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...
February 13th: Dry Sky
Despite predictions and promises from forecasters, we've yet to see snow or rain in the Chama Canyon, but we keep hoping and praying for a reversal of fortune. We have been having gusty winds of late, which acts to dry up the land even more. It is by no means a...
February 11th: Behind the Scenes
To those on retreat here and day visitors, we monks might seem like "carefree creatures," who simply file into and out of church and refectory throughout the day, and not doing much else in between. Behind the scenes, though, we all have jobs, some with more than one...
Sixth Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year C
Scripture Readings: Book of the Prophet Jeremiah 17:5-8; First Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians 15:12, 16-20; Gospel According to Saint Luke 6:17, 20-26 What is usually called the “Sermon on the Mount” in Saint Matthew’s Gospel, is generally referred to as the...
February 10th: Saint Scholastica
Each year on February 10th, Benedictines around the world recount the memory of Saint Scholastica, the sister of Saint Benedict. They both lived from about 480 to 547 AD, natives of Nursia (present day Norcia), in the Umbrian region of Italy, north of Rome. Some posit...
Fifth Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year C
Scripture Readings: Book of the Prophet Isaiah 6:1-2,3-8; Saint Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians 15:1-11; Gospel According to Saint Luke 5:1-11 Today’s Gospel passage recounts the miraculous catch of fish by Jesus’ first disciples. The successful catch is the...
February 4th: Haywire Weather
While over the past weeks we have been experiencing some near record-breaking cold weather, this week we are seeing temperatures climbing into the 60s, near record-breaking as well for this time of year. We often experience "false Springs," as they are sometimes...
January 29th: Rare Sight
We are praying for snow or rain, and there is a chance of it appearing soon, so say the forecasters. For this reason, in anticipation, we post a photo of "silence made visible," as the Swiss philosopher Max Picard (1888-1965) described snow in his book, "World of...
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C
Scripture Readings: Book of the Prophet Jeremiah 1:4-5,17-19; First Corinthians 12:31-13:13; Gospel According to Saint Luke 4:21-30 This Sunday’s first Mass reading is the important call of Jeremiah the prophet, some six hundred years before the birth of Christ....
Third Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year C
Scripture Readings: Nehemiah 8:2-6, 8-10; First Corinthians 12:12-30; Gospel According to Saint Luke: 1:1-4, 4:14-21 In the course of the Liturgical Year we are given in the liturgy (the Holy Eucharist and the Divine Office) many occasions to discover or be reminded...
January 19th: Sunday Treat
We are blessed with some excellent cooks and bakers among the brothers. One such example is found in today's photo, apple pies for this Sunday, January 19th. The pies will be enjoyed at the Sunday evening meal, when the monks gather for a less formal supper, which...
January 15th: Winter Light
Our Founder and first Prior, Father Aelred Wall, OSB, who lived from 1917 to 1984, was a strong proponent of combining simplicity and beauty. He used to say, “simplicity does not have to be ugly.” The principle of “keeping things simple,” yet also beautiful, is...
Second Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year C
Scripture Readings: Book of the Prophet Isaiah 62:1-5; First Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians 12:4-11; Gospel According to Saint John 2:1-11 We have now completed the Advent and Christmas seasons of the Church’s yearly liturgical calendar and have returned to...
January 11th: Our Lady of the Roses
Often we're asked about the many one-of-a-kind vintage items in our Giftshop. We are blessed with a source that is on the lookout for such items, and they tend to sell quickly in our shop. Sometimes we’re asked if we have more of a particular statue or crucifix, for...
Feast of the Baptism of the Lord
Scripture Readings: Book of the Prophet Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7; Acts of the Apostles 10:34-38; Gospel According to Saint Luke 3:15-16, 21-22 The Christmas season comes to an end with the Sunday of the Baptism of the Lord. We still have a glimpse of the season when we...
January 6th: A New Addition
For several years our monastery kitchen has featured a non-functioning convection oven. It was broken and beyond repair and needed to be replaced, and so it has been, thanks to the generosity of a benefactor. Often associated almost exclusively with baking bread,...
Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord
Scripture Readings: Book of the Prophet Isaiah 60:1-6; Letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6; Gospel According to Saint Matthew 2:1-12 The Solemnity of the Epiphany, literally the “manifestation” or “showing” of the Lord Jesus Christ to the nations, is...
January 3rd: Notre Dame de Abiquiu
This Christmas we were given a most unusual gift: a 4,400 piece Lego "build your own Notre Dame cathedral." One of our monks valiantly took up the challenge, and his handiwork is displayed in today's photo. He calculates that it took about twelve hours to complete the...
January 1st: Octave Day of Christmas, Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
Today the Church rejoices in the continuation of the Christmas season and in veneration of All-Holy Mother of God, the Blessed Virgin Mary. Today's holy image is a contemporary Coptic Orthodox icon, used on the cover of the November/December news magazine of Saint...
December 31st: Seventh Day of Christmas
On this last day of the civil year 2024, many people sing the Scottish-origin song "Auld Lang Syne." And what does that mean? Literally, "Old Long Since," or less literally "for old time's sake," with the first words, "Should old acquaintance be forgotten and never...
January 1st: Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God
Scripture Readings: Book of Numbers 6:22-27; Saint Paul’s Letter to the Galatians 4:4-7; Gospel According to Saint Luke 2:16-21 The shepherds who “went in haste to Bethlehem,” as directed by the angel, can be understood as the whole human race seeking Jesus. The quick...