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News, Women's Communities

Carmel of St. Joseph in Terre Haute Celebrates 75 Years!

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On Carmel’s Height, Day & Night,
Someone prays for you

By Sr. Clare Joseph, O.C.D.

Celebration of our Foundation

Mother Agnes and Founding Sisters

On October 8, 2022, a day after our actual Foundation Day on the Feast of the Most Holy Rosary, our community will mark the 75th Jubilee year since our foundation from the Carmelite monastery in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1947.  We will honor this joyful event with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.  Our Archbishop Charles Thompson will preside while several of our Carmelite friars will join him to concelebrate.  Pending the COVID restrictions, we hope to make it a public event where all are invited to join us in this jubilant celebration.

Our Beginnings

Before our foundation was made from the Indianapolis Carmel, the Archbishop of Indianapolis, Archbishop Joseph Ritter, dreamed of having a Carmelite community in Terre Haute praying.  The city had become infiltrated with corruption and crime and Archbishop Ritter longed to have nuns right in Terre Haute, praying that the city would once again become a wholesome place for people to live and raise their families.  And so, it was Archbishop Ritter who planted the first seed for our foundation. When we moved here on October 7, 1947, we lived in a house on the property and, with the help of friends, our monastery was gradually built, stage by stage.

Growth

“Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah” (Luke 9:33).

Fast forward 75 years, our firmly planted seeds have taken root as we have grown into the contemplative community that we are today here in Terre Haute, Indiana.  God has watered the seeds and provided the growth, blessing us in abundance.

Our current monastery stands on a hill overlooking Terre Haute, the city that we love and which we pray.  Our chapel roof is distinguished by three peaks, representative of the three tents that Peter wanted to make for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah.  Over the years we were able to acquire the property adjacent to our original plot of land.  This allows us to cultivate gardens and an orchard, which provide us with fruit and vegetables throughout the year.  The additional grounds also provide us opportunity to pray and encounter God in nature.

Gratitude to overflowing

Our hearts are filled with gratitude for the great and loving support we have received from our families, many friends, and benefactors.  Their help has come to us in a variety of ways, from our building days to our current reality and day to day needs.  No sooner do we have a need, offer prayers to God, then we receive a phone call or knock on the door from one of our numerous friends, offering their support, eager for the opportunity to “pay us back” for praying for their needs.  Words cannot express our gratitude for all the assistance and support we have received over the years.

Significantly, our sisters from the Indianapolis Carmel – the community that we were founded from – have overwhelmed us with their ongoing support and generosity.  Although they are few in number and have relocated to Oldenburg, Indiana, to the campus of the Franciscan community, they are closer to us than ever before, in heart and in our united prayers.

“… chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1Peter 2:4-5) .

We are especially proud and grateful for the community that we have become and are becoming.  In addition to the unique treasure that each sister is, the cultures of our international community of sisters further enriches our common life.  We share and sincerely experience the joys of life in community with one another, making real Our Holy Mother St. Teresa’s desire that in our communities:   “… all must be friends, all must be loved, all must be held dear, all must be helped” (The Way of Perfection, 4:7).  It is our “living stones” that we cherish most of all – one another!

Mostly, our gratitude is to God for God Himself; for His fidelity, His love, His peace, His sustaining and providing for us, our Church, and our whole world in every way; for loving “the world so much that He gave His only Son.” (John 3:16).  Every momentous anniversary of our monastery is an opportunity for us to recall with profound gratitude and awe the graciousness with which God has smiled upon us from our first years in Terre Haute.

Our Vision Statement reads that “we are consecrated women of the Teresian Carmel, living in sisterly communion, holding the lamp of contemplation ‘till we become a living flame of love.’”

We believe that this flame of love has a continual and tremendous spiritual influence in our world, beyond the parameters of Terre Haute, Indiana, even while it may be hidden from our eyes.  It is the Spirit of God moving all over our world that brings life and hope and this is what we have dedicated our lives to here on the mount in Terre Haute, Indiana.

“… and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us” (Romans 5:5).

