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Want to know more about Carmel?

Visit us at our Kenosha home Friday, February 28th, for a dramatic presentation on the life of our Mother Foundress, Bl. Maria Teresa of St. Joseph.

In December of 2024, we hosted our first "Carmel Night" in our Kenosha home, with a presentation on Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Her Brown Scapular. It was well attended by local friends and residents as well as by our dear Sisters from Wauwatosa, and the Q&A and refreshments were enjoyed by all. Now we are preparing for our next Carmel Night which unforeseen circumstances have caused us to reschedule from January to February 28th. With the positive feedback we have received and in hopes of spreading love for Carmel throughout our community, we plan to hold a Carmel Night bi-monthly going forward.

Whether or not you know anything about Carmel, please consider yourselves invited to join us at 7 PM, Friday, February 28th, at The Legacy at St. Joseph's, 9244 29th Ave, Kenosha, WI.

God bless you!

edited by Sister Faustina Marie, DCJ

Twice in one week when I referenced the term 'my cell', I got second glances from lay people. This topic of interest had also been brought up by wide-eyed kids we’ve met, so I wrote a reflection about it.

These rooms, if taken the Genesis approach, aren't negative places to be confined, but beautiful solitudes of peace. Nature's prime example takes us back to high school science class for in-depth learning about cells in plant life (days of class work/test questions to cover by the way). Each living thing is made up of these researched, minuscule amazements that only God could create. Inside our cell, we regenerate our life by physical rest, mental reprieve, maintenance, and spiritual consolation. Even Adam found himself a place to rest in the most pleasurable place on Earth at his time: Eden. God created us to sleep about one third of our lifetime away. He saw rest as good, important and humbling enough a task to model as Jesus did. This ties to the obligation of Sunday as a day of rest, but that's another article.

The word cell comes from the Old French celle used to describe a monastic cell, itself from the Latin meaning "room" or "store room". The square feet of today’s standard cell is normally no more than a few of you standing on top of each other. Anything wider than that would morph into the term dormitory or chamber. Picture the interior size of a common treehouse and add a small closet...and space for a hand sink. These simple, identical rooms that make up our convents, have minimal furnishings because with the Vow of Poverty we don’t own or need much to pack into a cell, so we personally don’t feel claustrophobic in our living areas.

Let’s turn back a bit to sepia colored pages for earlier insight. One of the most famous mountains in the Holy Land is Mount Carmel. It has been honored with biblical references in at least three books of the Bible: Joshua, Samuel and 1 Kings. Egyptian records describe this sanctified place as “holy mountain” as early as 16th century B.C.. Carmel-ites were Christian hermits who migrated there in search of a peaceful refuge to dedicate their lives solely to God during the late eleventh century. Each hermit settled in his own cave or hut built out of Mt. Carmel’s materials (mostly rock). Soon enough a first chapel was built of stones there that united the hermitages into a zealous community under the special patronage of Our Lady! These monastic Carmelite origins are one example of cells.

Have you heard the song

by Sister Maria Faustina, DCJ

Our St. Ann's Convent partnered with Emmanuel Hospice in southwest Michigan five plus years ago and I'm one Sister who has the privilege of assisting patients in their final hours. A month ago I was assigned as Spiritual Caregiver for a hospice patient in his 60s. I read his profile and his spiritual needs. His assigned social worker stated that he wants to receive Holy Communion. I am always happy to bring Holy Communion to our Catholic patients. I called him to set up a day when we could visit. He was happy to receive the call and said, "come on over Sister'. I responded, "now?" and he replied, "yes, now"!

I drove roughly 20 minutes to get to his home while pondering his urgency. I met him whom I shall name Tony. Tony got on hospice with a life expectancy of 6 months or less. Tony was very happy to see a Sister. It has been ages since he saw one. We shared life reviews and I learned from Tony that he attended Catholic school for a year and was taught by nuns. These nuns back in the 60's impressed him so much. I also learned in our conversation that Tony is not of our faith, but wants to be a Catholic. Tony's said intently, "Sister, I want to die a Catholic. I believe in the teachings of the Church. What do I need to do to become a Catholic?" My first response question was if he was baptized. Tony was taken to live with his grandmother at a very young age. His grandparents brought him up and as far as he can remember he was never baptized. He recalls vividly at age 7, witnessing his grandfather being baptized on his death bed by a priest. Tony recalled, "I was right there, but the priest didn't baptize me". Smilingly, I informed him that his grandfather could have been receiving Viaticum and that would be a possibility of why the priest did not baptize Tony as well. Our conversation led me to contacting a priest in the diocese for his assistance. A few days later we gathered with many family members at his home to witness his first sacraments. Tony rejoiced in his Baptism, first Confession, Holy Communion, Confirmation and also received Anointing of the Sick. Family members were very supportive of his decision to walk this new way of life even in the "evening hours", as our Mother Foundress used to say, of his earthly journey.

Today, Tony receives Holy Communion weekly. Loves to pray and enjoys sharing spiritual reflection and conversation. Tony peacefully awaits the day when the Lord will take him home to his eternal reward!

As you can see, it's no secret we have fun with Grand Rapids youth groups!

This year’s March for Life event in Washington D.C., was attended by youth from St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Marne, MI, a parish our Sisters are delighted to service in catechism teaching and other outreach programs. Fr. Ayub Nasar, the active pastor of this humble parish family, is wonderful to work with and very appreciative of our Carmelite family.

As our DCJ Sisters’ Rule and Constitutions doesn’t permit us to attend marches, we can and did get to participate to promote the sanctity of human life by volunteering our artistic abilities! God bless all those who personally witness in speaking for the voiceless. Please join us in continuously praying for the unborn!

