Fairfield PA Carmelites undergoing “difficult and stressful trial”… prayers urgently requested

It started yesterday with eight hours of “depositions.” It continued today, never mind the Third Commandment. It will continue through Tuesday. You see, these nuns have two big problems: 1. They’re Trads, 2. Their vocations are booming.

I offered my Rosary for them today; please unite yourself to that or offer some prayers of your own, please.

From their press release last week:

“This coming weekend, we ask that you pray in a special way for our Nuns. More than ever before, they are in need of your love and your support.

“In August, they received the news they would be subject to an Apostolic Visitation and the dates have been scheduled for Sep. 25-28, 2021. A Visitation consists of interviews of each sister and a detailed scrutiny of the Nuns’ daily life. It includes an evaluation of their application of the Carmelite charism and their monastic customs.

“It is for this reason, we are asking for your prayerful support as they undergo this difficult and stressful trial. We pray that the Nuns may quickly return to their quiet monastic observance.”

Maike HIckson wrote something at Lifesitenews:


(LifeSiteNews) — The beautiful Carmelite monastery in Fairfield, Pennsylvania, with some 25 nuns dedicated to the traditional form of the Roman rite have received notice that an apostolic visitation will take place September 25–28. The Carmelites have sent out a press release (see full text below) and are asking for prayers and vigils, since such a visitation — which includes interviews of each sister and detailed scrutiny of their lives — is a “stressful trial,” in the words of the press release.

The Carmel of Jesus, Mary and Joseph is served by a hermit, Fr. Maximilian Mary Dean, who had earlier been a Franciscan Friar of the Immaculate. The Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, an international order dedicated to the spirituality of St. Maxilimian Kolbe, had undergone a visitation early on in Pope Francis’ papacy — with very negative effects on the order.

Due to an increase of vocations, the Carmel of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph purchased land in 2013, with the blessing of their local bishop, Bishop Ronald Gainer of the Harrisburg Diocese, and moved to the new property in 2018.

As the Carmelites characterize their community on the website:

The primary mission of the Carmelite Order is to pray and offer oblation for the Church and the world. The use of the Extraordinary Form of the Mass and Divine Office sets this monastery apart and their observance of the Rule and Constitutions is part of an unbroken tradition stretching back from Mexico to Spain to Mount Carmel itself in the Holy Land.

The Carmelites continue:

Steeped in the rich tradition of their heritage, these Discalced Carmelites in the rural farmlands of Pennsylvania live out the centuries-old rule of their Holy Founders, St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross. Completely in communion with the Roman Catholic Church and under the approval of the diocesan Bishop of Harrisburg, the nuns trace their roots back to sixteenth century Spain and seventeenth century Mexico. They are one of six other traditional foundations from the Carmel in Valparaiso, Nebraska.

These nuns are in the middle of a large building project, “seeking to re-create the beauty of the monasteries of old.” LifeSite has heard from numerous Catholic laypeople who travel from afar to visit this monastery and profit from the beauty and deep spirituality of these nuns. The nuns now ask that the faithful hold prayer vigils throughout the entire time of the Apostolic Visitation. LifeSite has not yet learned more about the reason for this visitation. We will update our reporting as soon as we learn more.

27 thoughts on “Fairfield PA Carmelites undergoing “difficult and stressful trial”… prayers urgently requested”

  1. The Carmelites are a special order, a very special order. It is the order of Sts. Theresa of Avila and Therese of Liseux and that’s just two saints out of many. It is the order whose martyrdom during the French Revolution stopped the Reign of Terror. It is the order where Sister Lucia of Fatima spent the rest of her days. Need I say more?
    To my fellow Americans reading this, the United States of America needs our Carmelites more than they need us. They are all but assured of Heaven. We on the other hand… Well, let’s just say that if you study the Church-approved prophecies of the future, there’s no mention or hint of the United States of America in the end times. Freemasonry, the state-religion of the United States will ultimately be destroyed once and for all. What an incredible blessing it would be if we could see it destroyed in our lifetimes and this nation transformed into a Catholic nation worthy of the Promises of Christ.
    Please pray for these holy Carmelites in Fairfield and throughout the United States. I firmly believe that is their prayers that have held back the Hand of God from rightfully destroying this freemasonic cesspit of a nation.

    1. James Andrew,
      I’ve just become familiar with this controversy. I’m a traditional Catholic. I’ve loved the Carmelite saints for many years. Their writings, their sanctity saved me from progressive hell. Seriously. I’ve written to you at CRW, addressing you mistakenly as “Andrew.” -with apologies.
      The proximate cause of the cesspit, I believe, is the criminal sin of abortion.

