FRIENDS OF CARMEL 2023
On September 12, 1958, the Founding Sisters of Reno Carmel went in procession into the new building at 1950 La Fond Drive and for-mally established the Monastery of Our Lady of the Mountains. At that moment, they carried a spiritual legacy that reached back over eight centuries and the fervent intention to carry this legacy intact into their future. Part of this legacy embraced the concept of enclo-sure within their new home which began that day. Another part of their heritage included a way of life and customs which had seen little change over the almost 500 years since St. Teresa founded the Monastery of St. Joseph in Avila, Spain in 1562.
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FRIENDS OF CARMEL 2022
“In many and various ways our holy ancestors have laid down how everyone …shall live in allegiance to Jesus Christ and serve faith-fully.
(Rule of Carmel 1209 AD)
The Crusades extended from 1095 and lasted till 1291. The motivations and methods of these wars have been debated through the centuries, but the outcome which affected the founding of Carmel took place as former Crusaders remained in the Holy land and sought a life of contemplation near the fountain of Elijah on Mount Carmel.
In solitude and in common prayer, these early hermits craft-ed a life in “allegiance to Jesus Christ.” In 1209, the hermits
asked Albert, Patriarch of Jerusalem, to fashion a rule of life for them, a rule that would constitute the beginning of the Carmelite Order. Albert acquiesced and the Rule of life he authored mirrored the life the hermits were already living.
FRIENDS OF CARMEL 2021
The journey began on a train ride, a very long train ride from Indi-ana to Nevada. The Carmelites knew the treasure they carried but, not yet, the blessing of this new and unfamiliar place of deserts and mountains. They carried in their lives a very long heritage of prayer and contemplation. They came in full habit, from total cloister, and steeped in the theology and philosophy of their time. But, with
a legacy reaching back to the twelfth century, they also possessed insights, which included the future and which, by their efforts, a monastery, founded in 1954, they carried their heritage into the 21st century with a vision which holds past, present and future as guiding realities….
FRIENDS OF CARMEL 2020
It helps, now and then, to step back
And take a long view.
This is what we are about.
We plant seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted,
Knowing that they hold future promise.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
It is even beyond our vision…
We are workers, not master builders;
Ministers, not Messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
OSCAR ROMERO
These words ofArchbishop Oscar Romero have a particular reso-nance this year, capturing the dislocation of our generation’s experience of a world-wide pandemic.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
It is even beyond our vision…
But this is our heritage: to continue to water seeds planted in centuries gone by, and nurtured in our own day to sustain the dreams of future promises.
FRIENDS OF CARMEL 2019
Our monastery nestles in the southwest hills of Reno, where the Desert meets the Mountains, and has solidly occupied its place for the past sixty years. The great western sky adds scale as the building blends into the sage and sequoias. Its form in relation to its surroundings is familiar to all who pass by or receive our brochure. Driving up La Fond hill, many have been reassured by the quiet presence that shelters the contemplative life within. The basic plan took form in the concrete blocks, which rose from the desert hills, and the basic plan continues to define the visible structure we see today….