About our St. Teresa Association
The St. Teresa Association is a group of monasteries of Discalced Carmelite Nuns formed in 1975 to strengthen one another in living our contemplative vocation in the Church. Membership is based on spiritual affinity rather than geographical boundaries, and we share a common desire to bear witness in these times to the charism and spirit of the Order of Discalced Carmelite Nuns founded by St. Teresa of Avila in 1562.
The following is an excerpt from the Preamble of the original Statutes of the St. Teresa Association (1975) describing our purpose and goal ~ and also the Foreword to our newly Revised Statutes (1997):
"In this Holy Year of 1975, in response to the call of the Vicar of Christ for interior renewal, reconciliation and unity, and with deep faith and hope in the power of the prayer of Jesus that "all may be one", we, the Discalced Carmelite Prioresses and Delegates of our respective monasteries, offer each other mutual support and trust as we enter upon this Association of autonomous monasteries, united in heart and spirit to renew, preserve and enrich our Teresian inheritance in the living waters of the Church.
We ardently desire to give a witness for our times of our obedience to the magisterium of the Church as expressed in all the Documents of Vatican II pertaining to the cloistered contemplative life and the exhortations of our Superior General in his Pastoral Letter on the Teresian Charism.
We also seek to fulfill the desires and hopes of the Vicar of Christ to nourish our lives by drinking ever deeper at the fountain of the resplendent doctrine of our Holy Mother St. Teresa, Doctor of the Church, the source of our authentic renewal and the true spiritual affinity we all share. Strengthened in our desires by our sisterly association, we believe that we can more truly give witness to the Carmelite contemplative life and its apostolic fruitfulness, in imitation of Christ praying in solitude to the Father, sharing in His saving work through joyful penance and the pursuit of the perfection of charity as true daughters of the Church.
Foreword to the Revised Statutes
The revised Statutes represent the fruit of the collaborative work of all the representatives present at the meeting of our Association of St.Teresa, held in October, 1997 at St. Meinrad Archabbey in Indiana. Aided by one of our own Carmelites, Father Jude Peters, O.C.D., the members of the Assembly carefully studied each number of our Statutes and together fashioned a renewed body of legislation that was developed and accepted by all those present. This is a great step forward in the history of our Association and marks the beginning of a new era of sisterly communion and collaboration as we approach the new millennium. "
At present the Association consists of ten member monasteries
in the United States, its territories, and Canada:
Arlington, TX
Carmel, CA
Danvers, MA
Lafayette, LA
Loretto, PA
Port Tobacco, MD
Salt Lake City, UT
St. Agatha, Canada
St. Louis, MO
Tamuning, Guam
Discalced Carmelite Nuns
5801 Mt. Carmel Drive
Arlington, Texas 76017
Email: arcarmel@ix.netcom.com
Web site: www.carmelnuns.com