Wisdom from the Apostolic Fathers: Saint Anselm

One of my favorite saints in the whole of Christendom is Saint Anselm.  He is probably best known for his "Proslogion." The mindset behind his amazing work is describe like this,

"The extent to which Anselm’s work, and which portions of it, ought to be considered to be philosophy or theology (or “philosophical theology,” “Christian philosophy,” and so forth) is a long debated question. The answers (and their rationales) depend considerably on one’s conceptions of philosophy and theology and their distinction and interaction. These admittedly important issues are set aside here in order to focus on three key features of Anselm’s work: Anselm’s pedagogical motivation and his intended audience; the notion of faith seeking understanding (fides quaerens intellectum); and Anselm’s stylistics and dialectic....

The goal of Anselm’s treatises is not to provide a philosophical substitute for the Christian faith, nor to rationalize or systematize it solely in the light of natural reason. Rather, in the cases of the Monologionand Proslogion, he aims to treat meditatively, by reason’s resources, central aspects of the Christian faith, namely, as he puts it in the Proslogion’s Prologue: “that God truly is, and that he is the supreme good needing no other, and that he is what all things need so that they are and so that they are well, and whatever else we believe about the divine substance.” (S., v. 1, p. 93) In the other treatises (excepting theDe Grammatico, which he explicitly states to be for “beginners in dialectic,” and that it “pertains to a different subject matter than [Sacred Scripture],” S., v.1, p. 173), Anselm concerns himself with other important, and often interrelated, aspects of the Christian faith, developing the arguments through reasoning, rather than through explicit reliance on Scriptural or patristic authority in the course of argumentation. Over the course of his career, Anselm’s intended audience expands considerably, however, particularly as he became involved in controversy over the Trinity that culminated in hisEpistola de Incarnatione Verbi and Cur Deus Homo."


In my life, I have always valued the simplicity but great passion inside his prayers and meditations.
One my favorite ones, "Prayer to Christ for my Friends", is very powerful in its text and application.  Meditate on the powerful words below from this mighty Saint.

"O SWEET and gracious Lord Jesus Christ, who hast shown unto us such charitable love as no man hath greater, nor can any man have so great; Thou who didst not deserve to die, and yet didst lay down Thy life in Thy goodness for Thy servants, and didst pray even for Thy murderers, that Thou mightest make them Thy brethren and sharers in Thy righteousness, and reconcile them to Thy merciful Father and to Thyself; Thou, O Lord, who didst show this great charity to Thine enemies, didst also command Thy friends to show the like. O good Lord, with what affection shall I call to mind Thine inestimable charity?" (http://www.ccel.org/ccel/anselm/devotions.iii.vii.iii.html)