Abbot's Archives
If you enjoy hearing from us, we regularly send out news bulletins which you can receive by email.
May 21th: Meet Us In Chama!
This Friday afternoon, May 21st, a variety of our handmade products will be for sale at the Chama Valley Farmers Market, near the village of Chama, New Mexico. Our Brothers Andre and Isidore will be at the Market from 3:00 to 5:00 pm this Friday, with our soaps,...
April 20th: From Our Weaving Workshop
We still have 2 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...
Seventeenth Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year B
We are told in the Gospel today that Jesus “went up the mountain.” Which mountain, we do not actually know, but in any case, the crowds followed him on foot. The setting is outside Jerusalem, on the other side of the so-called Sea of Galilee, that is, the enormous...
July 20th: Anniversary at Santa Maria y Todos Los Santos
On Thursday, July 11th, the Solemnity of our Holy Father Saint Benedict, the monks of the Monastery of Saint Mary and All the Saints (Santa Maria y Todos Los Santos), in the Mexican State of Veracruz, a foundation the Monastery of Christ in Desert, celebrated its...
Sixteenth Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year B
Scripture Readings: Prophet Jeremiah 23:1-6; Ephesians 2:13-18; Gospel According to Saint Mark 6:30-34 The emphasis in the Gospel text this Sunday on Jesus and his disciples going by themselves to an out-of-way place for prayer and rest. It is something that...
Fifteenth Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year B
Scripture Readings: Prophet Amos 7:12-15, Ephesians 1:3-14, Gospel According to Saint Mark 6:7-13 Behind every good sports team or individual athletic competitor there is usually a competent trainer or coach. That person indicates and even insists on what must be done...
July 7th: Easter Lilies in July
Each Spring we plant our Easter lilies in the cloister garden. They usually bloom at least once again in the later Summer or Fall. Some bloom from the previous year or years, such as the one in today's photo. Enough lilies are blooming now that we should be able to...
Solemn Profession on Solemnity of the Sacred Heart
On June 7th, the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, our Father Zachary Nelson made his solemn profession and received the monastic consecration, becoming a permanent member of the chapter of monks of the Monastery of Christ in the Desert. Numerous family and...
Fourteenth Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year B
Scripture Readings: Ezekiel 2:2-5; 2 Corinthians 12:7-10; Gospel According to Saint Mark 6:1-6 The first reading for Mass this Sunday is from the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel, who addressed the people of Israel while they were in forced exile, far from home, around...
Thirteenth Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year B
Scripture Readings: Book of Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24; Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians 8:7,9,13-15; Gospel According to Saint Mark 5:21-43 The first reading for this Sunday, from the Book of Wisdom, was written about 100 years before the birth of Christ and...
Twelfth Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year B
Scripture Texts: Job 38: 1, 8-11; 2 Corinthians 5:14-17; Gospel According to Saint Mark 4:35-41 We might all agree that in daily life there are circumstances, events and realities that make us feel happy or joyful: getting a vacation, for example, or seeing old...
Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
Scripture Readings: Ezekiel 17:22-24; Second Corinthians 5:6-10; Mark 4:21-34 Of late we have been celebrating a number of festive Sundays: Pentecost, Holy Trinity, Corpus Christi, as well as “non-Sunday” ones, such as the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate...
Summer Newsletter Monastery of Christ in the Desert 2024
FAITH OVER DOUBT What is doubt? Another word for the concept is uncertainty or unresolved questions. Who of us doesn’t doubt sometimes or often? Questions such as: will my health hold out and will I be able to keep this job if it doesn’t?; how will my children end...
Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord, “Corpus Christi,” Year B
Scripture Readings: Book of Exodus 24:3-8; Letter to the Hebrews 9:11-15; Gospel According to Saint Mark 14:12-16, 22-26 On the night before giving His life on the cross, Jesus instituted the Eucharist, the gift of his Body and Blood, in the form of bread and wine, as...
May 26th: Peaceable Kingdom
Currently our "guard-donkey," Matty, has thirteen Navajo-Churro sheep to watch over and protect. Natural predators exist in our canyon, and traditionally ranchers have used dogs, llamas and donkeys to guard their sheep. Human shepherds still exist, of course, but they...
Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Year B, May 26th, 2024
Scripture Readings: Book of Deuteronomy 4:32-34,39-40; Romans 8:22-31; Gospel According to Saint Matthew 28:16-20 Each year on the Sunday following Pentecost, the Church celebrates the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity, our belief that God is One and yet Three Persons:...
May 19th: End of Easter Season
With the celebration of Pentecost Sunday, observed this year on May 19th, the Easter Season draws to a close and the liturgical season called "Ordinary Time" begins anew on Monday, May 20th. Ordinary Time, which extends until the beginning Advent, when we prepare for...
Pentecost Sunday
Readings: Acts of the Apostles 2:1-11; First Corinthians 12:3-7,12-13; Gospel According to Saint John 20:19-23 The Solemnity of Pentecost is a celebration of the universality of the love God has for us. At Pentecost, fifty days after Easter, the Church commemorates...
May 7th: Ladybug
Ladybugs in a garden are always a good sign. Why? Because they are natural predators of aphids, tiny insects that feed on plant sap, which ultimately does harm to plants. The ladybug has been called a "natural insecticide." Today's photo is of a ladybug among the...
Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord
Scripture Readings: Acts of the Apostles 1:1-11; Saint Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians 1:17-23; Gospel According to Saint Matthew 28:16-20 As we celebrate our Lord’s Ascension, which took place forty days after his Resurrection, we recount with joy the day when Christ...
May 3rd: Italian Iris
Nearly four decades ago a friend of ours brought us a bunch of blue iris bulbs from a monastery in northern Italy. The bulbs were planted here and around 1996 were transferred to our new cloister garden in the middle of our living quarters. 1996 was the year the...
April 30th: Greenhouse Growing
Our new greenhouse is fully operable, under the watchful care of Father Zachary, assisted by others as time permits. We are growing vegetables and flowers there, which will be harvested throughout the Summer and Autumn months. Even in the winter we should be able to...
"Let everyone that comes be received as Christ."
— The Rule of St. Benedict
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