The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1905-01-07
(New York EIerald.)

|
The first order of religious wome
founded in the United States was on
of Carmelite nuns, az Mount Carme
Nd. The Monastery as II is sti
called, was esta blished in 1890. It
more than fourteen years since
celebrated its centenary The origina
community moved in 1885 from Por
y Tobacco, as the site was then geugraph
ioally known, to Baltimore, where tn
mother house flourishes The frs
Carmeli;e. novice in the United State
was Eliza beth Carberry She is sail
TO have always yearned for the life
but there being no community for wo
men II America until the advent of tn
| Carmelites, her desire was unfulfllet
until she reached the age of As years
There are at present scarcely 10
Carmelite nuns in the Untet
States. Each monastery is linn
| lted to but twenty-one nuns I
was not until 1853 that seront
monastery was founded at St Louis
There are cloistered now sixteen nun:
/ and three out sisters. The latter attenc
to the outdoor affairs of the commune
! ty. One OF the nuns at the Carineitt
| monastery which was established il
1877 at New Orleans, and where there
/ are now nineteen professed and foul
| out sisters, is a niece of d governor OF
| Louisiana.
Clever Women Among Them.
CaImelite nuns, as indeed are many
members of most of the orders in
America as in Europe are what the
world calls a superior type of women
One of the Baltimore progresses was a
| near relative of Francis Scott KEYS.
author of the Star Sapngled Banner -
Aside from brilliant repartee. she was
| notable for always impressing upon
the young religious the Importance of
praying for the political, social aud
religious welfare of the country.
Not until 1890 did the. Carmelites
penetrate to Massachusetts. At Rox-
bury at present there are twelve nuns.
The latest monastery was opened at
Philadelphia in 1901. Two daughters
of the late James A. MacMaster of the
Freeman's Journal are there as pro-
fessed nuns. Archbishop Ryan declares
the Philadelphia Carmelites the health
lest, most joyous community in his dio-
cese.
All Carmelite converts approved by
the holy see, with the exception of a
few in France and England, observe at
present the rules and constitution of
the congregation of Italy. Even the
congregation of Spain has no longer
a separate existence. but has been
united to the Italian congregation and
is under the jurisdiction of the propitio
general at Rome. There are sfxty-four
Carmelite monasteries in France yet
unaffected by the law expel1ing the re-
ligieuses.
In a romance by the Countess of
Noailles a young Carmelite reigieuse
analyzes herself. Not fantasy. but fact.
is the daily life of Carmelite nun, as
recounted by this young religieuse. In
her aspirations and yearning for the
higher life she reflects the soul of all
Carmelites.
Why Become Carmelite?
Many causes determine the vocation
of a Carmelite nun, says the Coun-
tess heroine. Three types of women
are among the postUlants. One. hot
house flower. unconsciously follows IN
the springtime of life the divine call.
She responds without struggle. Loving
solitude. prayer and the things of God,
she goes where one prays ard lives III
A second type knows the
world. has weighed it and found it
wanting. Their logical faith saves
them in the austerity of the cloister.
"A third enters because of the zeal
burning in her heart. Since they can
not be priests or missionaries preach
or carry the gospel to all men, they
will be hosts. victims. holocausts,
apostles in the eminent apostolic order.
Their prayers. sufferings, mortifica-
tions will obtain for objectionable sim
ners the grace IF Observation-Disclosures
version refused by the anger of God.
"Kneeling on the bare stones before
the great double doors of the monas-
terry. hands clasped, eyes cast down
and heart palpitating, the postulant
1f her meditation is broken by the
metallic rafting of keys. the grating
1f enormous bolts wrenched from
-usty staples. One, two, three. four |
snd the last door opens On the |
threshold stand tfHee nuns in coarse /
lark woolen habits, their feet incased !
II curious sandals. A kindly smile |
llumines their ascetic countenances.
They are the reverend mother prioress,
hree honored mothers under the I
1rioress and the mistress of noVices. !
n trembling voine the pc3tulant |
makes known her desire. My mother, |
HulIlDty btSh entrance lHtb NOuI nOiy
louse, however unworthy may be.
Blessing the Nun.
THE postulant then kisses the soap
liar of the prioress, while the mother,
making with her cruciflx the sign of |
he cross. blesses the new child. Not |
word is spoken. The response is a
GESTURE. This woman, whom we will
lenceforth call mother, extends to her
hand hidden in a coarse sleeve. and
eads her under the massive arches of
he cloister. All is new. all is strange.
10Th the charm and the awe. In vain
he postulaut braces herself to walk
oiselessly. but at every step her I
worldly shoes make A hollow, jafring
hud on the ancient flagstones of the
loistered aisles.
Unused to such rude contact the
avements seem to ask of the in
ruder. Who is this that would dis
urb the silence and the repose of the
irgins sleeping their last sleep under
he eternal shadows?' Over the stone
isles of graves the young postulant is
I'd to the choir to salute the Saviour