The Prayers and Meditations of St. Anselm with the Proslogion

Front Cover
Penguin UK, Jun 29, 2006 - Religion - 288 pages
Mostly written between 1070 and 1080, before he became Archbishop of Canterbury, the prayers and meditations of Anselm of Aosta created a tradition of intimate, intensely personal devotional works written in subtle and theologically daring prose. While the Prayer to God is based on the Lord's Prayer, the Prayer to Christ is inspired by ardent private emotion and other prayers invest saints with individual attributes, with John the Baptist as the friend, Peter as the shepherd and Mary Magdalene as the forgiving lover, among many others. The meditations include a searching exploration of the state of the soul and a lament on the loss of purity, and the Proslogion discusses the mysteries of faith. With their bright imagery, beautiful language and highly original thought, the works of Anselm have secured a lasting place in both religious and secular literature.
 

Contents

FOREWORD
PREFACE
ABBREVIATIONS
INTRODUCTION
2 THE PRAYERS AND MEDITATIONS
THE PRAYERS AND MEDITATIONS OF ST ANSELM
Letter of Anselm to the Countess Mathilda of Tuscany
1 Prayer to God
11 Prayer to St John the Evangelist 1
12 Prayer to St John the Evangelist 2
13 Prayer to St Stephen
14 Prayer to St Nicholas
15 Prayer to St Benedict
16 Prayer to St Mary Magdalene
17 Prayer by a Bishop or Abbot to the Patron Saint of his Church
18 Prayer for Friends

2 Prayer to Christ
3 Prayer Before Receiving the Body and Blood of Christ
4 Prayer to the Holy Cross
5 Prayer to St Mary 1
6 Prayer to St Mary 2
7 Prayer to St Mary 3
8 Prayer to St John the Baptist
9 Prayer to St Peter
10 Prayer to St Paul
19 Prayer for Enemies
Meditation 1
Meditation 2
Meditation on Human Redemption
Proslogion
Notes to the Prayers and Meditations
The Development of the Prayers
Copyright

Common terms and phrases

About the author (2006)

Translated and with an introduction by Benedicta Ward with a foreword by R. W. Southern

Bibliographic information