Abbot's Archives

Some forty-five miles from Rome, at Subiaco, Saint Benedict began his monastic journey around the year 500. His life as a hermit eventually blossomed into a community, then many communities, that to the present follow the "Rule for Monasteries," composed by Saint...

This week our community will be taking its annual retreat, days of greater solitude and prayer here, as well as listening to two conferences each day, one in the morning and one in the evening. Our retreat-giver this year is Brother Ernest Miller, FSC, a member of the...

As the Solemnity of All Saints on November 1st and the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed on November 2nd are being celebrated these day, we bid adieu to the glory of Autumn's colors and begin to prepare for winter. For us monks, the daily routine does not...

With Autumn now in full swing, we are being treated to a very splendid display of color in the Chama Canyon wilderness. Today's photo was taken by one of our monks  traversing Forest Service Road 151 that leads to the Monastery. The thirteen mile "driveway" is always...

As days grow shorter and temperatures cooler, we are being treated to some stunning night skies. Every season in the Chama Canyon wilderness has its beauty, and especially so during the months of Autumn. Abbot Christian has completed his days abroad, after the...

A very austere but beautiful monastic church on the outskirts of Rome is the Cistercian Trappist Abbey of "Tre Fontane," two words which mean "three fountains." Tradition holds that this was the place where Saint Paul was beheaded in the First Century A.D. When...

This past week Abbot Christian and seventeen other abbots, Priors and delegates of the monasteries of the English Province of the Subiaco Cassinese Congregation, to which Christ in the Desert belongs, met at the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Scholastica, Subiaco, Italy,...

We continue to enjoy mild temperatures and even some rain. The many cottonwood trees in the Chama canyon are slowly turning, always to a golden color, and shimmering in the sun with the occasional breeze. This week we were happy to welcome five Cistercian Benedictine...

On this day fifty-five years ago, our Monastery church, dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, was formally blessed as the place of worship for the monks of Christ in the Desert and its guests. We keep the day as a Sunday, with more solemn celebration of the Conventual...

Throughout the Summer months we have been enjoying roses blooming in our cloister garden. Occasionally the flowers are used to decorate in church and at other times left to be viewed "in situ," right where they blossom. We are staying well and keeping busy with the...

Of late we are getting rainfall, much needed and much appreciated. The threat of forest fires is greatly reduced now and the Chama Canyon is once again "turning green," as it usually does in July and August. These days we are getting various landscaping projects...

Not seen every day here, but more frequently than fifty years ago, Bighorn Sheep are another natural wonder in the high desert of New Mexico. Today's photo was taken by one of our monks while on a trip to town on September 13th. The majestic ram in the photo was...

Today our dear confrere, Father Bernard Cranor, died peacefully at the Monastery . He was ninety-two years old and lived a very long and fruitful life, first for a short time as a Trappist monk in Utah, then as a Dominican friar for many years, then as a monk of...

We are already feeling a definite "cooling down" in the mornings, with temperatures in the mid to low 50s. By afternoon, the mercury climbs to the low 80s. To everything, there is a season. We continue our daily round of prayer and work and welcoming people for days...