The devotions of Saint Anselm have recently been added to the The Christian Classics Ethereal Library. Saint Anselm was born near the border between what are now Italy and France (Aosta, Piedmont). He became the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1093, and is considered by many to be one of the most influential thinkers of medieval Europe and Christianity. Anselm was passionate that faith in God could be explained through reason and his motto was credo ut intelligam (“I believe so that I may understand”).
The CCEL website explains that for Anselm there was no clear separation between devotions and doctrine; that his fervent prayer was fueled by his robust theology, and the reverse was also true. Here as an excerpt:
Awake, my soul, awake! show your spirit, arouse your senses, shake off the sluggishness of that deadly heaviness that is upon you, begin to take care for your salvation. Let the idleness of vain imaginations be put to flight, let go of sloth, hold fast to diligence. Be instant in holy meditations, cleave to the good things which are of God: leaving that which is temporal, give heed to that which is eternal. Now in this godly employment of your mind, to what can you turn your thoughts more wholesomely and profitably than to the sweet contemplations of your Creator’s immeasurable benefits toward you. Consider therefore the greatness and dignity that he bestowed upon you at the beginning of your creation; and judge for yourself with what love and reverence he ought to be worshiped.
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