PROSLOGION
OR
ADDRESS TO GOD CONCERNING
HIS EXISTENCE
PREFACE
I FORMERLY published, at the instance of
certain of my brethren, a little work, in
which, assuming the person of one who by
silent reasoning with himself is searching for a
knowledge he does not yet possess, I gave an
example of the manner in which we may
meditate concerning the grounds of our faith.
But afterwards, when I considered that this
work was put together by the interweaving of
a great number of arguments, I began to ask
myself whether there might not perhaps be
found some one argument which should have no
need of any other argument beside itself to
prove it, and might suffice by itself to demonstrate that God really exists and is the Supreme
Good, which needeth nothing beside itself to
give it being or well-being, but without which
nothing else can have either the one or the
other; and whereof all other things are true
which we believe concerning the divine essence. And when after many times earnestly directing
my thoughts to this matter, it sometimes seemed
to me that what I sought was just within my
grasp, but sometimes that it eluded my mind’s sight altogether, at last I resolved in despair to
renounce the search for a thing, the discovery
whereof was beyond my powers. But this
train of thought, so soon as I desired to lay it
aside lest it should hinder my mind while vainly
occupied therein from attending to other matters
which might be more profitable to me, at once
began to press itself as it were importunately
upon me, unwilling and reluctant as I was to
entertain it. And so one day, when I was
wearied out with violently resisting this importunity, in the midst of the struggle of my
thoughts, there so presented itself to me the
very thing which I had given up hope of
finding, that I hastened to embrace that very
train of thought which I was but a moment ago
anxiously thrusting from me. Thinking therefore that if I wrote down what I so greatly
rejoiced to have found, it would please others
who might read it, I wrote the following little
work, treating of this and of some other matters,
in the character of one striving to raise his
thoughts to the contemplation of God and
seeking to understand what he already believes.
And because neither this nor the other treatise
which I mentioned before, seemed to me worthy
to be called a book or to have the writer’s name
set in the front of it, and yet I thought I must not let them go without some title to invite those
to read into whose hands they might come, I
gave a name to each, calling the former An
example of meditation on the grounds of faith and
the latter Faith in search of Understanding.
But, when both had been often transcribed under
these titles by divers persons, was constrained
by many and especially by Hugh the reverend
Archbishop of Lyons and Legate of the
Apostolic See in Gaul, who laid his commands
upon me in virtue of his apostolical authority,
to prefix my name to them. And so that this
might be done more fittingly, I have called the
former Monologion, that is, The Soliloquy, and
this Proslogion, that is, The Address.
CHAPTER I
COME now, thou poor child of man, turn
awhile from thy business, hide thyself for
a little time from restless thoughts, cast away
thy troublesome cares, put aside thy wearisome
distractions. Give thyself a little leisure to
converse with God, and take thy rest awhile in
Him. Enter into the secret chamber of thy
heart: leave everything without but God and
what may help thee to seek after Him, and
when thou hast shut the door, then do thou
seek Him. Say now, O my whole heart, say
now to God, I seek Thy face; Thy face, Lord, do I seek.Ps. xxvii. 9.
Come now then, O Lord my God,
teach Thou my heart when and how I may seek
Thee, where and how I may find Thee? O
Lord, if Thou art not here, where else shall I
seek Thee? but if Thou art everywhere, why do
I not behold Thee, since Thou art here present?
Surely indeed Thou dwellest in the light which
no man can approach unto.1 Tim. vi. 16.
But where is that
light unapproachable? or how may I approach
unto it since it is unapproachable? or who shall
lead me and bring me into it that I may see Thee
therein? Again, by what tokens shall I know
Thee, in what form shall I look for Thee? I
have never seen Thee, O Lord my God; I
know not Thy form. What shall I do then,
O Lord most high, what shall I do, banished
as I am so far from Thee? What shall Thy
servant do that is sick for love of Thee, and yet
is cast away from Thy presence?Ps. li. ii.
He panteth
to behold Thee, and yet Thy presence is very
far from him. He longeth to approach unto
Thee, and yet Thy dwelling-place is unapproachable. He desireth to find Thee, yet he knoweth
not Thy habitation. He would fain seek Thee,
yet he knoweth not Thy face. O Lord, Thou
art my God, Thou art my Lord; and I have
never beheld Thee. Thou hast created me and
created me anew, and all good things that I
have, hast Thou bestowed upon me, and yet I
have never known Thee. Nay, I was created to behold Thee, and yet have I never unto this
day done that for the sake whereof I was created.
O miserable lot of man, to have lost that whereunto he was created! O hard and terrible
condition! Alas, what hath he lost? what hath
he found? what hath departed from him? what
hath continued with him? He hath lost the
blessedness whereunto he was created, and he
hath found the misery whereunto he was not
created; that without which nothing is happy,
hath departed from him, and that hath continued with him which by itself cannot but be
miserable. Once man did eat angels’ food,Ps. lxxviii. 26.
after which he now hungereth; now he eateth
the bread of affliction, which then he knew not.
Alas for the common woe of man, the universal
sorrow of the children of Adam! Our first
father was filled with abundance, we sigh with
hunger; he was rich, we are beggars. He
miserably threw away that in the possession
whereof he was happy, and in the lack whereof
we are miserable; after which we lamentably
long and alas! abide unsatisfied. Why did he
not keep for us, when he might easily have kept
it that the loss whereof so grievously afflicts us?
Wherefore did he so overcloud our day, and plunge us into darkness? Why did he
take from us our life, and bring upon us the pains of death? Wretches that we
are, whence have we been driven out and whither? From our native country into
banishment, from the vision of God into blindness, from the joy of
immortality into the bitterness and horror of
death. How sad the change from so great good to
so great evil! Grievous is the loss, grievous the
pain, grievous everything. But alas for me, one
of the miserable children of Eve, cast far away
from God! What did I begin? and what have
I accomplished? At what did I aim? and unto
what have I attained? To what did I aspire?
and where am I now sighing? I sought good,
and behold, trouble.Jer. xiv. 19.
I aimed at God, and have
stumbled upon myself. I sought rest in my secret
chamber, and I have found tribulation and grief
in the inmost parts. I desired to laugh for
gladness of spirit and am constrained to roar for
the disquietness of my heart.Ps. xxxviii. 8.
I hoped for joy
and behold increase of sorrow. How long, O
Lord, how long? How long, O Lord, wilt
Thou forget us, how long wilt Thou hide Thy
face from us?Ps. xiii. 1.
When wilt Thou turn and
hearken unto us? When wilt thou enlighten
our eyes and show us Thy face? When wilt
Thou restore Thy presence to us? Turn and
took upon us, O Lord: hearken unto us, enlighten
us, show us Thyself. Restore to us Thy presence
that it may be well with us; for without Thee
it goeth very ill with us. Have pity upon our
labours and strivings after Thee, for without
Thee we can do nothing. Thou callest us;
help us to obey the call. I beseech Thee, O
Lord, that I may not despair in my sighing, but
may draw full breath again in hope. My heart
is embittered by its desolation; with Thy consolation, I beseech Thee, O Lord, make it sweet
again. I beseech Thee, O Lord, for in my
hunger I have begun to seek Thee, suffer me
not to depart from Thee fasting. I have come
to Thee fainting for lack of food; let me not go
empty away. I have come to Thee, as the poor
man to the rich, as the miserable to the merciful,
let me not return unsatisfied and despised: and
if before I be fed, I sigh, grant me that, though
after I have sighed, I may be fed. O Lord, I
am bent downwards, I cannot look up: raise
me up, that I may lift mine eyes to heaven. My
iniquities are gone over my head, they overwhelm
me; they are like a sore burden too heavy for
me to bear.Ps. xxxviii. 4.
Deliver me, take away my burden,
lest the pit of my wickedness shut its mouth upon
me: grant unto me that I may look upon Thy
light, though from afar off, though out of the
deep. I will seek Thee, with longing after
Thee. I will long after Thee in seeking Thee,
I will find Thee by loving Thee, I will love
Thee in finding Thee. I confess to Thee, O
Lord, and I give thanks unto Thee, because
Thou hast created in me this Thine image, that
I may remember Thee, think upon Thee, love
TheeSt Anselm is here thinking of a favourite thought
of his. I will try to state it as simply as I can. If a
man at any time looks into himself, he is aware that he is thinking of something; he is conscious of two
things; himself who thinks and what he is thinking
of. This last may be himself too; he may be thinking of himself. Nay, it must always be himself in a
sense, because it is his own idea or thought of other
things that he has before him, when he thinks of
them; not the things as they may be unthought of,
but as they are in his mind. Now the consciousness
of self as thinking, St Anselm always calls memory or
memory of self; because it is in memory that we are
chiefly aware of ourselves as being the same who
yesterday did or felt one thing and to-day do or feel
something else, and yet are the same in both cases;
and the consciousness of what we are thinking about,
our thought as distinguished from our self, he calls our
understanding or understanding of self; because that is the
end and upshot of our thinking, thoroughly to understand what we think about, and at last, so to put it,
to understand ourselves and all that is in our minds and
thoughts. But we should not care to do this if we
did not have an interest in what we think about, and
unless this interest carried us through as it were, and
so St Anselm says that there would be no use or
purpose in memory and understanding unless the object of
them were either loved or else hated or rejected. And
so the permanent nature of the mind is a trinity of
self-consciousness (or, as St Anselm says, memory),
understanding, and love; for love is the intensest form
of the interest which continues without rejecting
to contemplate any object. And therein he sees in the human mind an image of the Divine. For if we try to think of a Being which is eternally all which we
are trying to be, and perfectly that which we are
imperfectly (and we are of course only conscious of our
imperfection in virtue of the notion of such a perfect
Being with which we contrast ourselves) we shall
think of this Being as conscious of Himself, as having
before Him all that is in His mind, not as something not perfectly grasped or comprehended, hut as wholly
land completely what He is in Himself, indissolubly united with Himself; a Thought not unexpressed but
adequately uttered and so called a Word; a Word the
complete expression of Himself, as real a person as
Himself, as a Son with His Father; and this Word or
Son loved with a love which is no mere feeling of the
lover who remains distinct from the love he bears;
but a love which is all that Himself is: and is fully
and adequately reciprocated by its object: a Spirit of
mutual Love, therefore, proceeding equally from both
the Father and the Son: in other words a Trinity such
as the Christian theology describes. Hence St Anselm
sees in the trinity of memory, understanding and love in
the human mind the truest image of the Trinity of
Father, Son and Holy Ghost in God.
: but so darkened is Thine image in me by the smoke of my sins that it cannot do that
whereunto it was created, unless Thou renew it
and create it again. I seek not, O Lord, to
search out Thy depth, but I desire in some
measure to understand Thy truth, which my
heart believeth and loveth. Nor do I seek to understand that I may
believe, but I believe that I may understand. For this too I believe, that
unless I first believe, I shall not understand.Is. vii. 9, rendered in our version,
If ye will not
believe, surely ye shall not be established; and in the
Vulgate, Si non credideritis, non permanebitis; but here,
as often by mediæval writers, quoted from St Augustine
in the form Nisi credideritis, non intelligetis,
If ye will
not believe, ye shall not understand, according to the
Septuagint version of the words.
CHAPTER II
THEREFORE, O Lord, who grantest to
faith understanding, grant unto me that, so
far as Thou knowest it to be expedient for me,
I may understand that Thou art, as we believe;
and also that Thou art what we believe Thee to
be. And of a truth we believe that Thou art
somewhat than which no greater can be conceived.
Is there then nothing real that can be thus
described? for the fool hath said in his heart,
There is no God.Ps. liii. 1.
Yet surely even that fool
himself when he hears me speak of somewhat
than which nothing greater can be conceived understands what he hears, and what he understands
is in his understanding, even if he do not understand that it really exists. It is one thing for a
thing to be in the understanding, and another
to understand that the thing really exists. For
when a painter considers the work which he is
to make, he has it indeed in his understanding;
but he doth not yet understand that really to
exist which as yet he has not made. But when
he has painted his picture, then he both has the
picture in his understanding, and also understands it really to exist. Thus even the fool is
certain that something exists, at least in his
understanding, than which nothing greater can be
conceived; because, when he hears this mentioned, he understands it, and whatsoever is
understood, exists in the understanding. And
surely that than which no greater can be conceived
cannot exist only in the understanding. For if
it exist indeed in the understanding only, it can
be thought to exist also in reality; and real
existence is more than existence in the understanding only. If then that than which no
greater can be conceived exists in the understanding only, then that than which no greater can be
conceived is something a greater than which can
be conceived: but this is impossible. Therefore it is certain that something than which no
greater can be conceived exists both in the understanding and also in reality.
CHAPTER III
NOT only does this something than which no
greater can be conceived exist, but it exists
in so true a sense that it cannot even be conceived not to exist. For it is possible to form
the conception of an object whose non-existence
shall be inconceivable; and such an object is of
necessity greater than any object whose existence is conceivable: wherefore if
that than which
no greater can be conceived can be conceived not
to exist; it follows that that than which no
greater can be conceived is not that than which no greater can be conceived [for there can be
thought a greater than it, namely, an object
whose non-existence shall be inconceivable];
and this brings us to a contradiction. And thus
it is proved that that thing than which no greater
can be conceived exists in so true a sense, that it
cannot even be conceived not to exist: and this
thing art Thou, O Lord our God! And so
Thou, O Lord my God, existest in so true a
sense that Thou canst not even be conceived not
to exist. And this is as is fitting. For if any
mind could conceive aught better than Thee,
then the creature would be ascending above the
Creator, and judging the Creator; which is a
supposition very absurd. Thou therefore dost
exist in a truer sense than all else beside Thee,
and art more real than all else beside Thee;
because whatsoever else existeth, existeth in a
less true sense than Thou, and therefore is less
real than Thou. Why then said the fool in his
heart, There is no God, when it is so plain to a
rational mind that Thou art more real than any
thing else? Why, except that he is a fool indeed?
CHAPTER IV
BUT how came the fool to say in his heart that which he could not conceive? or how came he to be able not to conceive that which yet he said in his heart? For it may be thought
that to conceive and to say in one’s heart are one
and the same thing. If it is true—nay, because
it is true, that he conceived it, because he said it
in his heart; and also true that he did not say
it in his heart because he could not conceive it;
it follows that there are two senses in which
something may be understood to be conceived or
said in the heart. For in one sense we are said
to have a conception of something, when we
have a conception of the word that signifies it;
and in another sense, when we understand what
the thing really is. In the former sense then we
may say that God is conceived not to exist: but
in the latter, He cannot by any means be conceived not to exist. For no man that understandeth what
fire and water mean, can conceive
that fire is really water; though he may have
this conception, as far as the words go. Thus
in like manner no man that understandeth what
God is can conceive that God does not exist;
although he may say these words [that God
does not exist] either with no meaning at all, or
with some other meaning than that which they
properly bear. For God is that than which no
greater can be conceived. He who well understandeth what this is, certainly understandeth
it to be such as cannot even be conceived not to
exist. Whosoever therefore understandeth in
this way that God exists, cannot conceive that
he does not exist. Thanks be to Thee, O
good Lord, thanks be to Thee! because that which heretofore I believed by Thy grace, I
now by Thine illumination thus understand, so
that, even though I should not wish to believe in
Thine existence, I cannot but understand that
Thou dost exist.
CHAPTER V
WHAT then art Thou Lord God, Thou
than which nothing greater can be conceived? What indeed but that Supreme Good
which being alone of all things self-existent,
didst make all other things beside Thee out of
nothing? For whatsoever is not this is less
than can be conceived: but Thou canst not be
conceived to be less than the highest conceivable. What good thing is lacking to the
Supreme Good, whereon depends the being of
every good thing beside? Thou therefore art
righteous, true, blessed, and hast all attributes
which it is better to have than to be without;
for it is better to be righteous than not righteous,
and blessed than not blessed.
CHAPTER VI
BUT since it is better to have perception or to
have omnipotence, to be pitiful or to be without passions, than not to have these attributes; how hast Thou perception, if Thou art not a
body? or omnipotence, if Thou canst not do
everything? or how art Thou at one and the
same time pitiful and without passions? For if
only bodily things have perception, since the
senses with which we perceive belong and attach
to the body; how canst Thou have perception,
since Thou art not a body but the Supreme
Spirit, which is higher than a body can be?
But if perception is only knowledge or a means
towards knowledge; since he who perceives, has
knowledge thereby, according to the special
character of the senses, by sight of colours, by
taste of savours and so forth: then whatsoever
has knowledge in whatsoever manner may be
said without impropriety in some sense to perceive. Therefore, O Lord, although Thou art
not a body, yet of a truth Thou hast in this
sense perception in the highest degree, since
Thou knowest all things in the highest degree;
but not in the sense wherein an animal that has
knowledge by means of bodily feeling is said to
have perception.
CHAPTER VII
BUT again, how canst Thou be omnipotent,
if Thou canst not do all things? Yet if
Thou canst not suffer corruption, canst not lie,
canst not make what is true to be false, or what is done, undone, and so forth; how canst Thou
do all things? Or shall we say that to be
capable of these would be not power but rather
impotence? For he who can do these, can do
what is not expedient for him, and what he
ought not; and the more he can do what is not
expedient for him and what he ought not, the
more power have evil and wickedness over him,
and the less power hath he against them. He
therefore that can do such things, can do them
in virtue not of power but of impotence. For
he is said to be able to do them, not because he
himself has power in doing them, but because
his impotence gives something else power to
work in him; or else in an improper way of
speaking, such as we often use when we put to be
for not to be, and to do for not to do or to do
nothing. For we often say to one who says
that a thing is not such-and-such: It is as you
say it is; when it would seem more proper to
say, It is not as you say it is not. Again we
say: This man sits, as that man does; or This
man rests as that man does: though sitting is a
kind of not doing, and resting is doing nothing.
Thus then when a man is said to have the power
of doing or undergoing what is not expedient for
him or what he ought not, the word power
signifies impotence; since the more power of
this sort he hath, the more power have evil and
wickedness against him, and the less hath he
against them. Therefore, O Lord God, Thou
art all the more truly omnipotent, that Thou canst do nothing that is done through impotence,
and nothing hath any power against Thee.
CHAPTER VIII
ONCE again, how art Thou at the same time
pitiful and yet without passions? For
unless Thou have passions, Thou wilt not have
compassion; if Thou hast not compassion, Thy
heart is not made sorry by compassion, that is
by fellow-feeling with the sorrowful; and this is
what pity is. Yet if Thou art not pitiful,
whence have the sorrowful so great consolation
from Thee? How then canst Thou at once be
and not be pitiful, O Lord, unless because Thou
art pitiful in respect of us, and art not pitiful in
respect of Thyself? For Thou art pitiful to
our apprehension, and art not pitiful to Thine
own. For when Thou hast respect to us in
our sorrow, we perceive the effects of pity; but
Thou feelest not the emotion thereof. And
thus Thou art pitiful in that Thou savest the
wretched, and sparest those that sin against
Thee; and yet again Thou art not moved by a
fellow-feeling with our misery.
CHAPTER IX
AGAIN, how dost Thou spare the wicked, if Thou art wholly and supremely just? For how dost Thou, being wholly and supremely just, do aught that is not just? And what
manner of justice is that, to give eternal life to
one that deserves eternal death? Whence then,
O good God, good both to the good and to the
evil, whence is it that Thou savest the evil, if to
save the evil is not just, and yet Thou doest
nothing that is not just? Or is it because Thy
goodness is incomprehensible that this lieth hid
in that light unapproachable which is Thy
dwelling-place? Verily it is in the most deep
and secret abyss of Thy goodness that there
lieth hid the fountain, whence floweth the river
of Thy mercy. For though Thou art wholly
and supremely just, yet art Thou also gracious
to the wicked, because Thou art wholly and
supremely good. For Thou wouldest be less
good, if Thou wert not gracious to any that was
evil. For better is he who is good both to the
good and to the evil than he who is good to the
good only; and better is he who is good to the
evil both in punishing and in sparing them, than
he who is good in punishing them only. Therefore Thou art pitiful because Thou art wholly
and supremely good. And although perchance
we suppose that we see reason why Thou dost
reward good to the good and evil to the evil,
yet certainly we must be filled with wonder why
Thou, being wholly and supremely just and
having need of nothing, renderest good to the
evil and those who have sinned against Thee.
O the depth of Thy goodness, O God! We
both see whence Thou art merciful and yet see it only in part. We perceive whence the river
flows, yet behold not the fountain from which it
springs. For it is of the plenitude of Thy
goodness, that Thou art kind to them that have
sinned against Thee; and yet it lieth hid in the
depth of Thy goodness wherefore this is so.
