As we celebrate the Solemnity of the Birth of Saint John the Baptist, called the “Forerunner of the Lord,” we also recount the founding of the Monastery of Christ in the Desert on this date in 1964. Today we rejoice in 62 years of existence as a “cenobium” (community), under the Rule of Saint Benedict, Father of Western Monasticism, who lived from 480 to 547 AD.
Arriving by vehicle and trailer from Mount Saviour Benedictine Monastery near Elmira, New York, our founding Fathers Aelred, Placid and Basil drove into New Mexico on June 24th, 1964, and into the Chama Caynon wilderness and the property where the monastery was to be, a day or so later. As such, we keep June 24th as founding day. Our monastic church is dedicated to Saint John the Baptist as well.
We keep the day with a solemn Mass, the Divine Office of Saint John the Baptist, and a festive meal as a community in the evening after Vespers.
We keep in prayer all who have gone before us and all who continue to be part of monastic journey to God’s House.
Happy Solemnity of Saint John the Baptist!
Abbot Christian and the monks
