Anselm, bishop and doctor of the Church (1033–1109)

Biography

His mother, perhaps of less noble origin than his father, but enriched with many gifts, was above all, a very good educator and an excellent Christian. She was the one who had the greatest influence on the little boy's formation, as he himself later remembered with great joy. Likewise, it will also be the Benedictine monks who will have a large part in the formation of his spirit. He entered the Order of Saint Benedict and a few years later he was named Prior and then Abbot of that famous Monastery of Bec, in Normandy. The example that Anselmo gave in everything was wonderful. He dedicated himself to serving everyone with great charity. He wrote many important works, impregnated with mystical theology and from the fruit of them it can be stated that he was a profound philosopher, theologian and expert in the sciences of his time, becoming one of the most important Fathers of the Middle Ages. He tenderly loved the Virgin Mary and wrote beautiful treatises about Her. He was called "the second Saint Augustine." He laid the foundations of scholastic theology with his now famous words: "I do not seek to understand in order to believe, but I believe in order to understand. For he who does not believe does not experience, and he who does not experience, does not believe." The illustrious historian Cardinal Baronio called our Saint "The luminary of the 11th century and the Star of England." Full of merits, he died on April 21, 1109. He is the "hero of Doctrine and virtue and fearless in the battles of faith."