Today marks the seventh year of my life as monk of Christ in the desert monastery. I came over to the USA to join the community of monks of Christ in the desert monastery in February 14th of year 2002. Today marks a significant date in my life as monk because it is today’s date when I finally left behind the life I lived as secular one. So, today, I should greet myself not a ‘happy valentines day’ but ‘happy reminiscence of the day’ (e.g. reminiscing the exciting long hours of flying when I flew for the first time to the USA, etc. etc.)
I have not really posted any formal introduction about my monastery in my previous posts, so I am taking this opportunity to say something about my community.
The monastery of Christ in the desert was founded in June of 1964. Fr Aelred Wall and two other monks from Mount Savior monastery in New York comprised the founding community. In 1973 Fr Aelred became a hermit in Mexico, where he died in 1984. The other two founders eventually returned to Mount Savior in the 1960’s. The foundation in New Mexico continued to exist with new arrivals of candidates and monks but remained to be a small, struggling community for many years.
The present monastic community of about thirty five monks began arriving in 1974, seeking the Benedictine life of prayer, reading and manual labor as the principal activities.
We came from many different parts of the world, thus makes our community internationally comprised of monks from different diverse cultural backgrounds. We use the monastic term ‘DOM’ to call each other which means ‘brother’.
Our community is located in a beautiful canyon in northwestern New Mexico, USA. We live 13 miles down a dirt road off the highway. Surrounded by miles of Federal Wilderness, the solitude and silence of our monastic setting is assured. The village of Abiquiu (the nearest civilization) is about twenty seven miles away.
The heart of our community life is prayer in common. We meet seven times a day for the canonical offices (150 Psalms are chanted each week) as well as for the daily celebration of the Holy Eucharist. The music we use is Gregorian chant either in its original form or adopted to English texts. Each day our common prayer takes about four hours and the same amount of time is spent for private praying and reading LectioDvina.
We devote about four hours to manual labor each day except Sundays and Solemnities. We make our living in several ways: craft work for our small gift shop, guesthouse that accommodates sixteen persons to the maximum where guests can come and take part in our prayer and work each day, and some of our financial sources come from the generosity of benefactors who have been long time friends of my community.
After three years of simple vows, solemn monastic vows of obedience, stability and conversion of life may be made with the reception at that time of the black monastic cuculla as the sign of life profession. The brother is then a permanent member of the community.
In general, our life is formed by the Gospel and the entire sacred Scriptures, by the Rule of Saint Benedict, the teachings of the Fathers of the Church and the monastic fathers, by the teachings and traditions of the catholic Church, by the Constitutions and Ordinances of the Subiaco Congregation, and by our own customary. We have no external apostolates, but try to have an open heart and mind to one another and those who visit us as pilgrims and guests.
I have not really posted any formal introduction about my monastery in my previous posts, so I am taking this opportunity to say something about my community.
The monastery of Christ in the desert was founded in June of 1964. Fr Aelred Wall and two other monks from Mount Savior monastery in New York comprised the founding community. In 1973 Fr Aelred became a hermit in Mexico, where he died in 1984. The other two founders eventually returned to Mount Savior in the 1960’s. The foundation in New Mexico continued to exist with new arrivals of candidates and monks but remained to be a small, struggling community for many years.
The present monastic community of about thirty five monks began arriving in 1974, seeking the Benedictine life of prayer, reading and manual labor as the principal activities.
We came from many different parts of the world, thus makes our community internationally comprised of monks from different diverse cultural backgrounds. We use the monastic term ‘DOM’ to call each other which means ‘brother’.
Our community is located in a beautiful canyon in northwestern New Mexico, USA. We live 13 miles down a dirt road off the highway. Surrounded by miles of Federal Wilderness, the solitude and silence of our monastic setting is assured. The village of Abiquiu (the nearest civilization) is about twenty seven miles away.
The heart of our community life is prayer in common. We meet seven times a day for the canonical offices (150 Psalms are chanted each week) as well as for the daily celebration of the Holy Eucharist. The music we use is Gregorian chant either in its original form or adopted to English texts. Each day our common prayer takes about four hours and the same amount of time is spent for private praying and reading LectioDvina.
We devote about four hours to manual labor each day except Sundays and Solemnities. We make our living in several ways: craft work for our small gift shop, guesthouse that accommodates sixteen persons to the maximum where guests can come and take part in our prayer and work each day, and some of our financial sources come from the generosity of benefactors who have been long time friends of my community.
After three years of simple vows, solemn monastic vows of obedience, stability and conversion of life may be made with the reception at that time of the black monastic cuculla as the sign of life profession. The brother is then a permanent member of the community.
In general, our life is formed by the Gospel and the entire sacred Scriptures, by the Rule of Saint Benedict, the teachings of the Fathers of the Church and the monastic fathers, by the teachings and traditions of the catholic Church, by the Constitutions and Ordinances of the Subiaco Congregation, and by our own customary. We have no external apostolates, but try to have an open heart and mind to one another and those who visit us as pilgrims and guests.
2 comments:
Dear friend,
The reason why I write to you is to direct you to a new site for much needed prayer and devotions so badly needed for these end times.Remember the wise words of st.Augustine:understanding is the reward of faith,so seek not so much to understand so as to believe but rather to believe so as to understand.
www.chapletoftearsofmyorrows.com
spread the revelations and chaplets contained therein to all
God bless.
Happy Anniversary my dearest brother!
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