 |
PATRISTICS/ Anselm of Canterbury
"Anselm was born under the name "Anselmus Candiae Genavae" (Italian: Anselmo di Candia Ginevra, French: Anselme de Candie Genève) at or near Aosta in the Kingdom of Arles (currently the capital of the Aosta Valley region in North-Western Italy) around 1033. His family was noble (they were related by blood to the ascendant House of Savoy) and owned considerable property. When he was twenty-three, Anselm left home, crossed the Alps and wandered through Burgundy and France. Attracted by the fame of his countryman Lanfranc (then prior of the Benedictine Abbey of Bec), Anselm arrived in Normandy in 1059. The following year, after some time at Avranches, he entered the abbey as a novice at the age of twenty-seven; in doing so he submitted himself to the Rule of Saint Benedict, which was to reshape his thought over the next decade. In 1063, Lanfranc was made abbot of Caen and Anselm was elected prior of the abbey of Bec, and succeeded Herluin as abbot in 1078. Anselm occasionally visited England to see the abbey's property there, as well as to visit Lanfranc - who, in 1070, had been installed as Archbishop of Canterbury - until the latter's death in 1089. He made a good impression while there, and was the natural successor to Lanfranc as Archbishop. " - taken from Wikipedia
"A dispute with King William II (Rufus) over lay investiture delayed his assumption until 1093. Conflict arose again in 1097 over church independence, and while Anselm was in Rome seeking support, the king seized the properties of the see. In 1100 William was killed and Henry I recalled Anselm, who demanded that he should again receive, from him in person, investiture in his office as archbishop, and he should consecrate all bishops and abbots nominated by himself. Anselm again went to Rome for support and Henry then surrendered the right of lay investiture, establishing supremacy of the papacy over the English Church.
Anselm is generally considered the outstanding theologian between St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas. He asserted the harmony between faith and reason, contending that faith preceded reason, but could be demonstrated by reason, and did not rely solely on the authority of Scripture and tradition. He was the first successfully to incorporate dialectics into theology. He differed from most of his predecessors in preferring to defend the faith by intellectual reasoning, instead of employing scripture and patristic authorities." - from a "New Dictionary of Saints
"The anniversary of Anselm's death on 21 April is celebrated in the Roman Catholic Church, much of the Anglican Communion, and in parts of Lutheranism, as Anselm's memorial.
Anselm's canonization was requested by Thomas Becket in 1163. Anselm may have been formally canonized at some point before Becket's death in 1170, but no explicit record has survived, even though Anselm was henceforth included among the saints at Canterbury and elsewhere. Some scholars contend that Anselm's canonization was only executed in 1494 by Pope Alexander VI Borgia. He was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 1720 by Pope Clement XI. On 21 April 1909, 800 years after his death, Pope Pius X issued an encyclical "Communium Rerum", praising Anselm, his ecclesiastical career, and his writings. His symbol in hagiography is the ship, representing the spiritual independence of the church.
Recently, Saint Anselm Abbey and its college, Saint Anselm College, held a celebration commemorating the 900th anniversary of Anselm's death." - for article with citations see Wikipedia
Image: St. Anselm of Canterbury in an English glass window of 19th century
|