Verily although it is in Thy goodness that Thou
rewardest good to the good, and evil to the evil;
yet this the rule of justice seems to require. But
when Thou rewardest good to the evil, then we
know that the supremely Good willed to do
that, yet wonder that the supremely Just was
able so to will. O thou mercy of God, from
how abundant a sweetness, from how sweet an
abundance flowest thou forth unto us! O
boundless goodness of God, how ought we
sinners to be moved by love of Thee! For
Thou savest the just, justice assenting; but
deliverest the wicked, when justice condemns
them; Thou savest the just by the help of their
deserts; Thou deliverest the wicked against
their deserts; Thou savest the just, acknowledging in them the good which Thou didst
give them; Thou deliverest the wicked, pardoning the evil which Thou hatest. O immeasurable
goodness, passing all understanding,Philipp. iv. 7.
let that
mercy be shed upon me, which proceedeth from
the great riches of that goodness! Let there
flow into me that mercy which floweth out of that goodness. Spare in Thy mercy,
and take not vengeance in Thy justice. For although it be hard to understand how Thy mercy is not
parted from Thy justice; yet is it necessary
to believe that it is not at enmity with Thy
justice, that it floweth from Thy goodness, that
it is not without justice, nay in truth accordeth
with Thy justice. For if Thou art merciful
only because Thou art supremely good, and art
supremely good only because Thou art supremely
just: therefore art Thou in truth merciful because
Thou art supremely just. Help me, O just and
merciful God, for I seek Thy light. Help me,
that I may understand what I say! Verily then
Thou art merciful because Thou art just. Is
then Thy mercy born of Thy justice? Dost
Thou then out of justice spare the wicked? If
it be so, O Lord, if it be so, teach me how it
is so. Is it because it is just that Thou shouldest
so be good that Thou couldst not be conceived
better, and shouldest work so mightily that
Thou couldst not be conceived mightier? For
what is juster than this? Yet this would not
be, if Thou wert good in punishing only, not in
sparing; and if Thou madest them good only
that were merely not good, and not also those
that were evil. And so it is just that Thou
shouldst spare the wicked, and make them that
were wicked to be good. Lastly, what is not
done justly, ought not to be done; and what
ought not to be done, is done unjustly. If then
Thou dost not have mercy on the wicked justly,
then Thou hast mercy on them unjustly: and
since it were blasphemy to say this, it is fit to believe that Thou hast mercy on the wicked
justly.
CHAPTER X
BUT it is also just that Thou shouldest punish the wicked; for what is more just than
that the good should receive good things and
the evil evil things? How then is it just for
Thee both to punish the wicked and also to
spare them? For when Thou dost punish the
wicked, it is just, because it is agreeable to their
deserts; but when Thou sparest them, it is
just also, because though it befitteth not their
deserts, yet it befitteth Thy goodness. For in
sparing the wicked Thou are just in respect of
Thyself, though not in respect of us; just asCompare chap. viii. above.
Thou art pitiful in respect of us and not in
respect of Thyself; since in saving us, whom
Thou mightest justly destroy, Thou art pitiful;
not that Thou art Thyself moved by the feeling
of pity, but that we feel the effect of pity; and
in the same manner Thou art just, not that Thou
hast rendered to us what we have deserved, but
that Thou dost what becometh Thee, the
supremely Good. Thus dost Thou without
contradiction punish justly and justly spare.
CHAPTER XI
BUT is it not also just even in respect of
Thyself, O Lord, to punish the wicked?
For it is just that Thou shouldest be so just as
no man could conceive Thee juster; and this
Thou wouldest by no means be, if Thou didst
only render good to the good and not evil to
the evil. Far juster is he that rewards the good
and evil alike according to their deservings and
not the good only. And so Thou art just in
respect of Thyself, O just and gracious God,
both when Thou punishest and when Thou
sparest. Verily then all the paths of the Lord
are mercy and truthPs. xxv. 9.
and yet the Lord is just or
righteous in all His waysPs. cxlv. 17.
: and that without
contradiction, since those whom Thou dost will
to punish, it is not just should be saved: and
whom Thou dost will to spare, it is not just
should be condemned. For that alone is just,
which Thou dost will, and that not just, which
Thou wiliest not. Thus then is Thy mercy
born of Thy justice, because it is just that Thou
shouldest be so good as to be good even in
sparing; and this is perchance why the supremely
just can will good to the evil. But if it can at
all be apprehended why Thou canst will to save
the wicked; certainly that can by no means be
comprehended why among those alike wicked Thou savest these rather than those by Thy
supreme goodness and condemnest those rather
than these by Thy supreme justice. Thus then
hast Thou indeed perception and omnipotence,
art pitiful and yet without passion; as Thou
hast life, wisdom, goodness, blessedness, eternity
and whatsoever other attributes it is better to
have than not to have.
CHAPTER XII
BUT certainly whatsoever Thou art, this
Thou art by reason of nothing else outside
of Thyself.St Anselm means that there is this difference
between God and us: if one of us is living or wise
or good we partake of a life or wisdom or a goodness
which is not ourselves: we are said to have life or
wisdom or goodness, not to be life or wisdom or
goodness: we may cease to have them or partake of
them, and then we are living or wise or good no
longer. But with God this is not so; there is no
such distinction between Him and His life or wisdom
or goodness; He is that life or wisdom or goodness,
in virtue of which He is said to be living or wise or
good.
Thou therefore art the life whereby Thou livest; and that wisdom whereby Thou
art wise; and that very goodness, whereby Thou
art good both to the good and also to the evil;
and so with the rest of Thine attributes.
CHAPTER XIII
BUT everything which is anyhow comprehended in place or time, is less than that
which no law of place or time restraineth.
Since then there is nothing greater than Thou, no
place or time comprehendeth Thee, but Thou
art everywhere and always: and of Thee alone
can it be said Thou alone art uncircumscribed and
eternal. How then are other spirits called uncircumscribed and eternal? Thou indeed art
alone eternal; because Thou alone of all beings
neither beginnest nor ceasest to be. But how
art Thou alone uncircumscribed? May we say
that the created spirit in comparison of Thee is
circumscribed, though in comparison of the
body, uncircumscribed? For the body is altogether circumscribed, since it is altogether in
some certain place, and cannot be at the same
time in any other; and this we see only in what
is of the nature of body. That again is uncircumscribed, which is altogether in all places at
the same time; and this is conceived to be true
of Thee only. But that is at once circumscribed and uncircumscribed which being wholly
in some certain place, can be at the same time
wholly elsewhere; and this we know to be true
of created spirits. For if the soul were not
wholly in every member of its body, it would
not be able wholly to have feeling in every member.That is, when I feel, for example, a pain in my
finger, it is I that feel it; I am not conscious of a
division in my consciousness. The body is divided into
parts, but not the consciousness: the finger has not a
consciousness of its own, distinct from that of the
next finger, but I, one and the same consciousness,
am conscious of feelings now in one finger, now in
another. This remains true, notwithstanding the
facts now known, but unknown to St Anselm, which
show that particular kinds of consciousness are connected with particular parts of the brain; so that
injury to, or removal of a particular part of the brain
makes one incapable of a certain kind of consciousness.
For despite this fact, the consciousness is not divided
into parts one outside of another; the consciousness is
one at each moment; the division into parts, one out
side of the other, is only true of the brain, which by
experiments (not by immediate consciousness) we find
to be bound up with our consciousness. We are not
directly conscious of our brains at all; and for many
centuries it was held to be uncertain whether the brain
was the organ of consciousness or not.
Thou then, O Lord, art in a sense
wherein it is true of nothing else, at once uncircumscribed and eternal; and yet other spirits
also are uncircumscribed and eternal.
CHAPTER XIV
HAST thou then found, O my soul, that
which thou wast seeking? Thou wast
seeking God and thou hast found that He is
that thing which is supreme among all things,
than which nothing better can be conceived,
and that this is very life, light, wisdom, goodness, eternal bliss and blissful eternity, and that
this is everywhere and always. For if thou
hast not found thy God, how can He be this
which thou hast found, and which thou hast
with so certain an assurance, so assured a certainty understood Him to be? But if thou hast
found Him, why dost thou not perceive that
which thou hast found? Why doth my soul
not perceive Thee, O Lord God, if she hath
found Thee? Hath she not found Thee, whom
she hath found to be light and truth? Or could
she understand anything at all concerning Thee,
except by Thy light and truth? If then she
hath seen light and truth, she hath seen Thee;
if she hath not seen Thee, she hath seen neither
light nor truth. Or is it rather that that which
she hath seen is indeed both truth and light; and
yet she hath not yet seen Thee because she hath
seen Thee in part only, but hath not seen Thee
as Thou art?1 John iii. 2.
O Lord my God, my Creator
and Renewer, tell my soul that longeth after
Thee, what else Thou art beside what she hath
seen, that she may see clearly that after which
she longeth. She stretcheth out herself that she
may see more, and yet seeth nothing beyond
what she hath seen, except mere darkness.
Nay, she seeth not darkness, for in Thee is no
darkness;1 John i. 5.
but she seeth that she can see no
farther, because of the darkness which is in
herself. Wherefore is this, O Lord, wherefore
is this? Are her eyes darkened by her own
infirmity, or are they dazzled by Thy splendour?
Surely she is both darkened in herself and
dazzled by Thee. Thus also she is darkened
by reason of her own littleness, and overwhelmed
by reason of Thine immeasurable greatness.
She is straitened by her own narrowness, and
vanquished by Thy vastness. For how great is
that Light, whereby every truth shineth that
doth enlighten the rational intelligence! How
vast is that Truth, wherein is contained every
thing that is true, and outside whereof is only
nothingness and falsehood! How immeasurable
is that Vision which beholdeth in one glance all
things that have been created and whence and
by whom and how they were created out of
nothing! What purity, what simplicity, what
clearness and splendour is there!I read ibi for
ubi here.
Surely more
than can be comprehended by any creature.
CHAPTER XV
THEREFORE, O Lord, not only art
Thou that than which no greater can be
conceived, but Thou art something greater than
can be conceived. For because there may be
conceived to be something greater than can be
conceived; if Thou art not that something,
there may be conceived something greater than
Thee; which is impossible.
CHAPTER XVI
VERILY, O Lord, this is the light unapproachable, wherein Thou dwellest; for
of a truth there is nothing beside Thyself that
can enter into that light, there to behold Thee
in Thy fulness. Verily then I see not that
light, for it is too great for me; and yet whatsoever I see, I see by means of that light; even
as a weak eye seeth what it doth see by means
of the sun’s light, yet cannot look upon that
light as it is in the sun himself. My understanding cannot attain to that light unapproachable; it is too bright for it, it taketh it not in,
nor can my soul’s eye bear long to be directed
toward it. It is dazzled by the brightness,
vanquished by the vastness, overwhelmed by the
immensity, confounded by the compass thereof.
O supreme and unapproachable Light! O
entire and blessed Truth! how far off art Thou
from me, who am so near to Thee! How far
removed art Thou from my sight, who am
wholly present to Thine? Thou art everywhere
wholly present, yet I see Thee not. In Thee I move, in Thee I have my being;Acts xvii. 18.
yet can I
not approach unto Thee. Thou art within me
and about me, yet I perceive Thee not.
CHAPTER XVII
HITHERTO, O Lord, Thou art hid from
my soul in Thine own light and bliss;
and therefore she goeth up and down in her
darkness and misery. For she looketh about
her, and beholdeth not Thy beauty. She listeneth, and heareth not Thy harmony. She smelleth and perceiveth not Thy sweetness. She
tasteth, and hath no sense of Thy goodness.
She toucheth, and feeleth not Thy smoothness.
For Thou hast all these, beauty to the sight,
harmony to the ear, sweetness to the smell,
goodness to the taste, smoothness to the touch,
all in Thee, O Lord God, in Thine own ineffable way, since it is Thou who hast granted to
sensible things to have them in their own way
which our bodily senses perceive; but the senses
of my soul are stiffened and dulled and obstructed
by the long sickness of sin.
CHAPTER XVIII
AND once more behold, trouble!Jer. xiv. 19.
So once
more cometh sorrow and grief to me that
sought after joy and gladness.Ps. li. 8.
My soul hoped but now to
be filled, and behold, once more is she bowed down by want. I sought to eat and
be satisfied, and lo, I am more hungry than before. I strove to rise up into the light of God, and have
fallen back into mine own darkness. Nay, not only have I fallen into the
darkness, but I perceive myself encompassed about thereby. I fell into it before
my mother conceived me.Ps. li. 5.
Surely I was conceived in darkness, and was born under
the shadow thereof. Surely we all fell in him, in whom we all have sinned.Rom. v.
12. The Vulgate (like A.V. marg.) renders the last words of this verse: in whom all have
sinned.
We
all lost in him who might easily have kept it and lost it to his own sorrow and
ours, that which when we desire to seek, we know not: when we seek, we find not:
when we find, is not that which we seek. Help me then, according to Thy
goodness! Lord, I have sought Thy face; Thy face, Lord, will I seek; O hide not
Thou Thy face from me.Ps. xxvii. 9, 10.
Raise me up out of myself unto Thee.Reading
Releva.
Cleanse, heal,
quicken, enlighten the eye of my mind that it may look upon Thee. Grant that my
soul may collect her strength once more and with all the power of her
understanding strive after Thee, O Lord. What art Thou, O Lord, what art Thou?
How shall my heart understand what Thou art? Surely Thou art life and wisdom and
truth and goodness and blessedness and eternity and everything that is truly
good. These indeed are many; but my narrow understanding cannot see so many good things in one
apprehension at one and the same time, so as to
be delighted by the presence of all at once.
How then, O Lord, art Thou all these? Are
they parts of Thee, or is rather everyone of these
wholly what Thou art? For whatsoever is
composed of parts is not in all respects one, but
in a certain respect many and diverse from itself;
and either actually or in thought can be dissolved: but to be many and not one, or to be
capable of dissolution even in thought is far from
Thy nature, since Thou art that than which no
better can be conceived. Thus there are no
parts in Thee, O Lord, nor art Thou many and
not one: but Thou art one and the same with
Thyself, so that in nothing art Thou unlike
Thyself, nay, rather Thou art very Oneness,
indivisible by any understanding. Therefore life
and wisdom and Thine other attributes are not
parts of Thee but are all one, and everyone of
them is wholly what Thou art and what the
other attributes are. And as Thou hast no parts,
so neither is Thine eternity which is Thyself, at
any place or time a part of Thee or of Thy
whole eternity; but Thou art wholly everywhere and Thine eternity is wholly at all times.St Anselm here explains
that, as God’s attributes cannot be distinguished from Himself, as our
attributes can be distinguished from ourselves—see chap. xiii.—so they cannot
be so distinguished from one another, as to be looked upon in the light of parts
which added together make up the composite notion of God’s nature. We may only
be able to think first of one divine attribute, then of another; but we must not suppose
God’s nature to be divisible, even in thought: we can
conceive of many things as divided which we cannot
actually cut up into parts; and many things which we
always find together we can think of as separate; but
we must think of God as so perfectly one that no
division or dissolution into constituent elements or
parts can for a moment be thought of in His case.
Otherwise He would not be the original and ultimate
Reality, but would have grown out of the coalescence
of simpler elements into one complex being.
CHAPTER XIX
BUT if Thou wast and art and shalt be by
reason of Thine eternity; and past being
is other than present being, and present being
than past or future being: how can Thine
eternity be said to be wholly at all times?Because if the divine eternity be thought of merely
as a continual passing of time which did not begin and
will not end, it will be made up, just as time is, of
successive parts of duration, which cannot be all there
at once.
Or
shall we say that nothing has passed away from
Thine eternity so as now not to be, though
once it was; nor anything to come, as though
it were not as yet? Thou then wert not
yesterday nor shalt be to-morrow; but yesterday
and to-day and to-morrow Thou art. Nay, not
even art Thou yesterday and to-day and to
morrow; but Thou art, without any qualification,
apart from all time; for yesterday, to-day and
to-morrow are distinctions in time; but Thou, although nothing is without Thee, art nevertheless
Thyself neither in place nor in time, but all
things are in Thee; nothing comprehendeth
Thee but Thou comprehendest all things.
CHAPTER XX
THOU therefore dost fill and embrace all
things; Thou art before and beyond all
things. And indeed Thou art before all things;
because before they were made, Thou art.John viii. 58.
But how art Thou before all things? For in
what manner art Thou beyond those things
which are to have no end?He has probably in view angels and human souls.
Is it because they
can in no wise be without Thee; but Thou,
even though they should return into nothingness,
no less art? In this way then Thou art in a
manner of speaking beyond them. Or is it
again because they can be conceived of as having
an end, but Thou canst not? For in this way
indeed they have in some sense an end;That is, they might possibly have an end, though
they will not. God who created them out of nothing,
might annihilate them; though such is not His will.
but
Thou in no sense. And certainly that which
in no sense hath an end is beyond that which in
any sense hath an end. Dost Thou then thus
also transcend all things, even though they be
eternal, in that Thine eternity and theirs is present to Thee in their entirety, while they
have not yet that part of their eternity which is
to come, as they have no longer that part which
is past. Thus Thou ever transcendest them;
both in that Thou art always present to them,
and because that is ever present to Thee
whereunto they have not yet come.
CHAPTER XXI
IS this what we call the age of the age or the
ages of the ages?Saeculum saeculi, saecula saeculorum: translated in our
Bibles and Prayer-books, world without end.
For just as the age of
timeSaeculum temporum, an age made up of times. In
the Bible the whole course of this world, which goes
on in time, is represented as destined to come to an
end in the consummation of all things, which is often
spoken of as the end of the age, consummatio saeculi
(Matt. xiii. 40; xxiv. 3): the age then to be brought
to a close is here thought of as an age embracing the
various times which will have elapsed from the creation
to the last day; for, according to St Augustine, time
and the world were created together; the world was
created not in tempore but cum tempere. In the
Apocalypse (x. 6) an angel is represented as proclaiming
that there shall be time no longer. The saeculum which
now is, is contrasted with the saeculum, the world or
age to come in such passages as Matt. xii. 32;
Mark x. 30; Luke xviii. 30.
comprehendeth all things that are in time,
so Thine eternity comprehendeth the very ages
of times themselves. And it is indeed rightly called an age, because it is one and indivisible;
but also ages, because of the boundless immensity
thereof. And although Thou art so great, O
Lord, that all things are full of Thee and are
in Thee; yet Thou art such, without being in
space, so that in Thee there is neither middle
nor half nor any other part.
CHAPTER XXII
THOU therefore alone, O Lord, art what
Thou art, and who Thou art. For what
is one thing in the whole and another in the
parts and has in it anything subject to change, is
not in all respects what it is.Finite things are not at one time all that they are,
taken as a whole; for that would include what they
were but now are not, what they will be but are not
yet, as well as what they are at the moment. What
we are at any one moment is but a fragment of what
we reckon ourselves to be; our possibilities are not
exhausted in our actual condition at a particular point
of time.
And whatsoever
was not and begins to be, can be conceived
not to be; and except something other than
itself maintain it in existence, returns into
nothingness; and has a past self which is not
what now is; and a future self which it as yet
is not; that can only be said to exist in a
secondary and relative sense. But Thou art
what Thou art, because whatsoever Thou art
at any time or in any way, that Thou art wholly and always. And Thou art
who Thou art in
the primary and unqualified sense of the words;
because Thou hast neither a past self nor a future
self but only present self, nor canst Thou be
conceived as at any time not existing. More
over Thou art life and light and wisdom and
blessedness and eternity and many other such
like good things, and yet art but the One Supreme
Good, in all respect sufficient to Thyself and
needing none beside Thee, while all things
beside Thee cannot without Thee have either
being or well-being.
CHAPTER XXIII
THIS Good art Thou, O Thou God the
Father; this Good is Thy Word, that is,
Thy Son. For there can be nothing else in the
Word whereby Thou utterest Thyself but what
Thou art, nor anything greater or less than
Thou art; because Thy Word is as true as
Thou art truthful. And therefore He is as
Thou art, the very Truth; not another Truth
than Thyself: and Thou art so utterly without
complexity in Thy nature that of Thee there
cannot be born anything that is other than what
Thou Thyself art. This same Good is the one
mutual Love which is between Thee and Thy
Son, that is, the Holy Spirit proceeding from
both. For the same Love is not unequal to Thee or to Thy Son, because Thou lovest
Thyself and Him, and He Himself and Thee
with a Love as great as Thou art and as He is;
nor can that be other than Thou and than He
which is not unequal to Thyself and to Him;
nor from Thy supreme simplicity of nature can
there proceed anything which is other than that
from which it proceedeth. But that which each
Person is, that the whole Trinity, Father, Son
and Holy Ghost, is at once; because each by
Himself is nothing else than the supremely
simple Unity and the supremely one Simplicity,
which cannot be multiplied nor can be now one
thing and now another. For there is one thing
necessary;Porro unum est necessarium, But one thing is needful,
the words of our Lord to Martha in Luke x. 41.
St Anselm takes hold of the word, thinking of its
philosophical sense, in which it is the opposite of
contingent, and means what cannot be, so to speak,
thought away, but must always be supposed to exist
to account for the being of anything else; and is thus
applied to God, as the ultimate Reality at the back of
everything. And so he interprets the Gospel saying
here of the unity of God, the necessary Being.
and doubtless this is that one thing
necessary, that wherein is all good, nay rather,
which is all good, the one wholly and solely Good.
CHAPTER XXIV
AROUSE thyself, O my soul, and stir up thine understanding and consider so far as thou canst what and how great is this Good. For if particular good things are delightful,
consider earnestly how delightful must be that
Good which comprehendeth the pleasantness of
all particular goods; and that in a pleasantness
not such as we have known by experience in
things created, but surpassing that no less than
the Creator surpasseth the creature. For if the
life that is created be good, how good must be
the Life that createth! If health that is made
be pleasant, how pleasant must be that Health
that is the cause of all health! If the wisdom
be desirable that consisteth in the knowledge
of things created, how desirable must be the
Wisdom that wrought all things of nothing.