We'd like to extend special thanks to Sister Judith Zoebelein, FSE for her course on Leadership presented to our Province. She is a thorough and instinctive teacher and an even better Religious. It was a very fruitful class and we miss having it! Thanks again to her, to Sister Gabriella Pettirossi, FSE as another major contributor and all the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist who contributed to enlightening us on this subject for the honor and glory of God.

written by Sister Philip Marie, DCJ

Praise and eternal thanksgiving to our Father for He is good! After 8-9 fruitful years of having Father Antony Thundaphil (Shaji), MST directly servicing our little community here at the Legacy of St. Joseph, we were in need. We prayed, called, inquired, and prayed some more. Our Provincial Superior of the Northern Province confirmed that the Carmelite Friars of Munster, IN, God bless them, were generously willing to take turns in staying with us if our situation didn’t lighten, “the Sisters will NOT be without a priest!” they relayed vehemently. In Divine Providence, Fr. Antony himself soon secured another line of priests arranged to preside Holy Mass for us in our chapel. Mundelein Seminary willingly stepped up to solve our predicament and we cannot thank them enough!

“It was an immense weight lifted off our shoulders,” sighed Sister Emmanuel CDCJ, administrator and superior for decades. Indeed, what a relief it was to confirm this fervent prayer as answered.

To our rescue, God sent us Father Peter Walusimbi and sometimes his classmate Father Falasiko Matovu fills in for him. These shepherds are members of Mundelein Seminary Class of 2021, ordained May 1st. God reward them immensely for taking time out of their busy days of study, activity and prayer to reach us!

What a beautiful gift for us to share some “firsts” of these two newly ordained priests! Our humble crew were able to assist in their first Christmas Eve and Day Masses, into the New Year, first Lent, etc. They are truly generous shepherds to drive a half hour to and from Kenosha here to feed with care the ‘elderly lambs’ and others in spiritual nourishment. Our Lord never leaves us lonely or leaves a few to fend for themselves for the bigger flocks. The Eucharist is the center of the Sisters’ Religious lives. Without the Real Presence, there would be none present here in this ministry. Our Mother Foundress, Blessed Maria Teresa of St. Joseph said, “If You come, I will come!” She meant that if Christ was “present” in the tabernacle in the chapel, then our apostolate could proceed. He is the “Good Shepherd” of our Carmelite Homes.

below photos courtesy of Mundelein Seminary

If you would like to learn more about our new priests or the mission of Mundelein Seminary/University of Saint Mary of the Lake, check out their website at https://usml.edu/

Congratulations to our East Chicago Sisters for being the 2022 Sons of Erin Award Recipient (FSOE)! These souls work tirelessly for the children under our care to instill in them a love of God and neighbor for a healthy future. The Lord our Eternal Father, Who sees in secret, knows our crosses and struggles --particularly the sacrifices made since the saddening fire damage we experienced in May 2021. However, we understand in faith that Divine Providence has a plan to keep us "under His wing".

Here is how the committee came to be in their own words:

"In January of 1960, a group of proud Irishmen met and discussed their wonderous heritage and their justified pride in being of Irish extraction. Right then and there they decided to plan for a St. Patrick’s Day get-together. One hundred invitations were sent out for the party to be held at Jackson’s Restaurant – and would you believe – ninety-nine attended. A wonderful evening was had by all. Thanks to Tom Kennedy, Kevin Rochford, and John Foley.

After this huge success, it was decided to make this an annual affair. An executive committee was formed, and it was determined that the affair would be open to all Lake and Porter County residents of Irish Catholic extraction. The name of the group officially became “The Friendly Sons of Erin”. Over the years as our membership grew, we moved from Jackson’s restaurant to the Hotel Gary to Teibels Restaurant to Wicker Park to the Hellenic Cultural Center to our present day location at the Avalon Manor in Merrillville."

If you would like to learn more about this group, visit their website at https://fsoenwi.com/

Regardless of unforeseen events, we are so very grateful to our FSOE friends who recognized our silent witnessing to the youth we love as the images of God. Our gratitude extends also to those who keep us in their prayers and our dear benefactors who help us keep our Mother Foundress’ dream alive, ‘to make a home for the homeless’. God bless!

Below is a much anticipated article about our children's home of the North Province. NWI Catholic, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Gary, IN wrote a nice article about the current news of our recently damaged convent in East Chicago. All rights reserved to Erin Ciszczon for this column released Sunday, March 6, 2022.

Carmelite Home demolition provides fresh start, unveils time capsule

The physical location of the St. Joseph’s Carmelite Home in Northwest Indiana may look a little different these days, but its dedication to children, the city of East Chicago and the Diocese of Gary remains the same. The Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus who have operated an orphanage and emergency shelter for youth in distress since 1913, made the difficult decision this year to demolish the remaining portion of three of the buildings along Grasselli Street after a fire caused significant damage on May 16, 2021.

After discussions with engineers, architects, constituents, consultants and the Carmelite Board, the Sisters determined it would be more cost effective to rebuild a new facility than to remodel and replace what remained after the fire. Moreover, building a new, modern facility will better meet the needs of the children the Sisters serve in their ministry. The Sisters continue to reside in a small home called Casa Maria at the end of the block on the northern point of the property. The Maria Tauscher Center remains and houses the administration, staff and children in their care. As three other buildings on the property were being demolished on Feb. 18, the crew of Green Demolition LLC., working with Tonn and Blank Construction, uncovered a time capsule in one of the cornerstones. Having no previous knowledge of the time capsule’s existence, the Sisters