Monastery News

We are always delighted with the arrival of Spring. The fact that it coincides with the liturgical season of Easter is an added plus.

Today’s photo is from our cloister garden, the area where we monks have our rooms, technically called “cells”. The fountain in the middle of the courtyard, the six deciduous trees, the green lawn and the now-blooming flowerbeds, all make the garden a real oasis in the desert.

At another location on our property, our newly completed greenhouse has been planted and we await a wide variety of vegetables and flowers in the coming months.

The warmer weather also means various outdoors projects can be pursued, such as landscaping, clearing brush and fallen branches, as well as tending to our pastures and making needed repairs on some of our buildings.

At the same time, our daily round of prayer and hospitality continues, whatever the weather. The heart and soul of our life is striving to glorify God in whatever we do. Of course, that is the call for all, as the psalmist exhorts: “If today you hear God’s voice, harden not your hearts.”

With assurance of our prayers and always grateful for yours,

Abbot Christian and the monks of Christ in the Desert

We are still basking in the light of the mystery of the Lord’s Resurrection.

Flowers are blooming in the cloister garden, trees are beginning to bud, the grass is turning green again and the weather is decidedly Spring-like.

The monks are staying well, thanks be to God, and we carry on the usual routine of ora et labora (prayer and work), in the midst of desert beauty in the Chama Canyon wilderness. You are in our prayers and we are grateful for yours. Thank you for your support.

Happy Second week of Paschatide!

Abbot Christian and the monks

We continue our celebration of Paschaltide (Easter!), coinciding with the arrival of Spring in the Chama Canyon wilderness. The triumphant Alleluia is chanted throughout the day, both at Mass and at the Divine Office (Opus Dei).

Today’s photo is from our cloister garden, where daffodils are blooming like mad at present.

To all our families, friends, benefactors and oblates, a blessed and holy celebration of the Lord’s Resurrection!

Abbot Christian and the monks

Easter Day was on Sunday, March 31st, but the Church continues to celebrate this Great Day with an Octave, that is, eight days of rejoicing to prolong the joy of the Lord’s Resurrection. And after that, we still hold on to the Easter festivities right up to Pentecost Sunday, this year on May 19th.

In addition to our liturgical celebrations, we are enjoying Spring-like weather these days in the Chama Canyon, with plenty of sunshine and warm daytime temperatures.

To all our families, friends, benefactors and oblates, we extend our greetings in this Holy Season and keep you in our prayers. Please keep us in yours.

Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen!

Abbot Christian and the monks

Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen!

Happy and holy Easter to all our families, friends, benefactors and oblates!

Abbot Christian and the monks of Christ in the Desert

Good Friday, March 29th: Afternoon Liturgy of Good Friday at  3:30 pm

Holy Saturday, March 30th/31st: Solemn Vigil and Mass of the Lord’s Resurrection at 12 Midnight

Easter Sunday, March 31st: Easter Day Mass at 11:00 am

A sure sign that Spring cannot be far off in this part of the country is the arrival of regular daytime winds, sometimes gusting to twenty or more miles per hour.

The beautiful canticle from the Old Testament Book of Daniel, chapter 3, is an invitation to recognize how God is glorified in creation, including the sun and moon, rain and wind, ice and snow, to mention just a few of the many natural features of God’s handiwork, that is, the earth and all that surrounds it.

We continue the forty days of Lent with its usual focus on prayer, fasting and doing good. It tends to be a quieter time, with few big liturgical celebrations during these weeks.

We wish all our families, friends, benefactors and oblates a blessed continuation of this holy season leading to the great mystery of the Lord’s Resurrection and its annual accompanying celebration.

Be assured of our prayers and please keep us in your prayers. Thank you and God bless you.

Abbot Christian and the monks

An easily overlooked but worthwhile black and white film from 1940 is called BROTHER ORCHID, starring Edgar G. Robinson. It tells the fictional tale of mob boss Little John Sarto, played by Robinson, who gives up his turf to another mobster, played by Humphrey Bogart. Five years later Sarto tries to take back his turf, but in the process he falls victim to a trap and left for dead. Fortunately Sarto survives the trap and flees, ending up at a monastery of monks, whose principal source of revenue is selling fresh flowers.

Taken in to the monastery by the Brother Superior, Sarto gradually begins to realize the futility of his criminal ways and makes some drastic life changes.

