Monastery of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St. Joseph
Our Holy Mother St. Teresa of Jesus undersood that the love of God must impel one to work generously for the Church, and she founded her monasteries so that by prayer and penance they would help the Church and her pastors to extend the Kingdom of God throughout the whole world.
When the original Brooklyn Carmel at St. John’s Place closed in 1996, after almost a hundred years of a silent, prayerful presence in the Diocese, a huge hole was left both in the Diocese and in the hearts of all. After the Monastery was closed, the few remaining Nuns dispersed among various Carmel’s, including the Carmel of Buffalo. Almost immediately after the Carmel of Brooklyn closed, the Bishop of Brooklyn, Bishop Thomas Dailey, contacted the Prioress of the Buffalo Carmel with an earnest request for the Carmelites to return to Brooklyn, to “re-found”, so to speak, a Carmel in the Diocese. Three Sisters from the original Brooklyn Carmel, now in the Camel of Buffalo, likewise felt a great desire to see the Carmel re-established in Brooklyn and they prayed and sacrificed unceasingly for its accomplishment.
Since our arrival in Brooklyn, we have been overwhelmed by the generous warmth and support of the people in the Diocese. In the intervening years since the re-founding of the Brooklyn Carmel, after seeing all of the tremendous amount of work that has been accomplished, and all that yet remains, we can only say with the Psalmist, “Lord you give me joy in all that you do, it is you who have accomplished all that we have done.” May whoever reads this account make an act of thanksgiving to God for His great mercies and continue to pray for this endeavor, that it may bear fruit on the beautiful vine of Carmel, for God’s glory and the salvation of souls.
In 2023, the Carmelites moved to the Diocese of Scranton.
Contact:
Monastery of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and St. Joseph
1755 Great Bend Turnpike
Pleasant Mount, PA 18453
570-319-4227 pleasantmountcarmel@gmail.com
https://pleasantmountcarmel.org/a-carmelite-day/
Professed Members: 10
Year Founded: 1996
Archdiocese: Scranton
Worldwide: Every continent
Qualifications: A vocation to the religious life supposes not only a supernatural inclination or desire to embrace it, but an aptitude or fitness for its duties. In other words, along with a desire, there must be the physical, psychological and moral capacity to live a certain way of life, and the outer circumstances permitting one to do so: suitable age, reasonable health, freedom from marriage bond and other big responsibilities, including freedom from debt.
Formation: 1-year Postulancy, 2-year Novitiate, 5-year Simple Profession, Solemn Profession
Age range/limit: 18-30
Belated vocations? No