On the Sacraments of the Church

The Epistola de Sacramentis Ecclesiae is a short Latin letter that Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury, wrote in 1106 or 1107 to Waleran, bishop of Naumburg in Saxony. It is the second of two letters Anselm sent him. The first, usually titled De sacrificio azymi et fermentati, had answered Waleran's question about the Greek and Latin disagreement over leavened and unleavened bread in the Eucharist. Waleran wrote back, troubled by something closer to home: the churches of Latin Christendom did not all celebrate the sacraments in the same way, and he wanted to know whether such variety was tolerable and what to make of particular differences he had observed, above all in the preparation of the chalice. Anselm, lately returned to England after years of exile over lay investiture, answered as a pastor and a bishop rather than as a speculative theologian.

The letter's central move is to separate the substance of a sacrament from the customs that surround it. Where the faith is one, Anselm argues, diversity of usage does no harm, and the Church has long borne such differences in peace. He would prefer a single rite throughout the Church, but since the churches are governed by many bishops in many lands, uniformity is not within reach, and insisting on it would do more damage than the variety itself. What matters is that nothing be done against the faith and that the essential signs be kept intact. On the chalice he is firmer: wine is to be mixed with water, following the apostolic and patristic tradition, because the wine signifies Christ and the water the people joined to him, and the blood and water that flowed from his side show the same union. To offer wine alone would depart from the universal custom and must not be done. Throughout, Anselm treats ritual questions as occasions to ask what the sign is for, and he answers with the same economy and confidence that mark his larger works.

The letter has mattered because it states, compactly and with the authority of a major theologian, a principle the medieval and modern Church has repeatedly needed: liturgical pluralism is compatible with doctrinal unity, provided the heart of the sacrament is preserved. It is also a rare glimpse of Anselm handling practical liturgical questions, and it shows how the author of the Proslogion and Cur Deus Homo thought about the ordinary worship of local churches.

Who should read this: students of medieval sacramental theology and liturgical history, and anyone interested in how a careful mind distinguishes essentials from customs in worship. It is not an introduction to Anselm's thought, and readers hoping for an extended treatise on the Eucharist will find instead a brief, specific reply to a specific bishop.