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"Enter Into the Infinite Space"
"The Carmelite way of life began in Palestine in the 12th Century on Mount Carmel. The Carmelite Order began with a group of hermits who wished to lead a life like that of Elijah, the solitary one and the prototype of all hermits called to live a life of prayer. Early on, these hermits asked St. Albert of Jerusalem to give them a simple formula of life which became known as the Rule of St. Albert. Carmelites throughout the world still retain and live this rule.
These first Carmelites were forced from Mount Carmel by the advancing Saracens. Their departure was a spiritual challenge which forced the friars to ask, “How can one remain a Carmelite apart from Mount Carmel?” Their answer was, “In whatever place you live, draw away from the finite and enter into the infinite space which is God. Turn every place into a Mount Carmel.” Every monastery, then, becomes a holy place, insofar as those living there consecrate themselves to a fervent desire for God and for holiness. With Elijah, the hope is to live the Carmelite motto: “With zeal have I been zealous for the Lord God of Hosts.”
So it is today in the 21st century the Discalced Carmelite friars and nuns continue to live this way of life begun on Mount Carmel and reformed by Saint Teresa of Ávila in the 16th century. Called to be contemplatives, absorbed in God alone, Carmelites are also called to be at the service of the Church and of all people. The ascent of Mount Carmel is a call to face the challenge of prophecy and contemplation. Drinking from the spring of Elijah means following Christ and demands keeping one’s feet on the ground while reaching for the heights of the mountain often hidden from view.
We walk in faith, hope, and love of God as did Mary and all the saints who have gone before us."
-a Carmelite Nun in St. Louis, MO
“Jesus, my love. At last I have found my vocation. My vocation is love. In the heart of the Church, my mother, I will be love, and then I will be all things.”
Types of Carmelites
Carmelites in the world today are divided into two main branches, which can be identified by the intials that represent each order:
Carmelites of the Ancient Observance (O Carm), who live according to the original Carmelite rule
Discalced Carmelites (OCD) who live according to the 16th century reforms of St. Teresa of Avila
Below you will find information on monasteries of each Order in the United States.
Carmelites of the Ancient Observance
The Carmelite Order was founded by 12th century hermits who wanted to devote their lives wholly to contemplation. Dwelling on Mount Carmel where the prophet Elijah sought union with God, they dedicated themselves in a special way to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The hermits left Mount Carmel in the 13th century, spreading throughout Europe. The first monasteries of cloistered Carmelite nuns were founded in the mid-15th century. The Carmelites of the Ancient Observance (O Carm) follow this original rule.
OSC Monasteries Affiliated with the Institute on Religious Life:
The call to Carmel is a call to serve the Church through prayer and sacrifice. Our apostolate is contemplative prayer for the Church within enclosure. The Order of Carmel dates to its spiritual founder, the prophet Elijah on Mount Carmel, 900 years before Christ.
Discalced Carmelites
The most famous Carmelite saint, St. Teresa of Avila, lived in Spain in the 16th century, a time when cloistered monasteries had grown lax. St. Teresa was determined to return to the original roots of the order, emphasizing a strict enclosure, radical poverty, and contemplative prayer. The word "discalced" came from a Latin word meaning "without shoes," because the nuns went barefoot or wore sandals instead of shoes with stockings.
OSC Monasteries Affiliated with the Institute on Religious Life:
Our community lives in the inner city of Boston, where we have remained since our foundation in 1890. As in the very first days of our foundation, our bells continue to ring daily, calling people’s minds to prayer and directing their thoughts to the faithful presence of God in their midst.
Our Lady of Confidence Carmelite Monastery is home to the nuns of the Discalced Order of Carmelites, who lead a cloistered life dedicated to prayer, work, and contemplation.
The Littleton Carmel observes the original Constitutions of the Discalced Nuns of the Order of the Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel as written by St. Teresa of Avila and renewed by the Holy See in 1990 with the most minor and necessary adaptations possible.
In 2023, the Carmelites moved to the Diocese of Scranton.
Our Chapel was officially dedicated to Saint Therese on the very day of her canonization, May 17, 1925, thus making it the first in the world to have the Little Flower as its titular Saint.
We are an enclosed, contemplative community of nuns in Goonellabah, New South Wales, Australia, whose lives are dedicated to prayer for the needs of the Church and the whole world.
This religious family is a renewed form of the Carmelite Order. As such, it joins fidelity to the spirit and traditions of the Order with the will for constant renewal.
We are cloistered contemplative nuns of the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel, an Order rich in its heritage of saints among whom we find three Doctors of the Church.
The Carmel of Jesus, Mary and Joseph in Post Falls began in 2018. The Carmelites devote their lives to prayer, strive to live a life hidden with Christ, and honor the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The purpose of the Carmelite vocation, in a sublime and mysterious way, is nothing less than to be a co-redeemer with Christ, to save souls with Him.
