![\"Biffi.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/Biffi.jpg\")
<\/a><\/span><\/p>\nPope Benedict In view of the The anniversary In this memorial The intense The saint In Anselm, prior The nostalgia Appointed It is <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Pope Benedict XVI wrote to Cardinal Giacomo Biffi, retired archbishop of Bologna, on the occasion of the ninth centenary of the death of Saint Anselm. I find this letter to be an amazing testimony to the operative graces at work in the Church 900 years ago and today. What is said by the Holy Father … Continue reading Saint Anselm sought to raise the mind to the contemplation of God, Pope reminds<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[1727,2039],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24587"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24587"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24587\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nXVI wrote to <\/span>Cardinal Giacomo Biffi, retired archbishop of Bologna, on the
\noccasion of the ninth centenary of the death of Saint Anselm. I find this letter
\nto be an amazing testimony to the operative graces at work in the Church 900
\nyears ago and<\/span><\/span><\/span> today.
\nWhat is said by the Holy Father is a great reminder of what our aim ought to be
\nas faithful Christians, <\/span>and for those called to ministry, what our
\nresponsibilities are.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\ncelebrations in which you, venerable brother, will take part as my legate in
\nthe illustrious city of Aosta in honor of the ninth centenary of the death of
\nSt. Anselm, which took place in Canterbury on 21 April 1109, I would like to
\ngive you a special message in which I wish recall the main features of this
\ngreat monk, theologian and pastor of souls, whose work has left a deep mark on
\nthe history of the Church.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nis indeed an opportunity not to be missed to renew the memory of one of the
\nbrightest figures in the tradition of the Church and in the history of Western
\nEuropean thought<\/u>. The exemplary monastic experience of Anselm, his
\noriginal method of rethinking the Christian mystery, his subtle philosophical
\nand theological doctrine, his teaching on the inviolable value of conscience
\nand on freedom as the responsible adherence to truth and goodness, his
\npassionate work as a shepherd of souls, dedicated with all his strength to the
\npromotion of “freedom of the Church,” have never ceased to arouse in
\nthe past the deepest interest, which the memory of his death is happily
\nreigniting and encouraging in many ways and in different places.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n
\nof the “Magnificent Doctor” — as St. Anselm is called — the Church
\nof Aosta cannot but be recognized, the Church in which he was born and which is
\nrightly pleased to consider Anselm as her most illustrious son. Even when he
\nleft Aosta in the time of his youth, he continued to carry in his memory and in
\nhis heart the bundle of memories that was never far from his thoughts in the
\nmost important moments of life. Among those memories, a particular place was
\ncertainly reserved for the sweet image of his mother<\/b><\/u><\/span> and the majestic mountains of his
\nvalley with their high peaks, and perennial snow, in which he saw represented,
\nas if in a fascinating and suggestive symbol, the sublimity of God<\/u>. To
\nAnselm – “a child raised in the mountains,” as Admero his biographer
\ncalls him, (Vita Sancti Anselmi<\/i><\/span>,
\ni, 2) – God appears to be that of which you cannot think of something bigger
\n[the translator probably meant “greater”]: perhaps his intuition was not
\nunrelated to the childhood view of those inaccessible peaks. Already as a child
