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.
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.
Visit our Gift Shop
We sell statuettes, plaques, boxes, and CDs of our chants. 100% of the proceeds support our monks and upkeep of the abbey.
Abbot’s Notes, Homilies, and News
We invite you to subscribe to our newsletters to receive homilies and news directly via email.
WEBSITE UPDATED WITH NEW SAYINGS AND STORIES OF THE DESERT FATHERS
We are pleased to announce that the Monastery’s website (www.christdesert.org) has been updated in its “Prayer + Chant” section! A variety of sayings and stories from the early monastic “Desert Fathers” of the Church were added as spiritual teachings for the...
read moreThe Abbot’s Notebook for August 16, 2017
The Abbot's Notebook for August 16, 2017 My sisters and brothers in Christ, Blessings to you! It continues to be fairly warm here at Christ in the Desert. August is always the month in which we have a lot of flies. Sometime we purchase fly paper to put in the...
read more20th Sunday of Ordinary Time-Cycle A-2017
20th Sunday of Ordinary Time-Cycle A-2017 FIRST READING Isaiah 56:1, 6-7 Thus says the Lord: Observe what is right, do what is just; for my salvation is about to come, my justice, about to be revealed. The foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, ministering to...
read moreImpressions of Italy: Soggiorno
I have refrained from writing about this until I had my very own. And what could the mystery item be? A car? A motorcycle? A new phone? No, nothing like that. It is in fact the title of this essay, a “Soggiorno.” And what on earth is that? I can explain. The Italian...
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Daily Martyrology for August 17, 2017
In 1308, St. Clare of Montefalco. She was a member of a community of penitents who lived under the guidance of her sister Joan. They adopted the Augustinian Rule in 1290, and the next year Clare became abbess.In 1736, St. Joan of the Cross. She was born in Saumur in France. She took over her family’s religious goods shop and ran it efficiently, but avariciously. A woman showed up one day and asked for alms, and gradually St. Joan became a great champion of the poor. She... 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 5:00 am on Thursday, August 17, 2017
The road leading to the Monastery, Forest Service Road 151, is passable for all vehicles. The National Weather Service says there is a chance of T-Storms over these next few days. The thing about that is this: if you are on the road and it starts to rain heavily, stop until it quits in a few minutes (especially if you are in a two-wheel drive vehicle) and very shortly after that, it will be safe and easy to continue driving because the road is very dry and will quickly drain.