The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-10-14
THE cARMsLrTa NUNS.
aovv the Order Was Established In
the United States.

soVv the Order Was Established In
the United States.
Ke1c York World Baltimore Letter.
Tho Carmelite n uns, the first order Of
veli0ious women established in the United
GATES. will celebrate the centenary Of
.hair foundation in this country on Oct Is.
~, city has the oldest convent of the
a-jer and here the principal celebration
Iii Ia held. There are but three other
.a,,ants in the United States, one in st.
Is one in New Orleans and one in
d sron. the latter having been established
only month ago.
The Carmelite sisterhood is perhaps the
str,ctest Of any. The nuns are clustered,
and once they enter the convent they never
Ioova IL To properly celebrate the CEN
.onnial Cardinal Gibbons has applied 70
poIna for the necessary indulgences that
Iii admit of the departure from the
rao,lar routine of convent life. Before
.ha ;ndulgences from Rome can be awaited
Of thew will be preceded by novena, or
nine DAYS devotion, in which the nuns will
nrepare themselves by prayer.
Although the centenary VIII be COM
memorated on Oct. 10, the foundation OF
The first convent in the United States was
ON .Jnly IL, 1890, when four women, three
~ WON were Americans, who had taken
nrrs' vows in Belgium, landed in Maryland
and took I'D their abode in Charles county,
,.aar port Tobacco The three Americans
were natives of Maryland, an aunt and her
two nieces of the name of Mathews. The
fourth founder was native OF London.
They we're accompanied to America by the
Rev Charles Neale, 5. D., brother OF
Archbishop Neale of Baltimore, and he
cave his entire patrimony in Maryland to
begin the foundation. Until his death in
1879 he dev oted himself 70 the spiritual and
temporal welfare of the Carmelites
Since the landing of the first nun, the
Baltimore community has had three habi-
tatioDs. the one i'll Charles county, the con.
vent in Aisquith street, upon the sight now
occupied by the German orphan asylum,
and the present convent In Biddle street.
The present home of the nuns was first &C.
cnnied on March u, 1873. The st. Louis
Carmeite convent was founded in 1868 by
five nuns from the Baltimore Carmel, al
the invitation of Archbishop Kenrick, the
nresent venerable head of the st. Louis
archdiocese. The convent at New Orleans
was established in 1877 by the first four pro-
fessed nuns of the st. Louis Carmel.
The Carmelte order is devoted to reli
gious Meditation, and does not, as rule,
give Instructions to the young or engage in
orders. The Maryland Carmelites, how
ever, having become impoverished afte!
the death of the Rev. Charles Neale, OBJ
tanned upon their removal to Baltimore ar
indulgence to permit them to teach. They
conducted school in Aisquith street for
twenty years, giving it up In 1850.
One Of the chief essentials Of the order is
that the members shall be clustered, and
neither permitted to leave the premises
throughout their lives nor to have any deal
ings whatsoever with persons in the ordinary
walks of life. Their lives are spent in con-
temptation and prayer, the manual labor
being limited to such light work as embroid
cry and the making of vestmen6s and othel
religious articles.
Outsiders are permitted to attend mass in
the chapels of the nuns converts, but they
DO not see the sisters who are separated
from them by grating in the rear of the
chspels. Each convent has what is called G
speak room.n 1t is separated from the
inner portion OF the convent by a grating
4 near relative or friend of CarInelitS
nun may enter the speak room aud be re-
ceived by the nun on the other side of tn.
grating During the progress of the inter
view the nun remains yelled. The face il
uncovered only in exceptional cases. such
as the reception of g priest
According to the rules OF the order, one
inmate is allowed to leave the premises
The transaction of household business
makes this necessary. Everything pertain
ing TO the domestic arrangements of each
convent is olducted very simply. The
food Is Of the plaiuest description, and il
some cases is furnished by charitably dis
posed people. In the early history of th'
order IN this country. the nuns were otter
obliged to fast whole days because they haC
no food. They have been known to assem-
bic In the dining-room, to say grace, sit il
silence over an empty board and retire t
t1elr ciolsters. The nuns never eat any
nesh and their habits are Of the coarses
serge. Their beds are made of straw anC
are covered with serge.
The ceremony of admitting a novice int
tlls order is a peculiarly impressive one. I
performed after mass, at which the postu
amt assists, arrayed as bride and ATTENDED
9y maids. After listening to an exhortatior
on tie lfe she Is about to enter, the novice
accompanied by her maids, and bearins
with her the habit and scapular of tn
order, blessed by the celebrant of the mass
approaches the door of the cloister. biz
adleu to her relatives and friends. and then
the door opening to receive her, passes int
Inc clolster, whose portals are closed to he,
until DEATH
The reception of nun into the Carmel
'te oroer is rare occurrence in this country
pWlng to the fact that the order has so few
converts here, and also to the feet that eacl
feparate convent can only receive eighteel
steIs. AS consequence Carmelite re
eptlon never fails to attract large congre
katlon whenever it occurs.