\nhe thought that in order to find God it was necessary to “climb to the
\nsummit of the mountain” (ibid.). In fact, he will realize more and more
\nthat God remains at an inaccessible height, located beyond the horizons
\nwhich man is able to reach<\/i><\/span>,
\nsince God is beyond the thinkable. Because of this, the journey in search of
\nGod, at least on this earth, will never end, but will always be thought and
\ndesire, the rigorous process of the intellect and the imploring inquiry of the
\nheart<\/u>.<\/span><\/p>\n
\ndesire to know and the innate propensity for clarity and logical rigor will
\npush Anselm towards the “scholeae” [schools] of his time. He will
\ntherefore join the monastery of Le Bec, where his inclination for dialectic
\nreflection will be satisfied and above all, where his cloistered vocation will
\nenkindle. To dwell on the years of the monastic life of Anselm is to encounter
\na faithful religious, “constantly occupied in God alone and in the
\ndisciplines of heaven” — as his biographer writes — in order to achieve
\n“such a summit of divine speculation that would enable him by a path
\nopened by God to penetrate, and, once penetrated, to explain the most obscure
\nand previously unresolved questions concerning the divinity of God and our
\nfaith and to prove with clear reasons<\/u> that what he stated belonged to
\nsure Catholic doctrine” (Vita Sancti Anselmi<\/i><\/span>, i, 7). With these words, his biographer
\ndescribes the theological method of St. Anselm, whose thought was ignited
\nand illuminated in prayer<\/u>. It is he himself that confesses, in his famous
\nwork, that the understanding of faith is an approach toward a vision, which we
\nall yearn for and which we all hope to enjoy at the end of our earthly pilgrimage,
\n“Quoniam inter fidem et speciem intellectum quem in hac vita capimus esse
\nmedium intelligo: quanto aliquis ad illum proficit, tanto eum propinquare
\nspeciei, ad quam omnes anhelamus, existimo (Cur Deus homo<\/i><\/span>, Commendatio).<\/span><\/p>\n
\ndesired to achieve the vision of the logical relationships<\/u> inherent to
\nthe mystery, to perceive<\/u> the “clarity of truth,” and thus to
\ngrasp the evidence<\/u> of the “necessary reasons,” intimately bound
\nto the mystery. A bold plan certainly, and it is one whose success still occupies
\nthe reflections of the students of Anselm today. In fact, his search of the
\n“intellectus” [intellect] positioned between “fides”
\n[faith] and “species” [vision] comes out of the source of the same
\nfaith and is sustained by confidence in reason, through which faith in a
\ncertain way is illuminated. The intent of Anselm is clear<\/b><\/span>: “to raise the mind to
\ncontemplation of God<\/u><\/b><\/span>”
\n(Proslogion<\/i><\/span>,
\nProemium). There remain, in any event, for every theological research, his
\nprogrammatic words: “I do not try, Lord, to penetrate your depth, because
\nI cannot, even from a distance, compare it with my intellect, but I want to
\nunderstand, at least up to a certain point, your truth, which my heart believes
\nand loves. I do not seek, in fact, to try to understand it in order to believe
\nit, but I believe in order to understand it.”[Non quaero intelligere ut
\ncredam, sed credo ut intelligam] (Proslogion<\/i><\/span>, 1).<\/span><\/p>\n
\nand abbot of Le Bec, we underline some characteristics that further define his
\npersonal profile. What strikes us, first of all, is his charism as an expert
\nteacher of spiritual life<\/i><\/span>,
\none who knows and wisely illustrates the ways of monastic perfection. At the
\nsame time, one is fascinated by his instructive geniality, which is expressed
\nin that discernment method<\/i><\/span>
\n— which he names, the “via discretionis” (Ep. 61) — which is a
\nsmall image of his whole life, an image composed of both mercy and firmness<\/u>.
