St. Teresa Association
An association of monasteries of Discalced Carmelite Nuns spanning the US & Canada.
Who are we?
We are an association of monasteries of Discalced Carmelite Nuns in America and Canada. Our monasteries share the same vision of the Teresian ideal. We seek to go ever deeper into the life and doctrine of Our Holy Mother, St. Teresa, the source of our authentic renewal and the true source of our spiritual affinity.
Our History
+Established in 1975
In order to strengthen each other in living their contemplative vocation in the Church, a group of American Discalced Carmelite Monasteries joined together as an association. The five original founding Carmels were Danvers (Massachussets), Pittsford (New York), Lafayette (Louisiana), Fort Worth (Texas), and Terre Haute (Indiana). Since then it has developed to include communities from Canada, as well.
As daughters of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, we ponder her hidden life of prayer and love, and ask for the grace to be faithful to our vocation, where we cherish the Lord and each other: “All must be Friends, all must be loved, all must be held dear, all must be helped.”
St. Teresa of Jesus
Principal Aims
- To make Christ present in the world through our contemplative life.
- To strengthen each other and the Order by building in Christ a foundation of mutual trust and openness that will enable us to face the challenges of today with ever increasing fidelity to the spirit of our Teresian contemplative mission in the Church.
- To foster fidelity to our Rule and Constitutions, especially the principal aim of the Primacy of Prayer as our sole apostolate, and the privilege of enclosure, silence and solitude. We seek to retain a simple life-style that includes fast and abstinence, manual labor, with the Carmelite habit as a sign of our consecration. Besides the choral recitation of the Divine Office, we live our vowed life of poverty, chastity and obedience in a Teresian balance between the solitary and communal aspects of our daily life. (cf. Statutes of the St. Teresa Association).
Discerning a vocation?
The vocation of the Discalced Carmelite Nun is to be a hidden apostle of prayer for the Church and the world.