Visit: heartsawake.org

Cloistered life, News, Women's Communities

Carmelite Monastery in San Rafael Officially Closes on March 1st

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On March 1, 2021, the Carmelite Monastery of the Mother of God in San Rafael, California, officially closed its doors after 55 years in Marin County.  The four remaining nuns were informed in May after a decree of closure was issued to the archdiocese by the Vatican’s Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life. The sisters range in age from 59-98, the oldest being Mother Dolores Sullivan, OCD, 98, one of the founding sisters of the monastery, founded from the Carmelite monastery in Carmel, California.

The monastery resides on 45 acres studded with 400 redwood trees worth millions of dollars, all planted by Sister Vanni, the last Prioress. But when you have so few sisters, she said, “you really have to look at your vitality.”

The monastery has a distinctive “eastern” look about and for good reason, the sisters were entrusted with a very special mission – to pray for Russia. Here is how this came about:

We have a special call from (Jesus Christ) and from Mary, His Mother, to pray for our own Archdiocese and also for Russia. We were founded in 1965 in answer to a summons from Our Lady of Fatima, received by our Foundress, Mother Miriam of the Trinity. Our Lady has asked for prayers for the conversion of Russia. Mother Miriam responded to that call as though addressed specifically to her, and for those who would join her in founding his Carmel.

After the fall of Communism, two of our Sisters went to Russia to found a small “Carmel” in Moscow. However, it was eventually discerned that our vocation is to pray for Russia within our Carmel here in the Archdiocese of San Francisco. Our former home in Moscow has since become the nucleus of a thriving Catholic parish, under the direction of the Divine Word Fathers. St. Olga’s Parish began there and now has expanded into a larger building nearby. There are already 350 parishioners who attend Catholic services there regularly.

It is obviously a very difficult and sad time for them and for the community who have loved and supported them. Two nuns will go to the Carmel of Mary Monastery in Wahpeton, North Dakota, and the remaining two will go the Carmelite Monastery of St. Therese in Clinton Township, Michigan.

We pray for the people of Marin County who are losing their beloved sisters, and we pray that the sisters will be blessed in and be a blessing to their new communities.

For more information:

https://catholic-sf.org/news/san-rafael-carmelites-to-resettle-in-separate-monasteries

https://catholic-sf.org/news/carmelites-pray-for-new-home-together

Cloistered life, News

Letter Announcing Closing of the Carmelite Monastery – Hague, ND

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J.M. ♰ J.T.                                                                                   April 2019

Carmel of the Holy Face of Jesus Discalced Carmelite Nuns
2051 91st. St. SE
Hague, ND 58542
Phone: 701-336-7907

Dear Friends and Benefactors of Carmel,

Praised be Jesus Christ! When we first came to the Diocese of Bismarck 5 years ago, we enthusiastically set about arranging things so that we could remain for at least 100 years and all of you have been so supportive and generous in helping us. One of the first things we did was to establish the boundaries of our enclosure area which is very important to cloistered contemplative religious. A privacy fence and a chain link fence were put up and many trees were donated and planted. With all the proper permissions we began planning for a monastery that would house all the nuns that would soon be entering. We even obtained 2 mobile homes — one to temporarily serve as a Novitiate and one for a Guest House. God was blessing these efforts and we thought that God was answering the prayer that all of you have been saying with us for the permanent establishment of the Carmel of the Holy Face of Jesus.

Yet, a very short time ago, we have been faced with the possibility that maybe the answer to this prayer is no — such are the mysterious designs of God’s Will. We are not obliged to understand why things turn out the way they do but just to cooperate with them when His Will becomes apparent. So it is with great sadness that we are writing to inform you of the decision that has been made by our Superiors to close the Carmel of the Holy Face of Jesus. (The voice of our superiors is a most sure sign of the Will of God.) We do not have the required minimum number of nuns to remain open. With the Instruction for contemplative nuns (Cor Orans) which was issued from our Superiors in Rome in May of 2018, the minimum number of Professed Sisters required in order to be able to have a Novitiate and receive new members is 5. We have only 4 and our Monastery in Alexandria, South Dakota (from which we originally came) does not have any other Sisters to send to us. It is on this account that we are having to return to South Dakota.

