Anselm's hagiography records that, when a child, he had a miraculous vision of God on the summit of the Becca di Nona near his home, with God asking his name, his home, and his quest before sharing bread with him. Anselm then slept, awoke, returned to Aosta, and then retraced his steps before returning to speak to his mother.[220]
Anselm's canonization was requested of Pope Alexander III by Thomas Becket at the Council of Tours in 1163.[208] He may have been formally canonized before Becket's murder in 1170: no record of this has survived but he was subsequently listed among the saints at Canterbury and elsewhere. It is usually reckoned, however, that his cult was only formally sanctioned by Pope Alexander VI in 1494[94][221] or 1497[136] at the request of Archbishop Morton.[136] His feast day is commemorated on the day of his death, 21 April, by the Catholic Church, much of the Anglican Communion,[31] and some forms of High Church Lutheranism. The location of his relics is uncertain. His most common attribute is a ship, representing the spiritual independence of the church.
Sant'Anselmo in Rome, the seat of the Abbot Primate of the Benedictine ConfederationAnselm was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Clement XI in 1720;[26] he is known as the doctor magnificus ("Magnificent Doctor")[41] or the doctor Marianus ("Marian doctor").[222] A chapel of Canterbury Cathedral south of the high altar is dedicated to him; it includes a modern stained-glass representation of the saint, flanked by his mentor Lanfranc and his steward Baldwin and by kings William II and Henry I.[223][224] The Pontifical Atheneum of St. Anselm, named in his honor, was established in Rome by Pope Leo XIII in 1887. The adjacent Sant'Anselmo all'Aventino, the seat of the Abbot Primate of the Federation of Black Monks (all the monks under the Rule of St Benedict except the Cistercians and the Trappists), was dedicated to him in 1900. 800 years after his death, on 21 April 1909, Pope Pius X issued the encyclical "Communium Rerum" praising Anselm, his ecclesiastical career, and his writings. In the United States, the Saint Anselm Abbey and its associated college are located in New Hampshire; they held a celebration in 2009 commemorating the 900th anniversary of Anselm's death. In 2015, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, created the Community of Saint Anselm, an Anglican religious order that resides at Lambeth Palace and is devoted to "prayer and service to the poor".[225]
Anselm is remembered in the Church of England and the Episcopal Church on 21 April.[226][227]
