History

Carmel began in the Holy Land. A group of hermits in the early part of the 13th Century lived on the slopes of Mount Carmel, following the spirit and way of life of the prophet Elijah. Carmel flourished in Europe in the consequent centuries and the nuns were founded with the aid of Blessed John Soreth.

In the 16th century St. Teresa of Jesus, the great Spanish mystic from Avila, was called by God to renew the Order of the Blessed Virgin. The Carmel of Elijah traces its roots back to one of the initial foundations of St Teresa of Avila in Caravaca, Spain. That Carmel oversaw the establishment of a Carmel in Puebla, Mexico. And from Puebla there was a Carmelite foundation in Guadalajara, Mexico.

These Carmelites experienced persecutions in Mexico in the 1900s, so to preserve their vocations and lives they left their monastery and lived out their vocations in small groups in private homes in the disguise of lay clothing. Eventually, they escaped in secret to San Francisco, where they founded the beautiful monastery of Cristo Rey. From there, a group was invited to make a foundation in Las Vegas (1988-1999), which subsequently relocated to Lincoln, NE (1999). From this foundation, a new Carmel in Elysburg, PA (2009) was also formed, along with others in Kensington, CA (2013), and Post Falls, ID (2017). The Carmel in Elysburg, PA, later relocated to Fairfield, PA (2018).

Bishop Columba Macbeth-Green OSPPE DD invited Carmelite Sisters from Lincoln and Elysburg to establish a new foundation in his Diocese of Wilcannia-Forbes (Australia), commencing in 2019. Two of the founding sisters had originally grown up in Australia before moving to the USA to pursue their vocation.

The Sisters have been blessed to receive local vocations from Sydney, Canberra, Albury, Adelaide and country Victoria, eventually being erected as an autonomous monastery in 2024.

The Carmel of Elijah was originally known as the Carmel of Jesus, Mary and Joseph during its first foundational years.

The Carmelite MOnastery

The Carmelite Sisters devote their lives to prayer, strive to live a life hidden with Christ, and honour the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The primary mission of the Carmelite Order is to pray and offer oblation for the Church and the world. The use of the Extraordinary Form of the Mass and Divine Office sets this monastery apart and their observance of the Rule and Constitutions is part of an unbroken tradition stretching back from Mexico to Spain to Mount Carmel itself in the Holy Land.

Just like St. Teresa of Avila and St. Thérèse the Little Flower, the nuns practice all the traditional and recognisable aspects of Carmelite and monastic life: the full habit, mental prayer, fasting, abstinence (the nuns observe a meatless diet), enclosure (walls, grills), austerity, personal and communal pursuit of virtue, and union with God.

A typical day for the Carmelite is structured around Holy Mass and communal prayers.