Anselm of Canterbury

Teacher of Prayer

For those who study St Anselm, his prayers provide an intimate personal introduction to his thinking and his spirituality. For Anselm, who never considered himself a teacher of prayer, his prayers were simply personal devotions that he occasionally shared with others to encourage them to develop their own devotional style. Anselm would probably have been surprised to discover not only how widely his words were disseminated, but also the ways in which their translation and interpretation changed over the centuries. This brief study, by one of the leading scholars of early monastic life and thought, examines Anselm’s prayers as models and inspiration for mystics, saints and writers up to the present day.

Sister Benedicta Ward SLG (1933–2022) was a member of the Anglican religious community of the Sisters of the Love of God. She wrote and translated a number of books on early monasticism and aspects of the Middle Ages. Her translation of the Prayers and Prosologion of St Anselm has been continuously in print since it was first published in 1973. She was Reader in the History of Christian Spirituality at the University of Oxford and a Supernumerary Fellow of Harris Manchester College.