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.
October 5th: Autumn Wonder
We are having a beautiful Autumn thus far. The "look" of the changing of leaves in today's photo, taken October 4th along the Rio Chama and Gallina Creek, is usually more typical of mid to late September. Apparently we are having record breaking temperatures these...
Twenty-eighth Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year B
Scripture: Book of Wisdom 7:7-11; Letter to the Hebrews 4:12-13; Gospel According to Saint Mark 10:17-31 In the Gospel passage this Sunday, an unnamed man meets Jesus and asks what he must do to possess everlasting life. Jesus replies with emphasis on the true meaning...
Daily Martyrology for October 9, 2024
The commemoration of the patriarch Abraham, father of all believers.In the first century, St. Dionysius the Areopagite. He became a Christian when Paul visited Athens. Late legend has him as the first bishop of Athens. Later still he was connected with a third-century martyr named Dionysius who was a missionary bishop in Paris. Around 500, an unknown writer, perhaps a Syrian monk, wrote under the pen name Dionysius the Areopagite. These influential writings are now called the... 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
Monday, October 7th, 2024, 5:00 am
Forest Service Road 151 to the Monastery is now freshly graded and in good condition. It is passable for all vehicles.
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.