\nThe peculiar ability which he demonstrates in initiating disciples to the
\nexperience of authentic prayer is very peculiar: in particular, his
\n“Orationes sive Meditationes,” eagerly requested and widely used,
\nwhich have contributed to making many people of his time “anime
\noranti” [praying souls], as with his other works, have proved themselves a
\nvaluable catalyst in making the Middle Ages a “thinking” and, we
\nmight add, “conscientious” period. One would say that the most
\nauthentic Anselm can be found at Le Bec, where he remained thirty three years,
\nand where he was much loved. Thanks to the maturity that he acquired in a
\nsimilar environment of reflection and prayer, he will be able, as well in the
\nmidst of the subsequent trials as bishop, to declare: “I will not retain
\nin my heart any resentment for any one” (Ep. 321).<\/span><\/p>\n
\nof the monastery<\/i><\/span> will
\naccompany him for the rest of his life. He confessed it himself when he was
\nconstrained, to his deepest sorrow and that of his monks, to leave the
\nmonastery to assume the Episcopal ministry to which did not feel well disposed:
\n“It is well known to many,” he wrote to Pope Urban II, “the
\nviolence which was done to me, and how much I was reluctant and contrary, when
\nI was brought as a bishop to England and how I explained the reasons of nature,
\nage, weakness and ignorance, which were opposed to this office and that absolutely
\ndetest and shun scholastic duties, which I cannot dedicate myself to at all
\nwithout endangering the salvation of my soul” (Ep. 206). He confides later
\nwith his monks in these terms: “I have lived for 33 years a monk —
\nthree years without responsibility, 15 as prior, and as many as abbot — in
\nsuch a way that all the good people that knew me loved me, certainly not by my
\nown merits but for the grace of God, and the ones that loved me most
\nwere those that knew me most intimately and with greatest familiarity<\/i><\/span>” (Ep. 156). And he added: “You
\nhave been many to come to Le Bec … Many of you I surrounded with a love
\nso tender and swee<\/b><\/i><\/span>t
\nthat each one had the impression that I did not love anyone else in the same
\nway<\/i><\/span>” (ibid.).<\/span><\/p>\n
\nArchbishop of Canterbury and beginning, in this way, his most troubled journey,
\nhis “love of truth” (Ep. 327), his uprightness, his strict loyalty to
\nconscience, his “Episcopal freedom” (Ep. 206), his ” Episcopal
\nhonesty” (Ep. 314), his tireless work for the liberation of the Church
\nfrom the temporal conditionings and from the servitude of calculations that are
\nincompatible with his spiritual nature will appear in their full light<\/u>. His
\nwords to King Henry remain exemplary in this respect, “I reply that in
\nneither baptism nor in any other ordination that I have received, did I
\npromised to observe the law or the custom of your father or of the Archbishop
\nLanfranco, but the law of God and of all the orders received” (Ep. 319).
\nFor Anselm, the primate of the Church of England, one principle
\napplies<\/u><\/i><\/b><\/span>: “I
\nam a Christian, I am a monk, I am a Bishop: I desire to be faithful to all,
\naccording to the debt I have with each<\/b><\/span>”
\n(Ep. 314). In this vein he does not hesitate to say: “I prefer to be in
\ndisagreement with men than, agreeing with them, to be in disagreement with God<\/b><\/span>” (Ep. 314). Precisely for this
\nreason he feels ready even for the supreme sacrifice: “I am not afraid to
\nshed my blood, I fear no wound in my body nor the loss of any material
\ngood” (Ep. 311).<\/span><\/p>\n
\nunderstandable that, for all these reasons, Anselm still retains a great
\nactuality and a strong appeal, in as much as it is fruitful to revisit and
\nrepublish his writings, and together meditate continuously on his life. For
\nthis reason I have rejoiced that Aosta, on the occasion of the ninth centenary
\nof the death of the saint, has distinguished itself with a set of appropriate
\nand intelligent initiatives — especially with the careful edition of his works
\n— with the intention to make known and loved the teachings and examples of this,
\nits illustrious son. I entrust to you, Venerable Brother, the task of bringing
\nto the faithful of the ancient and beloved city of Aosta the exhortation to
\nremember with admiration and affection this great fellow citizen of theirs,
\nwhose light continues to shine throughout the Church, especially where the love
\nfor the truths of faith and the desire for their study by the light of reason
\nare cultivated. And, in fact, faith and reason — “fides et ratio<\/i><\/span>” — are united admirably in
\nAnselm<\/u>. I send, with these heartfelt sentiments through you, venerable
\nbrother, to the Bishop, Monsignor Giuseppe Anfossi, the clergy, the religious
\nand the faithful of Aosta and to all those who take part in the celebrations in
\nhonor of the “Magnificent Doctor,” a special apostolic blessing,
\npropitiatory of an abundant outpouring of heavenly favors.