Lastly, if there be many great delights in things
delightful, what manner of delight and how great
must these be in Him who made those very
things themselves that are so delightful.
CHAPTER XXV
O WHO shall enjoy this Good! And what shall he have, and what shall he lack?
Surely whatsoever he wisheth he shall have and
whatsoever he wisheth not, he shall be without.
For there shall be goods of body and of soul,
such as eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither
have entered into the heart of man1 Cor. ii. 9.
to conceive.
Why then, poor child of man, dost thou wander
hither and thither, seeking the goods of thy soul and body? Love the one Good wherein are
all goods, and it sufficeth thee. Set thy desires
upon that uncompounded Good which is all
good, and it is enough. For what dost thou
love, O my flesh, what dost thou desire, O my
soul? If beauty delight thee, the righteous shall
shine forth as the sunMatt. xiii. 43.
: if swiftness or strength
or freedom of body which nothing may hinder,
they are as the angels of God,Matt. xxii. 30.
because it is sown
a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body,1 Cor. xv. 44.
spiritual, that is, in powers, not in nature. If a
long life of health, there is an eternity of health;
for the righteous live for evermoreWisdom v. 15.
and the health
of the righteous cometh of the Lord.Ps. xxxvii. 40. The Latin word
salus may mean
either health or salvation.
If abundance, they shall be satisfied when the glory of God
shall appear.Ps. xvii. 16. (In the English Prayer-Book version When I awake up after thy likeness, I shall be satisfied
with
it, but in the Vulg. I shall be satisfied when thy glory
shall appear).
If drunkenness, they shall be made
drunken with the plenteousness of God’s house.Ps. xxxvi. 8 (acc. to the Vulg.).
If melody, there shall the choirs of angels sing
together unto God for ever and ever. If any
pleasure, so it be but chaste, Thou shalt give
them drink of Thy pleasures as out of the river.Ps. xxxvi. 8.
If wisdom, the very Wisdom of God shall manifest itself to them.Probably with reference to John xiv. 21.
If friendship, they
shall love God above themselves and one an
other as themselvesSee Matt. xxii. 37-40.
; and God shall love them
more than they love themselves; for they shall
love Him and one another in Him; and He
shall love Himself and them in Himself. If
concord, they shall all have one will, for they
shall have no will but God’s will only. If
power, they shall be almighty to do their own
wills, even as God to do His; for as God shall
be able to do what He willeth through His own
power, so shall they be able to do what they
will through His power; since, as they will
nothing else but what He wills, so He shall
will whatsoever they will; and whatsoever He
willeth cannot but be. If honour and riches,
God shall set His good and faithful servants
over many thingsMatt. xxv. 23.
; yea, they shall be called
sons of God, and gods1 John iii. 1, 2. John x. 34, 35.
; and where His Son
shall be, there also they shall be,John xiv. 3.
heirs of God
and joint-heirs with Christ.Rom. viii. 17.
If true security,
certainly they shall be as sure that those goods,
or rather that Good, shall never and in no wise
fail them as they shall be sure that they will not
lose it of their own free will, and that God
their lover will not take it against their wills
from them that love Him, and that nothing
mightier than God will separate God and them
against their wills.Rom. viii. 39.
But what manner of joy and how great a joy must there be, where there
is such and so great a Good! O thou human
heart, thou hungry heart, thou heart acquainted
with sorrow, nay overwhelmed by sorrow, how
wouldest thou rejoice if thou didst abound in all
these goods! Look into thine heart and ask
it whether it could contain the greatness of
the joy which it would have, did it possess so
great happiness. Yet surely if another whom
thou didst love altogether as well as thyself,
were to have the same happiness, thy joy would
be doubled, since thou wouldst rejoice for him
no less than for thyself. But if two or three or
many more should have the same happiness,
thou wouldst rejoice as much for each as for
thyself, didst thou love each as thyself. Therefore in that perfect mutual love of innumerable
blessed angels and men, where none loveth
another less than himself, each will rejoice no
less for every other, than for himself. If then
the heart of a man can scarce contain the joy
he will have in himself in one enjoyment of so
great a good, how shall it be capable of so many
and so great joys? And since every man
rejoiceth in the good of any in proportion as he
loveth Him, as in that perfect felicity everyone
will love God beyond all comparison more than
he loves himself and all his fellows; so will he
rejoice beyond all measure more in the felicity
of God than in his own and that of all his
fellows. But if they so love God with their
whole heart, their whole mind, their whole soul,Matt. xxii. 37.
yet so that the whole heart, the whole
mind, the whole soul shall not suffice to the
excellency of the love; it will follow that they
shall so rejoice with their whole heart, their
whole mind, their whole soul, that their whole
heart, their whole mind, their whole soul shall
not suffice to the fulness of their joy.
CHAPTER XXVI
O MY God and my Lord, my hope and the
joy of my heart, tell my soul if this be
the joy whereof Thou sayest unto us by Thy
Son, Ask and ye shall receive, that your joy may
be full.John xvi. 24.
For I have found a joy that is full and
more than full. For when heart and mind and
soul and the whole man are full of that joy, yet
shall the joy abound yet more beyond measure.
Therefore that joy shall not wholly enter into
them that rejoice therein; but they that rejoice
shall wholly enter into that joy. Tell, O Lord,
tell Thy servant inwardly in his heart, if this
be the joy whereunto Thy servants shall enter,
who shall enter into the joy of their Lord.Matt. xxv. 21, 23.
But
assuredly that joy, wherein Thine elect shall
rejoice, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither
hath it entered into the heart of man.1 Cor. ii. 9.
And so
I have not yet uttered or conceived, O Lord, the greatness of the joy of Thy blessed ones.
For their joy shall be as great as their love and
their love as their knowledge. How great
shall be their knowledge of Thee, O Lord,
and how great their love of Thee! Surely in
this life eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither
hath it entered into the heart of man1 Cor. ii. 9.
to conceive
the greatness of their knowledge and love of
Thee in the life to come. I pray Thee, O
God, let me know Thee and love Thee so that
I may rejoice in Thee. And if I cannot know
Thee, love Thee, rejoice in Thee fully in this
life, let me go forward from day to day, until
that knowledge, love and joy at last may be full.
Let the knowledge of Thee grow in me here,
and there be made full; let the love of Thee
increase in me here and there be full; so that
my joy may here be great in hope and there full
in fruition. O Lord, by Thy Son Thou dost
command, nay counsel us to seek and dost
promise to accept us that our joy may be full!
I seek, O Lord, that which by Thy wonderful
CounsellorIsa. ix. 6.
Thou counsellest us to seek; I will
accept that which Thou dost promise by Thy
Truth, that my joy may be full. O Thou
faithful God, I seek; grant that I may receive
that my joy may be full. Meanwhile may my
mind meditate thereon; may my tongue talk
hereof; may my heart love it, my mouth utter
it, my soul hunger after it, my flesh thirst after
it, my whole substance long for it, until I enter
into the joy of my Lord, three persons in one
God, blessed for evermore. Amen.
Note on the Argument of the Proslogion.
The argument which Anselm embodied in
the Proslogion may thus be stated. Whoever
speaks of God, even if only, like the Fool in
the Psalms, to say There is no God, must, if he
is not content to use words without any meaning
at all, attach some sense to the word God. Now
the sense in which, as a matter of fact, this word
is used, as well by those who deny as by those
who affirm the real existence of what is denoted
is this: That than which no greater can be conceived. Whoever asserts, however, that
this does
not exist, involves himself in a plain contradiction. For in asserting that that than which no
greater can be conceited does not exist, he implies
at once that he can conceive something greater,
namely that which, beside being all that this is
conceived to be, shall also be real. It would lie
outside my present task to discuss this argument
at length. But as the reader may fairly ask
what is thought of the argument by those who
make the criticism of such reasonings their business, I will now add a few observations to what
I have already said in the Introduction. I shall
not indeed state in detail whether this or that
philosopher accepted it or rejected it; for such
a catalogue of views and doctrines is by itself a very barren and unprofitable sort of knowledge.
But to mention some of the points on which
the criticism of Anselm’s argument might
fasten and has fastened, may well be of use in
the way of guidance and suggestion, and this I
will do, using technical expressions as little as I
can, and assuming as little as I may a previous
study of philosophy in my readers.
1. It may be asked, Does the argument , as it
stands, prove what it proposes to prove? It is
difficult, I think, to deny that it seems to do so,
and yet most readers will feel that it leaves them
unconvinced. They will be inclined to say of
it, as Hume said of Bishop Berkeley’s philosophy,
that it admits of no answer and produces no conviction. They will suspect some fallacy, some
sophistry, they will be sure that it can only be
by some trick that they are led so suddenly from
the idea or conception of God to belief in His
reality, for they are certain that the evidence of
reality must be something other than a mere idea.
What should it be then? The first answer
which suggests itself is probably, The evidence of
the senses. Seeing is believing, says the proverb.
And in many cases this is true. Who can hold a
fire in his hand, asks Bolingbroke in Shakespeare’s Richard II., by thinking on the frosty Caucasus?
And Kant, the greatest of all the unfavourable
critics of the Ontological Argument, suggested
that a hundred dollars in my pocket are some
thing very different from any thought of such a
sum. But then the most important thing about fire is that it should warm us; about dollars that
they should be handled and pass from hand to
hand. This is not so with God. No man hath
seen God at any time. He is not an object of
the senses at all, but of faith. A vision may
sometimes be the means by which faith is won;
but it is not the vision in itself that assures us.
One may see and yet not believe. They have
both seen and hated, said our Lord, both Me and
My Father. And again it is written, Blessed
are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
Anselm, for his part, is quite clear that his
argument applies to God only. It is not at all
his intention to guarantee by his argument the
reality of everything of which we may be said
to have an idea. His contemporary critic, Gaunilo, thought that the same reasoning would
guarantee the existence of a most perfect island;
for we can form the idea of such an island really
existing; and if the island does not exist, this
idea would not be the idea of the most perfect
island, since such an island, really existing, would
be more perfect still; and we can frame the idea
of such an island. But Anselm replied to
Gaunilo that his reasoning was only applicable
to that than which no greater can be conceived;
for such a thing must be conceived to be eternal,
without beginning or end; and hence it cannot
be possible without being real. It is no part of
the notion of an island, even of the most perfect,
that it should be without beginning or end.
Hence all that our thought of the most perfect island involves is that it is
conceivable, possible;
that it may exist or have existed or be yet to
come into existence; but to speak of an eternal
object, one which has no beginning or end, in
this way, is absurd. It cannot, if it is not real
now, be possible, in the sense that it may have
existed in the past or may yet exist in the future;
it can only be possible if it actually exists. I see
no flaw in this answer of Anselm’s to his critic;
but it practically admits the insufficiency of the
original statement of the argument. For, as
originally stated, the argument does but show
that our notion of perfection is one which cannot
apply to a mere idea, but only to what is real;
it does not however prove that there is some
thing real to which it applies. The contradiction lies in thinking of it as unreal and yet as
perfect. Nothing is said in the original statement of the idea at first proving only the
possibility of its object; and proving the reality of
its object only in the case where possibility is
inconceivable without reality.
2. We may further ask, however, Does the
argument, if not as originally stated proving what
it proposes to prove, yet admit of a statement
which would prove it? That is, if we give up
the notion that the argument, as originally stated,
is by itself sufficient to refute atheism, is it sufficient, if we add to it the explanations by which
Anselm, replying to Gaunilo, was (as we have
seen) led to add to it? I think it is, so long as
we do not question the claim of thought to be our only criterion of reality. And few do seriously
question this claim. We look into a mirror and
see a looking-glass room. Do we believe, like
Alice in the fairy-tale, that we should find ourselves in that room, if we could only get through
the glass? Certainly not; that, we say, is no
real room, it is only a reflection. But why so?
We see it as much as we see this room in which
we are standing. We see it still, after we have
denied that it is real, just as much as we did
before. There it is; so is the room on this
side of the glass. Where is the difference?
We shall find that it is in consequence of the
contradictions between them, that we do not think
them equally real. On this side of the glass, if
you stretch out your hand to touch what looks
solid, it will feel solid, but if you stretch out
your hand to something which looks just the
same in the looking-glass room, you will feel
only the smooth surface of the mirror; if you
press on, you will break the glass, and the image
will vanish, not by the interposition of anything
but by the removal of what seemed to be between
us and it. You insist, then, that your world
shall be free from contradictions; and so where
you find in your every-day experience contradictions between appearances which are alike,
you say one is only appearance, a reflection of
the other which is real, and so fit both into one
harmonious system. It is not otherwise when
you rise from the experience of the senses to the
higher experience of science. We who believe the Copernican astronomy, and suppose that the
earth goes round the sun, not the sun round the
earth, see the sun rise in the east and set in the
west just as plainly as our ancestors did in the
days before Copernicus; but we say that this is
only appearance; really the earth is going round
the sun, not the sun round the earth. But why
really? Because this way of putting it explains
more, makes the whole of experience more
harmonious than it would be on any other theory.
And when we are not content even with
science; when we indulge ourselves in a faith
that, despite the many appearances which are
against it, the world is governed by the providence of a good God, we are still in the name
of harmony and consistency denying equal reality
to appearances which yet remain, as they were
before, equally apparent: just as we still see the
looking-glass room when we are no longer
children, and the sun rise when we have been
taught to believe in the Copernican system of
astronomy.
The Ontological Argument of Anselm then
is, if properly explained, sound, supposing we
assume that thought is the criterion of reality; or
rather, it is just the assertion that thought is
this criterion; that the standard by reference to
which we test the reality of everything else is a
standard which we carry with us, the standard
of what satisfies a thought intolerant of imperfection and contradiction, and insisting, where it
finds imperfection and contradiction, that it has before it only appearance and not what can finally
approve itself as real; that therefore that is the
most real which is the most satisfactory to thought.
3. We may, lastly, enquire whether the demonstration given by Anselm that our thought implies
the assurance of this perfect Reality, is precisely
what Anselm thought it to be, a proof of the existence of the God of religion? As to this, I will
briefly say that it does not seem to me to be so.
At least there are few men and perhaps no
Christians who will find in what this argument
proves to be real all that they need as an object
of religious worship. But Anselm did not
intend his Proslogion to be taken apart from his
Monologion, to which it is a sequel; even if he
thought, as he seems to have thought, that the Proslogion would by itself suffice for the refutation of atheism. That I have ventured here to
translate the Proslogion without the Monologion
is due to the circumstance that the intention of
this Selection is not philosophical but devotional;
and that the Proslogion is included in it less as a
philosophical argument than as an example to
show how philosophical reasoning can be made
a religious exercise. But Anselm had in the
Monologion already determined his conception
of the most real as the conception of the best.
That than which no greater can be conceived must
be that which our moral consciousness approves
as best; for our scale of values is derived from
our moral consciousness. Only if an ethical
interpretation be given to the conception of the most real will the argument of Anselm lead to
the God of religion; but nothing is said of this
in the argument itself. For Anselm himself
this interpretation was inevitable. His theology
was of the school of Plato, and the goodness
of God was its fundamental article. But this
article itself must be discussed by philosophy;
and while it is doubtful, the argument of
Anselm will not be found to bring us whither
he intended. The understanding at which he
aimed, he reckoned to be a half-way house
between faith and vision. It presupposed a faith
which could count nothing higher in the world or out of it, as Kant says, than
the good will:
and so it could seem to foreshadow the beatitude
pronounced on the pure in heart, that they should
see God.
MEDITATION I
Concerning the Dignity and the Misery of Human Nature.
I
That we were created in the Image and Likeness of God.
AWAKE, my soul, awake! show thy spirit,
arouse thy senses, shake off the sluggishness of that deadly heaviness that is upon thee,
begin to take care for thy salvation. Let the
idleness of vain imaginations be put to flight, let
go of sloth, hold fast to diligence. Be instant
in holy meditations, cleave to the good things
which are of God: leaving that which is temporal, give heed to that which is eternal. Now
in this godly employment of thy mind, to what
canst thou turn thy thoughts more wholesomely
and profitably than to the sweet contemplations
of thy Creator’s immeasurable benefits toward
thee. Consider therefore the greatness and
dignity that He bestowed upon thee at the
beginning of thy creation; and judge for thyself
with what love and reverence He ought to be
worshipped. For when, as He was creating
and ordering the whole world of things visible
and invisible, He had determined to create the nature of man, He took high counselGen. i. 26. The plural used in this sentence was
often referred to the plurality of Persons in the Holy
Trinity.
concerning the dignity of thy condition, forasmuch as He determined to honour thee more
highly than all other creatures that are in the
world.
Behold therefore to what greatness thou wast
created, and again consider what manner of love
thou oughtest to render therefore. Let Us make
man, saith God, in Our image, after Our likeness.
If thou art not aroused by this word of thy
Creator, if thou art not at so unspeakable a
goodness of condescension in Him towards thee,
set all on fire of love towards Him, if thy whole
heart is not inflamed with longing after Him,
what shall I say? Shall I count thee asleep, or rather dead?
Hearken then diligently what this meaneth,
that thou wast created in the image and likeness
of God. Thou hast here assured to thee sweet
matter for devout meditation, wherein to exercise
thy thoughts. Note therefore that the likeness
of God is one thing, the image another. Thus
a horse, an ox, and every other like creature
hath some likeness to a man; but none hath the
image of a man, except another man. A man
eateth, so doth a horse; here is a certain likeness, that is, something in common between
natures that are different. But the image of a
man none can express, except another man of the same nature as that whose image he is.
Thus the image is higher than the likeness.
Thus we may have in the way we have said,
some likeness to God if, considering that He is
good, we study to be good; if, knowing that
He is righteous, we endeavour to be righteous;
if, beholding His mercy, we give ourselves to
mercy.
But how can we be in His image. Hearken.
God is mindful of Himself, understandeth Himself, loveth Himself.See above, Proslogion, ch. i. p. 9, n. 2.
And thou too, if thou
after thy measure art mindful of God, understandest God, lovest God, then wilt thou be
in His image; for thou wilt be striving to do
that which God ever doth. Man ought to
make this the end of all his life, to be mindful
of the Chief Good, to understand it and to love
it; to this should every thought, every motion
of the heart be bent, be whetted, be conformed, that with an unwearying love thou
shouldst be mindful of God, understand God,
love God, and so for thy health set forth the
dignity of thy creation, wherein thou wast
created after the image of God. But why say
I that thou wast created after the image of
God, when, as the Apostle witnesseth, thou art
thyself the image of God. A man, saith the
Apostle, ought not to cover his head, forasmuch
as he is the image and glory of God.1 Cor. xi. 7.
II
That the End for which we were created was to glorify God for ever.
ARE not these inestimable benefits bestowed
upon thee by thy Creator enough for thee,
to make thee render to Him continual thanksgiving and pay to Him thy debt of love
unceasing, when thou considerest how at the
beginning of thy creation He called thee by His
goodness out of nothing, or rather out of the
dust of the earth to so great a height of dignity?
Apply to thine own life the words of the Saints.
Hear what is said concerning a Saint. This
then is the praise given to a Saint: With all his
heart he praised the Lord. Behold that end
whereunto thou wast created; behold the task
which thy Master hath set thee to do. For to
what end should God have raised thee up by so
glorious a privilege in thy creation but that He
desired thee to give thyself to His praises with
out ceasing? Thou wast then created to praise
thy Creator, so that, being occupied in nothing
else than His praises, thou mightest here by the
service of thy righteousness draw nearer unto
Him and hereafter attain to the life of blessedness. For His praise makes thy righteousness
in this world, and thy happiness in the world to
come. But if thou praisest, praise Him from
thy whole heart, praise Him by loving Him.
For this is the rule of praising that is given to the Saints: With all his heart he praised the
Lord and loved God that made him.Ecclesiasticus xvii. 8, acc. to Vulgate.
Praise therefore, and praise with thy whole
heart, and love Him whom thou praisest. For
he praiseth, but not with his whole heart, whom
prosperity persuadeth to bless God, but adversity
restraineth from the office of blessing. Again he
praiseth but loveth not, who in the praises of
God, seeketh to have anything by his praising
beside God Himself.
Praise therefore, and praise worthily, so that
to the utmost of thy power there be in thee no
charge, no thought, no contemplation, no carefulness of mind, that is void of the praise of
God. Let no worldly prosperity divert thee,
nor any worldly adversity restrain thee from His
praise. For thus thou wilt praise the Lord with
thy whole heart and with love also; thou wilt
seek from Him nothing else than Himself, that
He may Himself be the goal of thy desire and
the reward of thy labours, thy consolation in
this life of shadows and thy possession in the
blessed life to come. Hereunto wast thou
created, that thou shouldst bear a part in His
praises for ever and ever, and this thou shalt
more fully understand, when thou, being lifted
up by the blessed vision of Him, shalt see that
by His mere free bounty thou, when thou wast
not, wert out of nothing created to such happiness,
and created, called, justified, glorifiedRom. viii. 30.
unto such unspeakable bliss. For the contemplation of
such things will give to thee a love that shall
not weary of praising Him for ever, of whom
and by whom and in whom thou shalt rejoice
that thou art blessed with good things so great
and so unchangeable.
