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  Location within the District of Columbia Show map of the District of Columbia Saint Anselm's Abbey (Washington, D.C.) (the United States) Show map of the United States | |
| Monastery information | |
|---|---|
| Order | Benedictines |
| Established | 1924 |
| Mother house | Fort Augustus Abbey |
| Dedicated to | Saint Anselm of Canterbury |
| Diocese | Archdiocese of Washington |
| People | |
| Abbot | Abbot James Wiseman, O.S.B. |
| Prior | Rev. Philip Simo, O.S.B. |
| Archbishop | Robert Walter Cardinal McElroy |
| Important associated figures | Founder: Fr.Thomas Verner Moore, O.S.B. |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Abbey |
| Site | |
| Location | 4501 South Dakota Avenue, N.E.; Washington, DC |
| Coordinates | 38°56′45.2″N76°59′05.3″W / 38.945889°N 76.984806°W /38.945889; -76.984806 |
| Website | www |
St. Anselm's Abbey is aBenedictineAbbey located at 4501 South Dakota Avenue, N.E., inWashington, D.C. It operates the boys' middle and high schoolSt. Anselm's Abbey School, which was ranked by theWashington Post as the most challenging in Washington, D.C., and as the most challenging private high school in the U.S.[1]
In the early 1920s, a group of Americans under the direction of Fr.Thomas Verner Moore purchased a tract of land on Sargent Road, and in 1923, Saint Anselm's Priory was born. The house was formed under the sponsorship ofFort Augustus Abbey in Scotland, which provided monastic training and sponsorship for the new priory. It was named afterSt. Anselm of Canterbury, the eleventh-century archbishop and theologian best known for hisontological argument for the existence of God. Initially, the monks were housed in an old farmhouse; the first church/monastery was built on a hill above South Dakota Avenue at 14th Street in 1930. A major addition was made to the monastery building in 1960, designed by noted architectPhilip Johnson, to accommodate the growing number of monks.
In 1942, the monks opened the Priory School, and they became wholly dedicated to teaching at their own school. As the number of monks increased, the monastery was made a conventual priory of theEnglish Benedictine Congregation. In 1961Pope John XXIII elevated the Priory to the rank of Abbey, and the name of the Priory School was changed toSt. Anselm's Abbey School. Formerprior Fr. Alban Boultwood,OSB, was named the first abbot and served in that capacity from 1961 to 1975; Abbot Alban died in his sleep on Wednesday, March 25, 2009.[2]
Fr. Anselm Strittmatter,OSB, was thesub-prior at the Priory in the years immediately preceding its 1961 elevation in rank. When Fr. Alban became the first abbot, Fr. Strittmatter was appointed the prior at the Abbey. He was a scholar of ancient and medieval history and theology[3] and in 1962 and in 1963 was affiliated with Princeton'sInstitute for Advanced Study.[4]
Presently, the Abbey is led by Abbot James Wiseman,OSB, who was elected the community's fifth abbot on June 16, 2011. Wiseman replaces the Abbey's previous superior, Prior-Administrator Simon McGurk,OSB, who came to St. Anselm's fromBelmont Abbey in England. The Abbey's fourth abbot, Abbot Aidan Shea,OSB, stepped down after 16 years as abbot in June 2006. As of 2023 there are 10 monks in residence at the monastery, some of whom are involved in teaching, either at theAbbey School or nearby atThe Catholic University of America.[5] The main work of the monks continues to be the running of St. Anselm's Abbey School. The Abbey also has a large and active community ofoblates.
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