The Monastery of Christ in the Desert
Our Benedictine monastic community near Abiquiu, New Mexico, warmly welcomes you to our Abbey on the banks of the Chama River.
The Monastery Church and Art Gallery, will be open to daytime visitors, each Monday through Saturday, from 09:00 am to 5:30pm. The Giftshop will be open to daytime visitors from 09:00 am to 12:30 pm and 2:00pm to 3:30pm.
On Sundays, the Conventual Mass is at 9:15 am and the Giftshop will be open from 10:30 am to 3:00 pm.
Be our Guest
We welcome both day visitors and overnight guests for self-directed retreats. We celebrate mass daily, and invite you to pray with us.
Support Us
This monastic community is possible only by the generous support of friends like you. While the Monastery is an officially recognized Roman Catholic organization, it does not receive any direct financial support from the Church.
Explore the Monastery
We warmly invite you to explore a photo gallery that shows where we live and how we go about our monastic life.
Monastery News & Homilies
We invite you to subscribe to our newsletters to receive these directly via email.
April 15th: Spring’s Arrival
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...
Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year B
Scripture Readings: Acts of the Apostles 4:8-12; First Letter of Saint John 3:1-2; Gospel of Saint John 10:11-18 Our Lord Jesus Christ, during his earthly ministry, knew very well how to speak to the people about his person and his mission, using simple and direct...
Daily Martyrology for April 17, 2024
In 1680, in Montreal, Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha. When she was four, her parents died in a smallpox epidemic which left her disfigured and partially blind. She seems to have decided not to marry, even before she became a Christian in 1676, when she was twenty. She left home to move to a Christian village near Montreal. There she led an exemplary life for three years, before her death at the age of twenty-four. In 1980 she became the first native American to be beatified.In... read more
Prayer and Chant
Learn more about the Monastic Day or review our Daily Prayer Schedule.
Prayer Requests and Mass Intentions
We are glad to include your requests for prayer in our daily chanting of the psalms. Mass intentions (including the delivery of a Mass card) may be requested for small stipend.
Our Chanting
We have recordings of our chants available on CD and MP3.
Ave Maria
Daily Prayer and Mass Schedule
All are welcome to join us at daily worship. Click here for our daily prayer schedule which begins at 4:00am and ends at 7:30pm.
Current Road Conditions
Updated on Monday, April 15, 2024, 4:00 am.
Forest Service Road 151 leading to the Monastery is now dry. The road is in exceptionally good condition because it is freshly graded. A reminder that with the warmer weather, there is more traffic on the road due to recreational users.
Four-wheel and all-wheel drive vehicles are recommended for traversing Forest Road 151 at this time.
For those who travel on the road, please be aware that there may be traffic traveling in both directions on the road, so round curves with caution. Be courteous and allow faster traffic ahead of you. Simply pull to the side of the road and let them pass.
Safe and peaceful travels.