A letter from Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury (1106-07)

Translated letter:

Anselm, the archbishop: to his dearest daughter, the nun Mabilia, sending the greeting and blessing of God, and his own. I love you and in the way I love my own soul I love yours as well. I love my own soul so that it may merit to enjoy God in this life and enjoy him in the life to come. This I love and desire for you. Wherefore I exhort and admonish you as my dearest daughter not to delight in worldly things because no one can love the goods of the world and those of eternity at the same time. I do not wish you to love the secular but the monastic way of life. There should be nothing between you and this world if you wish to be a nun and a spouse of God. Say with St Paul the Apostle: "The world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."(1) With the same Apostle regard all the transitory things of this world as dung.(2) My daughter, what need is there for you to visit any of your relatives since they do not need your advice or help in any way, nor can you receive any advice or help from them regarding your intention and profession which you could not find in your cloister. The intention of your life is different from their way of life.(3) They will not become monks because of you nor will you return to secular life because of them. What have you in common with them, my beloved daughter in God, if you are of no use to them in the life they are leading nor they to you in what you ought to love most of all? If they want to see you or need your advice or help in any way, let them come to you, for they are free to wander and run around wherever they like. Do not go to them because you are not allowed to leave the monastery except for a necessity which God may make known. Do not, my daughter, do not love the world because "a friend of this world is an enemy of God."(4) Do not love the friendship of those in the world because the more you are friendly with them of your own accord the less you will be friendly with God and his friends, the angels. Do not be anxious to be known in the world, for so much the more will God say to you, "I do not know you."(5) Desire to please God alone;(6) long to know God alone and those things which help you towards this. Commend yourself to him daily; I commend you, as much as I can, to him. May he rule, guide and guard you always. Amen.(7)

Original letter:

Anselmus archiepiscopus: filiae suae carissimae, sanctimoniali Mabiliae, salutem et benedictionem dei et suam. Diligo te, et eo modo quo diligo animarn meam, diligo etiam tuam. Meam autem diligo, ut in hac vita mereatur frui deo et in futura vita fruatur. Hoc amo et desidero de te. Quapropter hortor et moneo te sicut filiam carissimam, ut non delecteris saecularibus, quia nemo potest dillgere simul et saecularia et aeterna bona. Nolo te amare saecularium conversationem, sed claustralem. Nihil tibi et huic mundo, si vis esse monacha et sponsa dei. Dic cum beato Paulo apostolo: 'Mihi mundus crucifixus est, et ego mundo.' Reputa omnia huius mundi transitoria tamquam stercora, cum eodem apostolo. Filia mea, in quo indiges visitare aliquos propinquos tuos, cum ipsi nullo modo egeant consilio et auxilio tuo, nec tu aliquod consilium aut auxilium accipies ab illis ad propositum et professionem tuam, quod non invenias in claustro tuo? Divisum est propositum vitae tuae a conversatione illorum. Nec illi fient propter te monachi, nec tu redibis propter eos ad saecularem vitam. Quid ergo, dilecta mea in deo, tibi et illis: si nec tu prodes illis ad vitam quam sequuntur, nec illi tibi ad hoc quod maxime debes diligere? Si ipsi volunt te videre aut egent aliquo modo consilio tuo aut auxilio: veniant ad te, quia illis licet vagari et discurrere per diversa. Tu noli ire ad eos, quia tibi non licet exire de claustro, nisi ea necessitate, quam deus testetur. Noli, filia mea, noli amare saeculum, quia 'amicus' 'saeculi huius, inimicus dei constituitur.' Noli amare familiaritatem saecularium, quia quanto magis illis eris propria voluntate familiaris, tanto minus eris deo et familiaribus eius angelis familiaris. Non sis sollicita notificari in saeculo, quia tanto magis dicet tibi deus: non novi te. Soli deo desidera placere; solum deum et ea quae te ad hoc iuvent, concupisce cognoscere. Illi te cotidie commenda; illi te, quantum in me est, commendo. Ipse te regat et dirigat et custodiat semper. Amen.

Historical context:

Archbishop Anselm advises the nun against any worldly interests, including visiting her relatives. Cf. ep.17 in which Anselm begged a monk not to go back into the world even to defend his sister, unjustly subjected to servitude.

Scholarly notes:

(1) Gal 6:14. (2) See Ph 3:8. (3) Compare Anselm's advice with that he gave Prior Henry of Christ Church Canterbury in Ep 17. (4) Jm 4:4. (5) See Mt 25:12. (6) See Pope Gregory I, Dialogues 2 (the life of Benedict) Preface. (7) Ep 405 is letter 332 in ms L, where it is in sequence with Epp 404 and 406. This indicates that it was written after Anselm's return to England in early September 1106. (8) The translation is reprinted with the permission of the translator and the publisher, Cistercian Publications Inc. Editorial Offices, Institute of Cistercian Studies, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008. All rights are reserved; downloading and copying for any purpose other than private research is prohibited.

Printed source:

Sancti Anselmi Cantuariensis Archiepiscopi, Opera Omnia, ed. F.S. Schmitt (Edinburgh: T. Nelson, 1946-63), ep.405, 5.349-50; translation and annotation from The Letters of Saint Anselm of Canterbury, trans. Walter Frohlich, Cistercian Studies 142, 3v (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1990-94), 3.170-72.(8)

Date:

1106-07