The Prayers and Meditations of St. Anselm with the ProslogionMostly 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
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 | |
Common terms and phrases
abbot abyss accused Anselm Anselm’s prayers apostles beloved blessed Book of Cerne century Chapter Christ Christian compassion compunction confess Corinthians Creator Cross dead death delight deserve desire devotion Eadmer enemies eternal evil faith Father fear flesh give glory God’s grace Gundolf hear heart heaven hell Holy hope Human Redemption Jesus John 20 John the Evangelist judgement Julian of Norwich justice kind Lady Lanfranc lectio divina liturgy live Lord Luke Mathilda of Tuscany Matthew Meditation on Human mercy mind misery monk mother praise pray Prayer to St Prayers and Meditations Proslogion Psalm Psalm 51 punish Ralph redeemed rejoice righteousness Rule of St saints salvation Saviour seek servant shepherd sinner sins sorrow soul spirit St Anselm St Benedict St Gregory St John St Nicholas St Paul St Peter tears theological things thought torments truly truth understanding whole wicked Wilmart words wretched wrote