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
On March 13, 2020, Archbishop John Wester announced the closing of public liturgical services throughout the Archdiocese of Santa Fe due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, the Monastery is closing all retreat reservations, the giftshop, and the public celebration of liturgical Offices and Mass until further notice.
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.
Abbot’s Notes, Homilies, and News
We invite you to subscribe to our newsletters to receive homilies and news directly via email.
April 20th: From Our Weaving Workshop
We still have 3 rugs left to present for purchase from the Monastery Workshop. Each rug is made with prayer and care by one of our monks. The wool, both warp and weft, is 100% Navajo-Churro and hand-dyed. The rugs for sale are one-of-a-kind and nearly identical in...
April 13: Reading Matters
What does an abbot read, or at least this one? The Bible? Yes, every day. Novels? Not really. Books about theology and spirituality, Church and monastic history? On a regular basis. Murder mysteries and science fiction? Never. Lives of the Saints? Now and then. I...
Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord, Year B
Scripture Readings: Isaiah 50:4-7; Philippians 2:6-11; Mark 14:1 - 15:47 Each year on the Sunday before Easter, Christians around the world celebrate and commemorate what is traditionally called Palm or Passion Sunday, when we recount the events leading up to the...
Abbot’s Notebook
“Our Monk in Rome” is now “Our Abbot in Abiquiu,” or something like that. There will no longer be new postings on the “Our Monk in Rome” page, but please proceed to the “Abbot’s Notebook” page for my news and views. At least to begin with, there might not be a weekly...
Daily Martyrology for April 22, 2021
At Constantinople, in 536, the death of St. Agapitus, pope. He was a learned man and a friend of Cassiodorus, with whom he planned to start a university in Rome. He was elected pope when he was already elderly. He went to Constantinople to dissuade Justinian from invading Italy. He failed in that mission, but managed to have the Monothelite patriarch of Constantinople replaced by St. Mennas.In 1091, at the abbey of Brauweiler, Blessed Wolfhelm, abbot. He was educated at 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
Updated at 9 AM Tuesday, April 20th, 2021.
The Monastery is currently closed to guests due to COVID-19 pandemic precautions. Our gift shop and Guesthouse are also closed.