  2. It’s not necessarily germane to this thread but just wondering if the nuns have taken the Quackcine. Are they towing the Bergoglian line in that regard? Will questions about compliance to the global narrative be part of the visit? If they’ve taken it , I rather think they’ve sold their souls. My elderly, wise and learned Dominican pastor has condemned the vaccine as profoundly evil. If they’ve taken it all their prayers for us are futile. See how our society, our Faith has been poisoned to the core by the Scamdemic? Are the Carmelites part of the resistance or not? How are we to ever know? Should they be transparent in this regard?

  3. Leave the Nuns alone ! They are good and Holy Women who are doing good by their Holy Lifestyle! Considering the Vatican is populated by perverts,degenerates,criminals and child molesters , leave good people who do no harm alone and go back to the cesspool where you came from and start looking there for whatever you are looking for here !

    1. Do they remain good and holy if they’ve taken the jab? I think that is an honest question. My good and holy pastor has warned us that we must confess if we’ve caved to the zeitgeist. Isn’t the entire point of this blog to open our eyes to the evil around us? Didn’t Our Lady warn us that even the elect would be deceived?
      Indeed, the nuns may be resisting. I pray all good people everywhere are.

      1. Red Feather…your question is most honest.
        “Will questions about compliance with the global narrative be part of the visit?”
        It would be naive to think the “Torquemada’s ” assigned to “interrogate” the Fairfield Carmelite Community would not have as part of their “interrogation repertoire” questions regarding the sisters embracing of all the Vatican ii documents without reservation, whether they’ve embraced and received the “death jab” and whether they “pay obeisance” to Jorge Bergoglio as the “reigning pontiff.”
        I have an acquaintance who lived among the native tribes in the Andes and this is his Pachamama comment:
        “Jeffrey Prather
        Sun, Jul 18, 2:08 PM (7 days ago)
        to me
        When I lived with the Aymara in the Andes they celebrated Fiesta de la Virgin simultaneously with Pachamama. On Parinacota there was an ancient chapel with a pile of skulls of the Indians who refused to pay taxes along with a mural of a dragon devouring a three headed man, Spaniard, Indian and Bolivian.
        “The Aymara or Aimara people are an indigenous people in the Andes and Altiplano regions of South America; about 2.3 million live in Bolivia, Peru and Chile. Wikipedia”
        Jeffrey is worth checking out at Jeffrey Prather.com.
        Pax”
        I suspect the Vatican sponsored “Torquemada” visitors are pachamama friendly.
        And then there’s the new Vatican “covidiot” mandate which the Toruquemada visitors are bound to embrace:
        ” VATICAN CITY — Visitors, tourists and employees who want to enter Vatican territory will be required beginning Oct. 1 to show proof of vaccination, recovery from the coronavirus or a negative COVID-19 test.
        The anti-COVID ordinance, which was approved by Pope Francis and signed by Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, president of the commission in charge of Vatican City State, was released by the Vatican press office Sept. 20.
        The only exemption in the order is for people entering Vatican territory for the sole purpose of attending a liturgical celebration; in that case, they will have access only “for the time strictly necessary” for the liturgy and if they follow the health measures already in force: mandatory masking, temperature checks and social distancing.
        The ordinance did not specify whether the pope’s weekly general audiences on Wednesdays or his midday recitation of the Angelus on Sundays would be treated like a liturgy or like entrance to the Vatican Museums, which has been requiring proof of vaccination for admittance since early August. Even with the vaccination proof, visitors undergo a temperature check before admittance and are required to keep a mask over their nose and mouth throughout the visit.”
        ….and then you have the SSPX saying it’s “ok” to get the “death jab.”
        Pray the sisters have a moral compass not subject to “black out zones.”
        “Are there places where compasses don’t work?
        We’ve added something new that we call blackout zones, and these are areas around the north and south magnetic poles which we highlight as essentially ‘Do not trust your compass’ zones,”
        I hope the sisters are indeed resisting and are granted the option, by the Torquemada’s, to plead the 5th….and I don’t mean the 5th commandment.
        Pray the good sisters are blessed with “eloquence of the tongue.”
        PRAYER OF ST. THOMAS AQUINAS
        BEFORE STUDY
        O ineffable Creator,
        Who, out of the treasure of Thy wisdom,
        hast ordained three hierarchies of Angels,
        and placed them in wonderful order above the heavens,
        and hast most wisely distributed the parts of the world;
        Thou, Who are called the true fountain of light and wisdom,
        and the highest beginning,
        vouchsafe to pour upon the darkness of my understanding,
        in which I was born,
        the double beam of Thy brightness,
        removing from me all darkness of sin and ignorance
        . Thou, Who makest eloquent the tongue of the dumb,
        instruct my tongue,
        and pour on my lips the grace of Thy blessing.
        Give me quickness of understanding,
        capacity of retaining,
        subtlety of interpreting,
        facility in learning,
        and copious grace of speaking.
        Guide my going in,
        direct my going forward,
        accomplish my going forth;
        through Christ our Lord.
        Amen.

