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

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.

September 28th: Important Feast For Us

On this day fifty-five years ago, our Monastery church, dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, was formally blessed as the place of worship for the monks of Christ in the Desert and its guests. We keep the day as a Sunday, with more solemn celebration of the Conventual...

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Twenty-sixth in Ordinary Time, Year A

Scripture Readings: Book of the Prophet Ezekiel 18:25-28; Letter to the Philippians 2:1-11; Gospel According to Saint Matthew 21:28-32 Here at the Monastery Autumn is definitely “in the air.” Such is the case as well in many other parts of the Northern Hemisphere. The...

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Daily Martyrology for September 30, 2023

In 420, at Bethlehem, St. Jerome, doctor of the church. He was born to a wealthy family and received an excellent education; Aelius Donatus, the grammarian, was one of his teachers. He spent years traveling, and in 370 became a monk at Aquileia. He was quarrelsome, and left in 374 for Antioch, where he spent four years as a hermit. He learned Hebrew from a converted Jew who had become a monk. He then studied the Bible under St. Gregory Nazianzen (January 2) in Constantinople. In 382 he... 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.

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, September 29th, 6:30 pm

Forest Service Road 151 leading to the Monastery is dry and passable for most vehicles. Four-wheel and all-wheel drive vehicles are recommended for easier traversing of 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.


Click here for driving directions