His parents were István Farkasfalvy (Findura), an engineer, and Mária Knazoviczky. His great-grandfather’s brother was István Findura, a priest in the Diocese of Rožňava. His grandfather changed his surname to “Farkasfalvi” pursuant to Ministry of the Interior permit No. 115638 of 1898. His father later changed this to “Farkasfalvy” under Ministry of the Interior permit No. 232069 of 1939. On his father’s side, he was also a distant cousin of Blessed Bishop Zoltán Meszlényi. He graduated from the Benedictine high school in Pannonhalma and then became a law student at ELTE. He entered the Cistercian Order on March 19, 1955. Since the order was banned at the time, he could only do so in secret. He took his first vows on September 1, 1956. He left the country in 1956 and, on the advice of his superiors, defected to Rome via Austria. He completed his studies at the University of St. Anselm. He took his final vows in Rome on September 18, 1960, and was ordained a priest by Bishop Franz Žak of St. Pölten in Lilienfeld, Austria, on July 13, 1961. In 1962, he emigrated to the United States. In 2002, Pope John Paul II appointed him a member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission; Pope Benedict XVI extended this mandate for another six years in 2008. In 2010, he received the Stephanus Award, and in 2012, the Middle Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit. His abbatial motto is: Vitis vera.

Széles körű irodalmi munkássága során mintegy húsz könyve jelent meg, főként angol és magyar nyelven. Bibliográfiájában 115 cím szerepel, 43 angol és 72 magyar nyelvű munka. Jelentős a műfordítói tevékenysége. A zsinati megújulást követő liturgiareform keretében a római breviáriumot a latin nyelvű himnuszok teljesebb és kritikailag helyreállított szövegeivel gazdagította. L’inspiration de l’Écriture Sainte dans la théologie de saint Bernard, Herder, 1964.; A Római levél, Prugg Verlag, Eisenstadt, 1983. "Testté vált szó" - Evangélium Szent János szerint, Prugg Verlag, Eisenstadt, 1986. Rilke nyomában (műfordítások), Apostoli Szentszék, 1990. Bevezetés az újszövetségi szentírás könyveihez. Szent István Társulat, Budapest, 1994. Istenélmény a Zsoltárokban, Vigilia, 2003. szeptember, október Zsoltároskönyv, Szent István Társulat, Budapest, 2006. Himnuszok, Szent István Társulat, Budapest, 2010.