Celebrating 100 Years
Our 100th anniversary
1925-2025
We are overjoyed to announce our Centenary Jubilee Year. We have received a Decree from the Dicastery of the Apostolic Penitentiary for the Holy Year to celebrate one hundred years from the beginning of our monastery, founded in October 1925. This year is also the centenary of the canonization of St. Thérèse. We will have the privilege to host her relics on October 24, 2025.
Bishop MacGinley, the first bishop of our diocese, went to the canonization of St. Thérèse of Lisieux in May 1925 and requested a Carmelite Monastery in the new diocese under the patronage of the new Carmelite Saint. Pope Pius Xi promptly granted permission and Bishop MacGinley appealed to the Carmelite Monastery of Santa Clara, California for the foundation. Five months later, Mother Augustine, then prioress, sent five valiant nuns from her community to establish the new monastery in a temporary little square wooden house on Carmel Point, near the village of Carmel-by-the-Sea.
Six years later, in 1931, the Francis Sullivan Family, whose daughter, Mother Agnes, was a member of Santa Clara, purchased land and made arrangements for the construction of our beautiful monastery on this present site. It was accomplished in six months. The building is a memorial to Francis J Sullivan, who died in 1930, and is buried at St. Joseph’s side altar. At his request, Bishop MacGinley is buried in the alcove in the back of our chapel.
We extend our heartfelt love and prayers to all who have visited this holy place and prayed here over the past one hundred years. We remember, with love and thanksgiving, our sisters and many friends who have passed on and who are still praying for us in the Heavenly Jerusalem.
Centenary Jubilee Holy Year
holy year of thanksgiving
The Church observes a Holy Year every 25 years. The year 2025 is the next such Holy Year for the entire church. Our monastery is also celebrating its own Centenary Jubilee Holy Year of Thanksgiving, beginning on Sunday, October 27, 2024 and continuing through a special Triduum on October 24-26, 2025.
The jubilee calls for us to set out on a pilgrimage, a journey and to cross boundaries. The journey is not necessarily physical traveling, but it is also an interior journey within our hearts and souls to find the center where God dwells within each of us. The journey takes place gradually. Taking time for contemplation of creation is also part of the journey and helps us to realize that care for creation “is an essential expression of our faith in God and our obedience to his will.” A pilgrimage is an experience of conversion, of transforming one’s very being to conform it to the holiness of God.
From a symbolic viewpoint, the Holy Door takes on a special significance: it is the most powerful sign of the Jubilee, since the ultimate aim of the pilgrim is to pass through it. The opening of the door constitutes the official beginning of the Holy Year. In crossing the threshold of the Holy Door, the pilgrim is reminded of the passage from chapter 10 of St. John’s Gospel: “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” Passing through the Holy Door expresses the decision to follow and be guided by Jesus, who is the Good Shepherd. The Holy Door is a passageway that ushers the pilgrim into the interior of a church. It is a sacred place of encounter and dialogue, of reconciliation and peace which awaits every pilgrim, the Church being essentially the place of the community of the faithful.
A plenary (meaning “full”) indulgence is a special type of indulgence that, if all the requirements are met, removes all temporal punishment due to one’s sins that have already been forgiven. One may be obtained daily for oneself and one for the souls in Purgatory by fulfilling the Basic Mandatory Conditions.
- Receive the Holy Eucharist the day the indulgence is performed and say one Our Father and the Creed.
- One Sacramental confession within twenty days suffices for several indulgences.
- Prayer for the intention of the Pope (usually the Our Father and Hail Mary).
- Interior disposition of complete detachment from sin, even venial sin.
Those who cannot make a pilgrimage due to illness or other circumstances are invited to take part in the spiritual movement that accompanies the Jubilee Year by offering up the sufferings of daily life and participating in the Eucharist.
(L-R) Harry Downey; Fr. Juan Oronoz; Fr. Gabriel Barry, OCD; Bishop Harry A. Clinch; Bro. Christopher, OCD
Relics of St. Thérèse and Jubilee Triduum
Relics of St. Thérèse &
Our Jubilee Triduum (October 24-26, 2025)
Arrival of the Relics of St. Thérèse
Thursday, October 23, 2025 Welcome Ceremony: 4:30 p.m.
- Shuttle service available (schedule TBA)
- Veneration of the Relics: until 7 p.m.
Mass in honor of St. Thérèse, Copatroness of our Monastery
Friday, October 24, 2025 Mass: 11 a.m.
- Celebrant: Bishop Danny Garcia
- Choir: Santa Catalina School Choir and the Camerata Singers
- Over-flow outdoor seating with audio-visual participation
- Shuttle service available (schedule TBA)
- Veneration of the Relics of St. Thérèse: throughout the day until 7 p.m. departure
Mass in honor of Our Lady of Grace, Copatroness of our Monastery
Saturday, October 25, 2025 Mass: 9 a.m.
