Wednesday, 20 February 2013
Part 36: Doctors of the Church-Anselm and the Illuminative State
Before I finish St. Anselm, I must address some questions from a few who have asked me whether God really does want us to pursue perfection. They wanted Scriptural proof and not "merely" the ideas and insights of the great saints. Such is the Protestant mindset which does not understand the Tradition of the Church as resting on Christ and the Apostle.
Another person said to me that it was too hard to be a Catholic. Yes, it is hard, but we have grace and help.
Christ said it and this was echoed by St. Paul as well as the saints I have been emphasizing on this blog.
Without being tedious, I shall only quote again two passages: Christ, the Son of God Himself in Matthew 5:48 said, Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect. DR
St. Paul in 2 Corinthians 13:11 states, For the rest, brethren, rejoice, be perfect, take exhortation, be of one mind, have peace; and the God of peace and of love shall be with you. DR.
Seeking perfection is not an option.
And, at that stage of Illumination, we shall have light to understand more and more what this means.
CHAPTER XIV from Meditations of St. Anselm on Seeking God.
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.
And may I add that if one truly seeks Truth, one will find God.
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? 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.
Shall we not seek for the "more"?
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; 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.
And, so we are purified in the heart and in the mind as well as the soul.
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! Surely more than can be comprehended by any creature.
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| St. Anselm is standing on the shoulders of a lowly monk to show us his roots in humility. |
Anselm's words remind me of those of Julian of Norwich. The path way is the same for all who seek holiness.
Goodbye to St. Anselm for now. There is so much more of his writings, but I have shared a little of his great insights. St. Bede will follow, the Venerable Bede.