III
That wheresoever we are, we live and move and
have our being in God, so long as e we have
Him within us.
BUT leaving that felicity which is to be, with
the mind’s eye look for awhile also upon
the greatness of the favour which He hath
abundantly bestowed upon Thee even in this
transitory life. He who dwelleth in heaven,
who reigneth among the angels, to whom heaven
and earth and all that in them is, do reverence,
He hath given Himself to be thy dwelling; He
hath prepared for thee His presence as an abode,
for as the Apostle Paul teacheth, in Him we live
and move and have our being.Acts xvii. 28.
Life is sweet,
movement is pleasant, being is desirable. For
what can be sweeter than to have life in Him,
who is the Blessed Life itself? what pleasanter
than to order all the course of our will and deed
toward Him and in Him who maketh us strong
with everlasting stability? what more desirable
than by prayer and conversation to be continually
in Him, in whom alone is true being, nay rather
who alone is true being, without whom nothing
can have wellbeing. I, saith He, am that I
am.Exod. iii. 14.
This is a saying most excellent. For
He Himself alone hath true being, whose being
is unchangeable. Thus He, whose being is so
excellent, may be said to be in so especial a sense,
that He may be said alone in very truth to be;
in comparison of whom all being beside His is
nothing; when He, I say, created thee for a so
great a height of dignity that thou canst not
even comprehend the glory of thine own natural
dignity, where did He appoint thy dwelling?
what abiding-place did He prepare for thee?
Hear what He saith unto His own in the
Gospel: Abide in Me, and I in you.John xv. 4.
O inestimable
dignity, O blessed abiding-place, O glorious intercourse between God and man!
How great the condescension of the Creator that it should be His will that His
creature should dwell in Him! How incomprehensible the blessedness of the
creature, that he should abide in his Creator! How great the glory of the
rational creature to have communion with his Creator in so blessed an
intercourse, that the Creator Himself should abide in the creature, the creature
itself in the Creator! So excellently then were we by His will created, so
mercifully was He pleased that we should abide in Him; even He who is above all
things, ruling over all things, yet without carefulness; who upholdeth all things, as the foundation of all
things, yet without labour: surpasseth all things
in excellence, yet without pride; comprehendeth
all things in His embrace, yet without distinction
of parts; filling all things with His fulness, yet
without limitation of Himself.
He then, though He is nowhere absent, chose
for Himself a kingdom of delight within us,
according to the witness of the Gospel, where
it is said, The kingdom of God is within you.Luke xvii. 21.
But if the kingdom of God is within us, and
God dwelleth in His kingdom, doth He not
abide in us, since His kingdom is within us?
Certainly He doth; for if God is wisdom, and
the soul of the righteous is the seat of wisdom,Prov. xiv. 33.
then he who is truly righteous has God abiding
in him. For the temple of God is holy, saith the
Apostle, which temple ye are.1 Cor. iii. 17.
Do thou therefore follow earnestly after holiness without
fainting, lest thou cease to be the temple of
God. He Himself saith of His own, I will
dwell in them and walk in them.2 Cor. vi. 16.
Doubt not
that wheresoever there are holy souls, He is in
them. For if thou thyself too art everywhere
wholly in thy members, to which thou givest
life;See Proslogion, ch. xiii.
how much more is God wholly every
where, who created both thy self and thy body?
Thus it is to be with all diligence considered with what great circumspection and reverence
we ought to exercise our senses and the members
of our body, over which the Godhead itself
presideth. Let us therefore, as is right, give
to so great a tenant the whole command of our
body, so that nothing in us may be displeasing
to Him, but that all our thoughts and motions
of our will, all our words and works, may wait
upon His pleasure, obey His will, and be
ordered by His governance. For so we shall
be in truth His kingdom, and He will abide in
us, and we, abiding in Him, shall live well.
IV
That all we, who have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ.
AWAKE, I beseech thee, O my soul, and
let the fire of a heavenly love be kindled
in thy heart, and wisely consider the beauty
which Thy Lord God hath bestowed upon
thee, and in considering love it, and in loving
do it reverence with the service of a holy conversation. For doth not He who maketh thee
to abide in Him, and hath condescended to
dwell in thee, clothe thee, cover thee, adorn
thee with Himself? As many of you, saith the
Apostle, as have been baptized into Christ, have
put on Christ.Gal. iii. 27.
What praise, what thanksgiving wilt thou
rightly bestow upon Him, who hath clothed
thee with so great beauty, exalted thee to so
great honour, that thou canst say with all joy of
heart, The Lord hath clothed me with the garments
of salvation, He hath covered me with the robe
of righteousness.Isa. lxi. 10.
It is the highest joy of the
angels of God to contemplate Christ, and lo,
of His boundless condescension He so far inclineth unto thee, as to be pleased to clothe
thee with Himself. What manner of clothing
is this but that of which the Apostle boasts,
saying Christ of God is made unto us wisdom and
righteousness and sanctification?1 Cor. i. 30.
How would He more richly apparel thee than
by making thee glorious with the garment of wisdom, the ornament of
righteousness, the beauty of holiness?
V
That we are the Body of Christ.
AND why should I say that Christ hath
clothed thee with Himself, when He hath
joined thee so closely to Himself that He hath
been pleased to make thee flesh of His flesh
in the unity of the Church. Hear what the
Apostle saith, expounding the testimony of the Scripture, And they two shall be one
flesh.
But I speak, saith he, concerning Christ and the
Church.Eph. v. 31, 32.
Hereupon consider also in how
wonderful a bond He hath united thee with
Himself. The Apostle establisheth it, that thou
art the body of Christ. Ye are, saith he, the
body of Christ and members in particular.1 Cor. xii. 27.
Keep therefore thy body and thy members
with that reverence which is befitting, lest if
thou wrong them by lightly entreating them,
thou suffer a greater punishment for thine unworthy ill-usage of them, according to the
greatness of the reward that would have been
thine, if thou hadst used them aright. Thine
eyes are the eyes of Christ. Therefore thou
mayest not turn the eyes of Christ to behold
vanity, for Christ is the Truth, and all vanity is
contrary to the truth.He plays on the likeness of the words
vanitas and veritas.
Thy mouth is the mouth
of Christ. Thou oughtest not therefore to open,
I say not only in slanders and lies but even in
idle words, that mouth which should be opened
only for the praises of God and the edification
of thy neighbour. Be of this mind in respect
also of the other members of Christ that are
committed to thy charge.
VI
That we are one in Christ, and one Christ with Christ Himself.
CONSIDER also more yet more deeply in
how close an union thou art joined with
Him. Hear what the Lord Himself prayeth to
the Father for them that are His: I will, saith
He, that as Thou and I are one, so they also may
be one in Us.John xvii. 21, loosely quoted.
I am (that is) Thy Son by
nature; I pray that they may be Thy sons and
My brethren by grace. How great a dignity is
it for a Christian man, so to grow in Christ that
he himself may be called in a sense Christ.
This also that faithful steward of God’s house
hold the Church perceived when he said: All
we that are Christians in Christ are one Christ.The reference is presumably to
1 Cor. xii. 12.
Nor should we wonder thereat, when we consider that He is the head and we His body;
He the bridegroom and He also the bride; in
Himself the bridegroom, but the bride in the
holy souls whom He hath bound to Himself in
the bonds of an everlasting love. As upon a
bridegroom, saith He, hath He set a crown upon
Me, and as a bride hath He adorned me with
ornaments.This is like Isa. lxi. 10 but is not a quotation.
Here then, O my soul, here do
thou consider His benefits towards thee, be thou inflamed with the love of Him, let the fire that
is in thee break out into longing after the blessedness of beholding Him. Cry out boldly in the
words of the faithful bride, Let Him kiss me with
the kisses of His mouth.Cant. i. 1.
Let all delight which
is not in Him depart from my mind, let no
pleasure, no consolation of this present life
comfort me, while His blessed presence is denied
to me. Let Him embrace me with the arms of
His love, let Him kiss me with the heavenly
sweetness of His mouth, let Him speak to me
with that ineffable eloquence wherewith He revealeth His secrets to the Angels. May the
Bridegroom and the Bride enjoy such mutual
interchange of discourse, that I may open my
whole heart to Him and He reveal to me the
secrets of His sweetness. Thus, O my soul,
refreshed by these and such like meditations and
full of the passion of a holy longing, do thou
strive to follow Thy Bridegroom and say unto
Him, Draw me after Thee; we will run after the
odour of Thine ointments.Cant. i. 3, according to the Vulgate.
Speak to Him and
speak as a loyal spouse not with the sound of
words that passeth away but with a longing of
heart that fainteth not; so speak that thou
mayest be heard, so desire to be drawn by Him
that thou mayest follow. Say therefore to thy
Redeemer and Saviour, Draw me after Thee.
Let not the sweetness of this world but let thy
sweetness of Thy most blessed love draw me. Draw me, for Thou hast drawn me heretofore;
hold me fast, for Thou hast laid hold upon me.
Thou hast drawn me to Thee by redeeming me;
draw me by saving me. Thou hast drawn me
by pitying me; draw me by blessing me. Thou
hast laid hold on me by appearing among men,
made man for us; hold me fast as Thou sittest
on Thy throne in heaven, exalted above the
Angels. That is Thy word, that is Thy
promise. Thou hast promised, saying: And I,
if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men
unto Me.John xii. 32.
Draw therefore now in Thy mighty
exaltation him whom Thou didst draw to Thee
in Thy merciful humiliation. Thou hast gone
up on high; let me believe it: Thou reignest
over all things; let me acknowledge it. Do I
not acknowledge that Thou reignest? Surely
I acknowledge it, and give Thee thanks. But
do Thou grant that I may acknowledge with
the acknowledgment of a perfect love that
which I acknowledge by a devout faith concerning Thee. Bind the desires of my heart to
Thee with the indissoluble bonds of love, since
the first-fruits of my spirit are already with Thee.
Vouchsafe that we, whom Thy love in redeeming us did knit to Thee, may have fellowship
with Thee in the unity of the same love. For
Thou hast loved me, Thou didst give Thyself
for me; may therefore my heart and mind
be with Thee continually in heaven, and Thy
protection with me continually on earth. Help
him when he burneth with longing after Thy
love, to whom Thou didst show love when he
despised it. Give to him when he asketh, to
whom Thou givest Thyself when he knew Thee
not. Receive him when he returneth to Thee,
O Thou who didst call him back to Thee when
he fled from Thee. I will love Thee that I
may be loved of Thee; nay rather, because I
am loved of Thee, I will love Thee more and
more that I may be loved the more. May my
thoughts be knit to Thee, may my heart be
wholly made one with Thee, where our nature,
which Thou hast in mercy taken upon Thyself,
reigneth with Thee in bliss. Grant that I may
cleave to Thee without parting, worship Thee
without wearying, serve Thee without failing,
faithfully seek Thee, happily find Thee, for
ever possess Thee.
Addressing God in these words, O my soul,
do thou kindle thyself, do thou burn, do thou
break forth into flames, and strive to become
wholly on fire with longing after Him.
VII
A Commemoration of our Sins, for which our Conscience doth reproach us, and whereby we
have lost all these things.
BUT when thou considerest to what good things and to how great thou hast been by His grace advanced, remember also what good things and how great thou hast lost through thy
fault, into how evil a state thou hast by thy sins
been cast down. Consider with sighing the evil
that thou hast done in thy wickedness; think
with groaning upon the good things which thou
for that evil’s sake hast miserably lost. For
what good thing did thy most excellent Creator
out of His goodness bestow upon thee; what
evil didst thou not render Him, thou that wast
nurtured in detestable unrighteousness? By
losing the good thou hast deserved the evil, nay
by casting away the good thou hast chosen the
evil; and losing or rather rejecting the grace
of thy Maker, thou hast to thy misery increased
His anger. Nor canst thou prove thyself guiltless, when the multitude of thy sins, like a
mighty army, encompasseth thee about; here
casting in thy teeth the reproach of thy wicked
deeds; there bringing forth a store exceeding
great of idle and (which deserve a greater condemnation) harmful words spoken by thee; there
again displaying the vast mass of thine evil
thoughts.
These are those things for whose sake thou
hast lost things good beyond all price; for the
sake of these hast thou endured to be without
the grace of Him that made thee. Groan as
thou thinkest upon them, renounce them as thou
groanest, condemn them as thou renouncest them,
renounce them by changing thy life for a better.
Strive inwardly with thyself, lest anon, even for
a moment, thou assent to some vanity, whether in heart or in tongue or, what hath the greatest
condemnation, even in deed. Let there be in
thy mind a daily, nay, a continual warfare, lest
thou keep any league with thy sins. Strictly
examine thyself always, search out the secrets
of thy heart, and whatsoever thou findest in thy
self that is reprobate, smite it with severe reproofs, throw it down, crush it, root it out, cast
it forth, destroy it altogether. Spare not thyself,
be not gentle with thyself, but in the morning
(that is, in the contemplation of the Last Judgment, for the Last Judgment followeth like the
morning light upon the night of this present life)
destroy all the ungodly that are in the land (that
is, the offences and sins of a worldly conversation) that thou mayest root out from the city of the
Lord (which thou oughtest to build within thyself) all wicked doers (that is, all suggestions of
the devil, all delights that God hateth, all deadly consentings, all perverse deeds).Ps. ci.
11. The Vulgate has in the morning (A.V.
early) for the soon of the Prayer-book version.
From all
such thou shouldest, as a city of God, be purified, that thy Creator may find and take in
possession and continually hold a habitation
within thee, wherein He may have pleasure.
Be not of those whose obstinacy God Himself
seems to lament, saying: There is no man layeth it
to heart and saith, What have I done?The quotation is a composite one, from Isa.
lvii. 1,
and Jer. viii. 6.
If they
are rejected, because they refused to be ashamed for the evil which they have done, and to reprove themselves, wilt thou not take care, in
order that thou mayest come soon into the
number of the elect, to call thyself to account,
to judge thyself, to correct thyself with severe
discipline? Consider then diligently in thy
meditations the benefits which thy Creator hath
bestowed upon thee, wherewith without any
merits of thine He hath exalted thee; and call
to mind the innumerable evil thoughts words
and deeds, wherewith thine unrighteousness unworthily recompensed His kindness, and conceiving great sorrow in thyself, cry aloud,
What
have I done? I have vexed God, I have provoked my Creator to wrath, I have recompensed
His innumerable benefits with innumerable sins.
What have I done? As thou sayest this, smite
upon thy breast, utter thy voice in groaning, pour
forth thy tears. For if thou weepest not now,
when wilt thou weep? If the turning away of
the face of God from thee because of thy sins
stir thee not to sorrow, let at least the greatness
of the torments of hell, which these same sins
of thine have provoked, break the hardness of
thy heart.
Return then, return, thou wanderer from the
right way, unto thy heart, draw thy foot back
out of hell, that thou mayest be able to escape
the evil things which thou hast deserved and
win back the good things whereof thou art justly
deprived. For if thou have respect to those
things which are evil in thee, thou wilt find that thou hast lost all the good things which He had
bestowed upon thee. Thou must therefore ever
turn thine eyes upon the evils within thee, and
especially upon those whereof thy conscience
most seriously accuseth thee, that He may turn
away His eyes from them. For if thou by a
worthy purpose of amendment dost turn away
thy sins, He turneth away from them the eyes of
His vengeance; but if thou forgettest them, He
remembereth them.
VIII
A Commemoration of the Incarnation of our Lord, whereby we have recovered all these things.
THEREFORE, that thou mayest be delivered
thence, hear the mercies of thy Redeemer
toward thee.
Thou wast indeed blinded by the fault of
thine original sin and couldest not behold the
excellency of thy Creator. Encompassed by
the cloud of thy sins thou wentest on still in
darkness and, driven by the swift waves of the
flood of thine offences, wast being swept down
into everlasting night.
And, behold, thy Redeemer anointed thy
blinded eyes with the salve of His incarnation,
so that thou, who couldest not look upon God
in His glory in the secret place of His majesty,
mightest look upon God appearing in the form of a man, and beholding Him acknowledge
Him, and acknowledging Him love Him,
and loving Him do thine utmost with all thy
might to come unto His glory. He was made
flesh that He might call thee back to the things
of the spirit. He was made a partaker of thy
changeableness that He might make thee a partaker of His unchangeableness. He condescended
to thy lowliness that He might exalt thee unto
His high loftiness. He was born of a pure
virgin that He might heal the corruption of thy
sinful nature. He was circumcised that He
might teach man to cut off from himself all the
superfluity of sinful lusts. He was presented in
the temple and received by the holy widow,Anna (Luke ii. 37).
that He might admonish His faithful servants to
be continually in the house of God and to endeavour by the practice of holy living to be
worthy to receive Him. He was taken into
His arms and glorified by the aged Simeon, that
He might show forth His love towards gravity
of life and ripeness in righteousness. He was
baptized that He might sanctify the sacrament of
our baptism.That is, by the baptism in the river Jordan did sanctify
water to the mystical washing away of sin.
In the river Jordan as He bowed
Himself to receive baptism at the hand of John,
He heard the voice of the Father, and received
the Holy Ghost coming upon Him in the form
of a dove, that He might teach us that we should
abide in humility of mind, and therein be honoured by the word of the Father in heaven coming unto
us, whereof it is said that His communication is
with the simple,Prov. iii. 32, according to the Vulgate.
and glorified by the presence of
the Holy Ghost, who resteth upon the lowly.
For Jordan signifieth humility; since, being interpreted, Jordan is their descent.According to St Jerome,
Liber de Nominibus Hebraicis
(de Genesi).
And He was
baptized by the hand of John, whose name signifieth the grace of God,According to St Jerome in the same work (de Actibus Apostolorum).
that whatsoever we
receive of God, we should ascribe it to that
grace and not to our own deservings. After
fasting forty days He overcame the devil and
his temptations, and was glorified by the ministry
of angels, thereby teaching us in the whole time
of this present life by refusing the delights of
things temporal to trample under our feet the
world with the prince thereof, and so to be
escorted by the protection of angels. By day
He abode with the people preaching the kingdom of God, and edifying the multitudes by
His wonderful works and by His words. By
night he went into a mountain, and gave Himself
to prayer, teaching us, as the season requireth,
sometimes by word and deed to show forth, according to our ability, to our neighbours among
whom we live, the way of life; sometimes,
entering into the stillness of our soul and ascending the mountain of virtue, to breathe the sweet air of heavenly contemplation and without fainting
to direct our thoughts to things above. He was
transfigured in the mount before Peter, James, and
John, instructing us thereby that if we study like
Peter, whose name is by interpretation acknowledging,According to St Jerome,
Lib. de Hebr. Nom. (de Evang. Lucae).
humbly to acknowledge our weakness, to
supplant our sinful nature (for supplanter is the
meaning of JamesJames = Jacob. See Gen. xxv. 26, xxvii. 36. St
Jerome, Lib. de Hebr. Nom. (de Evang. Matt.).
), and in faith to submit ourselves to the
grace of God (which is the signification
of JohnAccording to St Jerome in the same work (de Actibus Apostolorum).
), we shall to our happiness ascend the
mount of heaven, there to behold the glory of Jesus,
He Himself our King being also our guide thither.
In Bethany, which is by interpretation the house
of obedience,St Jerome, Lib. de Hebr. Nom. (de Evang. Matt.).
He raised Lazarus from the dead,
showing that all, who by the earnest endeavour
of a good will die to the world, and rest in the
bosom of obedience, shall be raised by Him to
life eternal. When He delivered His body and
blood to His disciples in the mystical supper He
humbly washed their feet, teaching us that the
sacred mysteries should be celebrated with deeds
of purity and devout humbleness of mind. When
He was to be glorified by the splendour of His
holy resurrection, He endured the mocking of
traitors, the cruelty of insults, the shame of the
cross, the bitterness of gall, and at the last death itself, admonishing His servants thereby that they
who desire after death to attain unto glory must
bear the troubles and labours of this present life
and the oppressions of the wicked, not only without murmuring, but with love and desire and
cheerful welcome to all that is hard in this
world for the sake of the eternal reward.
Upon these glorious and inestimable benefits,
bestowed upon thee by thy Creator, if thou
worthily meditate, if thou devoutly embrace
them, if thou strive with fervent charity to
imitate them, thou shalt not only recover the
good things which thy first parents lost, but
shalt obtain far greater things for ever through
the unspeakable grace of thy Saviour. For God
Himself through the mystery of the incarnation
hath become thy brother; and what ineffable joy shall not this cause to thee,
when thou shalt behold thy nature in Him so far exalted above all creation!
IX
That we must pray to be delivered out of the
horrible pit, out of the mire and clay.
WHAT then now remains but after the due
consideration of all these matters to
kindle in the mind the desire to inherit so great
goods, and with continual supplications to implore
Him who created thee to possess them to bring thee out of the horrible pit, out of the mire and
clay,Ps. xl. 2.
and make thee the possessor of blessedness
so great? What is that horrible pit, but the
abyss of worldly covetousness? what the mire
and clay but the filthiness of carnal pleasure?
For in the toils of these two, of covetousness
and of pleasure, is it that the race of man is
miserably entangled and hindered from attaining
to the blessed freedom of heavenly contemplation.
