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.
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...
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...
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[efb_likebox fanpage_url=”MonasteryOfChristInTheDesert” box_width=”400″ box_height=”” locale=”en_US” responsive=”1″ show_faces=”1″ show_stream=”0″ hide_cover=”0″ small_header=”0″ hide_cta=”0″ ]
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, 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.