Monastery information | |
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Order | Benedictines |
Established | 1889 |
Mother house | St. Mary's Abbey |
Dedicated to | Saint Anselm of Canterbury |
Diocese | Diocese of Manchester |
Abbot | Right Reverend Mark Cooper, O.S.B. |
Prior | Very Reverend Augustine Kelly, O.S.B. |
Bishop | Most Rev. Peter Anthony Libasci |
Site | |
Location | 100 Saint Anselm Drive, Manchester, NH |
Coordinates | 42°59′11″N 71°30′32″W / 42.98639°N 71.50889°W |
Other information | Motto: Latin Initium Sapientiae Timor Domini ("The Fear of the Lord is the Beginning of Wisdom") (Psalm 111:10) |
Website | www |
Saint Anselm Abbey, located in Goffstown, New Hampshire, United States, is a Benedictine abbey composed of men living under the Rule of Saint Benedict within the Catholic Church. The abbey was founded in 1889 under the patronage of Saint Anselm of Canterbury, a Benedictine monk of Bec and former archbishop of Canterbury in England. The monks are involved in the operation of Saint Anselm College. The abbey is a member of the American-Cassinese Congregation of the Benedictine Confederation.[1]
In 1889, Denis M. Bradley, the first bishop of Manchester, New Hampshire, requested that Abbot Boniface Wimmer send monks to his diocese to create a school for French and Irish immigrants. The bishop thought that in order to create harmony among the people of his diocese the best educators for them should be German.[2] Monks from Saint Mary's Abbey in Newark, New Jersey, were sent to found Saint Anselm Abbey in 1889.[3] When they arrived they founded St. Raphael's Parish in Manchester, and they founded Saint Anselm Preparatory School, which would later evolve into Saint Anselm College.
The present main abbey building was completed in 1955 to designs by Manchester architects Koehler & Isaak in the Colonial Revival style.[4] The same architects added the adjacent abbey church in 1965 and designed much of the college campus.[5]
Saint Anselm College is a Catholic liberal arts college in Goffstown, New Hampshire. The monks of Saint Anselm Abbey are involved in the life and operation of the college. Serving as administrators, as faculty and staff members, and on the college's Board of Trustees, the monastery's approximately 30 monks work in the university.[6]
From the time of its founding in 1889 until 1927, when it became an independent abbey, Saint Anselm was a dependent priory of Saint Mary's Abbey in Newark, New Jersey. The abbots of Saint Mary's were also the spiritual superiors of Saint Anselm. Those abbots were Abbot Hilary Pfraengle and Abbot Ernest Helmstetter.[7]
Since its elevation to the status of an independent institution, Saint Anselm has been led by five men:
On feast days and at the graveside during burial of members of the community, the monastic community sings the hymn of the American-Cassinese Congregation known as the "Ultima". The hymn is sung a cappella in Latin through once, then the final two lines are repeated.[17]
Latin Text | English text | German text |
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Ultima in mortis hora,
Filium pro nobis ora, Bonam mortem impetra, Virgo, Mater, Domina. |
When death's hour is then upon us,
To your Son pray that he grant us, Death, both holy and serene, Virgin Mary, Mother, Queen. |
Wenn wir mit dem Tode ringen,
Wollst, Maria, uns beispringen, Dass wir selig scheiden hin, Jungfrau, Mutter, Königin. |