For in truth the horrible pit is worldly covetousness, which drags the mind that is subject unto
its dominion by desires innumerable, as by chains,
into the depth of sin, and suffereth it not ever to
rest. For the mind of man, when oppressed by
the yoke of covetousness, is distracted by the
love of things visible and driven hither and
hither by divers passions. It is wasted by toil
in the getting of money, by carefulness in increasing, by joy in possessing it, by fear of
losing it, by grief at the loss of it, and by none
of these is suffered to see in how great danger
it is. This is the horrible pit, which worldly
covetousness ceases not to fill with all these
great evils. Out of this pit did blessed David
rejoice to be delivered, when he gave thanks and
said: He brought me out of the horrible pit, out of
the mire and clay.
What is the mire and clay? The enjoyment of unclean pleasure. Cry out boldly then with blessed David, and say to thy Creator,
Take me out of the mire, that I sink not.Ps. lxix. 15.
Cleanse thy heart from all the pollution of fleshly delight,
shut out unclean thoughts from thy mind, if
thou wilt escape the foulness of this mire. But
when by repentance and confession, by weeping
for thy sin and occupying thy heart with holy
meditations, thou hast escaped thence, take heed
that thou fall not into it again; but with all thy
heart utter thy sighing before God, beseeching
His mercy that He may set thy feet upon the
rock,Ps. xl. i.
that is, that thy mind may establish itself
upon the firm ground of righteousness by constantly cleaving unto Christ, of whom it is said
that He is made unto us of God wisdom and
righteousness and sanctification.1 Cor. i. 30.
Pray moreover
that He may order thy goingsPs. xl. 2.
that they turn not
back unto wickedness, but may go on steadily
in the heavenly way of His commandments,
and so hasten without any turning aside to the
blessed country of the Angels.
But when His direction shall have lifted thee
up, be careful that thou be not slack in singing
the praises of the Creator; rather do thou beseech Him of His mercy to put a new song in
thy mouth,Ps. xl. 3.
that with due devotion thou mayest
sing a thanksgiving unto our God.Ibid.
It is meet
that thou, my soul, when thou hast been brought
into fellowship with God by newness of lifeRom. vi. 4.
shouldest break forth into a new song in His
praise, despising things temporal, and longing
only after things eternal; being obedient to the law of God not from fear of punishment but
from love of righteousness. For this is to sing
a new song to God, to mortify the desires of the
old man, and to follow the way of the new man,
which the Son of God hath shown to the world,
from mere desire of the life everlasting. He singeth a thanksgiving,With reference to the verse of Ps. xl. quoted above
in the Latin the words canticum and
carmen differ, as do
song and thanksgiving, but there is no special reference
to thanks in the word carmen.
who keepeth in the
remembrance of a pure mind the joys of his
heavenly country and, being sustained by the
consciousness of a holy life and trusting in the
gift of grace from above, striveth to attain
thereunto.
X
A Meditation on the Miseries of this Life.
IN the midst of these meditations, think earnestly
upon all the miseries of this present life, and
with a watchful heart consider how carefully
thou oughtest to live therein. Remember that
thou art of his company, concerning whom the
Scripture hath said: A man whose way is hid,
and whom God hath hedged in with darkness.Job iii. 23, according to
the Vulgate.
For truly thou art hedged in with a deep darkness of ignorance, since thou knowest not how God will weigh thy works, and canst not tell
what thine end will be. No man knoweth,
saith Solomon, whether he is worthy of hatred
or of love, but all things are kept uncertain even
unto the end.Ecclesiastes ix. 1, according to the Vulgate.
Imagine to thyself a valley deep and dark and
all manner of torments in the bottom thereof.
Suppose moreover a bridge cast across this
valley, exceeding long but of no more than a
foot’s breadth. Let a man be compelled to
pass over this bridge, so straight, so high, so
perilous; let his eyes be blindfolded that he
cannot see his steps; let his hands be bound
behind him, so that he cannot guide himself by
groping his way with a staff. How great would
be the fear and distress of mind in such an one!
Dost thou think there would be place in his
thoughts for cheerfulness, for merriment, for
wantonness? I trow not. All pride would be
taken from him, all vainglory put to flight, the
darkness of death alone would abide in his
mind. Imagine moreover a monstrous multitude
of savage birds hovering about the bridge and
seeking to drag the traveller, as he crosseth it,
down into the abyss. Will not his dread be
multiplied thereby? And what if each plank
be at once withdrawn so soon as he hath passed
over it? Will not he be stricken thereby by a yet greater fearfulness?
But now consider the signification of this
image and let a godly fear and trembling take
hold upon thy mind. By the deep and dark
valley is signified hell, which is an abyss immeasurable, and terrible with the shadows of
most black darkness. There are assembled
together all manner of torments. There all
that can soothe is lacking; and everything that
can appal and torment and distress, is present.
The perilous bridge, from which whosoever
maketh not his passage over it aright is hurled
downward, is this present life; wherein whosoever liveth ill, descendeth to hell. The planks
which are withdrawn when the traveller hath
passed over them are the days of our life;
which pass away never to return, but by growing
fewer press us onwards toward our end, and
compel us to hasten to our goal. The birds
that hover about the bridge and beset them that
pass over, are evil spirits, whose whole study is
to cast men down that are set on the right way,
and to hurl them into the depths of hell. We
ourselves are the travellers that pass over, blindfolded by our ignorance and bound by the chain
of the difficulty of doing good works, so that
we cannot direct our steps freely toward God
in holiness of life.
Consider therefore whether thou oughtest not
in so great a strait to cry out earnestly to thy
Creator, so that, being defended by His protection, thou mayest sing in faith among the
hosts of thine enemies: The Lord is my light
and my salvation; whom then shall I fear?Ps. xxvii. 1.
He is thy light against thy blindness; thy
salvation against thy difficulty. These are the
two evils, whereinto our first father caused us
to fall, even ignorance whither we go and difficulty in seeing what we ought to do. Meditate upon these things, O my soul, think upon
them; let thy mind daily exercise itself therein.
Let it being intent thereon, turn away from vain
and unprofitable cares and thoughts, let it burn
with the fire of holy fear and blessed love to fly
from these evils and lay hold upon eternal
goods.
XI
Of the Body, after the Departure of the Soul.
TO Thee I now turn back, O my most sweet
Creator, my most gracious Redeemer,
Thou fashioner and refashioner of my nature,
humbly in prayer beseeching Thy goodness to
teach my heart to consider with life-giving fear
and wholesome trembling the foul and mournful
state of my flesh after my death when bereft of
that spirit which doth at present quicken it, it
must be delivered over to be consumed by corruption and the worm. If it have any beauty
now, wherein it taketh pride, where will it then
be? where the abundance of most exquisite
delights? where the delicate limbs? Will there
not then be fulfilled indeed that saying of the
Prophet, All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as
the flower of the field?Isa. xl. 6.
Then shall
mine eyes be closed and turned backward unto
the inner chambers of the brain, in the vain and
mischievous imaginations whereof I so often took
pleasure. Now they rejoice to drink in vanity
as daylight; but then shall they lie covered
with horrible darkness. The ears that now
with damnable delight entertain the discourse of
slanderers and the vain rumours of the world
shall then lie open to the worms, soon to be
filled by them. The teeth that now are
loosened in gluttonous eating shall be miserably
clogged and choked. The nostrils shall stink,
that now are delighted with variety of sweet
odours. The lips shall be hideous with the
fulness of corruption, that so many times rejoiced
to be opened in foolish laughter. The throat
shall be clogged and the belly filled with worms,
that have again and again been swollen by all
manner of meats.
But why should I speak severally of every
member? The whole frame of the body,
whose health comfort and pleasure is almost all
our care, shall be dissolved into corruption, into
worms, at the last into the basest dust of the
earth. Where is now thy proud neck, where
thy boastful words, thy rich apparel, thy manifold delights? They have passed away like a
dream, they have all gone never to return, and
him that was in love with them they have left to
misery.
XII
Of the Soul after her Separation from the Body.
O GOOD God, what is it that I behold? Lo, there cometh fear upon fear, sorrow
upon sorrow. After she is separated from the
body, the soul shall be beset by a multitude of
evil spirits, who shall hasten to meet her and
shall magnify their accusations against her.
And inquisition shall be made concerning all
things whereof they accuse her, even to the
least of the negligences that she hath committed. There shall come the prince of this
world with his companions, raging with fury,
cunning in deceit, skilful in lying, malignant in
accusing, bringing forth against the soul all that
he can of the evils that she hath done, and
devising falsely many beside that she hath not
done. O terrible hour, O severe judgment!
On the one hand will be a Judge most strict in
judgment; on the other adversaries most wanton
in accusing. The soul shall stand alone with
none to comfort her, except she be defended by
the consciousness of good works. But in that
great severity of judgment, wherein all things
shall be laid open, who shall boast that his heart
is clean?Cp. Prov. xx. 9.
If the righteous scarcely be saved,
where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?1 Pet. iv. 18.
Then shall idle gladness depart, the pomp of
place shall be put to flight, the pursuit of worldly
greatness shall be proved deceitful.
Blessed is the soul, which in that judgment
a good conscience defendeth, and the remembrance of a holy life protecteth; which, while
she was yet in the flesh, was often cleansed by
the water of repentance, adorned with earnestness of confession, enlightened by meditation on
God’s holy law; which humility made gentle,
and patience quiet, and obedience free from
seeking her own will, and charity fervent in the
performance of every virtue. Such a soul shall
not fear that dreadful hour, and shall not be
ashamed when she speaketh with her enemies in
the gate.Ps. cxxvii. 6.
For she will have fellowship with
them, of whom the Scripture saith: When He
hath given His beloved sleep, behold the inheritance of the Lord.Ps. cxxvii. 3, 4. This in the Vulgate reads thus:
When He hath given His beloved sleep, behold the inheritance
of the Lord, even children, a reward, the fruit of the womb.
This is interpreted by St Jerome of the saints at rest.
His beloved are the saints, who after the slumber of
this present life, seem to sleep here, that they may be
counted worthy in the resurrection to come to life
eternal. When the saints have departed out of this
world and obtained their rest, then shall they be made
the inheritance of the Lord, because they are no
longer subject to temptations.
XIII
A Meditation on the Day of Judgment, wherein
the Goats shall be set on the Left Hand.
BUT who can say anything of that terrible
sentence of the Last Judgment, whereby the
sheep shall be set on the right hand and the goats
on the left? How great shall be the trembling
when the powers of the heavens shall be shaken?Matt. xxiv. 29.
How great the confusion, the lamentation, the
crying of those that howl, when they that neglect
to do good shall be met by that terrible word,
Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire.Matt. xxv. 41.
Verily that day is a day of wrath, a day of
trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and
desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a
day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the
trumpet and alarm.Zeph. i. 15, 16.
Verily bitter is the voice of
the day of the Lord; the mighty man shall be
afflicted therein.Zeph. i. 14. acc. to the Vulgate.
For they that in the pride of
their hearts despise the will of God, boast themselves now in the following of their own wills;
but then shall they be cast into everlasting fire
which shall not be quenched for ever, and the
worm that dieth not shall feed upon them,See Isa. lxvi. 24; Mark ix. 45.
and
the smoke of their torment shall ascend up for ever
and ever.Rev. xiv. 11.
XIV
A Meditation on the Joy which shall be where
the Sheep shall be set on the Right Hand.
BUT while these are in woe, and for distress
of spirit are uttering the lamentable groanings of their hearts, what thinkest thou will be
the joy and exultation of those blessed ones,
who shall be set at the right hand of God and
hear that most blissful voice which shall say
unto them, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world.Matt. xxv. 34.
Then verily shall the voice of joy
and health abide in the dwellings of the righteous.Ps. cxviii. 15.
Then shall the Lord lift up the head of the
meek, who now refuse not to be counted vile and
outcast for His sake. He shall heal the broken
hearted, and console with everlasting joy them
that weep for longing after Him in this earthly
pilgrimage. Then shall be manifested their
unspeakable reward, who for love of their
Creator rejoice in the renunciation of their own
wills. In that day shall a heavenly crown be set
upon the heads of them that serve Him, and the
glory of those that wait patiently for Him shall
shine forth with splendour ineffable. There shall
love enrich His faithful soldiers with the fellowship of angels, and purity of heart shall bless them
that love Him with the blessed vision of their
Creator.See Matt. v. 8.
Then shall that song be sung by all the elect:
Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house; they will be alway praising Thee.Ps.
lxxxiv. 4.
In
which song of praise may He vouchsafe to make
us partakers who with the Father and the Holy
Ghost liveth and reigneth God, world without
end. Amen.
MEDITATION II
Concerning the Terrors of the Day of Judgment.
An Incentive to Tears.
I AM afraid of my life because, when I
diligently examine it, I perceive that it is
altogether sin, or if, where most is barren, there
be any fruit found, it is either feigned fruit or
imperfect or in some manner corrupt, so that
what there is that displeaseth not God is yet not
pleasing unto Him.
Therefore, thou sinner, almost all thy life—nay not almost all, but of a truth all thy life—is
either in sin and deserveth condemnation, or
unfruitful and deserveth contempt. But why
do I divide what is unfruitful from that which
deserveth condemnation? For if it be unfruitful,
it must therefore be condemned. For we know
that the saying is true which He spake who is
the Truth: Every tree that bringeth not forth good
fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire.Matt. iii. 10.
Nay, if I do anything that profiteth, it is too
little to recompense God for the food and drink
which I misuse. But who feedeth a flockCp. 1 Cor. ix. 7.
which is worth less than the cost of the food
which it consumeth? Yet Thou, O God, art
more gracious than men, in that Thou dost feed me
and lookest for profit from me, Thy vile worm,
Thy sinful one that rotteth with the corruption of
sin. For more tolerable to a man is the stench
of a dog’s carcase than to God the soul that
sinneth; yea, far more foully doth this stink in
the nostrils of God than that in those of man.
Alas, I am no man but the scorn of men,Ps. xxii. 6.
viler
than a beast, baser than a dead carcase. My
soul is weary of life; I am ashamed to live, I am afraid to die. What is left
for thee, poor sinner, but all thy life through to lament thy whole life, so
that it may weep for itself, no part not mourning, no part not mourned?
But this is a marvellous thing, and marvellously
is my soul to be pitied thereinThe play upon words here,—one very characteristic
of Anselm, with whom this particular kind of phrase
is a trick of style so common as often to become tedious—miserabiliter mirabilis et mirabiliter miserabilis—cannot
be exactly reproduced in English.
; that her knowledge exceedeth her sorrow so that she resteth
in security as though she knew not her condition. O thou barren soul, what art thou about?
Why sleepest thou, thou sinful one? The day
of judgment cometh; the great day of the Lord is near, it is near and passeth greatly. That day
is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress,
a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick
darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm.Zeph. i. 15, 16.
O bitter voice of the day of the Lord!Zeph. i. 14, acc. to the Vulgate.
Why slumberest thou, thou lukewarm soul, meet to
be spued out of the mouth of the Lord?Rev. iii. 16.
He
who awaketh not, who trembleth not at these
mighty thunderings, is not asleep but dead.
Thou unfruitful tree, where is thy fruit? Thou
tree worthy of the axe, thou tree worthy to be
hewed down and burned, what are thy fruits?
Verily they are thorns and bitter sins; would that the thorns would prick thee
with repentance so that they might be broken off, and the bitterness of the
sins grow bitterer to thee till they perish altogether!
Peradventure thou thinkest some sin of thine
but a little thing; would that thy severe Judge
thought any sin a little thing! But alas, doth
not every sin transgress the commandment of
God and dishonour Him? What then? Shall
the sinner dare to call his sin a little thing?
When is it a little thing to dishonour God? O
thou dry and useless branch, worthy of everlasting fires, what wilt thou answer in that day,
when God shall require an account of the
manner wherein thou hast spent the whole time
of life that He hath allotted to thee, even to the least moment that is past in the twinkling of an
eye? Then shall be condemned whatsoever is
found in thee, in thy work or in thy play, in thy
speech or in thy silence, down to the least
thought, nay, thy very living, so thy life is not
ordered according to God’s will. Woe unto
thee! How many sins will rush forth upon
thee then of a sudden, as from an ambush,
whereof now thou takest no note! yea, more
sins and more grievous than those of which thou
takest note. How many evil things thou dost,
which thou thinkest not to be evil! how many,
which now thou thinkest good, will then be
revealed unto thee as sins most black! There
wilt thou receive the things done in thy body,
according to that thou hast done2 Cor. v. 10.
; then, when
the time of mercy shall be past; then, when
there shall be no room left for repentance, nor
any hope of amendment.
Consider now what thou hast done, and what thou oughtest to
receive. If thou hast done much good and little evil, rejoice greatly; if much
evil and little good, mourn greatly. O thou unprofitable sinner, are not these
thoughts enough to move thee to wail mightily? are they not enough to melt thy
blood and marrow into tears? Ah marvellous hardness of heart, that hammers so
heavy are too light to break! O profound lethargy, which pricks so sharp are too
blunt to rouse! O deadly slumber, which thunderings so terrible are too hoarse
to disturb! O unprofitable sinner, well may these things
suffice to draw forth from thee a river of tears;
well may they suffice to make thee weep dry
the fountain of thy tears.
But why must I dissemble, why not utter the
greatness and the grievousness of the misery
that hangeth over me, why hide it from the
eyes of my soul? is it that the woes may come
upon me unawares? that the intolerable tempest
of wrath should suddenly break forth upon me?
Nay this were not expedient for a sinner.
But if I speak, whatsoever I can conceive
cannot be compared unto the truth thereof.
Therefore let thine eyes weep day and night
and keep not silence. Make all the woes thou
hast endured hitherto heavier; add terror unto
terror, wailing unto wailing; for He shall be
thy Judge, who hath been set at nought in all
my sins of disobedience and transgression, who
hath rewarded me good for evil, and I have
rewarded Him evil for good; who is now most
patient, but in that day will be most severe; now
most merciful, but then most just.
Alas, alas! against whom have I sinned? I
have dishonoured God, I have provoked the
Almighty to anger! What have I done, poor
sinner? to whom and how wickedly? Woe is
me, woe is me! thou anger of the Almighty,
break not out upon me! There is nothing in
me that can endure Thine anger, O God. Into
what straits am I come! On this side are my
sins accusing me; and on that the justice of God making me afraid: above is my angry
Judge, below the horrible pit of hell laid open,
within my conscience on fire, without the world
being burned up. The righteous shall scarcely be
saved1 Pet. iv. 18.
; as to the sinner thus taken in his sin,
whither shall he turn? I am fast bound, where
shall I hide myself; and how shall I appear?
To hide myself is impossible, to show myself
intolerable. I shall desire to hide myself and
hate to show myself, but there will be no hiding-place at all, and everywhere shall I be manifest.
What, ah what will then become of me?
Who will deliver me out of the hands of God?
where shall I look for counsel? where for salvation? Who is He that is called the Angel of
the Great CounselThis title of Christ is taken from the LXX. version
of Isa. ix. 6, which St Jerome quoted in his commentary
on the verse. It was also employed in one of the
Christmas introits.
and the Saviour that I may
call upon His name? It is none other than He,
Jesus Himself, the Judge in whose hands I
tremble.
Breathe again, poor sinner, breathe again;
despair not, hope in Him whom thou fearest.
Fly to Him, from whom thou didst flee away.
Cease not to call upon Him whom thou didst
provoke to wrath. O Jesus, Jesus, for Thy
name’s sake, do unto me according to Thy
name!See Matt. i. 21.
Jesus, Jesus, forget the proud sinner
that provoked Thy wrath, and look upon me the unhappy one that calleth upon Thy sweet
name, Thy pleasant name, Thy name that
comforteth the sinner and openeth to him the
hope of blessing. For what signifieth Jesus but
Saviour. Therefore, O Jesus, for Thine own
sake be a Jesus to me. Thou who didst create,
suffer me not to perish; Thou who didst redeem
me, condemn me not; Thou who didst make
me by Thy goodness, suffer not the work of
Thy hands to perish by my own wickedness.
I pray Thee, most gracious Saviour, let not mine
iniquity destroy what Thine almighty goodness
hath wrought. Acknowledge in Thy goodness
what is Thine own in me; and what is not
Thine own, wipe off from me. For what profit
is there in my blood if I go down into everlasting corruption?Ps. xxx. 9.
For the dead praise Thee not,
O Lord, neither all they that go down into
hell.Ps. cxv. 17.
If Thou wilt receive me into the broad
bosom of Thy mercy, Thy bosom will not be
straitened because of me, O Lord. Receive me
therefore, O Jesus my beloved, receive me into
the number of Thine elect, that with them I
may praise Thee, enjoy Thee, and have my
glory in Thee among all that love Thy name,Ps. v. 12, acc. to the Vulgate.
who with the Father and the Holy Ghost art
glorious for ever, world without end. Amen.
MEDITATION III.Meditation vi. in Gerberon’s edition.
To encourage the spirit not to fall into despair, since if we truly repent, we shall without
doubt find mercy for all our sins.
WHEN I look back upon the sins which I
have done, and consider the pains and
torments which I ought to suffer because of
them, I have no little fear. And so, full of
trouble and full of dread at the thought of my
perdition, I go seeking for comfort wheresoever
I may find it. But alas, wretch that I am, I
find none. For I know well that I have
offended not my Creator alone but together with
Him all His creation. Therefore my Creator
with all His creation doth condemn me, being
grievously offended at my sins; and my own
conscience, having knowledge of my evil deeds,
doth beset me on every side with accusations.
