Murphy, OSB, has served as the sixth abbot of Saint Anselm Abbey and the ex officio chancellor of the college.
Male students frequently dine in the monastery as guests, experiencing the monastic practice of silence while eating, which allows for greater contemplation. The monastery has a refectory, a smaller guest refectory, a chapel, two welcoming rooms near the main entrance and elevator access to all four floors. The Abbey also serves as the mother house for the Woodside Priory School and the abbot serves as the spiritual father for the monks who serve there. Saint Anselm Abbey is a member of the American-Cassinese Congregation of the Benedictine Confederation. Saint Anselm Abbey was founded from Saint Mary's Abbey in Newark, New Jersey.
The abbey and church were both designed by Manchester architects Koehler & Isaak, the former in the conservative Colonial Revival style and the latter in an ambitious modernist style. The architects intended the church's exposed masonry and beams to evoke the architecture …