Though the closing of the Carmel of the Holy Face of Jesus comes as a great disappointment to us and to all of you, we need to rely totally on our Faith in God that He is working some marvelous wonders of sanctity through this sudden turn of events. Trusting in the Goodness of God who has provided so bountifully for us these past 5 years, we cannot stop trusting Him now. Trusting in the Lord does not mean that if we pray the right prayer long enough and fervently enough that God will change His mind and let us stay. Trusting in God means believing that God is working through these circumstances to accomplish His loving plan for each one of us and that obeying our superiors will be the best thing for us… even if we don’t understand right now why it has to happen this way. Fortunately, as you have heard from us many times before, our main objective in establishing a monastery here was not just to build a monastic structure for ourselves – we have wanted to build faith in the hearts of individuals, of families and of parishes throughout the diocese of Bismarck and all of you who write and call from across the United States and beyond. This has been our main goal and we will continue to strive to fulfill it just the same, but from a different geographical location. There are no state boundaries where God’s love is concerned. You will ever have a special place in our hearts and prayers. We cannot but marvel at the bounteous Providence of God that we have experienced through the goodness and kindness of each one of you from the very day of our arrival in Hague up to this present moment, and we ask our most loving Father to abundantly reward each one, filling you to overflowing with His choicest blessings, as indeed we know He will.

There are, of course, a number of practical matters that must be taken care of in this process:

1) Mass stipends: Many people have sent us requests for Masses and our remaining time here will not be sufficient to have them all offered in our Chapel. Any Masses that are left will either be entrusted to our Chaplain, Fr. Leonard Eckroth, or sent to the priest at the Bismarck mission in Kenya.

2) Perpetual Enrollments: Those who have been enrolled in the perpetual prayers of the Sisters of the Carmel of the Holy Face of Jesus will now be added to the enrollment register in the Monastery of Our Mother of Mercy & St. Joseph in Alexandria, S.D., to which we will be returning. Please be assured that those perpetual prayers WILL CONTINUE to be offered!

3) Donated items: If anyone has donated something to the Carmel of the Holy Face of Jesus which is of sentimental value to themselves and they would wish these items to remain in a convent here in North Dakota please contact us as soon as possible, no later than June 15th. (701-336-7907) All those who have generously given to us will now be considered benefactors of our Sisters in Alexandria as well and will remain in our grateful prayers.

4) Building Fund: We had already contracted with our architect for the design/development of phase one before we received the news that we might be returning to Alexandria, and since the decision was not yet definitive, the work proceeded as agreed upon. Thus, all “donor designated” funds that were set aside for the building project have in fact been used toward planning for that intended end. If our present situation, so different from the hoped-for results of your generous gifts, presents a difficulty for those who donated to the building project, or for any other of our donors, please contact us and we will see what we are able to do. All the remaining funds of the Carmel of the Holy Face of Jesus will now provide for us at the Monastery of Our Mother of Mercy and St. Joseph in Alexandria, SD.

5) Present correspondence: Due to the many preparations needed for our return to Alexandria (which is scheduled for late summer), we will be unable to continue our correspondence beyond necessary business. Please be assured of our continued prayers for ALL of your intentions, despite our inability to respond by letter.

6) Future correspondence: For those of you who would like to continue participating in Carmelite Novenas and in requesting prayers throughout the year, you may contact us at the following address:

Carmelite Monastery
P.O. Box 67 a
Alexandria, S.D. 57311

You may also call in prayer requests at: (605) 239-4382.

