St. Anselm: St. Anselm's Book of Meditations and Prayers.

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PAGE
PREFACE	xi
PROLOGUE	xv
FIRST MEDITATION.
OF THE DIGNITY AND THE WOE OF MAN’S ESTATE.
SECT.
1. Our creation to the Image and Likeness of God	1
2. To praise God eternally the end of our creation	4
3. Wherever we are, we live, move, and are in Him; whilst also we have Him within us	6
4. All of us who have been baptized in Christ have put on Christ	10
5. We are the body of Christ	11
6. In Christ we are one, and are with Him one Christ	12
7. A consideration of our sins, for the which our conscience does the more sting us, and by which we have forfeited all these blessings	16
8. A review of our Lord’s Incarnation, by means of which we have recovered all these losses	19
9. The duty of praying to be drawn out of the pit of misery and the mire of dregs	24
10. A consideration of the miseries of the present life	27
11. Of the body after the soul’s departure	30
12. Of the soul after her separation from the body	32
13. A consideration of the day of judgment, when the goats shall be set on the left hand	33
vi 14. A consideration of the joy when the sheep shall be set on the right hand	34
SECOND MEDITATION.
OF THE AWFUL JUDGMENT: FOE AWAKENING FEAR IN ONESELF.
15. The sinner’s fear	36
16. The sinner’s hope	42
THIRD MEDITATION.
A BEMOANING OF VIRGINITY SADLY LOST.
17. The sinner’s past	44
18. The sinner’s future	48
FOURTH MEDITATION.
TEACHING THE SINNER TO BESTIR HIMSELF FOR THE AMENDMENT OF HIS SINS.
19. The necessity and the benefit of careful self-examination	53
20. The goodness of God, and the malignity of the Devil	56
21. The compassion of Jesus	58
FIFTH MEDITATION.
22. On the life of soul and of flesh	62
23. And of the glory of the good soul	64
24. And the misery of the wicked soul, on their departure from the body	65
SIXTH MEDITATION.
DESIGNED TO BRACE THE HEART AGAINST DESPAIR, FORASMUCH AS WE SHALL WITHOUT DOUBT FIND TRUE MERCY FOR ALL OUR SINS IF WE DO TRUE PENANCE.
25. The condition of the sinner	69
26. The Divine mercy before the Incarnation	70
vii 27. The Divine mercy in the Incarnation	72
28. The sinner’s contemplation of himself	75
29. The sinner’s prayer to Jesus Christ	77
SEVENTH MEDITATION.
30. Of the changefulness of all that is in the world	81
31. Of the manifold blessings of Almighty God	82
32. Here the sinner chides himself for his ingratitude	83
33. An acknowledgment of sin	85
34. The sinner’s review of himself	87
35. The sinner’s cry to God	89
EIGHTH MEDITATION.
THE PENITENT’S ADDRESS TO GOD HIS FATHER.
36. A prayer for mercy and help	93
37. The penitent’s hope in the Divine mercy	97
NINTH MEDITATION.
OP THE HUMANITY OF CHRIST.
38. The glories and the condescension of our Lord Jesus Christ	101
39. The Nativity of Christ, and its sanctification of poverty	104
40. The hidden life and ministry of our Lord	106
41. The meekness and humility of Christ	109
42. The agony and the betrayal	111
43. The condemnation and the crucifixion	114
44. The humiliations of the Passion	117
45. The glories of the Passion	119
46. Joseph in Egypt a type of Christ	120
47. Love our only possible return to Christ for His sufferings	122
48. The likeness of His Death and of His Resurrection	124
49. Aspiration and prayer	130
viii TENTH MEDITATION.
50. Of the Passion of Christ	133
ELEVENTH MEDITATION.
OF THE REDEMPTION OF MANKIND.
51. Cur Deus Homo	136
52. Thanksgiving for the liberation of mankind	145
53. Man’s past condition and present privilege	147
54. The soul’s surrender of itself to God	150
TWELFTH MEDITATION.
OF THE HUMANITY OF CHRIST.
55. The Mystery of the Incarnation	152
56. Hope inspired by the thought of the Incarnation	153
57. Joy inspired by the thought of the Incarnation	155
58. Love inspired by the thought of the Incarnation	157
59. Jesus the Salvation of sinners	160
THIRTEENTH MEDITATION.
OF CHRIST.
60. The Son of God, archetypal Beauty	163
61. The nine Choirs of Angels	166
62. The desires of the soul aspiring to God	170
63. The Saints in heaven	174
64. The joys of Mary, Queen of Heaven, and Mother of God	176
65. The loving aspirations of the soul to Jesus	177
FOURTEENTH MEDITATION.
66. Of the wonderful Being of God	181
67. Of the science of God, and the inadequacy of human speech to utter it	184
68. Of the desire of a soul thirsting after God	185
69. Of the misery of a soul that loves not and that seeks not our Lord Jesus Christ	187
ix 70. Of the desire of the soul	189
71. Of the happiness of the soul set free from her earthly prison	190
72. Of the joy of Paradise	192
73. Of the kingdom of heaven	193
74. God comforts the sorrowing soul after her great griefs	195
FIFTEENTH MEDITATION.
OF THE MEMORY OF PAST BENEFITS FROM CHRIST, OF THE EXPERIENCE OF PRESENT BENEFITS, AND OF THE HOPE OF FUTURE.
75. On the subjects of meditation	197
76. The Annunciation	199
77. The Visitation, Nativity, and Adoration of the Kings	200
78. The flight into Egypt 202
79. The early life, baptism, fasting, and ministry of our Lord	203
80. Our Lord’s works of mercy	205
81. Bethany and the Cœnaculum	207
82. Gethsemane and the high-priest’s palace	211
83. The Prætorium	213
84. The Crucifixion	214
85. The Entombment and Resurrection	217
SIXTEENTH MEDITATION.
OF PRESENT BENEFITS FROM GOD.
86. The writer’s review of his past life, and exhortation to his sister	221
SEVENTEENTH MEDITATION.
OF FUTURE BENEFITS FROM GOD.
87. Death and its immediate sequel	228
88. The Day of Judgment: the right hand and the left	231
89. The joys of Heaven, and the joy of joys	234
x EIGHTEENTH MEDITATION.
THANKSGIVING FOB THE BENEFITS OF THE DIVINE MERCY, AND PRAYER FOR THE DIVINE ASSISTANCE.
90. Thanksgiving for past blessings, and prayer for future	238
91. The same subject	245
NINETEENTH MEDITATION.
OF THE SWEETNESS OF THE DIVINE MAJESTY, AND OF MANY OTHER THINGS.
92. Wonder at the unspeakable goodness of God the Creator, and the deep misery of man the creature	252
93. The degree to which man may be loved by man, and the reason why God should be more loved than any human being	254
94. God made all things good, but He alone is Good essentially	256
95. The praise of the Creator by the whole creation	258
96. The resemblance of man to his Creator	259
97. Man is composed of two parts; by the one of which he is raised to highest things, and by the other dragged down to lowest	261
98. Here man prays God not to allow him to make ill use of his free power of choice	262
TWENTIETH MEDITATION.
99. Complaint of the soul banished from God	266
100. The soul’s absence from God	269
101. Complaint of the soul banished from God	273
102. The soul’s return to God	275
TWENTY-FIRST MEDITATION.
THE SOUL OF MAN URGED TO SEEK AND TO FIND ITS GOD.
103. The mind aroused to the contemplation of God	281
104. The inapproachable dwelling-place of God	286
105. The goodness of God, the creative Life	288
106. The fulness of joy	292

