First Convent of Nuns in America - Timeline Event
Time Period
1790
Description
Discalced (shoeless) Carmelite Nuns trace their origins to 13th Century Palestine, and were known for their seclusion and commitment to a life of prayer. In 1790, 36 years after she left Maryland to become a Carmelite nun in Europe, Mother Bernardina Teresa Xavier of St. Joseph (1732-1800) returned to start the first Roman Catholic convent in America. She was accompanied by two fellow Carmelite nieces and a fourth nun born in England.
Mother Bernardina was coaxed to return by a brother who was a priest in Maryland. "Now is the time to found in this country, for peace is declared and religion is free," he wrote in a letter. They came from Hoogstraet Carmel in Belgium and established a contemplative monastery on three acres in Port Tobacco, Md.
In 1831, the nuns moved to Baltimore, where they started a female academy to help support their monastery.
Today, there are approximately 60 Carmelite monasteries in the U.S.
Mother Bernardina was coaxed to return by a brother who was a priest in Maryland. "Now is the time to found in this country, for peace is declared and religion is free," he wrote in a letter. They came from Hoogstraet Carmel in Belgium and established a contemplative monastery on three acres in Port Tobacco, Md.
In 1831, the nuns moved to Baltimore, where they started a female academy to help support their monastery.
Today, there are approximately 60 Carmelite monasteries in the U.S.
Interactive Timeline(s)
Browse Related Timeline Entries
Religious Groups
Catholicism (Western Liturgical Family): Other ARDA LinksCatholicism (Western Liturgical Family): Religious Family Tree
Photographs
Mount Carmel monastery, Camden County, MD- Hathi Trust- from Carmel in America by Charles Warren Currier
Carmelite convent, Baltimore, Maryland- Hathi Trust- from The Catholic Church in the United States of America, vol 2
Mother Clare Joseph Dickenson, one of the original four nuns- Hathi Trust- from Carmel in America by Charles Warren Currier
Web Source(s)
https://lorettocarmel.org/history-of-the-carmelite-order/"Carmel of St. Therese of Lisieux (Loretto, Penn.) website, "History of the Carmelite Order"
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/mcnamarasblog/2012/07/americas-first-monastery-the-carmelites-in-maryland-1790.html
Patheos website, "America's First Monastery: The Carmelites in Maryland (1790)," by Pat McNamara
https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/mathews-ann-teresa-1732-1800
Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia, "Mathews, Ann Teresa"
Web Page Contributor
Sandi DolbeeAffliated with: Former Religion and Ethics Editor, The San Diego Union-Tribune