The film clearly carries some important Lenten themes and the name “Brother Orchid” is made evident by the end of the story.

Today photo is of a currently blooming orchid at our monastery.

Be assured of our prayers and we are grateful for yours.

Abbot Christian and the monks

The Holy Season of Lent has begun and we monks, along with all Christians, see it as a special time of prayer, fasting and good works. Saint Benedict says a monk’s life should always have about it a “Lenten character,” implying some degree of asceticism and sacrifice year round, but especially so during the forty days of Lent. Why do we do this? In order to draw closer to God and to to build up the Body of Christ on earth.

The reception of ashes on Ash Wednesday takes place during our morning Conventual Mass, which ended at about 7:00 am. At our meeting at 8:30 am, we listen to a chapter of the Rule of Saint Benedict and finalize the morning work, then we each receive from the Abbot a book from the Bible for our Lenten “lectio divina,” or “holy reading.”

This year we  monks will be reading, meditating, praying from and contemplating on the New Testament “Letter to the Hebrews.” We invite all who read this to do likewise. The Letter to the Hebrews is a wonderful text with the general theme of salvation won for us by Jesus Christ, true God and true Man, who gives us grace to avoid sin and to draw nearer to God in holiness. That is our Lenten task, a kind of pilgrimage toward our proper and lasting home in God’s Church now and in Heaven for ever.

A blessed and holy Lent to all. You are in our prayers and we are grateful for yours.

Abbot Christian and the monks

Over the night of February 10th–the Lunar New Year 2024–we received a generous amount of snow in the Chama Canyon Wilderness. We are grateful for any amount of moisture in the desert Southwest. Last night’s snowfall measured in at about half a foot. This morning we got to use use our recently acquired snow blower on our brick walkway between church and the reception building (lobby, Guestmaster’s Office, Giftshop, Art Gallery and Guest Refectory). We also cleared the way for nice snow-free paths from the church to the Guesthouse and Ranch House (part of our Guesthouse). Today’s sunny skies will likely melt any residue snow along the paths.

Thankfully we are staying well and enjoying the “change of scenery,” which won’t last too long, as we are already presumably past the coldest temperatures of Winter.

With this comes our warm regards and prayers for all of our families, friends, benefactors and oblates. A blessed week ahead.

Abbot Christian and the monks

Every day, rain or shine, we monks gather in the chapter room at 8:30 am. There we hear announcements from the Abbot or if another monk has an announcement, such as a request for help in a work project or a request for prayers for someone in need, a family member or friend, for example. Following announcements, if there are any, we finalize the work details of the day.

The Abbot then reads the chapter, or a portion of the chapter, of the Holy Rule of Saint Benedict assigned for that day, and makes a brief commentary. The name “chapter room” or “chapter house” derives from the place where monks hear a “chapter” of the Holy Rule read to them each day. It is an important element for keeping in mind the Rule of Saint Benedict that we follow as monks in community.

After the Abbot’s commentary on the Rule, we listen to the names of the monks and nuns of our Subiaco Cassinese Congregation who have died on that day, some stretching back to over a century, and others as recent as last year. We then sing Psalm 129, the “De profundis,” which begins, “Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord,” a fitting prayer for remembering all the faithful departed. The gathering concludes with chanting the prayer “May the angels lead you into Paradise,” then we go to church and pray the Office of Terce, the first of the “Little Hours.”

The morning “work meeting,” as we call it, in fact encompassing a number of elements, normally lasts about fifteen minutes. Today’s photo is of our chapter room, before or after our meeting, with the lights turned off!

We keep you in our daily prayers and are grateful for yours.

Abbot Christian and the monks

Men, including monks, are not always famous for “clutter-free” environments, but we try to do so here, with some areas in the Monastery better at this than others. For us, the corridors within the cloister, connecting our various buildings, are an opportunity to promote ordered spaces, which hopefully fosters peace, freedom of movement, even joy, as well as the possibility to focus on where one is going and not being distracted by “junk” along the way.

Especially as a community composed of young monks and elders, we need to be careful to avoid stumbling going from one space to another. Throughout the day we go to church, refectory, chapter room, mail room, laundry, etc., and the corridors are the conduits for doing so. Their ordered simplicity keeps us on the right path.

Saint Benedict calls the Monastery a “House of God” (Domus Dei in Latin). Keeping that concept in mind should inform how we treat what we have.