Discalced Carmelite Nuns live a life wholly dedicated to contemplation. They live a strict papal enclosure, a full liturgical life including daily Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours, and a life of penance in the spirit of St. Teresa of Avila.
Launceston Carmel was founded from Glen Osmond Adelaide in June 1948 at Longford, Tasmania. The community moved to the present monastery built in the hills of West Launceston in April 1975 at the request of the then Archbishop Guilford Young to be nearer the priests and people.
The Nuns of the Carmel of Our Lady of Divine Providence are members of the Discalced Carmelite Order. They live a contemplative life. Their apostolate is prayer and sacrifice for the needs of the Church and the world. Theirs is a life of solitude, silence, and sacrifice modeled on the life of our Blessed Mother.
St. Joseph’s Monastery in Seattle was founded in 1908 by a little band of four nuns who ventured from the Baltimore Carmel by train at the request of Archbishop Edward O’Dea. St. Joseph’s Monastery is the 7th Carmelite Monastery to be founded in the United States and the first on the West Coast.
The order of Discalced Carmelites was founded in 1562 by Saint Teresa of Jesus. Our community of Discalced Carmelite Nuns came from Durango, Mexico in 1934. We are dedicated to the apostalate of prayer, at the service of all humanity, the Church, and particularly for the Church of San Antonio.
Discalced Carmelite Nuns live a life wholly dedicated to contemplation. Like Elijah on Mount Carmel, they seek the face of God through their life of prayer. They live a strict papal enclosure, a full liturgical life including daily Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours, and a life of penance in the spirit of St. Teresa of Avila.
Bishop Ronald Gainer of the Harrisburg Diocese gave the Carmelites permission to branch out and found a new community. With his blessing, the Carmel of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph began the design process and in 2012 purchased the land on which to build. The founding sisters moved to the new monastery in July 2018.
The Carmel of Jesus, Mary and Joseph near Agnew was dedicated and consecrated on December 14, 2001. The Carmelites devote their lives to prayer, strive to live a life hidden with Christ, and honor the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The vocation of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns is a gift of the Spirit. Through it, they are called to a hidden union with God in friendship with Christ, in familiarity with the Blessed Virgin Mary, and in an existence in which prayer and immolation blend into a great love for the Church.
We are a small community of cloistered contemplative religious of the Roman Catholic Church who live a simple traditional lifestyle totally dedicated to God. Ours is a life of prayer and sacrifice which is our particular apostolate in service of the Church, praying for God's people, especially His beloved priests.
Called to be contemplatives, absorbed in God alone, Carmelites are also called to be at the service of the Church and of all people. The ascent of Mount Carmel is a call to face the challenge of prophecy and contemplation.
Currently, 17 women between 22 and 95 call the Carmel of St. Joseph home. Individually and communally our lives are centered on God. Everything in our lives is focused on a life of prayer, centered around the daily celebration of the Eucharist.
We are consecrated women of the Teresian Carmel living in sisterly communion, holding the lamp of contemplation until we become a living flame of love. We are cloistered Carmelite nuns, called to live the Gospel and the charism of Saint Teresa through a hidden life of unceasing contemplative prayer in the service of the Church.
We are consecrated women of the Teresian Carmel living in sisterly communion, holding the lamp of contemplation until we become a living flame of love. We are cloistered Carmelite nuns, called to live the Gospel and the charism of Saint Teresa through a hidden life of unceasing contemplative prayer in the service of the Church.
This is a cloistered community of contemplative prayer in which the sisters live their lives for God and for His Church. The call to Carmel is a call to serve the Church through prayer and sacrifice. The sisters' charism is guided by their foundress, St. Teresa of Avila, and by St. John of the Cross.
The Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the first Order dedicated to the Mother of God. We draw our inspiration from the prophet Elijah. The Carmelite nuns live as desert hermits in communities that are small and family-like after the express wish of St. Teresa of Jesus, the 16th century reformer of Carmel.
Working in silence and solitude, a Carmelite strives for union with her Beloved, offering her prayers and sacrifices for souls, especially for priests. Living in strict papal enclosure, her life reminds the world that there is another life for which we must now prepare.
Discalced Carmelite nuns seek union with God by a consecrated life of prayer and self-sacrifice, striving to live the evangelical counsels as perfectly as possible in the spirit of their foundress, Sts. Teresa of Avila, and John of the Cross.
We gratefully count ourselves blessed to be daughters of the Church, in the spirit of our foundress Saint Teresa of Jesus, with love for priests and for souls, obedience to the Magisterium, and fidelity to our Carmelite heritage.
The Carmelite Nuns share with the whole Carmelite Family a single common charism being the commitment to "live in allegiance to Jesus Christ" in a contemplative stance, which marks and sustains our life of prayer, community and service lived in intimate familiarity with the Holy Virgin and in the prophetic spirit of Elijah.