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The Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles is a Catholic religious institute of the Carmelite Order founded by Mother Maria Luisa Josefa of the Most Blessed Sacrament. It is based in Alhambra, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. [1]
The way of life of the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles is rooted in the Gospel, the Church, and the spirituality of Carmel as lived out through the charism of their foundress, Venerable Mother Maria Luisa Josefa of the Most Blessed Sacrament. Their mission statement is three-fold: "Educating for Life with the Mind and Heart of Christ” in schools; being “At the Service of the Family for Life” through eldercare; and “Fostering a Deeper Spiritual Life” through individual and group retreats. [2]
In the 1920s during the revolution and religious persecution in Mexico, Mother Luisita established schools, hospitals, and orphanages despite being scrutinized by the government. "As the fictional women in The Handmaid’s Tale are forced to wear their garb, the real religious women of Mexico were threatened with death for wearing theirs." [3] The very persecution which sought to destroy her work only spread it to another land when Mother Luisita and two companions entered the United States (incognito) [4] as religious refugees on June 24, 1927, the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. [5] They established roots in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
The community has grown since its humble beginnings with 3 sisters in 1927. Today, the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles has grown to 143 professed sisters.
Although most Carmelites are cloistered nuns, the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles are an active community combining the contemplative charism of Carmel and bringing this spirit out to the world through services in elder care, education and retreat work. They carry out this work at 13 sites located in the states of California, Arizona, Colorado and Florida, serving tens of thousands of people yearly.
The Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel, known as the Carmelites or sometimes by synecdoche known simply as Carmel, is a mendicant order in the Roman Catholic Church for both men and women. Historical records about its origin remain uncertain; it was probably founded in the 12th century on Mount Carmel.
The Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel belongs to the habit of both the Carmelite Order and the Discalced Carmelite Order, both of which have Our Lady of Mount Carmel as their patroness. In its small form, it is widely popular within the Latin Church of the Catholic Church as a religious article and has probably served as the prototype of all the other devotional scapulars. The liturgical feast day of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, July 16, is popularly associated with the devotion of the Scapular.
The Third Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, also known as the Lay Carmelites, is a third order of the Carmelite Order of the Ancient Observance, established in 1476 by a bull of Pope Sixtus IV. It is an association of people who choose to live the Gospel in the spirit of the Carmelite Order and under its guidance. Its members are mainly lay people.
The Discalced Carmelites, known officially as the Order of the Discalced Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel or the Order of Discalced Carmelites, is a Catholic mendicant order with roots in the eremitic tradition of the Desert Fathers. The order was established in the 16th century, pursuant to the reform of the Carmelite Order by two Spanish saints, Teresa of Ávila (foundress) and John of the Cross (co-founder). Discalced is derived from Latin, meaning "without shoes".
Teresa of Jesus of Los Andes, OCD was a Chilean nun of the Discalced Carmelites.
The Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus is a religious institute in the Catholic Church founded by Maria Teresa of St. Joseph on July 2, 1891, in the Netherlands. Mother Mary Teresa traveled to the United States in 1912 to establish a community in the U.S. The Provincial House was opened in 1917 in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin and the first American postulant was received in 1920 from the Milwaukee area.
María Luisa Josefa of the Most Blessed Sacrament, also called "Mother Luisita" was a Mexican Catholic religious sister who founded the Carmelite Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Mexico and the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles. She is under consideration for sainthood, having been declared venerable.
The Order of Atonement of the Franciscan Minims of the Perpetual Help of Mary (mfPS) is a single Roman Catholic active/contemplative religious order distinguished by three branches: the Men's Branch for priests and brothers/friars, the Women's Branch for nuns and the Lay Branch for those of all ages and professions, including the sick, dying, and those children conceived but as yet "unborn" or "pre-born".
Mater Carmeli School - Novaliches, located at Sacred Heart Village, Novaliches, Quezon City, is a private Catholic educational institution owned and managed by the Carmelite Missionaries. It was founded in 1986 on a property adjacent to the Novitiate House of the Carmelite Missionaries in Quezon City. Its Latin name, which means Mother of Carmel, comes from the name of a coastal mountain range in northern Israel where a group of hermits established themselves towards the end of the 12th century AD and called themselves Brothers of Saint Mary on Mt. Carmel in honor of the Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the school's patroness. The school offers nursery, kindergarten, grade school, junior high school and senior high school. The school is also known as MCS.
Regina Coeli Monastery is a historic building located in Bettendorf, Iowa, United States. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1994. The building currently houses an addictions rehabilitation facility called The Abbey Center. The Discalced Carmelite nuns who built the building relocated to a new monastery in Eldridge, Iowa in 1975. The monastery was originally established in Davenport, Iowa by James Davis of the Catholic Diocese of Davenport.
The Tyburn Nuns, formally, Adorers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Montmartre, is a Catholic congregation of Benedictine nuns. The congregation was originally founded in Paris but was obliged to find a new Mother House due to French legislation passed in 1901. Two years later it relocated to London and subsequently established additional convents in nine other countries. The nuns at the London convent practice the Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and maintain a shrine dedicated to the Catholic martyrs of the English Reformation.
María Concepción of the Nativity and the Perpetual Help of Mary is the religious name of the Reverend Mother Foundress of The Order of Atonement of the Franciscan Minims of the Perpetual Help of Mary (mfPS) which she founded on June 24, 1942, in Zamora, Michoacan, Mexico.
Rafaela Porras Ayllón, religious name Mary of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, was a Spanish religious sister who established the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in conjunction with her sister Dolores. She devoted herself to the management of the congregation and resided in Rome until her death after her resignation as the congregation's superior in 1893.
The Carmelite Sisters of Charity is a religious institute of pontifical right whose members profess public vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience and follow the evangelical way of life in common.
Eliswa Vakayil TOCD, religious name Eliswa of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is the foundress of the first indigenous Carmelite congregation for women in India. She was the first religious sister from Kerala, the southern most state of India; she established the first convent school, boarding house and orphanage for girls in Kerala.