by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | May 15, 2023 | News
In the midst of desert beauty, we never tire of the sights of Spring, nor of the other three seasons for that matter. Spring certainly carries a distinctive face and scent, which we always welcome in late April or early May. Today’s photo is from our cloister...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | May 10, 2023 | News
As we move through May, we are being treated with more flowering trees and blooming forsythia. Today’s photo was taken from outside the Abbot’s office. In the cloister garden, peonies will soon be ready to grace that space and to decorate the church....
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | May 3, 2023 | News
We are now in the Fourth Week of the Easter Season, enjoying the arrival of Spring, as we contemplate the mystery of Christ’s Resurrection and the redemption of the human race. Christ is Risen indeed! The weather is very pleasant just now, with daytime...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | May 2, 2023 | News
Join Abbot Christian for a quick tour of our garden between our church and some of the workrooms of the monastery, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Apr 28, 2023 | News
True to form, the trees are now flowering in our cloister garden. The bees are flocking to the blossoming trees and we monks enjoy looking at this additional dimension of God’s glory in our midst. We continue our celebration of Eastertide, with Alleluias ringing...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Apr 24, 2023 | News
A very quiet corner of the monks’ quarters is called the “cloister garden.” Our rooms (in a monastery, called “cells”) surround the cloister garden, which changes in looks and colors throughout the year as the seasons change. We monks...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Apr 21, 2023 | News
While Spring has definitely arrived, we are still a little cautious about putting some of our indoor potted plants outside, including the variety of amaryllis in today’s photo. Daffodils are blooming fine outside, and flowering trees are in bloom, so we will...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Apr 20, 2023 | News
With the return of warmer weather, we are being inundated with excellent eggs every day from our forty free-range hens. With a community of twenty monks and numerous guests, the henhouse is providing a very worthwhile service by enhancing our diet. When we first got...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Apr 17, 2023 | News
The Easter Season, often called Paschaltide, extends from Easter Sunday until Pentecost Sunday, which this year occurs on May 28th. This means that the Liturgy of the Church, the Mass and Divine Office, is filled with the great Easter cry of “Alleluia,”...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Apr 11, 2023 | News
We’ve fairly quickly sprung from chilly mornings and days, to wonderfully warm, but not too warm, days again. The marvel of the Northern Hemisphere, that Easter coincides with Spring. New life is appearing all around us now, including wildlife and the return of...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Apr 9, 2023 | News
A blessed and holy celebration of the Lord’s Resurrection! Christ is our Light, thanks be to God. With assurance of our prayers and always grateful for yours, Abbot Christian and the monks
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Apr 1, 2023 | News
Easter Sunday Vigil Mass: 4:00 am Easter Sunday Day Mass: 11:00 am...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Mar 29, 2023 | News
Our beloved Brother Leander Hogg peacefully passed from this life to the next on Tuesday night, March 28th. He died in his cell in our Infirmary and had been surrounded by monks, oblates and friends, praying at his bedside around the clock over the past several days....
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Mar 27, 2023 | News
Last Saturday, March 25th, the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, our Brother Chrysostom pronounced his solemn vows of obedience, stability and conversion of life, as a monk of Christ in the Desert. This he did during Mass in our church in the presence of...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Mar 24, 2023 | News
One of the most beautiful feasts in the Church’s Liturgical calendar is the Solemnity of the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary by the Archangel Gabriel, that she is to be the Mother of the Incarnate Word, Jesus Christ. The Annunciation marks the beginning of our...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Mar 17, 2023 | News
This year the annual liturgical commemoration of Saint Joseph, the husband of Mary and foster-father of Jesus, will be kept on March 20th, rather than on March 19th, the usual date of his feast. The reason for transferring the solemnity of Saint Joseph to March 20th...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Mar 15, 2023 | News
This week Abbot Christian is at Sacred Heart (Thien Tam) Monastery in Kerens, Texas, founded in 2009 in the Diocese of Dallas and part of the Subiaco Cassinese Congregation. Monks from Christ in the Desert were the original founders of Thien Tam Monastery, some of...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Mar 6, 2023 | News
While Spring is not yet in full force, some subtle but sure signs of a change of seasons are appearing now in the Chama canyon wilderness where we live. Warmer day and night-time temperatures are now occurring, and even some crocuses are catching our attention. We...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Mar 3, 2023 | News
Scripture is replete with references to the spirit of wisdom, as a source of healing, comfort and encouragement from God, for those who pursue wisdom. A beautiful passage from deutro-canoncial Book of the Wisdom of Solomon, included in the Catholic Bible, seems to say...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Feb 23, 2023 | News
Ash Wednesday this year was not a “fair weather” day. For us, it included snowfall and winds. We understand that much of the nation on Ash Wednesday felt the effects of another “winter blast,” keeping Spring at bay. Nonetheless, for us the day...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Feb 19, 2023 | News
Prior Bonaventure and Brother Andre have a combined total of some fifty years of “prayer and work” in the Chama Canyon wilderness as Benedictine monks. Neither is celebrating a particular anniversary this year, but the nice photo recently taken in the...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Feb 16, 2023 | News
Sometimes in February we enjoy what is called a “False Spring.” That is, daytime temperatures might rise to 50 degrees or more, and then winter returning in the month of March. This year, no “False Spring” so far, and in fact we are...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Feb 11, 2023 | News
On the evening of February 9th, our Father Seraphim renewed for one year his temporary monastic vows of obedience, stability and conversion of life. He did this in the presence of the abbot and community of Christ in the Desert Father Seraphim is our main organist at...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Feb 8, 2023 | News
From February 3rd to 6th, Abbot Christian attended the annual meeting of North American Benedictine abbots, held this year at Saint Bernard Abbey, Cullman, Alabama. There were twenty-five abbots present, coming from the United States, Mexico and Canada. The topic of...
by Monastery of Christ in the Desert | Feb 2, 2023 | News
Saint Bonaventure, the great medieval Franciscan theologian and Doctor of the Church, wrote a treatise on the journey to God, saying that we learn the ways of God by examining the world, and we proceed to awareness of the truth of God in and through our minds. The...
