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.

Learn More About Our Monastery

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.

November 3rd: Getting Older

Though not ancient! Matty, our guard-donkey for our flock of sheep, will turn five years old later this month. She has been a faithful guardian of the sheep for almost half a decade and is hale and hearty as, well, a donkey. She's never had a cold, the 'flu, or...

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Thirty-second Sunday, Year B

Readings: First Book of Kings 17:10-16; Letter to the Hebrews 9:24-28; Gospel According to Saint Mark 12:38-44 In the Gospel passage for this Sunday’s Mass, Jesus gives a clear warning against the very human tendency of seeking our own glory. In other words, parading...

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Daily Martyrology for November 8, 2024

Around 300, the Four Holy Crowned Martyrs, to whom a church on the Coelian Hill is dedicated. Their legend indicates that they were Pannonian stonemasons who were martyred under Diocletian.

At the Abbey of Einsiedeln, in 996, St. Gregory, abbot. Gregory was born into the English royal family. He left England and became a monk at St. Andrew’s on the Coelian Hill in Rome. From there he became a hermit in the Alps, and then abbot of Einsiedeln.

In 1115, at... 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.

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

Thursday, November 7th, 6:28 pm

Forest Service Road 151 leading to the Monastery is snow covered with mud or ice under the snow. Extreme caution is advised. It continues to snow here this evening. High clearance all-wheel drive vehicles are recommended.

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 (20 -25 MPH) 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.

Click here for driving directions