      2. I would have to assume they did not take the jab ! No one I know has taken the jab except some relatives and one died of Covid and another got sick from it but is starting to recover ! For me I had Covid ,very mild symptoms and neither my wife nor myself have taken this experimental drug ,because of the abortion issue and it is not safe and does not work ! My main premise is these Vatican cretins are trying to destroy anything that has to do with Tradition an any group that is trying to maintain a Holy Lifestyle! Vatican 2 and the NO is and was a giant scam and these overstuffed Buffoons are trying to erase anything in the Church that relates to pre 1962 ! The Argentinian is a Marxist Masonic,Moron that is a Mc Carrick plant whose only job is to destroy the Catholic Church! Whether these nuns were vaccinated or not has nothing to do with their ability to try and live a Holy Life ! It just may have been forced on them and out of obedience they may have felt compelled to be vaccinated! I certainly don’t know ,but I will still pray for them no matter what their status !

    2. Thank you, jmarrenjr, for your kind response. We are living in remarkable times that are sometimes difficult to navigate. God bless and keep us. God have mercy on us, poor sinners. Our Lady of Mt Carmel, pray for us. Sts Teresa of Avila and Therese of Liseux, pray for us.

      1. Assuming those in the visitation entourage are loyal to Bergoglio, we have to assume that they are all in for the jab. I hope and pray that NO Carmelite sisters in this nation or elsewhere have been injected with these wicked, false vaccines, all of which have been produced and/or tested with the cells of children slaughtered by abortion.
        It is not a coincidence that Antipope Bergoglio allowed and encouraged the worship of the pachamama bitch demon inside the Vatican. The pachamama bitch demon ties right back to not only the pagan worship of the earth but also, the savagery of South and Central America prior to Our Lady of Guadalupe when humans were sadistically mutilated to please environmental gods atop those satanic stepped pyramids (brilliantly shown in Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto).
        Antipope Bergoglio is 200 percent supportive of abortion. After he usurped the papacy, he told the faithful not to “obsess” about abortion. He has failed to condemn abortion itself or mandate excommunication for pro-abortion politicians like Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden. He has hosted Bill and Melinda Gates at the Vatican. So, of course he supports not only the act of abortion but the sadistic use of aborted children in the testing and production of these fake vaccines. The pachamama bitch demon is the PERFECT muse for Bergoglio.
        What more proof do we need that Jorge Bergoglio is not the pope? St. Catherine of Siena had the faith and the guts to call out an antipope and she was right. It’s time that all of us did the same. Stop referring to Bergoglio as “Pope Francis” and correct anyone who calls him that.

  4. How very reassuring! “The man of God welcomes the light that all may see that his works are done in God.” St. Teresa laughed at the thought that she was being investigated by the Inquisition for she knew she had nothing to fear. I am sure that the Nuns are rejoicing that their love of the Church will be made manifest, and they are laughing at the thought that they have anything to hide!

  5. I found the quote from St. Teresa about the Inquisition: St. Teresa of Avila wrote in her Autobiography: “Some persons came to me with great fear to tell me we were in trouble and that it could happen that others might accuse me of something and report me to the Inquisitors. This amused me and made me laugh, for I never had any fear of such a possibility. If anyone were to see that I went against the slightest ceremony of the Church in a matter of faith, I myself knew well that I would die a thousand deaths for the faith or for any truth of Sacred Scripture. And I said they shouldn’t be afraid about these possible accusations; that it would be pretty bad for my soul if there were something in it of the sort that I should have to fear the Inquisition; that I thought that if I did have something to fear I’d go myself to seek out the Inquisitors; and that if I were accused, the Lord would free me.” (“Life”, 33, 5) If St. Teresa laughed at the thought of being investigated by the Inquisition, then her Daughters should have no reason to fear an investigation by the Church.

  6. Today is the feast of St. Vincent de Paul who was accused unjustly and who simply repeated, “God knows the truth.” “Those who trust in Him will understand truth, and the faithful will abide with him in love, because grace and mercy are upon His holy ones, and He watches over His elect.” (Wisdom 3, 9)

  7. Too successful as traditional Catholics, I suppose. Makes the NO “church” look bad. Apparently, Valparaiso is getting hit also. Bishop Gainer is scheduled to be in Fairfield the entire time. This info from Fr. Maximilian, the Hermit at Fairfield. May God have Mercy on them and us; we need their prayers desperately.

