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.
July 20th: Anniversary at Santa Maria y Todos Los Santos
On Thursday, July 11th, the Solemnity of our Holy Father Saint Benedict, the monks of the Monastery of Saint Mary and All the Saints (Santa Maria y Todos Los Santos), in the Mexican State of Veracruz, a foundation the Monastery of Christ in Desert, celebrated its...
Seventeenth Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year B
We are told in the Gospel today that Jesus “went up the mountain.” Which mountain, we do not actually know, but in any case, the crowds followed him on foot. The setting is outside Jerusalem, on the other side of the so-called Sea of Galilee, that is, the enormous...
Daily Martyrology for July 26, 2024
In the first century, Sts. Joachim and Anne. They are not mentioned in the Scriptures, but their names are given in the apocryphal Protoevangelium of James.In 1644, in Vietnam, Blessed Andrew of Phú Yên. He was a catechist, trained by Fr. Alexandre de Rhodes (cf. February 2). He was arrested for being a Christian and beheaded. He was nineteen years old, the first Vietnamese Christian to die for his faith.
In 1942, Blessed Titus Brandsma. He was born... 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 Friday, July 26th, 2024, 4:00 pm
Forest Service Road 151 leading to the Monastery is dry and in moderate conditions. Some bumps and wash-boarding exist!
Four-wheel and all-wheel vehicles are recommended for current traversing of Forest Service Road 151 at this time.
A reminder that with the warmer weather, there is much more traffic on the road. It was recently graded although there is wash-boarding in some areas. Drive slowly and use caution rounding the curves. Please watch for hikers and other foot traffic on the road.
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. Drive slowly and be courteous allowing faster traffic ahead of you. Simply pull to the side of the road and let them pass.
Safe and peaceful sojourns.