We give thanks to our Father in Heaven for the countless blessings He has showered on us during our time in North Dakota and we ask Him to continue to bless all of you for your kind charity towards us. We ask you to join us in praying daily the enclosed Prayer for Vocations to the Contemplative Life, entreating Our Blessed Savior to renew and increase the contemplative life and, thereby, His whole Mystical Body, the Church. May our good Jesus grant that through an abundant outpouring of His Holy Spirit in our day, true contemplative vocations would abound, making it possible for the Diocese of Bismarck to one day have her own contemplative monastery.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make His Face to shine upon you,
and be gracious to you.
May the Lord lift up His Countenance upon you,
and give you peace.
Num. 6:24-26

Gratefully in Jesus, Mary and St. Joseph

Mother Mary Baptist of the Virgin of Carmel, O.C.D. and Community

 

News

Terre Haute Carmel Growing and Inviting Women to a Weekend Visit!

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A few years ago, I had the blessing to visit the Carmelite monastery in Terre Haute, Indiana. Since that time, their community has really blossomed with young vocations! There are twelve solemnly professed sisters, one who has professed temporary vows and 3 novices. They also have 2 sisters living with them from China who are learning skills for forming young sisters. All this adds to a vibrant community!

If you would like to learn  more about their life as Daughters of St. Teresa of Avila, there is an opportunity coming up. The nuns are hosting a discernment retreat weekend on May 26-28, 2017, at their monastery. During the weekend, you will have the opportunity to learn about the Carmelite way of life and participate in their monastic schedule, inside the enclosure of the monastery. You will also join the nuns for Mass, recreation and meals. What a privilege!

COME & SEE!

The monastery can trace their roots back to the foundation of the United States and almost back to St. Teresa herself!  Here is a brief summary of their history:

The journey in Terre Haute began on the Feast of the Holy Rosary on October 7, 1947. The bishop wanted a second Carmel in his diocese to be a presence of prayer in an area where there were few Catholics.  The Indianapolis Carmel, who responded this this request, traced its own roots back to the Bettendorf and Baltimore Carmels, to the original foundation made at Port Tobacco in 1790. This Monastery was the first house of Catholic religious women founded in the original thirteen colonies of the United States of America. The nuns who founded Port Tobacco, in turn, came from Hoogstraet Carmel in the Lowlands. Hoogstraet Carmel was under the direct influence of Blessed Anne of St. Bartholomew, St. Teresa’s trusted companion and nurse, who had spread the Holy Mother’s vision of Carmel into countries and cultures far beyond its birthplace in Spain.

For more information about the discernment weekend, please contact Sr. Clare Joseph, OCD, at vocations@heartsawake.org or visit www.heartsawake.org.

 

Cloistered life, Saints, Women's Communities

Ada Carmelites: Refugees and Foundresses of Many

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adaIn 2016, the Carmelite Nuns in Ada, Michigan, will be celebrating the 100th anniversary of their founding. In 1916,  sixteen Carmelite nuns (12 professed and four postulants) fled the terror and raging persecution in Mexico and came to the United States.

After traveling to Cuba, New Orleans and Saint Louis, they finally found a home in the Diocese of Grand Rapids under the paternal care of Bishop Henry Joseph Richter. Their monastery was placed under the patronage of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  From this sacrifice of family and country came bountiful blessings. New foundations bloomed from Grand Rapids back to Mexico in 1919, then Buffalo, Detroit, Littleton, Traverse City, Iron Mountain and Denmark (WI).

Their original frame house in Grand Rapids was expanded and added on to many times to accommodate growth. Finally, in 1984, they were given ten rural acres outside of town in which to build a permanent, quieter home. They moved to Ada (Parnell), Michigan, in 1991.

This year, the are celebrating the 500th anniversary of their foundress’ birth. Commenting on St. Teresa of Avila, foundress of the Discalced Carmelites, Pope Francis said: “(Teresa) asked her sisters not to waste time discussing ‘matters of little importance’ with God while ‘the world is in flames.'”

Be rooted in prayer, in communion with Jesus. Pope Francis said: “The prayer of Teresa was not a prayer reserved solely to a space or time of day; it arose spontaneously on the most diverse occasions. … She was convinced of the value of continual, if not always perfect, prayer. … To renew consecrated life today, Teresa has left us a great heritage full of concrete suggestions, ways and methods of praying that, far from closing us in ourselves or leading us merely to inner balance, enable us always to start again from Jesus, and constitute a genuine school for growth in love for God and neighbor.”

