Byzantine Discalced Carmelites

The Byzantine Discalced Carmelites Byzantine Discalced Carmelites are a community of cloistered nuns of the Byzantine Ruthenian Catholic Church living committed to a life of prayer, according to the eremitic tradition and lifestyle of the Discalced Carmelites.
It was out of a desire for Christian reconciliation and inspired by Pope John XXIII and the Second Vatican Council that the Byzantine Carmel was brought to life. Holy Annunciation Carmel's founding sisters, Mother Marija of the Holy Spirit, Sister Marie Helen of the Cross and Sister Ann of the Trinity (d. 2001) offered their lives for the healing of the Body of Christ with the inauguration of the monastery at Sugarloaf, Pennsylvania on 23 February 1977.
The Most Reverend Michael Dudick (1916–2007), the bishop of the Ruthenians of Passaic, New Jersey, assumed the total burden of financial responsibility and assisted the community for years.
Father Walter Ciszek, S.J. both guided the sisters in the establishment of this new foundation and introduced the community to Bishop Michael.
"Divine providence directed us to the Ruthenian people and their diocese of Passaic NJ, which stems from the Uzhgorod-Mukachevo eparchy in Transcarpathia (now Ukraine). At the time of founding Holy Annunciation, Communism was in full force and daily we prayed for "our suffering brethren" (behind the iron curtain). As Communism weakened and then collapsed (1989-1990) we received requests, even applications, from young women in Byzantine Slovakia and Carpathia who felt they had a Carmelite vocation. Several Byzantine rite girls came to us from Slovakia and Carpathia. We in turn promised, when feasible, that a foundation would be made in their homeland. This has been our endeavor since 1995, and in 2002 we sent Sisters there to begin the Monastery of St. Therese in Koritnyani, Transcarpathia." - Mother Marija
In 1999, the community, through an unusual chain of events, accepted five young women of the South Indian Syro-Malabar Catholic Church as members. These sister comprise one third of the community. Bishop Dudick encouraged the assistance of sister Eastern Catholic Churches.
== See also ==
* Carmelites
* Carmelite Rule of St. Albert
* Book of the First Monks
* Constitutions of the Carmelite Order
* Jan Tyranowski
* Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Passaic
== References ==
== External links ==
*Official Website of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns of the Byzantine Catholic Church
*Carmelite Vocation
*"Sayings of Light and Love" - Spiritual Maxims of John of the Cross
*Discalced Carmelite Calendar and Saints
*Carmel's Heights - This CD album is an attempt to share with all some of Carmel's Saints - real persons of flesh and blood - who share with us in song their own spiritual experiences.
* Desert Mothers of Europe
* Byzantine Carmelite Monastery and Fraternity of St. Elie
Category:Byzantine hermits
Category:Christian nuns
Category:Eastern Catholicism
Category:Christian ecumenism
Category:Carmelite spirituality
Category:Ruthenian Catholics
Category:Monasticism
Category:Syro-Malabar Catholic Church
Category:Carmelite Order