PLEASANT MOUNT— After recently experiencing disruption to their prayerful life in Brooklyn, N.Y., a Community of cloistered Discalced Carmelite Nuns is announcing intentions to build a new Carmelite Monastery in Wayne County and relocate to the Diocese of Scranton.
The Discalced Carmelite Nuns recently launched fundraising efforts to pay for the new Monastery. It would be located on 13 acres of land in Pleasant Mount donated by a local family who was willing and eager to assist in the effort.
“They have already consecrated their property to our Blessed Mother, and we really felt that this was an indication of her guidance, since we are daughters of Our Lady, and clothed in her Holy Scapular,” the Nuns wrote in their fundraising brochure announcing their vision. “We went to visit the property…and found that it was beautiful, abounding in silence! It is an ideal site for a Contemplative Monastery.”
The Discalced Carmelite Nuns are a cloistered, contemplative community serving the Church and the world through prayer and self-sacrifice. They serve Christ and the world by interceding for the sanctification of priests and the salvation of souls.
The Most Reverend Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, has been in communication with members of the Religious Community and approved their relocation to the Diocese of Scranton.
“I enthusiastically welcome the announcement of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns who intend to build a Carmelite Monastery in the Pleasant Mount area. Their presence will be a gift to all of us in the Diocese of Scranton. While they have forsaken the world for the solitude of the Monastery, they are fully committed to offering their prayers for the world and its needs. Their prayers for us are so very important and I encourage all faithful in the Diocese of Scranton to pray for and support the Carmelite Nuns in their endeavor,” Bishop Bambera said.
The life of a Carmelite Nun is characterized by separation from the world, solitude and silence, manual labor, poverty, penance, detachment from all created things, love for her sisters, and true humility.
VISION FOR PLEASANT MOUNT
An architect is currently drawing plans for the Discalced Carmelite Nuns to build an authentic Spanish Carmel, like those in which Saint Teresa of Jesus and her daughters lived in, following the Carmelite architecture that has characterized so many Monasteries throughout the centuries in Catholic Spain.
The nuns have been given a rough estimate that building this particular kind of Monastery, and moving everything from Brooklyn to Pleasant Mount, will cost around $15 million.
However, the nuns say, due to the problems they are facing in their current community of drinking, drugs and satanic rituals just feet away from their home, it is important for them to leave Brooklyn as soon as possible.
Therefore, the Discalced Carmelite Nuns plan to begin by building one wing of the cloister, where the Nuns could reside and begin living their religious life, while the rest of the Monastery is being constructed. The initial phase is estimated to cost about $2 million.
“Within the simplicity and poverty of our Carmelite charism, we hope to eventually build a Chapel and cloister worthy of the majesty of God and which will be a place set apart as consecrated ground, but even to be able to move by the end of this year to an initial structure of the new Monastery would be a great blessing for our Community,” the nuns said.
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE NEEDED
When they arrived in the Diocese of Brooklyn 16 years ago, the Discalced Carmelite Nuns were given a property that had a former Franciscan Monastery on it. There was an understanding that if they ever left, the property would return to the Diocese without any revenue given to the Community.
That is why the Community is now appealing to the faithful for financial assistance.
The Nuns say there could be “no better way to make an investment toward eternal life than helping to build a Monastery where God might be glorified … and where you will be perpetually remembered in the Masses, prayers and sacrifices.”
“Considering the generous gift of property which we have already received and with our plans for the future Carmel already in the making, will you help us take the next step of building a Monastery which will contribute so much to God’s glory, the greater good of the Church and the salvation of souls? We hope to hear a resounding yes! If the Holy Spirit touches your heart, and you think that Our Lord may be moving you to help us, we hope to hear from you! Our Community, with grateful hearts, offer perpetual prayers and Masses for our benefactors, living and deceased. Be assured that Our Lord is never outdone in generosity; He always repays us a hundred-fold for all that we give in this life to build His Kingdom,” the Discalced Carmelite Nuns wrote in their fundraising brochure.
