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.
September 15th: New Benedictine Abbot Primate
On September 24th the assembled abbots in Rome elected Abbot Jeremias Schroder as the 11th Abbot Primate of the worldwide Benedictine Confederation. His term of office is eight years. Abbot Primate Jeremias is from the Abbey of Saint Ottilien in Germany. He is fluent...
Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
Isaiah 50:4-9; James 2:14-18, Mark 8:27-35 A moment came in the public ministry of Jesus when he asked his disciples what others were saying about him, and who they thought he was. Jesus asked not because he did not know the answer, but to elicit a stance from his...
Daily Martyrology for September 15, 2024
The memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows.In 178, St. Valerian, one of the martyrs of Lyons and Vienne.
About 687, at Jumièges, St. Aichardus, abbot. He was educated at a monastery school at Poitiers, refused to live at court, and became a monk.
In 1510, St. Catherine of Genoa. She was born into a prominent family and received a good education. Her family forced her into a political marriage before she was 16. She was beautiful and intense; her... 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 on Friday, September 6, 2024, 11:25 am
We are in the monsoon season and so afternoon showers are a common occurrence. The road is dry but with rocky wash outs and lots of wash-boarding.
High clearance 4x4 vehicles are strongly recommended until further notice.
Please watch for hikers and other foot traffic on the road.
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 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.