Cloistered life, Women's Communities

An Eastern-Rite Carmelite Monastery

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Holy Annunciation Monastery in Sugarloaf, Pennsylvania, is the only Carmelite Monastery in the Western Hemisphere belonging to an Eastern Catholic Rite. They belong to the Order of Discalced Carmelites and have the special mission to pray for the unity of the Eastern and Western churches.

Mother Marija of the Holy Spirit, Sister Marie Helen of the Cross and Sister Ann of the Trinity (d. 2001)  inaugurated the monastery on February 23, 1977. Fr. Walter Ciszek (may he one day be canonized), SJ, encouraged Most Rev. Michel Dudick, the Bishop of the Ruthenians (Byzantine Church) of Passaic, NJ, to accept them into his eparchy.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, several Byzantine rite girls came to them from Slovakia and Carpathia. In return, in 1995 and 2002, they sent Sisters there to begin the Monastery of St. Therese in Koritnyani, Transcarpathia (Ukraine). In 1999, they accepted Sisters of the Syro-Malabar Rite from South India, now five in byz 3number, who today comprise one third of their community.

Six to seven  hours daily are devoted to prayer and sacred reading. They also operate a bakery with mail order sales (you can request a catalog for Christmas!), design gift cards and breed miniature horses. Check out their website (Carmelites Mini Corral) if you would like to purchase a stallion, mare, foal or show horse!

 

 

News

St.Teresa’s Walking Stick

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st teresa of avila tourThe original walking stick used by St Teresa of Avila during her many journeys across 16th century Spain is on the move in honor of the 500th anniversary of her birth. St. Teresa was born on March 28, 1515, and died on October 4, 1582.

The walking stick, which began its journey on October 15, 2014, St. Teresa’s feast day, is on pilgrimage around the world to commemorate this great event. By the time the journey has ended, it will have traveled to 5 continents, 30 countries and traversed 117,000 miles. The places selected are some of sites most important to the Discalced Carmelites as well as the missions in Africa. Already it has been to the United States, Mexico, South America and the Far East. Now it is in Kenya and will travel to many more African countries before it heads back to Europe and the countries of Croatia, Italy, France (Lisieux of course!), the Czech Republic, Portugal and back to Spain.

The worldwide pilgrimage is called the Way of Light (Camino de Luz). The generosity of the Carmelite Fathers in Spain  allowed this eventful pilgrimage to take place. The walking stick is in a special container and is symbolic of St. Teresa’s own spiritual journey. Pilgrims are invited during this special year to imitate her longing for God which took her to many heights and places.

The Superior General of the Carmelites, Fr. Saverio Cansitra, says that her mission is “to remind the Church and human beings of all times that the center of man is God and the center of God is man…. Teresa shares with everyone, with anyone in any place in the world whose journey is lost on an aimless path, what she found: a dwelling and a way.

 stickSt. Teresa herself said, “If they lose their Guide, our good Jesus, they cannot find the way… Our Lord Himself tells us that He is ‘the Way’; He also says that He is ‘the Light’ (John 14,6); that no man cometh to the Father but by Him; and that ‘He that seeth Me, seeth the Father also.’ Such persons tell us that these words have some other meaning; I know of no other meaning but this, which my soul has ever recognized as the true one and which has always suited me right well.”

Cloistered life, Women's Communities

Rocky Mountain Carmelites

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Monastery with Mt. Olympus in the background
Monastery with Mt. Olympus in the background

There is a nice write-up in a local Catholic newspaper on the Carmel of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Salt Lake City, Utah. In the article, they talk to Mother Margaret Marie Miller who in October was named the new Mother Superior. Mother was one of the five founders who came from Alhambra, California, in 1952 to found a Carmelite monastery in the then-sparsely populated Catholic diocese.

“To be a Carmelite is a real vocation,” said Mother Margaret Marie. “The Lord gives it [the vocation] to you, but you have to be open and you have to be open to whatever he wants from you.”