And so I find no comfort, nor do I think that I
can readily have any. What then shall I do?
whither shall I turn myself? For I am left
desolate, and the wickedness of my sins compasseth me round about. If I desire to return
to Him who created me upright, and call upon
His unspeakable goodness to have mercy upon
me, then am I greatly afraid lest by so great
daring I should move Him to anger against me,
and lest He should take a more dreadful vengeance
upon my misdeeds, whereby I have not feared
to outrage His loving kindness. What then?
Shall I remain where I am, desperate and without help or counsel? Hitherto hath my Maker
suffered me to live; hitherto He ceaseth not to
provide me with all those things which are necessary to the sustenance of this life: and I find it
true by experience thereof that my sins have not
up to this day so much prevailed against His
goodness, that He should put me to confusion,
as I have deserved, or should utterly destroy me.
Most surely therefore is He gracious toward me,
since He bestoweth so great goodness upon me,
neither hath sought hitherto to avenge Him of
mine iniquities.
I have heard, and according to the witness of
those that have had experience thereof, it is a
true report that I have heard, that He is the
Fountain of Mercy, which began to flow from
the beginning of the world, and yet floweth unto
this day. He was very merciful, they say, and
gracious unto our first father Adam, when he
committed that sin of eating the forbidden fruit,
in that He condemned him not straightway, as
he had deserved, to everlasting perdition, but
with patience awaited his amendment, and in
His mercy helped him that he might be enabled
to return into the favour of Him whom he had
offended.
Many times therefore He sent His angel
unto him, and unto those who were born of him,
warning them that they should return unto Him and repent them of their iniquities, for that He
would yet with joy receive them, if with all
their heart they would repent them of their sins.
But they yet, continuing in their sins and despising His admonitions, added sin to sin, and
became as it were beside themselves and abominable in their wickedness, since, being made in
honour after the likeness of God, they began
contrary to nature to live after the manner of
brute beasts. He sent moreover patriarchs, He
sent prophets, but not even so would they leave
their crooked and perverse ways; but some of
them who spoke unto them wholesome warnings,
they slew; others they vexed with manifold and
strange torments. Yet did He chastise them
from time to time, as a merciful Father, not that
He, being provoked by their evil deeds, might
avenge Himself upon them for their scorn of
Him, but that they being corrected might return
unto His mercy, who by no means willeth the
destruction of those whom in His goodness He
hath created.
But when neither for often admonition nor for
often correction would they return unto Him,
the Fountain of Pity could no longer restrain
Himself, but coming down from the bosom of
the Father, and taking upon Him very manhood,
taking upon Him the form of sinners, He began
to admonish them in gentleness even then to
repent of their sins unto salvation and to acknowledge Him to be the Son of God. For there is
no sin so grievous but it may be put away by repentance, so that the very devil himself can no
longer remember it. Therefore did sinners, seeing the sweet gentleness of their Creator, begin
themselves to run zealously unto the Fountain of
Mercy, the Fountain of Pity, and to wash away
their sins therein. The Fountain of Pity also
Himself began to eat and drink with sinners,
began to open to them the sacramental blessings
of holy confession, for in true confession all stain
of guilt is washed away.
After this, as the time drew near at which
He was to suffer for the redemption of sinners,
the Jews, from whose stock He sprang according to the flesh, being moved by envy, crucified
Him, because He was good and merciful. But
He nevertheless even in the act of death did not
forget His goodness, but prayed to His Father for
His murderers, that He might forgive them this
sin; for they know not, saith He, what they do.Luke xxiii. 34.
The Lord that willeth not the death of a sinner,
but rather that he should be converted and live.Ezek. xxxiii. 11.
in His most sweet goodness maketh excuse for
them. Whose heart is so hard, whose so strong,
that this great kindness of our Creator cannot
soften? For when His creature, whom He had
created after His own image and likeness, so
much dishonoured Him, yet did He not avenge
Himself, but though dishonoured and provoked
by their many evil deeds, patiently suffered them
and gently admonished them to return to Him
without delay. Good therefore and gentle is
our Lord Jesus Christ; as is said by the prophet,
He willeth not the death of a sinner, but that
he should forsake his evil ways,Ezek. xviii. 23.
and so, repenting of his iniquities, return to the favour of His
Creator. Again how merciful He is toward the
soul that sinneth, He declareth by another prophet,
exhorting it that even after sinning it should
return to Him and find mercy;Isa. lv. 7.
saying, Thou
hast played the harlot with many lovers:Jerem. iii. 1.
that
is, Thou that in baptism didst promise to be
faithful unto Me, hast polluted thy chastity with
many lovers; yet repent and return again to Me,
and I will receive thee. Therefore let no sinner
despair, when she that played the harlot with
many lovers is received again; because no sins of
ours can dry up, no wickednesses pollute the
Fountain of Pity and Mercy, even Jesus Christ,
but ever pure and welling forth with the sweetness of His grace He receiveth all the weak and
sinful that return to Him, and washeth them
clean from all sins whatsoever wherewith they
are stained. And that all sinners and unrighteous
men may be assured that they do in truth receive
the forgiveness of their sins, if they do but take
care to lay aside their sins and to repent, He
Himself, the Fountain of Pity, for the love which
He had toward them, suffered that very flesh
which He took for their sakes, as I above set
forth, to be nailed to the cross, that they who
were dead in sins and could not otherwise return to life, except they were redeemed by the price
of His blood, might look upon the price which
was paid for their sins and by no means despair.
When therefore I behold this great goodness
of my Lord Jesus Christ, and how so many
sinners run to the Fountain of Pity, and none
are refused, but all are received, must I alone be
without hope, and fear that the very Fountain
of Pity that cleanseth others should not be able
to wash away my sins also? .1 know, I know
of a truth, and do surely believe that He who
cleanseth others can cleanse me also, and if He
will, for He is most mighty, forgive me all my
sins. But between sinner and sinner there is a
great difference, that is between him that sinneth
more and him that sinneth less. Whence I,
considering how greatly I have sinned, and by
how great unrighteousness my unhappy soul is
polluted, perceive that I am not only equal unto
other sinners but am a sinner more than any
sinner, and above all sinners. For many have
sinned, and then left sinning; some, though they
sinned often, yet did at some time make an end
of doing evil; again others, though they have
done much evil, have not failed to do much
good also, whereby they have merited either to
be wholly forgiven the evil which they did, or
have obtained that the pains of hell should be
made more tolerable unto them. But I, miserable man that I am, a miserable sinner above all
miserable sinners, perceiving and knowing the
greatness of the destruction down into which my sin and the pleasure of sin was driving me, have
yet not taken care to cease at any time from sins
and wickedness, but have ever added sin to sin,
and so have lightly and of mine own will plunged
myself to my sorrow into the perdition prepared
for sin, and, did not the immeasurable goodness
of the Lord still bear with me, I ought long
since to have been swallowed up by hell. I
then, who have lived thus, who have committed
so much evil, how shall I dare to run with other
sinners who have not done so great evil, unto
the Fountain of Mercy? For perhaps, so great
is the stench of my sin, that He will not cleanse
me, as He cleanseth other sinners whose stench
is less intolerable than mine. Help me therefore,
O Lord Jesus Christ, help Thy creature, although
overwhelmed by the greatness of his sins, yet looking upon the work of Thy hands, help him that he
despair not; for, as we believe, no wickedness is
so monstrous that it can prevail against Thee, if
only the sinner despair not of Thy mercy.
Suffer me therefore, O Lord Jesus Christ,
suffer me to look upon Thine unspeakable goodness, and declare how gracious and good Thou
art toward miserable sinners. I have said it
before, but it delighteth me greatly, so often as
fit occasion serveth, to remember how great is
the grace of Thy sweet goodness toward sinners.
For the love of men then, and for their redemption, not of those only who sin more or less, but
even of those who sin beyond measure, if they
do but repent, Thou didst descend from the bosom of the Father and enter into the womb of
the Virgin, and take of her true flesh; and by
Thy conversation in the world didst call all
sinners to repentance and so, dying according to
the flesh, didst restore to them the life which
for their sins they had justly forfeited.
And so, when I look back on the evil deeds
which I have wrought, if Thou wouldst have
me judge myself after my deserts, I am assured
of my perdition; but when I have respect unto
Thy death, which Thou didst suffer for the
redemption of sinners, I do not despair of Thy
mercy. That robber, who for his sins was
crucified with Thee, was ever in sin up to the
time of his departure out of this life, yet, because
in the very hour of his giving up the ghost he
confessed his sin and cried out upon his fault,
he found mercy and was that day with Thee in
Paradise.Luke xxiii. 43.
Therefore beholding Thee put to
death for the redemption of sinners, Thy hands
and feet pierced with nails, Thy side opened by
the soldier’s spear, the stream of blood and
water coming out of that side of Thine,John xix. 34.
ought
I to despair? There is but one thing which
Thou wilt have, without which no sinner can be
saved, to wit, that we repent us of our sins, and,
so far as we may, strive to amend our lives. If
we do this, we are sure that if but our last day
find us so doing (since we have the example
of the robber, who even so won salvation in his
last hour) we may, trusting in the unspeakable
goodness of our Lord Jesus Christ, fear the
accusations of our enemy but little or not at all.
Having therefore before our eyes the price of
our redemption, that is, the death and blood of
our Redeemer, which was shed for the remission
of our sins; having also the example of the
robber, and of many compassed about by many
and great sins, whom the Fountain of Pity,
Jesus Christ, in His mercy loosed from them,
let us not despair, but run to the Fountain of
Pity Himself, in sure and certain hope of obtaining the forgiveness of our sins there, where we
see and acknowledge so many and so great
sinners to have been washed clean, and let us
assure ourselves that we in like manner may be
washed clean by the same Fountain of Mercy,
if we abstain from our sins and wickedness and,
so far as we may, strive hereafter to do good.
But to abstain from evil and to do good we
are not able by our own power without His
help. Let us implore therefore His unspeakable
mercy, who was pleased to make us when as
yet we were not, that He may grant us in this
life, before we go hence, to amend our lives and
to cleanse them with earnest sorrow, that this
life ended we may be enabled to come unto
Him by a straight road, none hindering us, to be
with Him in everlasting glory with the choirs
of angels and all saints, who already enjoy that
glory in joy without end.
MEDITATION IVMeditation xi. in Gerberon’s edition.
Concerning the Redemption of Mankind.
O CHRISTIAN soul, soul raised up from a grievous death, soul redeemed and delivered from a miserable slavery by the blood of
God, arouse thy mind from sleep, bethink thee
of thy resurrection, remember thy redemption
and deliverance. Consider where and what is
the strength of thy salvation,Ps. cxl. 7.
occupy thyself in
meditating thereon, delight thyself in the contemplation thereof; put away thy daintiness,
force thyself, give thy mind thereto; taste of
the goodness of thy Redeemer, kindle within
thyself the love of thy Saviour. With thy
mind eat of the honeycomb of His words, with
thine understanding suck out their sweetness, for
they are sweeter than honey;Ps. xix. 10; cxix. 103.
by loving them
and rejoicing therein feed thou upon them, for
they are savoury and wholesome withal. Rejoice in that eating, be glad in that sucking out
of the sweetness, make merry in that feeding
upon them. Where then and what is the
power and might of thy salvation? Surely it is
Christ that hath raised thee up. He, the good
Samaritan, hath healed thee; He, thy good
Friend, with His own life hath redeemed and
delivered thee; even Christ, I say, and none
else. Therefore it is Christ that is the strength of thy salvation. Where is this strength that
is Christ? He hath horns coming out of His
hands; and there was the hiding of His power.Habakkuk iii. 4. The word
horns here means rays,
as it is translated in the Revised Version. The traditional representation of Moses with horns on his head
is due to a similar literal understanding of Exod.
xxxiv. 29, where it is said that the skin of his face
sent forth horns, that is, rays of light, after his converse with God in the Mount.
Horns He hath in His hands, because His
hands are fastened to the arms of the Cross.
But what power is there in this great weakness?
what loftiness in that great lowliness? what that
is honourable in that great humiliation? Verily
it is therefore a hiding of His power; it is
hidden, because it is in weakness; concealed,
because in lowliness; secret, because in humiliation. O hidden power! that a Man, hanging
upon the Cross should hang up thereon that
eternal death which oppressed mankind, that a
Man bound to a tree should unbind the world
which was made fast to death everlasting! O
concealed loftiness! that a Man condemned with
robbers should save men who were condemned
with devils, that a Man stretched upon the Cross
should draw all things unto Himself!John xii. 32, acc. to the Vulgate.
O secret
might! that one Soul yielded in torment should draw souls innumerable out of
hell, that a Man should endure the death of the body, and destroy thereby the
death of souls!
Wherefore, O good Lord, O gracious Redeemer, wherefore didst Thou veil so great power
in so great lowliness? Was it that Thou
mightest thereby deceive the devil, who by
deceiving man did cast him out of paradise?
But of a surety the Truth deceiveth none. He
who knoweth not, who believeth not the truth,
deceiveth himself; and whoso seeth the truth
and hateth it or despiseth it, deceiveth himself;
the truth deceiveth none. Was it therefore
that the devil might deceive himself? But as
the Truth deceiveth none, so neither doth it
go about to make any deceive himself, though,
when it permitteth it, it be said to do it. For
Thou didst not take upon Thyself the nature of
man, to hide Thyself from those who knew
Thee, but to reveal Thyself to those that knew
Thee not. Thou didst call Thyself very God
and very Man, and didst show Thyself such by
Thy works. The thing was secret of its own
nature, it was not of said purpose made secret:
it was not so done as to be hid, but so as to be
accomplished in due course; not to deceive any,
but to be done as it ought to be done. And if
it be called secret, that signified! no more than
that it was not revealed to all. For although
the Truth reveal not itself to all, to none doth
it deny itself. Therefore, O Lord, Thou didst
do thus, neither to deceive any, nor to cause any
to deceive himself, but, that Thou mightest do
what was to be done as it ought to be done,
Thou didst throughout abide in the truth. Let
him therefore that deceiveth himself in Thy truth, complain not of Thee, but of his own
unfaithfulness to truth.
Shall we say that the devil had any just claim against God or
against men, on account whereof God must first thus deal with him on man’s
behalf, before He may put forth openly His mighty power, so that by unjustly
slaying a just man, he might justly lose the power which he had over the unjust?
But surely God owed the devil nothing but the punishment of his sins; neither
did man owe him anything except to overcome sin in his turn, so that as man once
through committing sin suffered himself to be easily overcome by the devil, so
man should overcome the devil in the very straits of death, by keeping even
therein his righteousness unimpaired. But even this too man owed not to the
devil but to God only. For the sin which he committed was not against the devil,
but against God; neither did man belong to the devil, but man and the devil
alike belonged to God. And in that the devil afflicted men, this he did not out
of zeal for righteousness, but out of zeal for wickedness; not by the command of
God, but by His permission only; because it was required by the justice, not of
the devil, but of God. There was therefore nothing in the devil, by reason
whereof God ought to have hidden or deferred the operation of His mighty power
for the salvation of man.On the views of the Atonement by the death of
Christ which Anselm here rejects, see the Introduction.
Was there then any necessity that constrained
the Most High so to humble Himself, and the
Almighty to accomplish a work with so great
labour? Nay, all necessity and impossibility is
dependent upon His will. For whatsoever He
willeth, must of necessity be; and what He
willeth not, it is impossible should be. Therefore of His free will alone, and because His
will is ever good, out of mere goodness did He
do this. For God wrought thus, not that He
might in this manner, and no other accomplish
the salvation of men; but it was the nature of
man that required it in this manner to make
satisfaction to God. God had no need to
suffer things so troublesome, but man had need
thus to be reconciled to God. God had no
need of this humiliation, but man had need of
being thus delivered out of the depths of hell.
Now the divine nature neither needed humiliation or toil, nor was capable thereof. But
human nature must suffer all this, that it might
be restored to that state for which it was
created; yet neither human nature nor aught
that was less than God could be sufficient to
this work. For man is not restored to that
state for which he was made, if he be not
advanced to be like unto the angels, in whom
is no sin; and this cannot be, except he have
received remission of all sins, which may not be
done, unless full satisfaction have been made for
them. Now this satisfaction can only be made,
if the sinner, or someone on his behalf, offer of his own to God something which is not due to
God, but which surpasseth whatsoever is not
God. For if sin consisteth in the dishonouring
of God, and if man ought not to dishonour
God, even if it were necessary that everything
which is not God should perish, then the unchangeable truth and manifest reason of the
thing requireth that whatsoever sinneth should
render to God, for the honour whereof it hath
robbed Him, something greater than that at the
cost whereof he was bound not to dishonour Him.
But because human nature by itself had nothing
so great to offer, and yet without such satisfaction
made could not be reconciled, lest the justice of
God should leave within His kingdom a sin for
which no satisfaction could be made, the goodness of God came to the aid of His justice, and
the Son of God took the nature of man upon
Him in His own person, so that in that one
person there should be a God-man, who should
have a sacrifice to offer, exceeding in value not
only everything that is not God, but also every
debt that sinners ought to pay to God, and so,
owing nothing Himself, should give this in payment for others, who had not wherewith to pay
that which they owed. For the life of the man
who is God is more precious than everything
that is not God; and surpasseth every debt
which sinners owe for the satisfaction of God.
For if the putting to death of this Man exceedeth
all sins which can be conceived, howsoever many
and great they be, so they touch not the person of God, it is
manifest that the goodness of His life is greater than the evil of all sins
which touch not the person of God. That life this Man who had not incurred the
debt of death, because He had no sin, offered freely of His own to the honour of
the Father, since He suffered it to be taken from Him for righteousness sake, to
give an example to all that the righteousness of God should not be abandoned by us
even unto that death, which they must at some
time incur as a debt due from them; since He
who had not incurred that death, and might
without abandoning righteousness have escaped
it, yet when it was brought upon Him suffered
it freely for righteousness sake. Thus in that
Man human nature offered to God freely and
not as of debt what was its own, that it might
redeem itself in the persons of others in whom
it had not that which was due as a debt to offer.
In all this the divine nature was not abased, but
the human was exalted; the divine was not
minished but the human in mercy sustained.
Neither did human nature in that Man suffer
anything through any necessity, but through free
will alone. Neither was it overcome by any
violence, but of its own accord, out of goodness
unconstrained, it endured to God’s honour and
the profit of other men those things which the
evil will of others brought upon it not through
the compulsion of any obligation, but through
the appointment of a wisdom that had power to
accomplish its purposes. For the Father did not by His commandment compel that Man to
die, but that which He knew would be pleasing
to the Father and profitable to men, that of His
own free will He performed: for the Father
could not compel Him to do that which He
had no right to exact of Him; neither could
this great act of honour but be pleasing to the
Father, which His Son freely offered to Him.
Thus therefore He rendered unto the Father a
free obedience, in willing freely to do that which
He knew would be pleasing to the Father. But
because the Father bestowed upon Him this
good will, though it were free, yet is it rightly
said thatReading quia for
qui.
He received it as the commandment
of the Father.John x. 18.
In this manner therefore He
was obedient to the Father even unto death;Philipp. ii. 8.
and as the Father gave Him commandment,
even so He did:John xiv. 31.
and He drank the cup which
His Father had given unto Him.John xviii. 11.
This is the
perfect and free obedience of human nature,
when it freely submitteth its own free will to
God’s will, and hath then of its own accord
carried out in deed that good purpose which
God hath not exacted but accepted. Thus this
Man redeemeth all others, in that He reckoneth
that which He hath freely given to God, as the
debt which they owed to God. And by this
price man is not only once redeemed from his
faults but, so often as he returneth to God
in worthy penitence, he is received; yet this worthy penitence is not promised to the sinner.
As to that which was done on the Cross, by His
Cross hath our Christ redeemed us. They therefore who desire to approach unto this grace with
a worthy affection are saved; but they who
despise it, because they pay not the debt which
they owe, are condemned.In Anselm’s view the debt due to God from sinners
they can never pay; it can only be paid by Christ, who
does not owe the debt, but has a sacrifice to offer to
the Father worthy, as ours could never be, of His
acceptance. By repentance and amendment however,
which are all we can do, we accept the salvation
offered to us through Christ’s vicarious sacrifice: if we
do not repent and amend, then we have no part in the
payment of our debt by Christ; we do not acknowledge
that it is our debt which He paid. It cannot be denied
that there is something artificial in the whole account
of the matter here given; and it will seem the more
artificial the more we forget that it is to be regarded
less as a commentary upon the Gospel history than as
an analysis of the relations in which the converted
soul finds itself towards God and towards its own
sins. Of that experience I believe that Anselm’s teaching is in essentials a true representation.
Behold, O Christian soul, this is the power of
thy salvation, this the cause of thy liberty, this
the price of thy redemption. Thou wast a
captive and in this wise wast thou redeemed.
