Today we celebrate Saint Anselm (1033–1109), a native of Aosta, Italy. From early childhood, he felt drawn to the contemplative life, but his father strongly opposed it. As a young man, he left his family home, traveled to France, and, at the age of 27, became a Benedictine monk at the Abbey of Bec in Normandy. After only three years of monastic life, he was appointed prior of the monastery of Bec and head of its monastic school. He disliked authoritarian methods, preferring instead to rely on persuasion. At the age of 46, he was elected abbot of the monastery. He became an outstanding teacher, an eloquent preacher, and a great reformer of monastic life. Above all, he became a great theologian (a pioneer of "scholastic theology"). Later, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Benedictine Lanfranc, asked Anselm to spend some time with him to instruct the monks and assist him. In 1093, Anselm was chosen to succeed Lanfranc. —As Archbishop of Canterbury, Saint Anselm defended the Church against abuses by political authorities (he had to contend with the hostility of William Rufus and Henry I). His fidelity to the Church even brought him the bitterness of exile in 1103. In 1106, Anselm was able to return to England, where he was welcomed with great joy by the clergy and the people. He died in Canterbury on April 21, 1109, at the age of 76.