Abbot's Archives

Having just celebrated the feast of Saint Clare of Assisi, the close collaborator of Saint Francis of Assisi, on August 11th, we also called to mind the fact that we have many friends from the various branches of the Franciscan family, including Franciscan Friars of...

Another glorious view of the Chama canyon is posted today, as the Church celebrates the Transfiguration of the Lord on the Mountaintop, traditionally identified with Mount Tabor in the Holy Land. In ages past a Benedictine monastery existed on Mount Tabor, but today...

Believing that we have some of the healthiest hens on planet earth, there are some simple facts that we're more than willing to share on the topic. Our forty-five hens, of a variety of sizes and  colors, have a very large area of lush green grass in which to roam all...

The Summer season is replete with liturgical feasts of many noteworthy saints, including  Saints Aloysius Gonzaga, John the Baptist, Peter and Paul, Benedict, Bonaventure, Mary Magdalene, James the Greater, Joaquim and Anne, Martha, Mary and Lazurus, Ignatius of...

We are beginning to get much-needed rain, and are grateful to God for that. The rainfall also almost immediately reduces the daytime temperatures, these days in the high 80s. Hopefully into and throughout the month of August we will see more moisture, as the typical...

For the second Summer in a row, one of the two large yucca plants in front of our Monastery church is in full bloom. With a flowering head of some three feet tall, and about ten feet above the ground, the delicate white yucca blossoms are a beautiful sight. Yucca are...

We have named the bird in our photo today, "Robin," who is still learning to fly, with our cloister garden as the testing ground. We have been praying for rain, as the usual monsoon season seems to be delayed. Fortunately, on the Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene, July...

Just now we are enjoying an abundance of Easter lilies blooming in our cloister garden. Each Spring we plant the lilies we use to decorate the church during the Easter season. Typically, the plants die back then re-emerge in the Summer. True to form, that is happening...

As presumably millions of people worldwide take to the skies for Summer holidays this month and next, in this quiet corner of Mother Earth, a little fledgling learns to fly, as illustrated into today's photo. Every Spring and Summer robins nest and raise offspring in...

Each year at Easter we have a couple dozen potted Easter lilies decorating our church. Their fragrance and beauty add to the the joy and glory of the season of the Lord's Resurrection as Spring returns. The Easter lilies in church last for weeks, being hardy flowers,...

True to form, Cholla cactus are blooming in the Chama Canyon wilderness. This magenta display always takes place on the first days of Summer, and normally between the Solemnity of the Birth of Saint John the Baptist, on June 24th, and the Solemnity of Saint Benedict...

Each Summer we are invited by the Church to commemorate in a special way a goodly number of saints. On June 24th, just as Summer dawns, we celebrate the Nativity (birth) of Saint John the Baptist, "the last of the prophets," as he is often called. That day is also the...

Vocations A talented UK-based band, called “Sadie and the Hotheads,” comprised of not so-young musicians, released the single, “Everybody’s Got a Song (To Sing)” in 2014. The song’s fairly simple tune and message is that everyone has a story, analogous to a song, to...

Matty the donkey, Gloria and the sheep, as well as our four dozen chickens, continue their tranquil lives in the midst of desert beauty. Matty, who turns four this November, guards the sheep against marauding predators. The sheep provide us with wool for weaving and...