Mother was inspired by St. Therese of Lisieux and like her wanted to save souls. She considered becoming a missionary but concluded, like St. Therese, that in the cloister she could reach everybody. “That was the thing that struck me. I didn’t even know what the life was going to be like, I just knew that I was going to pray for the whole world. You pray for the whole mystical body and that is what sounded really great.”

ocd utahI am reminded of a priest whose father wanted him to become a doctor. He said, “Dad, as a doctor, my patients are going to die. As a priest, I can lead them to eternal life.” Carmelites are praying people unto eternal life.

She has some practical advice on prayer. “Prayer is very simple; it’s not complicated. Prayer is a loving exchange with someone that loves you. God is all-powerful; His will is Him, so it’s pretty simple: Open your mind and He is with you all the time. It doesn’t have to be complicated; it’s simple.”

You can support the eleven Carmelites in Utah by purchasing their candy and holy cards and the like. You can also get a first-hand glimpse into their lives by watching their very appealing YouTube video.

Women's Communities

St. Teresa of Avila

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This picture is too wonderful not post on the Feast of St. Teresa of Avila. It shows two Carmelites Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Sister Mary Scholastica and Sister Inez, with a very young aspirant.

St. Thérèse of Lisieux wanted to enter at age 14 but this may be pushing it a little too far!

ocd la

Thérèse’s sisters Pauline, Marie and Céline all became Carmelite nuns. Thérèse wrote that she too was destined to great things, like St. Joan of Arc, whose exploits “filled her with delight.” However, instead of calling her to combat in the world, she heard “in the depths of my soul a voice that was gentler and stronger still: the voice of the Spouse of virgins was calling me to other exploits and more glorious conquests, and in the solitude of Carmel I understood my mission was not to crown a mortal king but to make the King of Heaven loved, to conquer for Him the kingdom of hearts.”

God bless all of the Carmelites in the world today. May their prayers and good works bring under the standard of Christ many souls.

 

Cloistered life, Women's Communities

Giving Their All To God

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ocd oaklandA year ago, I wrote about a new cloistered Carmelite community that was being established in the Diocese of Oakland. A daughter house of the Carmel in Valparaiso, Nebraska, the Carmel of Jesus, Mary and Joseph is the only contemplative community in the Oakland diocese.

On October 1, the Feast of St. Therese of Lisieux, Bishop Michael Barber, S.J., of Oakland celebrated Mass with the nuns. He told them that their vocation is similar to the Beloved Disciple, Saint John, saying, “You are the ones who recline next to Christ at His breast at the table at the Last Supper, you are the ones who have that intimate place with Him, by giving your life to Him and coming into the walls of this monastery. You are the ones that people, priests and bishops come to.”

The bishop spoke from the heart for his association with the Carmelites goes way back.

When he was a little boy, his grandmother and aunts would take him to the Carmel of Cristo Rey (an IRL Affiliate community in San Francisco). There he noticed a bowl next to a statue of St. Teresa of Avila in which petitions were placed. Later, as a young man hoping to be accepted into the Jesuits, he wrote out his own petition. Twelve years later another prayer request went in, asking that his ordination to the priesthood be approved. Finally, as a chaplain going to Iraq, he asked the sisters to pray that he and his 3000 marines would be safe during the deployment. Not one of his men was killed.

In a beautiful article in The Catholic Voice, it states that the sisters normally have six lit candles on the altar during Mass. The seventh is lit when the bishop comes. What a beautiful tradition. According to the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 79: “On or near the altar there are to be candlesticks with lighted candles, at least two but even four, six, or, if the bishop of the diocese celebrates, seven.”

The Carmelites, said the bishop, are looking for “land on which to build a new monastery or an existing building that could be converted.” They try to be self-sufficient and simple, growing their own vegetables and raising farm animals for milk and eggs. The sisters are vegetarians.

Mother Sylvia Gemma has welcomed their first postulant with another expected within the next few months. Said the bishop: “There are women, 500 years after St. Teresa of Avila, who are still giving their all to God.”