  8. Lord, show us Your Face, and we shall be saved.
    God arise and His enemies be scattered!
    May those who hate Him flee before His Face.
    Mercy!

    1. A favorite of the Desert Fathers:
      Psalm 68:
      Douay-Rheims Bible
      Let God’s Enemies Be Scattered!
      1Unto the end, a psalm of a canticle for David himself. Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered: and let them that hate him flee from before his face.
      2As smoke vanisheth, so let them vanish away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
      3And let the just feast, and rejoice before God: and be delighted with gladness.

      1. http://holyfacedevotion.com/
        Revealed as a remedy for our times, to make reparations to God for blasphemy ,for the profaners of the Holy Name and to defeat communism.
        Holy Face protection prayer: Let God arise and let His enemies be scattered: and let them that hate Him flee from before His Face.

  9. I offer my prayers and sufferings. One American I pray to is Rhoda Wise. She was very devoted to St. Therese of Lisieux, and experienced visitations from both her and Our Lord. Our Lord told her that there were too few people praying for the Consecration of Ruusia. When I learned that, as a supporter of Fr. Gruner, Rhoda Wise has had a soft spot in my heart ever since.

  10. Remember when “Catholics” hooted and howled when the 2009 apostolic visitation of women relgious was announced?
    “Sr. Maureen Fiedler wrote that the visitation was ‘troubling’ and that she was ‘appalled.’ Many Catholics also joined online communities to voice their opposition. For example, in the Facebook group ‘I Support Catholic Sisters and Nuns’ one member claimed the visitation was an outrageous attempt by a ‘threatened’ patriarchy to check a group of women who had eclipsed male clergy by ministering at the margins of society with the ‘potency of the feminine religious voice in a world so sorely in need of that voice.'”
    Where are these same Catholics?

  11. With friends like you, who needs enemies? Don’t you realize that the portrait you have put up and also many of the comments published here are evidence [or rather can be taken as evidence] of the sort of spirituality fostered by the Fairfield Carmelites? If I were an enemy of the nuns and wanted to see them suppressed I would see to it that all of it were sent to the Congregation for Religious Life. In other words, you are not helping the Carmelite cause one bit. Just the opposite. Please take this page down.

    1. What you describe (websites sent to the CRL) has already been done, and more. The nuns have been brutally interrogated over this blog. As if cloistered nuns have anything to do with the internet or blogs.
      Which is exactly why they are defenseless in the public eye. Justice demands that unjust punishments need to be exposed.
      As for the portrait, I have offered to take it down. All someone has to do is point to the lie. Good luck.

  12. “As for the portrait, I have offered to take it down. All someone has to do is point to the lie. Good luck.”
    The lie is that the Carmelites have anything to do with that portrait, that it represents their thinking in any way, that it deserves to appear on the same page with any reference to them.
    The fact is you have a very powerful portrait and cannot restrain yourself from displaying it despite what harm it might bring to the Fairfield Carmelites or their reputations.
    Like many of the nuns at Fairfield, my daughter was sent on foundation from the Carmel of Jesus, Mary and Joseph in Valparaiso, Nebraska, but she was sent to the convent in Kensington, California where she has been from 2012 till now. However, we have visited the community at Elysburg ( now moved to Fairfield) and had a community visit with Mother Stella Marie and all the community. They all breathe the same Spirit and want nothing to do with controversy, especially regarding bishops and the bishop of Rome least of all. When in a letter to my daughter I made a disparaging remark about the pope and the American episcopate I received back a strong letter from Mother Sylvia Gemma that such comments were very unwelcome and would I please not send along any more of my blog comments, of which had sent many over the years. It was a well deserved slapdown. And since, as you say, they are unlikely to see your blog, and therefore cannot remonstrate with you, please do the nuns and yourself a favor by taking down this page and the portrait which they would find completely odious.

    1. lmgilbert, be assured of my prayers. How difficult this must be for all the families. May God bless you all.
      Your first paragraph is a well reasoned argument. The portrait comes down, the page stays up.
      The matter of submission to illegitimate authority remains. My understanding is that the Valparaiso community locked the gates, which is the correct approach.
      “They all breathe the same Spirit and want nothing to do with controversy, especially regarding bishops and the bishop of Rome least of all.”
      I don’t don’t this for a moment, but as they say, you may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you.
      Would you mind emailing me at nittany13@gmail.com so we can take this offline? Thank you.

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