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.
Health & Safety
Tuesday September 26th 2023: Proscribed burns are being conducted in the Santa Fe National Forest near the Monastery. More details can be found at https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/santafe/news-events/?cid=FSEPRD1140171
The Monastery Church, Giftshop and Art Gallery, will be open once again to daytime visitors, each Monday through Saturday, from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm.
On Sundays, the Conventual Mass is at 9:15 am and the Giftshop will be open from 10:30 am to 12:30 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 27th: Silence Made Visible
We were happy to wake up the morning after Thanksgiving Day to freshly fallen snow. Moisture is much needed in this part of the world, and we have been praying for it. We now have another reason for giving thanks. In his book "The World of Silence," the Swiss...
First Sunday of Advent, Year B
Scripture Readings: Isaiah 63:16-17,19; 64:2-7; First Corinthians 1:3-9; Gospel According to Mark 13:33-37 The season of Advent always calls us to a sense of hope, that God loves us, has sent his Son to redeem us, and that no one is excluded from God’s loving care and...
Daily Martyrology for November 28, 2023
In 764, at Constantinople, St. Stephen the Younger. He was born in Constantinople. He joined a monastery in Bithynia and was elected abbot. After a dozen years as abbot, at the age of forty-two, he retired to a hermitage. When he refused to endorse iconoclasm, Emperor Constantine V arrested and exiled him. Eventually he was clubbed to death.In 1476, at Naples, St. James of the March. He was born into a large, poor family. He entered the Franciscans, studied under Bernardino of... read more
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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 Tuesday, November 28th, 2023, 12 noon
Forest Service Road 151 leading to the Monastery is mostly dry now, with a few patchy wet areas after our recent welcome snowfall. We always recommend all-wheel and four-wheel drive vehicles for traversing the road.
Please be aware that there is 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.