Saint Who?
Saints Who Had Family Challenges
Saint Anselm of Canterbury
Bishop and Doctor († 1109)Feast: April 21
Now honored as a Doctor of the Church, Anselm of Canterbury was the greatest theologian of his day and is still considered one of the greatest scholars in the history of the Church. Often referred to as the “Father of Scholasticism” (an elaborate yet precise method of theological inquiry), Anselm was an abbot of Bec Abbey in France, and an archbishop in England.
But none of that appeared likely to happen when Anselm was an Italian teenager. Although Anselm was close to his mother, who was a good, kind woman, his noble father was a rough man who did not appreciate his only son’s intellectual gifts. When fifteen-year-old Anselm tried to enter a nearby monastery, the abbot refused to accept Anselm to avoid facing his father’s wrath. Anselm quit practicing his faith in frustration. After his mother’s death, tensions between father and son became so unbearable that Anselm left home. He wandered around Europe until he ended up in Bec Abbey, where he happily rediscovered his vocation.
But his troubled relationship with his father had taught him that faith in Christ was worth fighting for. As Anselm rose from monk to abbot to archbishop, he put that experience into practice as he faced down anyone—including two kings—who wanted to control the Church, becoming a good shepherd and father to an entire nation.
Loving Father, help us to hear and answer your call, wherever it leads.
