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 09:30 am to 12:30 pm and 2:00pm to 3:30pm Tuesday-Saturday.
On Sundays, the Conventual Mass is at 9:15 am and the Giftshop will be open from 10:30 am to 3:00 pm.
The Gifsthop is closed on Mondays and during certain monastic observances.
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.
August 25th: Refectory
For the past few months our monastic refectory has been doubling as a partial extension of our pantry, while the work of remodeling the kitchen has been going on. Thankfully, now that the kitchen is remodeled and we are slowly moving there for cooking once again, the...
Twenty-Third Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year A
Scripture Readings: Ezekiel 33:7-9; Romans 13:8-10; Gospel According to Saint Matthew 18:15-20 This Sunday’s first reading from the Prophet Ezekiel and the Gospel passage both consider the difficult topic of “fraternal correction,” as it is often called; that is,...
Daily Martyrology for September 8, 2026
The Birthday of Our Lady. This feast came to the West in the seventh century. We know nothing about Mary’s birth, though there are ancient traditions which suggest it occurred at Nazareth or Jerusalem.In 438, St. Isaac the Great, bishop of the Armenians. He was married and fathered one child before his wife died. He seems then to have become a monk as well as a bishop. During his episcopate Armenian Christianity and culture flourished. Isaac combined elements of... 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
Tuesday, September 8th, 10:00 am
Forest Service Road 151 leading to the Monastery is dry.
Please drive carefully on the road, as there is often traffic in both directions, especially in the Summer month. There are often hikers and bikers on the road as well.
Be courteous by letting faster vehicles pass. Simply pull to the side and allow them to go ahead.
Safe and peaceful travels.