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Contents.

Contents

CONTENTS.

FIRST MEDITATION.

OF THE DIGNITY AND THE WOE OF MAN’S ESTATE.

SECOND MEDITATION.

OF THE AWFUL JUDGMENT: FOE AWAKENING FEAR IN ONESELF.

THIRD MEDITATION.

A BEMOANING OF VIRGINITY SADLY LOST.

FOURTH MEDITATION.

TEACHING THE SINNER TO BESTIR HIMSELF FOR THE AMENDMENT OF HIS SINS.

FIFTH MEDITATION.

SIXTH MEDITATION.

DESIGNED TO BRACE THE HEART AGAINST DESPAIR, FORASMUCH AS WE SHALL WITHOUT DOUBT FIND TRUE MERCY FOR ALL OUR SINS IF WE DO TRUE PENANCE.

SEVENTH MEDITATION.

EIGHTH MEDITATION.

THE PENITENT’S ADDRESS TO GOD HIS FATHER.

NINTH MEDITATION.

OP THE HUMANITY OF CHRIST.

TENTH MEDITATION.

ELEVENTH MEDITATION.

OF THE REDEMPTION OF MANKIND.

TWELFTH MEDITATION.

OF THE HUMANITY OF CHRIST.

THIRTEENTH MEDITATION.

OF CHRIST.

FOURTEENTH MEDITATION.

FIFTEENTH MEDITATION.

OF THE MEMORY OF PAST BENEFITS FROM CHRIST, OF THE EXPERIENCE OF PRESENT BENEFITS, AND OF THE HOPE OF FUTURE.

SIXTEENTH MEDITATION.

OF PRESENT BENEFITS FROM GOD.

SEVENTEENTH MEDITATION.

OF FUTURE BENEFITS FROM GOD.

EIGHTEENTH MEDITATION.

THANKSGIVING FOB THE BENEFITS OF THE DIVINE MERCY, AND PRAYER FOR THE DIVINE ASSISTANCE.

NINETEENTH MEDITATION.

OF THE SWEETNESS OF THE DIVINE MAJESTY, AND OF MANY OTHER THINGS.

TWENTIETH MEDITATION.

TWENTY-FIRST MEDITATION.

THE SOUL OF MAN URGED TO SEEK AND TO FIND ITS GOD.