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.
Happy Easter!
A blessed and happy Eastertide to all our families, friends, benefactors and oblates. We keep you in our prayers and are grateful for yours. Today's photo is from the beautiful mission church of San Antonio, Los Ojos, New Mexico, a little over an hour from our...
Good Friday
"It is finished," are Christ's words from the cross just before He "bowed his head and gave up His spirit" (John 19:30). What is finished? On Good Friday the old creation, of sin and separation from God, has ended, is finished, and a new creation has dawned. God so...
Daily Martyrology for April 21, 2025
St. Anselm, bishop and doctor. Anselm was born in Aosta in 1033. He went to study in Burgundy, where his mother had relatives. He was drawn to Bec by the fame of Lanfranc, who was teaching there; he joined Bec and became prior and abbot. He visited England several times on abbey business, and when Lanfranc died he was appointed archbishop of Canterbury. Almost immediately he clashed with King William Rufus. He went into exile and stayed with St. Hugh at Cluny, and at Lyons and Rome. He... read morePrayer 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
Easter Monday, April 21, 2025 10:49 AM
Christ is Risen! He is Truly Risen
Sunday schedule on Easter Monday & Tuesday which means Mass at 9:15 AM
Forest Service Road 151 leading to the Monastery
is newly graded, so it is in exceptionally good condition.
All-wheel drive vehicles are usually advised though regular sedans arrive here each day without a problem. Also, there are cattle roaming in the canyon. They often stand in the road, especially at night.
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 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.