Thou wast a slave, and thus wast thou made
free; an exile and thus brought home; lost and
thus found; dead and thus raised up. Upon this,
O man, let thy heart feed, this let it inwardly
digest, sucking out the sweetness and relishing
the goodness thereof, at such times as thy mouth receiveth the flesh and blood of Him, thy
Redeemer. Make this thy daily bread and
sustenance in this life, and thy provision for the
way,Viaticum: Anselm has doubtless in his mind the
use of this word for the Eucharist, when administered
to the sick and dying as a provision from the journey
from this world to the next.
for by this and by this alone shalt thou
both abide in Christ and Christ in thee, and in
the life to come shall He be thy full joy.
But, O Lord, Thou that didst endure death
that I might live, how shall I rejoice in my
freedom, seeing it cometh but of the chains that
bound Thee? how shall I take pleasure in my
salvation, since it is wrought but by Thy sufferings? how shall I be glad of my life, which
cometh only by Thy death? Shall I be glad
of Thy sufferings and of their cruelty that did
these things unto Thee? Or if I grieve for
Thee, how shall I be glad of that for the sake
whereof these things were done, and which
would not be, had these things not been? But
indeed their wickedness could have done nothing,
except by Thy free sufferance, nor didst Thou
suffer them except because in Thy goodness
Thou didst will it so. And thus I ought to
curse their cruelty, to imitate Thy death and
sufferings by fellowship therein, by thanksgiving
to show my love toward the kindness of Thy
purpose concerning me, and so safely to rejoice
in the good things which have been bestowed
upon me by those means.
Therefore, thou poor silly man, leave their
cruelty to the judgment of God, and consider
what thou owest to Thy Saviour. Remember
how it was with thee, and what was done for
thee, and consider how worthy is He of thy
love who did this for thee. Behold thy need
and His goodness, and see what thanks thou
shouldest render Him and how much thou
owest unto His love. Thou wast in darkness,
in a slippery place, in the way that goeth down
into the pit of hell, whence is no returning; a
huge weight as of lead hanging upon thy neck
did drag thee downwards, thy back was bowed
down by a burden thou wast not able to bear,
invisible foes drove thee onward with all their
might. Thus wast thou without all help and
knewest it not, because in this state was I conceived and born. O how was it then with
thee? Whither were they hurrying thee? think
thereon and tremble, consider and be afraid.
O good Lord Jesus Christ, when I was thus
set in the midst of these dangers and knew it
not nor sought for deliverance, Thou didst shine
forth upon me like the sun, and show me in
what state I stood. Thou didst cast away that
leaden weight which dragged me downwards;
Thou didst remove the heavy burden which
bowed me to the earth; Thou didst drive
away them that urged me forward and didst
set Thy face against them in my behalf. Thou
didst call me by a new name which Thou
gavest me after Thine own name. I was bowed together, and Thou didst lift me up to look upon
Thy face, saying, Trust in Me, I have redeemed
thee, I have given My life for thee; if thou
cleave to Me, thou shalt escape the evils which
were about thee, and shalt not fall into the pit
whither thou wast hastening; I will lead thee
unto My kingdom, and make thee an heir of
God and joint heir with Me. Afterwards didst
Thou receive me into Thy care, so that nothing
should harm my soul against Thy will; and
behold, though I have not stuck fast unto Thee,
as Thou didst bid me, yet hast Thou not
suffered me to fall into hell, but still lookest
that I should cleave unto Thee and Thou do
what Thou didst promise. Indeed, O Lord,
thus I was, and these things hast Thou done
unto me. I was in darkness, and knew nothing,
not even myself; in a slippery place, because I
was weak and frail, and ready to fall into sin;
on the road downwards into the pit of hell,
because in my first parents I had fallen from
righteousness into unrighteousness, whereby is
made the descent into hell, and from blessedness
into temporal misery, whence one must fall into
misery eternal. The weight of original sin
dragged me downwards, and the insupportable
burden of God’s judgment bowed down my
back, and mine enemies the devils pressed hotly
upon me, that, so far as in them lay, they might
make me to sin yet more and so bring upon
myself a greater condemnation. Thus was I
destitute of all help when Thou didst shine forth upon me and show me in what state I
stood. For even when I could not yet understand it, Thou didst teach all this to others who
stood in my place,The allusion is to the sponsors in baptism.
and afterwards to myself,
before I sought for it. Thou didst cast away
the leaden weight that dragged me downwards,
and the burden that was heavy upon my back,
and the enemies that urged me to destruction,
because Thou didst take away the sin wherein
I was born and conceived, and the condemnation
thereof, and didst forbid the wicked spirits to
do any violence to my soul. Thou madest me
to be called a Christian after Thy name; as
Christ I confess Thee, as a Christian Thou
knowest me among my redeemed; Thou hast
lifted and raised me up to know and to love
Thee; Thou hast made me to trust in the
salvation of my soul, for the sake whereof Thou
gavest Thy life, and Thou hast promised me
Thy glory if I will follow Thee. And so,
though even as yet I do not follow Thee as
Thou didst counsel me, but have done many
new sins which Thou hast forbidden, yet still
Thou waitest till I shall follow Thee and Thou
give me what Thou hast promised.
Consider, O my soul, consider earnestly, all
that is within me, how much my whole being
oweth unto Him. Truly, O Lord, because
Thou madest me, I owe unto Thy love my
whole self; because Thou didst redeem me, I
owe Thee my whole self; because Thou makest
me such great promises, I owe Thee my whole
self, nay more, I owe unto Thy love more than
myself, insomuch as Thou art greater than I,
for whom Thou didst give Thyself, to whom
Thou dost promise Thyself. Make me, I
beseech Thee, O Lord, to taste by love that
which I taste by knowledge; to perceive by
affection what I perceive by understanding. I
owe more than my whole self to Thee, but I
have no more than this, neither can I of myself
render even all this to Thee. Draw me, O
Lord, into Thy love, even this whole self of
mine. All that I am is Thine by creation,
make it to be all Thine by love. Behold, O
Lord, my heart is before Thee; it striveth, but
of itself it cannot do what it would; do Thou
do that which of itself it cannot do. Bring me
into the secret chamber of Thy love. I ask,
I seek, I knock. Thou who makest me to
ask, make me also to receive; Thou grantest
me to seek, grant me also to find; Thou
teachest me to knock, do Thou open to my
knocking. To whom dost Thou give, if Thou
deniest him that asketh? Who is he that
findeth, if he that seeketh is disappointed?
What dost Thou give to him that prayeth not,
if to him that prayeth Thou deniest Thy love?
From Thee have I my desire; from Thee may
I have also the accomplishment thereof. Cleave
thou unto Him, cleave unto Him right earnestly,
O my soul! O good Lord, good Lord, cast
her not away! She is sick with hunger for Thy love, do Thou cherish her, and let her be
satisfied with Thy loving-kindness, enriched by
Thy favour, fulfilled by Thy love; yet let Thy
love lay hold upon me and possess me wholly,
because Thou art with the Father and the Holy
Ghost, the one only God, blessed for ever world
without end. Amen.
PRAYERS OF ST ANSELM
I
A Prayer of Praise and Thanksgiving to God.This is the 12th Prayer in Gerberon’s edition.
I GIVE Thee thanks and praise, O my God,
my Mercy, who hast vouchsafed to lead me
unto the conception of Thee,This is a characteristic touch, which seems to stamp
the prayer as a genuine work of St Anselm. Before
admission into the Christian covenant he places the
conception of God, which, as he argues in the Proslogion,
is by itself enough to give to every rational being the
assurance of His existence.
and by the washing
of holy baptism to number me among Thy
children by adoption. I give Thee thanks and
praise, for that Thou hast patience with me in
Thine unbounded goodness, waiting for amendment of life in me, who have abounded in sins
from my childhood even unto this hour. Thee
I praise, Thee I glorify, who by the arm of Thy
might hast often delivered me out of many distresses calamities and miseries, and hitherto hast
spared me eternal pains and bodily torments.His thought in placing eternal pains before
bodily
torments seems to be this: Thou hast not cut short my life
in the midst of my sins; nor in the extension of life thus
given made me to suffer bodily pain.
I
praise Thee and glorify Thee, for that Thou hast vouchsafed to grant unto me soundness of
body, a quiet life, the love, affection and charity
of Thy servants toward me, for all these things
are the gifts of Thy goodness. Holy of holies,
who makest all things holy, I bless Thee, I
glorify Thee, I worship Thee, I give thanks to
Thee.A reminiscence of the Gloria in excelsis.
Let all Thy creatures bless Thee, let
all Thine angels and saints bless Thee. Let me
bless Thee in all the actions of my life. Let all
my frame, without and within, glorify and bless
Thee. My salvation, my light, my glory, let
mine eyes see Thee, which Thou hast created
and prepared to look upon the beauty of Thine
excellency. My music, my delight, let mine
ears bless Thee, which Thou hast created and
prepared to hear the voice of Thy cheerful
salvation. My sweetness, my refreshment, let
my nostrils bless Thee, which Thou hast made
to live and take pleasure in the sweet odour of
Thine ointments,See Cant. i. 3.
My praise, my new song,See Ps. xl. 3; Rev. xiv. 3, etc.
my rejoicing, let my tongue bless and magnify
Thee, which Thou hast created and prepared to
tell forth Thy wonderful works. My wisdom,
my meditation, my counsel, let my heart adore
and bless Thee for ever, which Thou hast pre
pared and given unto me to discern Thine unspeakable mercies. My life, my happiness, let
my soul, sinful though she be, bless Thee, which
Thou hast created and prepared to enjoy Thy
goodness.
Father adorable and terrible, worthy of worship
and of fear, I bless Thee, whom I have loved,
whom I have sought, whom I have ever desired.
My God, my lover, I thirst after Thee, I hunger
for Thee, I pour out my supplications to Thee,
with all the groanings of my heart I crave for
Thee. Even as a mother, when her only son is
taken from her, sitteth weeping and lamenting
continually beside his sepulchre, even so I also,
as I can, not as I ought, having in mind Thy
passion, Thy buffetings, Thy scourgings, Thy
wounds, remembering how Thou wast slain for
my sake, how Thou wast embalmed, how and
where Thou wast buried, sit with Mary at the
sepulchre in my heart, weeping.See John xx. 11.
Where faith hath
laid Thee, hope seeketh to find Thee, love to anoint Thee. Most gracious, most
excellent, most sweet, who will bring me to find Thee without the sepulchre, to
wash Thy wounds
with my tears, even the marks of the nails. Ye
daughters of Jerusalem, tell my Beloved that I am
sick of love.Cant. v. 8.
Let Him show Himself to me, let
Him make Himself known unto me. Let Him
call me by my name;See John xx. 16.
let Him give me rest
from my sorrow.
For my sorrow can take no rest while I am
an exile from Thy presence, O my God. Come
now, O Lord, reveal Thy face to me, show Thy
mercy to those that implore it. We know that
Thy resurrection is accomplished, manifest to our eyes Thy blessed incorruption. O Thou
wonderful one, above all estimation and comparison, I desired Thee, I hoped for Thee, I
sought Thee. Lo, Thou Thyself comest,
clothed in purple; Thou art red in Thine apparel.Isa. lxiii. 2.
Thou hast
washed Thy garments in wine
and Thy clothes in the blood of grapes.Gen. xlix. 11.
Thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked,
when Thou wentest forth for the salvation of Thy
people.Hab. iii. 13.
Abide with us,Luke xxiv. 29.
abide with us until the morning. Let us enjoy Thy presence; let us be
glad and rejoice in Thy resurrection. The
darkness thickens, the evening cometh fast.See Luke xxiv. 29.
May our Sun, the Light eternal, Christ our
God show us the light of His countenance!Ps. lxvii. 1.
But what is this? Alas, my Lord, alas, my
soul! Thou liftest up Thine hands.See Luke xxiv. 50.
Lo, Thou
goest upon Thy way. The heavens meet Thee,
the skies are bowed under Thee, a cloud is prepared to receive Thee in Thine ascension.See Acts i. 9.
Now
shall my tears be my meat day and night.Ps. xlii. 3.
I will
feed upon my griefs, I will give my soul to drink
of my sorrows. My life shall wax old in heaviness, and my years in mourning.Ps. xxxi.
11.
Whom have I
in heaven but Thee; and there is none upon earth
that I desire in comparison of Thee?Ps. lxxiii. 24.
With my
soul will I desire Thee in the night: yea with my
spirit within me will I seek Thee early.Isa. xxvi. 9.
Yet in the meanwhile wilt
Thou come unto us, O Lord, because Thou art gracious, and wilt not tarry,Heb. x. 37.
because Thou art good. To Thee be glory,
world without end. Amen.
II
A Prayer to the Holy Spirit.This is the 14th Prayer in Gerberon’s edition.
NOW, O Thou Love that art the bond of
the Godhead, Thou that art the holy
Love which is betwixt the Father Almighty
and His most blessed Son, Thou Almighty
Spirit, the Comforter, the most merciful consoler of them that mourn, do Thou enter by
Thy mighty power into the innermost sanctuary
of my heart, and of Thy goodness dwell therein,
making glad with the brightness of Thy glorious
light the neglected corners thereof, and making
fruitful by the visitation of Thine abundant dew
the fields that are parched and barren with long
continued drought. Pierce with the arrows of
Thy love the secret chambers of the inner man.
Let the entrance of Thy healthful flames set the
sluggish heart alight, and the burning fire of
Thy sacred inspiration enlighten it and consume all that is within me, both of mind and body.
Give me drink of Thy pleasures as out of the
riverPs. xxxvi. 8.
; so that I may take no pleasure hereafter
in the poisonous sweetness of worldly delights.
Give sentence with me, God, and defend my
cause against the ungodly people.Ps. xliii. 1.
Teach me to
do the thing that pleaseth Thee, for Thou art my
God.Ps. cxliii. 10.
I believe that in whomsoever Thou
dost dwell, Thou makest there an habitation
for the Father and for the Son. Blessed is
he who shall be counted worthy to entertain
Thee; because by Thee the Father and the
Son shall make their abode with him.John xiv. 23.
Come, O come, most gracious consoler of the
soul that sorroweth, Thou refuge in due time of
trouble.Ps. ix. 9.
Come, Thou cleanser from sin, Thou
healer of wounds.See the Veni Sancte Spiritus (the sequence for
Pentecost).
Come, Thou strength of
the weak, Thou lifter up of them that fall.
Come, Thou teacher of the lowly and destroyer
of the proud. Come, Thou gracious father of
the fatherless, Thou gentle defender of the
cause of the widows.Ps. lxviii. 5.
Come, Thou hope of
the poor, and cherisher of the sick. Come,
Thou star of the seafarer, Thou haven of the
shipwrecked. Come, Thou that art the only
glory of them that live, the only salvation of
them that die. Come, most holy Spirit, come
and have mercy upon me, and fit me to receive Thee: and graciously grant to me that my
littleness may be pleasing to Thy greatness,
my weakness to Thy strength, according to
the multitude of Thy mercies, through Jesus
Christ my Saviour, who liveth and reigneth
with the Father in the Unity that is of Thee,
world without end. Amen.
III
A Prayer to Christ for my friends.This is the 23rd Prayer in Gerberon’s edition.
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,In the famous treatise on the Atonement called Cur Deus Homo, or
Why God became Man, St Anselm
makes much of the thought that the man Christ, being
free alike from original and from actual sin, discharged
in dying no debt of nature, but did something over and
above what was required of Him (namely, a righteous
life) and offered to God something which indeed belonged to God already, as does everything which He
created, but which God did not exact, and could thus
be reckoned as a satisfaction for the sins of others.
To this thought he here refers, saying that Christ owed
no debt which was paid by Him in dying.
and yet didst lay down Thy life in Thy
goodness for Thy servants, and didst pray even for Thy murderers,Luke xxiii. 34.
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? What
reward shall I givePs. cxvi. 11.
for Thine unspeakable
benefit? For the sweetness of Thy grace exceedeth all affection, and the greatness of
Thy benefit surpasseth all reward. What
reward then shall I give unto Him who created
me, and created me anew? What reward shall I give unto Him that had mercy upon me and
redeemed me? O Lord, Thou art my God, my
goods are nothing unto Thee.Ps. xvi. 2.
The whole world is Thine and all that is
therein.Ps. l. 12.
What reward
shall I, who am poor and needy,Ps. xl. 20.
who am a
worm,Ps. xxii. 6.
who am dust and ashes,Gen. xviii. 27.
give unto my
God, except to obey His commandment from
my heart. And this is Thy commandment. That
we love another.John xv. 12.
O Thou that art good as man, as God, as
Lord, as friend, as whatsoever Thou art, Thy
humble, Thy despicable servant desires to obey
this Thy commandment. Thou knowest, O
Lord, that I am in love with that love which Thou commandest.The elaborate phrase of Anselm here,
quia dilectionem
quam jubes amo, amorem diligo, caritatem concupisco, using
a number of synonyms for love which we can scarcely
parallel in English, I have not attempted to translate
closely.
I seek that love, I follow
after it, for the sake thereof I, thy poor and
needyPs. xl. 20.
servant knock and cry out at the door of
Thy mercy. And in so far forth as I have
already received the sweet alms of Thy free
bounty, and love all men in Thee and for Thy
sake, though not as I ought, nor as I would,
I entreat Thee to show mercy to all men.
Nevertheless, as there are some the love of
whom Thy loving-kindness hast in an especial
manner more intimately impressed upon my
heart, I do more ardently wish them well and
desire more earnestly to pray for them. Very
great is Thy servant’s longingHere too I have not kept closely to the original
which repeats the word Vult, wishes, three times.
to pray for
them, O good God: yet he is afraid to appear
in the company of his loved ones, because he is
guilty before Thee. For with what countenance shall I, who am not worthy to ask pardon
for myself, presume to entreat Thy favour for
others? And I who anxiously seek others to
pray for me, with what confidence can I pray
for them? What shall I do, Lord God, what
shall I do? Thou biddest me pray for them,
and my love desires to pray for them, yet while
my conscience cries out that I should tremble for my own sins, I am afraid to speak for others.
Shall I then disobey Thy bidding, because I
have done what Thou hast forbidden? Nay
rather, since I have presumed to do what Thou
hast forbidden, I will embrace that which Thou
hast commanded, if perchance obedience may
treat my presumption, if perchance charity may
cover the multitude of my sins.1 Peter iv. 8.
Therefore I pray to Thee, O good and
gracious God, for those who love me for Thy
sake, and whom I love in Thee; and for those
most earnestly, in whose love toward me and in
my love toward whom Thou knowest to be the
most sincerity. And I do this, O my Lord,
not as a righteous man, without fear for his own
sins, but as one who is afraid out of his poor
charity for the sins of others. Do Thou therefore be loving unto them, O Fountain of love,
who commandest me to love them, and givest
me love toward them. And if my prayer be
unworthy to profit them, because it is offered
unto Thee by a sinner, let it yet prevail on
their behalf, because it is made at the instance
of Thy commandment. Therefore for Thine
own sake, O author and giver of love, for Thine
own sake, not for mine, do Thou show love
towards them; and make them love Thee with
all their heart, with all their mind, with all their
soul; so that they may will, speak and do only
those things that please Thee and are expedient
for themselves. Too lukewarm, O my Lord, too lukewarm is my prayer, because my love is
too little fervent. Yet bestow not Thy benefits
upon them, O Thou that art rich in mercies,
according to the measure of my slothful devotion;
but, as Thy goodness exceedeth all the love of
man, so may Thine answer exceed the affection
of my supplication. Do unto them and concerning them, O Lord, that which is expedient
for them according to Thy will, that they may
so be guided and protected by Thee at all times
and in all places as to come at last to a
glorious and everlasting security. Who livest
and reignest, with the Father and the Holy
Ghost, world without end. Amen.
IV
A Prayer to Christ for my Enemies.This is the 24th Prayer in Gerberon’s edition.
LORD Jesus Christ, Lord of all power and
goodness, whom I pray to be gracious to
my friends. Thou knowest what my heart
desireth for mine enemies. For Thou, O God, who triest the very hearts and reins,Ps. vii. 10.
Thou
knowest the secrets of my heart within me.
For it is not hidden from Thee. If Thou
hast sown in the soul of Thy servant what he
may offer to Thee, and if that enemyMatt. xiii. 28.
and I
have sown there likewise what is to be burned with fire,Matt. xiii. 30.
that also is before Thine eyes.
Despise not, most gracious God, that which
Thou hast sown, but cherish it and give it
increase and bring it to perfection and preserve
it for ever. For as I could begin no good
thing without Thee, so can I neither finish it
nor keep it in safety except by Thy help.
Judge me not, O merciful God, according to
that which displeaseth Thee in me, but take
away what Thou hast not planted, and save my
soul which Thou hast created. For I cannot
amend myself without Thee, because if we be
good it is Thou that dost make us and not we ourselves.Ps. c. 2.
Neither can my soul endure Thy judgment, if Thou wilt judge her according to her
wickedness. Thou therefore, O Lord, who
alone art mighty, whatsoever Thou makest me
to desire for mine enemies, be that Thy gift
unto them, and Thine answer to my prayer.
And if I at any time ask for them anything
which transgresseth the rule of love, whether
through ignorance or through infirmity or
through wickedness, neither do that to them,
nor fulfil my petition therein. Thou who art
the true Light,John i. 9.
enlighten their blindness. Thou
who art supreme Truth, amend their error.
Thou art the true Life, quicken their souls.
For Thou hast said by Thy beloved Disciple,
He that loveth not his brother, abideth in death.1 John iii. 14.
