The Discalced Carmelites of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel in Morristown, N.J. are celebrating their 100th anniversary at the Morristown monastery with a schedule of significant events.
The first milestone this year is the 85th anniversary of the consecration of the monastery chapel, dedicated to the Most Blessed Trinity, on Sunday, May 17 at 8 a.m.
All-day exposition, concluding with a Solemn Eucharist or Benediction, will be held on several dates, including Tuesday, May 19, Sunday, May 31, from Tuesday, June 4 to Tuesday, June 11, and from Tuesday July 7 to Thursday, July 16.
On Saturday, Oct. 3, the feast of St. Therese, the sisters will host a pilgrimage and procession from St. Paul Inside the Walls in Madison, N.J. to the monastery, located at 189 Madison Ave. Upon arrival, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney will consecrate a shrine built in honor of the then-newly Blessed Fulton Sheen, who was the homilist at the chapel’s original consecration on May 17, 1941.
In November 2025 and February 2026, the sisters held week-long “Carmelite Encounters.” These sessions allowed the public to participate in 90-minute interviews with the sisters, featuring presentations on Carmelite history, vocation testimonies, and Q&A sessions. The final set of encounters will take place in November 2026.
Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
To commemorate this anniversary, Pope Leo XIV has declared that the faithful may receive a plenary indulgence by visiting the monastery this year. To receive the indulgence, visitors must recite the Creed and the Our Father, receive the Sacraments of Confession and Holy Communion, and pray for the intentions of the Holy Father.
The Jubilee will conclude with a Solemn Mass celebrated by Bishop Sweeney on Tuesday, Dec. 26.
In 1925, Bishop John O’Connor of then the Newark Diocese, which included Morristown at the time, established the monastery to thank the Blessed Mother for his silver jubilee as bishop before the Diocese of Paterson was founded.
Mother Mary Magdalene of the Carmel in Wheeling, W.V., and five novices of Carmelite nuns arrived on the evening of Dec. 30, 1926, to a small, dilapidated house at their original location on South Street in Morristown, N.J, without a furnace, chairs or beds. Yet, the Blessed Sacrament waiting for them, thanks to a local pastor, so they could receive Jesus at Mass on New Year’s Eve.
For a century, these cloistered nuns focus on a life and charism of constant and unceasing prayer, penance, self-sacrifice and strict silence.
“The ultimate goal of a Carmelite sisters is union with God,” the Carmelite nuns said. “We pray for priests and for the salvation of souls and to call down the fire of the Holy Spirit on the earth and to keep that fire of love burning in the hearts of the faithful. In the words of St. Therese, who was a Carmelite, the mission of a Carmelite is to ‘be love in the heart of the Church,’” they said.
The sisters now living at the monastery gather 10 times to pray. The nuns estimate that, over the past century, at least 36,000 Masses have been celebrated in their community.
“We always strive to make the Liturgy beautiful and full of reverence for the Lord, since we know such a God deserves no effort be spared in rendering Him praise!” the sisters said.
Visit the Carmelites’ website, carmelnj.org, for updates or further details to the 100th anniversary schedule of events.
