Daily Reading for April 21 • Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1109

Lord Jesus Christ, my sweet and gracious Master,
Thou has displayed a greater love than that of any man;
nor can the love of any equal Thine.
For, owing nought to death,
Thou none the less didst lay down Thy sweet life
for slaves and sinners;
Thou didst pray for those who murdered Thee,
that Thou mightest make them righteous, and Thy brethren,
and mightst reconcile them to Thy tender Father and Thyself.
Thou, Lord, Who to Thine enemies didst show so great a love,
Thyself enjoinedst love upon Thy friends.

Good Master, how shall I recount this Thine inestimable charity?
What return can I make for this vast boon?
The sweetness of Thy kindness overpasses all feeling and expression;
and the immeasurable service
that Thy love has rendered can never be repaid.
What reward shall I give to my Creator, then,
and to my Re-creator?
What reward shall I give to Him, my merciful Redeemer?
O Lord, Thou art my God;
my goods are nothing unto Thee.
For the round world is Thine, and all the fullness of it.
What reward shall I give my God,
except my heart’s obedience to His command?
And Thy command is this:
that we love one another.

From “A Prayer for Friends” in Prayers and Meditations of St. Anselm, selected and translated by a Religious of C.S.M.V. (London: A. R. Mowbray, 1952).