IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR AN OASIS, a place where you can quench your thirst and steady your life, St. Benedict’s Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado is that place.

You will find here a group of very unassuming monks, whose lives, through their writings and personal contact, have deeply touched many lives, including my own.

This is the place where I go to reground myself in faith and prayer, and to be fed, nurtured, and humored by a wonderful group of men who know the meaning of both spirituality and of friendship. ✜

—Fr. Ron Rolheiser, OMI

President | Oblate School of Theology

Thomas Merton's Snowmass

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In 1964, the superior of St. Benedict’s Monastery, Joachim Viens, invited Fr. Thomas Merton of the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky to create an information booklet for those interested in the monastic life. As Merton himself briefly described it, Come to the Mountain was “a meditation on monasticism in its twentieth century context,” composed of five brief chapters focused on its essential qualities and observances.

After more than half a century, Merton’s characteristically clear and concise description of monastic life speaks of the ideals, values and principles which it continues to offer today.  “The monk is not so different after all,” Merton writes, “and has a very definite role to play in the modern world.”

Photographers Ferenc Berko and David Hiser provided the illustrations which accompany the text, and preserve a visible record of life at St. Benedict’s Monastery. Although all of the monks who appear at work and prayer have since passed on into the kingdom of god whom they loved and served at St. Benedict’s Monastery, their legacy continues to motivate and inspire those who follow them today. Read more.

Fr. Thomas Keating

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Six months ago, after years of faithful service as abbot at St. Benedict's Monastery and founder of the Centering Prayer movement, Fr. Thomas Keating died at our mother house in Spencer, Massachusetts. Fr. Keating touched the lives of so many and this video from Contemplative Journal is a good introduction. Read more.

New Photovoltaic System

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Under the direction of Fr. Joseph Boyle, late Abbot of St. Benedict’s, the new Photovoltaic System was conceived not only to reduce the cost for electrical energy to run the monastery operations, but in response to Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment to help reduce the impact of carbon emissions on the environment.