous services to religion had endeared them to our hearts and gained our confidence, have become warm defenders of the impious theory.
Trying as were the times when Saint Anselm governed the See of Canterbury, they were spared the humiliation of producing and ratifying such doctrine as this. The tyrannical interference of the Norman Kings was an evil far less injurious than the modern system which is subversive of the very idea of a Church. Open persecution would be a boon compared to the fashionable error of which we are speaking. A winter torrent brings desolation in its track, but in the summer when the flood is over nature brings back her verdure and flowers. The errors which now prevail are like a great sea that gradually sweeps over the whole Earth. And when the Church can find no spot whereon to rest, she will take her flight to Heaven, and men must expect the speedy Coming of the Judge.
Anselm was not only the zealous and heroic defender of the rights and privileges of the Church. He was also a light to men by his learning. The contemplation of revealed truths was his delight. He studied them in their bearings one upon the other, and his writings occupy a distinguished place in the treatises of Catholic Theology. God had blessed him with extraordinary talent. Amid all the troubles and anxieties and occupations of his various duties, he found time for study. Even when passing from place to place as an exile he was intent on the meditation of the Mysteries of Religion, thus preparing those sublime reflections which he has left us on the Articles of our Faith.
* * * * *
O holy Pontiff Anselm! Beloved of God and men! The Church whose cause you so zealously defended on Earth celebrates, this day, your praise, and honours you as one of her dearest Saints. Your meekness, condescension and charity gave you a resemblance to Jesus, the Good Shepherd. Like Him, you could truly say: “I know my sheep, and my sheep know me” (John x. 14). You watched over them day and night, lest the wolf should come and find them unprotected. Far from fleeing at his approach, you went forth to meet him, and nothing could induce you to yield to his sacrilegious tyranny. Heroic Champion of the Church’s Liberty! Protect it in these our days when there is not a country left where it is not insulted or ignored. Raise up in every place Pastors with a spirit of holy independence such as you had, that thus the faithful may take courage, and that every Christian may boldly and proudly confess that he himself is a member of the Church, and that the interests of this our spiritual Mother are far more deserving of our solicitude than those of the whole world besides.
God had gifted you, Anselm, with that Christian philosophy which bows down to the teachings of Faith, and which, being thus purified by humility, is elevated to the intelligence of the sublimest truths. The Church, in acknowledgement of the benefits she derived from your learning has conferred on you the title of Doctor, which for a long time was confined to those great men who lived in the early Christian Ages, and whose writings are the reflex of the preaching of the Apostles. Your teaching has been deemed worthy of being numbered with that of the ancient Fathers, for it came from the same Divine Spirit, and was the result of prayer rather than of study. Obtain for us, holy Doctor, that “our faith,” like yours, “may seek understanding.” Nowadays there are many who blaspheme what they know not (Jude 10), but there are many also who know little or nothing of what they believe. Hence, a deplorable confusion of ideas, compromises made between truth and error, and the only true doctrines despised, scouted, or, at least, undefended. Pray to our heavenly Father, Anselm, that He would bless the world with holy and learned men who may teach the path of truth, and dispel the mists of error, that thus the children of the Church may not be led astray.
Look down with affection, O holy Pontiff, on the venerable Order which, when God called you from the vanities of the world, received you, made you one of her children, gave your soul its life, and to your mind the light of wisdom. She claims thy protection. You are a son of the great Patriarch Benedict. Forget not your brethren. Bless them in France, where you first embraced the monastic life. Bless them in England, where you were Primate, and yet still the humble monk. Pray for the two countries, for both are dear to you. Faith is weak in one, and heresy reigns supreme in the other. Beseech our Lord to show His mercy to both: He is all-powerful and He turns not a deaf ear to the prayers of His Saints. If, in His justice, He has decreed not to restore to these two countries their ancient Catholic Constitution, pray that at least the number of souls saved may be great, that conversions may be frequent, and that the labourers sent at the eleventh hour to the Vineyard may emulate the zeal of them that were the first called!Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:
In Persia, the birthday of St. Simeon, bishop of Seleucia and Ctesiphon. He was arrested by order of Sapor, king of Persia, loaded with irons and presented to the iniquitous tribunals. As he refused to adore the sun and openly and courageously bore testimony to Jesus Christ, he was confined a long time in a dungeon with one hundred other confessors, among whom were bishops, priests and clerics of various ranks. Afterwards Usthazanes, the king’s foster-father, who had been converted from apostasy by Simeon, endured martyrdom with great constancy. The day after, which was the anniversary of Our Lord’s Passion, the companions of Simeon whom he had feelingly exhorted were beheaded before his eyes, after which he met the same fate. With him suffered also several distinguished men: Abdechalas and Ananias, his priests, with Pusicius, the chief of the royal artificers. This last having encouraged Ananias, who seemed to falter, died a cruel death, having his tongue drawn out through a perforation made in his neck. After him, his daughter who was a consecrated virgin was put to death.
At Alexandria, the holy martyrs Arator, priest, Fortunatus, Felix, Silvius and Vitalis who died in prison.
Also the Saints Apollo, Isacius and Crotates who suffered under Diocletian.
At Antioch, St. Anastasius Sinaita, bishop.
And in other places, many other holy martyrs, confessors and virgins.
Thanks be to God.
