Saint Anselm
Bishop and Doctor of the Church
- Feast Day
- April 21
- Life
- 1033–1109
- Doctor of the Church
- 1720
- Order
- Order of Saint Benedict
- Born
- Aosta, Kingdom of Burgundy
Anselm was born at Aosta in 1033, of a noble Lombard family. After leaving home he traveled in France and entered the Benedictine abbey of Bec in Normandy in 1059, drawn by the reputation of its prior, Lanfranc. He succeeded Lanfranc as prior in 1063 and became abbot in 1078.
At Bec he composed his Monologion (1076) and Proslogion (1077-1078), the latter containing what later philosophers called the ontological argument for the existence of God, framed in the form of a meditation: id quo maius cogitari nequit, that than which a greater cannot be thought. His method, fides quaerens intellectum (faith seeking understanding), set the program of high medieval scholasticism. His Cur Deus Homo (1098) presented the satisfaction theory of the Atonement, arguing that the Incarnation was the fitting means by which the infinite offense of human sin could be remitted by an infinite act of divine love.
In 1093, against his own desire, he was named Archbishop of Canterbury by King William II. His episcopate was marked by repeated conflict with William II and Henry I over lay investiture and the rights of the Church, leading to two periods of exile during which he advised Pope Urban II at the Council of Bari (1098). He returned to Canterbury for the final years of his life and died there on April 21, 1109.
Pope Clement XI declared him a Doctor of the Universal Church on February 3, 1720.
Saint Anselm is the principal theologian of the period between Saint Augustine and Saint Thomas Aquinas. His formula fides quaerens intellectum gave the Latin Middle Ages its theological method and is cited in modern times by the encyclical Fides et Ratio (1998) of Pope Saint John Paul II as a model of the right relationship between faith and reason. His treatise Cur Deus Homo remains foundational for Catholic Atonement theology, and his Marian piety influenced devotion to the Immaculate Conception.
Catholic Churches Named After Saint Anselm
20 parishes on Catholic Church Times share Saint Anselm's name. Find their Mass times, confession schedules, and adoration hours:
- Saint-Anselme — DIEPPE, NB
- St. Anselm — Dearborn Heights, MI
- St. Anselm — Chesterland, OH
- Saint Anselm Catholic Church — Madisonville, LA
- Our Lady of Guadalupe and Saint Anselm — Corpus Christi, TX
- crkva svetog Anselma
- St. Anselm Kapelle
- Chiesa Parrocchiale di Sant'Anselmo
- Sant’Anselmo alla Cecchignola — Roma
- Chiesa di Sant'Anselmo Vescovo di Lucca
- Chiesa di Sant'Anselmo da Baggio — Milano
- Chiesa di Sant'Anselmo
- Chiesa di Sant'Anselmo all'Aventino
- Parroquia San Anselmo — Medellín
- Paróquia Santo Anselmo
- Igreja de Santo Anselmo — Santa Teresa
- St. Anselm — Anselmo, NE
- St. Anselm — Los Angeles, CA
- Church of St. Anselm — Tinton Falls, NJ
- Saint Anselm Catholic Church — Chicago, IL
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