Saint Anselm

Anselm was born around 1033 in Aosta, in the Italian Alps. After a restless youth he crossed into France and in 1060 became a monk at the Abbey of Bec in Normandy, drawn by the famous teacher Lanfranc. He became prior and then abbot, a gentle, wise guide to his monks and a brilliant thinker. His Proslogion, with its famous argument for God's existence, and his Monologion explored faith through reason, captured in his motto: faith seeking understanding.

In 1093 he was made archbishop of Canterbury. He defended the freedom of the Church against Kings William II and Henry I, especially over the appointment of bishops, and was twice sent into exile. During these years he wrote Why God Became Man, a classic reflection on the Incarnation and Redemption. He also opposed the slave trade in England at the Council of Westminster in 1102. He died at Canterbury on April 21, 1109, and was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1720.

Anselm is honored at Canterbury and in Aosta, and Benedictines, especially those of Bec, keep his feast. Many Catholic schools and colleges, such as Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire, celebrate him as a patron of thinking faith.