I pray therefore, O Lord, that Thou grant to them so much love of Thee and of their neighbour as Thou commandest us to have, lest they
should have sin before Thee concerning their
brother.
Forbid it, O good Lord, forbid it that I
should be to my brethren an occasion of death,
that I should be to them a stone of stumbling and
rock of offence.1 Pet. ii. 8.
For it is enough and more than
enough that I should be an offence unto myself;
mine own sin is sufficient for me. Thy servant
entreateth Thee for his fellow-servants that
they should not on my account offend so great
and good a Master, but be reconciled to Thee,
and agree with me according to Thy will for
Thy sake. This is the vengeance which my
inmost heart desireth to ask of Thee upon my
fellow-servants, mine enemies and fellow-sinners.
This is the punishment which my soul asketh
upon my fellow-servants and enemies, that they
should love Thee and one another, according to
Thy will and as is expedient for us, so that we
may satisfy our common Master both as concerning ourselves and as concerning one another
and serve our common Lord in unity by the
teaching of charity to the common good. This
vengeance I, Thy sinful servant, pray may be
prepared against all those that wish me evil and
do me evil. Do Thou prepare this also, most
merciful Lord, against Thy sinful servant like
wise.
Come then, O my good Creator and merciful
Judge, and by Thy mercy which passeth all
reckoning, forgive me all my debts as I in Thy
presence forgive all my debtors.Matt. vi. 12.
And if not
yet, because hitherto my spirit doth not so
forgive perfectly according to Thy measure but willeth so to do and accomplisheth by Thy help
what it can, doing violence to itself, this imperfect forgiveness I offer to Thee as it is, that
Thou mayest be pleased perfectly to forgive me
my sins and according to Thy power, be gracious
unto my soul.
Hearken unto me, hearken unto me, O great
and good Lord, with desire for the love of
whom my soul is fain to feed herself, but cannot
satisfy her hunger for Thee, to call upon whom
my mouth findeth no name that sufficeth my
heart. For there is no word that expresseth
unto me that which by Thy grace my heart
conceiveth concerning Thee. I have prayed,
O Lord, as I could, but my will was greater
than my power. Hearken unto me, hearken
unto me, according to Thy power, who canst do
whatsoever Thou dost will. I have prayed as
one weak and sinful, hear me, O hear me, as
one mighty and merciful; and grant unto my
friends and unto mine enemies not only what I
have prayed, but what Thou knowest to be
expedient for each one, and agreeable to Thy
will. Grant to all, both living and dead, the
help of Thy mercy; and ever hear me not
according to the desires of my heart or the
requests of my lips, but as Thou knowest and
wiliest that I ought to will and to ask, O
Saviour of the world, who with the Father and
the Holy Ghost livest and reignest God, world
without end. Amen.
INTRODUCTORY NOTE
THOUGH Anselm had a great reputation in
his time as a spiritual guide, his correspondence does not afford many examples of
spiritual advice which can be well selected for
the purpose of the present volume; although
not a few letters of warm affection to those who as
young men had attached themselves to him as
their master in religion witness abundantly to
the depth and strength of the friendships thus
begun. I have translated here five letters: two
to brother monks, one to his only sister, one to
a king, and one to a company of devout women
who seem to have formed themselves into a little
community under the guidance of a certain
Robert, perhaps their parish priest, for pursuing a
life of regulated piety, though, as it would seem,
not under a monastic rule; and who may perhaps
remind us of the household of Nicholas
Ferrar at Little Gidding in the seventeenth
century.
LETTERS OF SPIRITUAL COUNSEL
I
To Ralph.This is Letter XI. of Book I. in Gerberon’s edition.
The person to whom it was addressed was, as it would
seem, a monk of the abbey of Bec (of which Anselm
was at the time of writing Prior, but not as yet Abbot)
who was detained by Archbishop Lanfranc in England
on some ecclesiastical business.
BROTHER Anselm to his dear brother
Ralph. Although you have forbidden me
in your letters to address you at the beginning
as Dom Ralph, yet my sentiments towards you
constrain me to show myself in the rest of my
letters your obedient servant. For I am ready
to be the obedient servant of Dom Ralph in the
same spirit of love in which I love him as the
brother, not of my flesh, but of my soul. And
so if you bid me not call you what notwithstanding, in virtue of your superiority of character
you really are (if I speak my mind candidly) to
me, let me at any rate follow my original wish
of calling myself what I really am to you. I
will then no longer address you as Dom Ralph
and sign myself Brother Anselm, but will address
you as Brother Ralph and sign myself your
obedient Servant, Anselm.This passage has been difficult of translation,
owing to the absence of any term in modern English exactly corresponding to the
dominus, the use of which
as addressed to himself Ralph had desired Anselm to
discontinue. It was the ordinary term of respect,
used to persons of a certain position, and still commonly prefixed, in the shortened form
Dom, to the
names of Benedictine monks. But preserving its proper meaning of lord or
master it immediately suggested
the antithesis of servant which Anselm here insists on
using of himself, even though he consents to call his
correspondent brother.
As to your charitable desire that you should
be with me wherever I am, that comes to the
same thing as my own hearty wish to be with
you wherever you are. And as you ask me for
advice how this may be, I pray God to help us
so that it may be impossible for it to be other
wise. For, if God shall vouchsafe to hear us,
may our life together be by His assistance such
that so long as life shall last it may be all one
act of thanksgiving to Him. But since neither
you nor I are our own; for whether we live or
die we are the Lord’s;Rom. xiv. 8.
if He, who knows
better than we what is pleasing to Himself or
expedient for us, shall dispose of us otherwise
than we wish, let us endure in patience whatever
we perceive to be His pleasure concerning us, if
we have resolved not to displease Him. For
our life is short, and therefore the time is near
when we shall rejoice together in an everlasting
union with Him and with one another, if by
His grace we take care to pass this brief life in
submission to His will in all things. Nevertheless, in the meantime, in whatever places we may be, however near to one another or far
from one another, may love ever make our
spirits one. As to that, however, which you so
anxiously entreat me to beg of Archbishop
Lanfranc when he comes from England, that
you should be with me, I answer that as I wish
you that which I understand to be most pleasing to God and most profitable to you, I will, if
I find I can, try to bring it about. Meanwhile
do cheerfully the business which you are about:
for God loveth a cheerful giver.2 Cor. ix. 7.
As to your complaint of being hindered by
your business from close attention to reading or
prayer, let it be a great consolation to you that
charity covereth the multitude of sins.1 Pet iv. 8.
For by
your being drawn back another is drawn on; by
your carrying of the burden another is relieved;
by your being heavy laden another is carried on
his way. And remember that the servant who
returns with his hands empty, runs quicker; but
it is the servant who comes home laden that the
whole household meets with greater joy.
Nor is he blamed by any because he came
more slowly than the other; but because he is
tired by useful work, he is bidden sit down and
rest. But if you say that your zeal or diligence
are not sufficient for the duty laid upon you, I
answer that (taking you at your own estimation,
not at mine) one weak eye cannot see as well as
two, yet it does not refuse to do what it can,
since no other part of the body can do it.
But because my letter is already too long, and
your other matters will be better discussed by
word of mouth than in writing; for written advice
you will find in abundance in Holy Scripture;
we will for the while commit them in trust to
God and pray earnestly concerning them, looking forward both of us to meeting and agreeing
to end our correspondence here.
IIThis is Letter XLIII. of Book I. in Gerberon’s edition.
To Herlivin,Herlwin is often mentioned in St Anselm’s correspondence. From the roll of monks of Bec he seems
to have been considerably the senior of Anselm in the
monastery. He was a namesake, perhaps a kinsman,
of the founder.
GondulfGondulf was one of St Anselm’s dearest friends.
He became a monk of Bec very shortly before Anselm
himself, was brought to England by Lanfranc, and
raised to the see of Rochester in 1077. He died at
the age of eighty-four in 1108 and was buried by
Anselm’s side at Canterbury. He was the architect
of the White Tower of London.
, and Maurice,Maurice was an intimate friend and frequent correspondent. He was one of those who urged Anselm
to write the Monologium.
Monks of Bec sojourning in Christ Church, Canterbury.The cathedral clergy of Canterbury were at this time Benedictine monks, and therefore under the same
rule as the monks of Bee, of which Anselm was Prior
at this time, and to which his correspondents belonged.
During the primacy of Lanfranc and Anselm there was
much intercourse between Bee, of which both arch
bishops had been prior and Anselm also abbot, and
Christ Church, Canterbury, of which convent the
Archbishops were considered to be ex officio Abbots,
the actual governor bearing only the inferior title of
Prior.
TO his brethren and dearest friends, Dom Herlwin, Dom Gondulf and Dom Maurice, Brother Anselm, with the hope that going from strength to strengthPs.
lxxxiv. 7.
they may
attain unto Christ who is the supreme strength
of God.
Since you have all one purpose and I have
one desire for you all, I join you together and
address you all at once in the same letter. If
your kindness remembers what manner of men
I always wish to see you when you are with me,
you know well enough what manner of men I
constantly desire to hear you are when you are
away from me. For since, as my conscience
bears witness, I have from my heart—I do not
say, expended—but wished to expend on all of
you the love of a brother and on one of youMaurice.
the care of a father, no interval of land or sea
has been able to break off this affectionate regard
of mine for you. And so, although you have
incentives enough to duly progress in the good
course on which you have entered; for you
have the counsel and advice of our reverend Lord
and Father the ArchbishopLanfranc.
close at hand, you
have that constant custom of private meditation
which your monastic profession imposes on each one of you, you have the frequent excitement of
zeal by mutual religious conversation; yet my
unceasing love for you makes me unwilling you
should miss my poor exhortations also, though
you are absent from me and need them not.
And so I admonish and entreat you, my dearest
friends, that nothing may distract the mind from
watchfulness over self. Let it anxiously consider what gain and progress it makes every
day,—lest which God forbid!—it lose and go
backward. For in the practice of virtue, as it
is harder to attain something new by effort than
to lose something old by sloth, so it is more
difficult to recover what is lost by negligence
than to acquire what one has not yet been
observed to possess. Therefore, my beloved
friends, always count what is past as nothing,
yet without being ashamed to hold that fast to
which you have once attained; and though from
infirmity you fail to add anything new thereto,
yet always strive to do so, without giving in.
For that among many called few only are
chosen,Matt. xx. 16.
we are assured by the word of the
Truth Himself; but we are all ignorant how
few are chosen, for concerning this that same
Truth was silent. And so whoever does not
yet live as those few live who are chosen, must
either amend his life, so as to set himself among
the few; or else have a sure and certain fear of
reprobation: but if a man think he is already
one of the few, he ought not straightway to be
confident that he is chosen. For since none of
us knows how few the elect may be, no man
can know that he is already one of the few elect,
although he be already like the few among the
many called. And so no one should look
behind him, and think how many are not so far
advanced as he in the way to the heavenly
country; but one should look steadily forward
and anxiously ask himself, whether he is walking as well as those of whose election no one
doubts. See then, my dearest friends, that
nothing cool the fear of God which you have
conceived; but grow more and more fervent
from day to day, as though the fire in you was
fanned by your unwearying zeal, until it be
changed for you into the steadfast light of
eternal security.
Farewell, my most loving friends; and I beg
you, by the brotherly love you owe me, pray
with special earnestness that 1, who exhort you
to improvement, may not myself finish that
miserable course of failure which I began long
since, and now have almost done.Anselm cannot have been more than forty-five
at this time, but his health was probably already
injured by his austerities. He lived however to be
seventy-six.
IIIThis is Letter LXVI. of Book III. in Gerberon’s edition.
To Burgundus and his Wife Richera,Richera was St Anselm’s only sister, and Burgundius was her husband. Their only son was a
younger Anselm, at this time a professed monk and
in attendance upon his uncle, now Archbishop of
Canterbury and, as appears from a letter written soon
after this to his sister, in the midst of his dispute
with Henry I. about the homage claimed from him by
the king.
on Burgundius’ departure as a Pilgrim to Jerusalem.
ANSELM by the grace of God Archbishop of Canterbury to his dear brother and friend Burgundius and his wife Richera, his own sister, health and the blessing of God, and to the best of his power, his own also.
You have sent me word, my dearest Sir and
friend Burgundius, that you purpose to go to
Jerusalem for God’s service and the health of
your soul, and that you wish to have my consent
to this, and that of your son, my nephew,
Anselm.
I am glad to hear of your good intention and
advise and entreat you, if you make this journey,
neither to carry with you the sins you have
committed nor to leave them behind at home,
and to make a resolve of living well for the
future, as befits a Christian of your degree. Make then a confession by name of all your
sins from childhood upwards, so far as you can
remember them. See that you have no sin to
charge yourself with in respect of your wife,
whose goodness you know better than I; but
leave her so that she may have the means of
counsel and support, whatever God may do
with you, and that she be not driven from
your house and estate against her will so long
as she lives, but may be able to serve God for
the safety of your body and soul, and for her
own soul and that of your children. Dispose
therefore of all your property as you would do
if you knew you were just about to die and to
give account of all your life to God.
You ask my consent; I pray God you may
always and everywhere have God’s consent and
counsel and aid and protection in all things.
I charge you, my dearest sister, turn your
whole heart and mind to God’s service and, as
God hath taken from you all pleasure in this
life, consider that He has done this so that you
may have pleasure in none but Him; love Him,
desire Him, think upon Him, serve Him at all
times and in all places.
God Almighty ever bless you both.
IVThis is Letter CXXXII. of Book III. in Gerberon’s edition.
To Alexander, King of Scots.Son of Malcolm Canmore (the Malcolm of
Macbeth)
and St Margaret of Scotland: brother of Matilda, the
wife of the English King Henry I. He reigned from
1107 to 1124, and was succeeded by his brother St
David.
TO Alexander by the grace of God King of
Scots, Anselm servant of the Church of
Canterbury wishes health and promises his faithful prayers and sends him the blessing of God
and, for what it is worth, his own also.
Both I and the whole society of Christ Church,
Canterbury, thank God and rejoice that God
has advanced you by right of inheritance to your
father’sMalcolm Canmore. He succeeded to the kingdom
of Scotland in 1057, married the English princess St
Margaret as his second wife in 1068 and died in 1093.
kingdom after your brother’sEdgar, son and successor of Malcolm Canmore.
He was named after his uncle, the English prince
Edgar Atheling, St Margaret’s brother. He reigned
from 1094 to 1107.
decease,
and has adorned you with a character worthy of
your royal dignity. As to your brother who by
his holy living deserved to make a good end at
his departure by God’s mercy out of this life, we
pray and will pray for him, as you request us,
as for one who loved us and whom we loved, that God may grant to his soul eternal joy in
His glory among His elect, and everlasting happiness.
I know that your Highness loves and desires
my counsel. And so first praying God that He
Himself may so guide you by the grace of His
Holy Spirit and give you His counsel in all
your acts, that He may bring you after this life
to His heavenly kingdom, I advise you earnestly
to preserve by His help, from whom you received
them, that fear of God and those good and
pious habits, which you began to have in youth
and even in childhood. For kings reign well
when they live according to God’s will and
serve Him in fear; and when they reign over
themselves and do not become the servants of
their own vices, but master the impetuosity of
these by courageous constancy. For there is
no inconsistency between constancy in virtue and
royal courage in a king. For some kings, like
David, at once lived a holy life and also governed
the people committed to their charge with vigorous justice and gentle kindness, according as the
matter in hand required. Do you show your
self such that the wicked may fear you and the
good love you; and, that your life may ever be
pleasing to God, let your mind ever remember
the punishment of the wicked and reward of
the good which shall be after this life. May
Almighty God entrust you and all your actions
to none other than to His own gracious government.
As to our brethren,Probably Benedictine monks from Canterbury.
Both Edgar and Alexander were interested in the
introduction into Scotland of the religious institutions
prevalent in England. Edgar had refounded Coldingham for Durham monks; Alexander at a later date
brought Canterbury monks to Dunfermline.
whom we have sent into
Scotland at the desire of your brother, who
has departed, as we trust, from the labours
of this life into his rest, we have not thought
it necessary to request your kindness for them,
because we know well your good will toward
them.
VThis is Letter CXXXIII. of Book III. in Gerberon’s edition.
To RobertI know nothing further of this Robert than
appears from this letter.
and the Devout Women under his Care.
ANSELM Archbishop to his very dear friend and son Robert and to his beloved sisters and daughters, Saegyth, Eadgyth, Theodgyth, Lufrun, Deorgyth, Godgyth,The printed text has
Seit, Edit et Hydit, Luverim,
Virgit, Godit. Through the kindness of Mr Moule of
C.C.C., Cambridge, I learn that the manuscript of
Anselm’s Letters belonging to the Parker collection
has Thydit for et Hydit, and Dirgit for Virgit. The Anglo-Saxon names thus disguised have been kindly
identified for me as above by Mr W. H. Stevenson of
Exeter College, Oxford. Except Eadgyth, which survives as Edith, all have gone out of use.
wishes health and God’s blessing, and his own for what it is worth.
I rejoice and thank God for the holy resolution and holy course of life which you have
agreed to pursue together in the love of God
and in holiness of life, as I have been informed
by my brother and son William.This may be (but it is quite possible it is not)
William of Chester, a pupil of Anselm. a monk first
(probably) of Bec, then of the daughter house at
Chester, who addressed a poem to St Anselm on his
elevation to the see of Canterbury.
In your kind love towards me, you request
of me, my very dear daughters, that I should
send you a letter of admonition to instruct you
and incite you to goodness of life; although you
have with you my dear son Robert, into whose
heart God hath put it to care for you in the
things of God, and who instructs you daily by
word and example how you ought to live. Yet
since I ought, if I can, to do what you ask me,
I will try to write to you a few words such as
you desire. My very dear daughters, every
action, whether it deserve praise or blame,
deserves it according to the intention of the
doer. For the will is the root and principle
of all actions that are in our own power, and
though we cannot do what we will, yet every
one of us is judged before God according to his
will. Do not therefore consider what you do,
but what you will; take more heed what your will is than what your works are. For every
action which is right is right because of the
righteousness of the will from which it proceeded; from the righteousness of his will is a
man called righteous, and from the unrighteousness of his will unrighteous. If then you wish
to live a good life, keep watch over your will
continually in great and small things alike; both
in those things which are in your own control,
and in things which are not; lest it swerve in
any degree from the right way. But if you wish
to know when your will is right, it is certainly
right when it is subject to the will of God.
And so when you decide to do or think of
doing anything of importance say in your hearts,
Does God will me to will this or no? If your
conscience answers, Yes, God does will me to
will this, and my will herein is pleasing to Him;
then, whether you can carry out your will or no,
cleave to it. But if your conscience witnesses
to you that God does not will you to have this
will, then turn away your heart from it with all
your might; and if you wish to drive it quite
away, put it out of your head and forget it so
far as you can. But as to the way in which you
may rid yourselves of an evil thought or will,
consider and observe this advice which I give
you. Do not wrangle with wicked thoughts
or wicked wishes, but when they beset you, do
your utmost to occupy your mind with some
useful thought or wish, until the others disappear.
For no thought or wish is ever driven away, except by some other thought or wish which is
inconsistent with it. Conduct yourselves then
thus towards unprofitable thoughts and wishes,
so that by attending with all your might to
profitable ones, your mind may come to refuse
any recollection or notice to the unprofitable.
When you wish to pray, or to engage in any
other good meditation, if these thoughts which
you ought not to entertain are importunate with
you, never consent to give up on their account
the good design upon which you have entered,
lest the devil who suggests them should rejoice
in having made you desist from a good work
once begun, but overcome them by despising
them in the manner I have described. Do not
grieve or vex yourselves because they beset you,
so long as by despising them in the way
I have shown you, you yield no assent to
them; otherwise they may take occasion from
your vexation with them to come back into
your mind and renew their old importunity.
For it is habitual with the human mind
for whatever either pleases or vexes it to
come back into one’s head more frequently
than that which it feels or thinks should be
neglected.
In like manner should a person who is earnest in a holy
resolution behave in the case of any unbecoming emotion whether in the body or
in the soul, such as the feeling of lust or of anger or of envy or of vainglory.
For these are most easily quenched when we treat them with contempt and refuse to indulge in them, or to think
about them or to do anything at their suggestion.
Do not fear that such emotions or imaginations
will be imputed to you as sins, if your will in
no degree associates itself with them; for there
is no condemnation to them which are in Christ
Jesus, who walk not after the flesh.Rom. viii. 1.
For to
walk after the flesh is to agree to the will of the
flesh; and the Apostle gives the name of the
flesh to every vicious feeling in soul or body,
when he says, The flesh lusteth against the spirit
and the spirit against the flesh.Gal. v. 17.
We shall indeed
easily extinguish this sort of suggestions, if we
crush their first beginnings, according to the
advice given above; but it will be difficult to
do it, if once we admit them at all into our
minds.
I thank you, my friend and dear son Robert,
as well as I can, for your loving care which you
take for God’s sake of these handmaidens of
God; and pray you to persevere heartily in this
holy and pious purpose. For you may be assured
that a great reward awaits you at God’s hands
for this holy zeal of yours. Almighty God be
ever the keeper of your whole life. Amen.
May the Almighty and merciful Lord grant
you remission of all your sins and make you
ever to advance to better things with humility,
and never to fall back. Amen.
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