We in the Northern Hemisphere are hopefully not too far from the arrival of Spring, a traditional time of “cleaning,” and an opportunity to think about what we might not need and pass on to others what could be useful to them, and superfluous to us. Thrift stores, Goodwill and the like, are such places that might gladly receive our goods. As the old saying goes: “One man’s scrap is another man’s gold.”

With this comes our greetings and prayers. We are grateful for yours as well.

Abbot Christian Leisy and the monks

While we’re neither a hotel nor a spa, we do routinely enjoy healthy and savory meals, prepared by our monks. In today’s photo, Brother Chrysostom (who wears many hats here), and Father Zachary (who also wears many hats here), are preparing lunch, stuffed peppers. We rotate the cook each day, normally having only one cook on weekdays and two on Sundays. Father Zachary is our Kitchen Manager, preparing the menus, the shopping list for each week and often lends a hand to the cook on various and sundry occasions.

We also have brothers who often bake bread, rolls and pies.

We try to honor the natural talents of our monks but also know that cooking and baking is something that can be learned. One of the aprons in our kitchen reads “Real Men Don’t Use Recipes.” On the other hand, it is not considered an error to consult a cookbook. We have a good collection of these.

As Julia Child, the famous chef, always used to say: bon appetit!

Abbot Christian and the monks

Popularly called “Christmas Cactus” (technically termed Schlumbergera), because they usually bloom around Christmas time, we have several of these potted plants inside, flowering nicely just now. They are all in front of large (double-paned) windows along our cloister walk to church, enjoyable to see and adding a reminder of things to come, that is, warmer weather and more flowers on our property in the months ahead. Our many indoor plants are usually placed outside, from May to September.

We’re taking a guess that the coldest days of winter may already be passed, but fairly certain more snow will fall over the coming weeks and months. In any case, we are always grateful for precipitation in any form, to give the earth its much needed nourishment.

With our large greenhouse in Saint Fiacre Field now fully constructed, the raised-beds will be built soon and we look forward to growing produce and flowers there. Outdoor growing is an uphill climb, as competing with God’s creatures great and small is never easy in this part of the world. Even high fences the deer can easily leap over. Smaller species, such as rabbits, have no fear of entering our gardens either.

A blessed week ahead and with this comes assurance of our prayers. Please keep us in yours. Thank you.

Abbot Christian and the monks

During the winter months, our livestock (sheep, donkey and horses) depend on hay we purchase from local ranchers, some of which is on display in today’s photo, ready to be stored at the “Good Shepherd Inn,” as we call our sheep and donkey barn. Sometimes the “transition” from eating fresh grass in our pastures during the summer and fall, to baled hay later in the year can be a little slow for the livestock, but pretty quickly they adapt and consume the baled hay with gusto.

We are enjoying very pleasant days just now, though always in anticipation of snow or rain, welcome at any time in the Chama Canyon wilderness. Recent snowfall has pretty much melted, creating some amount of mud during the day on Forest Service Road 151 leading to the Monastery. at such times we always advise traversing the road with four-wheel or all-wheel vehicles.

With this comes our warm regards and assurance of prayers. We are grateful for the support and kindness of so many friends, near and far. May all who travel be kept safe. Blessed Sunday and week ahead!

Abbot Christian and the monks

While nighttime temperatures in the Chama Canyon can drop to freezing or lower during December and January, thankfully after sunrise they can rise to the mid or high 40s by noon. We are blessed with an abundance of sun throughout the year, and no less so in the winter months. Days are shorter than summer, of course, but we are still able to enjoy the solar gain for our electrical system which is completely off the grid.

Our church is heated by radiant heating, that is, hot water running through pipes under the floor. This is a method used by humans for millennia. Our system is more sophisticated than what you find on the hilltop ruins of Masada in the Holy Land, for example, but the principal is the same. In our case, the water is heated using solar panels and then mechanically pumped from the boiler room to the church, kitchen, refectory, reception lobby, laundry etc., at the Monastery.

Brothers are staying well, with no “common colds,” the flu or covid at present. For this we are grateful. Some brothers are visiting family at this time, something we have as a possibility every two years.

We are now preparing for the return of guests for private retreats in the month of February. May all who come here be received as Christ, as Saint Benedict reminds his monks.

Be assured of our daily prayers and we are grateful for yours.

Abbot Christian and the monks