62. To Abbot Walter.
The Letters of St. Anselm
And if you cannot decline it except by sin then submit obe diently and bear it conscientiously. May almighty God al low nothing to be done by you or to you except what may please him and be good for you.3 c. 1078.
NOTES 1. Fulk, Prior of Saint Evroul, was appointed to govern the widowed church of Saint-Pierre-sur-Dives and was consecrated abbot by Robert of Seez; OV II: 354. He was abbot there from c. 1078-92 and again from 1099-1106 with seven years of exile between 1092-99.
2. Rom 14:7.
3. Anselm's advice is a repetition of Ep 52; see also Ep 88.
62. TO ABBOT WALTER.
Anselm beseeches Abbot Walter to return to the monastery he has abandoned.
TO HIS LORD AND VENERABLE FATHER, ABBOT WALTER1: BROTHER
ANSELM OF BEC, A SINNER IN THIS LIFE, BY PROFESSION A MONK,
WISHING HIM HOLINESS IN THE PRESENT LIFE THAT HE MAY
DESERVE BLISS IN THE LIFE TO COME.
SINCE IT IS WRITTEN: Do everything with counsel, and you will not repent afterwards of having done it2 and elsewhere: Since to rebel is like the sin of divination and to be unwilling to submit is like the iniquity of idolatry,3 we should take great care not to follow our own will excessively against all other advice, even if it appears to us to be right. For what appears right to a single person may not be right, since it is written: The way of the fool is right in his own eyes.4 And There are ways which seem right to men, but the end thereof descends to the depths of hell.5 Wherefore, lest judging our error to be right, ac cording to the custom of fools, we follow the paths whose end descends to the depths of hell, a man should in no way commit himself to ordering his way of life according to his own unqualified judgement but should diligently weigh all
The Letters of St. Anselm things, lest he oppose the judgement of many, particularly the wise, or oppose obedience or mercy or, finally, charity.
Hence it is extremely surprising that, against practically all advice, against the obedience laid on you by divine will through your archbishop and canonical election, against mercy and charity, your holiness and your prudence, by deserting them, exposed the forsaken sheep committed to your pastoral care to being torn apart by prowling wolves when, by your care, you could have led at least one of them to salvation. Give in therefore. Your charity must give in and, drawn by so many prayers, return to your monastery and mercifully resume the abandoned guardianship, so that by consoling and helping the desolate you may deserve the reward of divine consolation and assistance. For the mali cious accusation which used to terrify you most has been so quenched by the abbot of Saint Arnulf through the com mon assent of his community and the brothers of your monastery that it cannot now hinder you in any way.
Before 1078.
NOTES 1. This Walter is either abbot of La Trinite-du-Mont at Rouen (see OV IV: 104) or the first abbot of Saint Martin of Pontoise in the diocese of Rouen (see GC XI: 253ff).
2. Si 32:24, RB 3:13.
3. 1 Kgs 15:23.
4. Prov 12:15.
5. Prov 14:12.