- Celebrant: Very Rev. Fr. Matthew Williams, Carmelite Provincial
- Choir: Carmelite Nuns of Carmel, CA
Mass of Thanksgiving for this Centenary Jubilee Year
Sunday, October 26, 2025 Mass: 9 a.m.
- Meet and Greet the Nuns in the Speak Room after Mass
History at a Glance 1925 - 2025
HIGHLIGHTS - HISTORY AT A GLANCE
1925-2025
1925 — Foundation began on Carmel Point – October 24
1930 — First novice: Sr. Anne of the Mother of God
1931 — Our present monastery completed – November 1
1950 — Sr. Elizabeth of the Trinity – foundress, dies (1882 -1950)
— Mother Alberta’s Golden Jubilee
1962 — Mother Alberta of St. Teresa, first prioress (1869 – 1962)
1964 — Sr. Mary of the Eucharist, dies (1893 – 1964)
1965 — Sr. Therese of the Infant Jesus, foundress, dies (1884 – 1965)
— Foundation made in San Rafael, California (9 sisters)
1966 — Consecration of our Chapel
1967 — Sr. Rose’s Golden Jubilee
1969 — Mother Marie Aimee’s Golden Jubilee
1970 — Oratory remodeled to meet Vatican II requirements
1977 — Sr. Rose’s Diamond Jubilee
1979 — Mother Marie Aimee’s Diamond Jubilee
1980 — Sr. Anne’s Golden Jubilee
1982 — Association of St. Teresa meeting held here
1985 — Sr. Rose of Nazareth, foundress, dies (1894 – 1985)
— Sr. Anne of the Mother of God, dies (1901 – 1985)
— Mother Teresa’s Golden Jubilee
1987 — We met with Pope John Paul II at Carmel Mission
— Oratory was enlarged and remodeled
— Mother Teresa of Jesus, dies (1906 – 1987)
1988 — Maintenance shop built
1990 — New parking lot on the north side
1991 — New enclosure gate on the North side
1993 — Mother Marie Aimee of Jesus, foundress, dies (1998-1993)
— Sr. Josepha’s Golden Jubilee
1999 — Sr. Gabriel’s 40th Ruby Jubilee
2000 — The relics of St. Therese came here in January
—Our 75th anniversary celebrated on October 24
2002 — 400th anniversary of first Mass in California by three Carmelites
— Sr. Josepha of Jeus and Mary, dies (1923 – 2002)
2004 — Began restoration of our 165 windows
2005 — Sr. Philomena of Calvary, dies (1919- 2005)
—Sr. Francis Mary of the Blessed Sacrament, dies (1915 – 2005)
—Sr. Gabriel of the Annunciation, dies (1923 – 2005)
2007 — Sr. Marie Cecile’s Golden Jubilee
2008 — Sr. Mary Lucy Ginoza’s Golden Jubilee
2010 — Sr. Mercedes’ Golden Jubilee
—Sr. Anne Marie’s Golden Jubilee
2011 — National Carmelite Meeting with Fr. Gen. Saverio in Oklahoma
—Double jubilee: Sr. Teresita Golden Jubilee with her parent’s 70th Jubilee
2012 — Capital Campaign - Monastery Renovation Project
—Our Website launched
2014 — Sr. Marie Cecile of Jesus Crucified, dies (1924 – 2014)
— Sr. Maria Teresa’s Silver Jubilee
— STJ 500 Festival Celebration in San Jose and premier of Virtual Choir
2015 — First National meeting all 4 Associations of Carmelite Nuns in Darian, IL
— Sr. Francisca of the Holy Spirit , dies (1918- 2015)
—New statues of St. Teresa and St. John for Chapel façade
— Sr. Mary Joseph’s Silver Jubilee
2016 — Historic meeting a Contemplatives in Rome with Pope Francis
—Amalgamation with the Guam Carmel
2017 — Sr. Mary Lucy Ginoza, dies (1925 – 2017)
2018 — Sr. Anne Marie of the Incarnation, dies (1929 – 2018)
— Sr. Mercedes of Mary Immaculate, dies (1939 – 2018)
2019 — Sr. Jacinta Mary’s Silver Jubilee
— Chapel closed for the first time since 1931 for COVID quarantine
2020 — Greenhouse built on lawn area
2021 — Triple jubilee for Sr. Bernadette, Sr. Rose Mary, Mother Teresita
—We hosted the Saint Teresa Association National General Assembly
2022 — Sr. Juanita de la Cruz’s solemn vows
2023 — Sr. Marie of Christ’s solemn vows
— Sr. Ana de San Jose’s solemn vows
—Sr. Collette’s Golden Jubilee
— New signage on our Entrance Wall at the highway
2024 — Solar Capital Campaign
— Sr. Mary Edel’s Golden Jubilee
— Official blessing of the Holy Door, opening of our Centenary Jubilee Holy Year