Community of Jerusalem
« Upon your walls, O Jerusalem, I have stationed watchmen;
never by day or by night shall they be silent. »
(Isaiah 62: 6)
Our Carmel of Pater Noster was founded in 1875. It originated from a meeting between Aurelia de Bossi, Princess of la Tour d’Auvergne, and Sister Xavier of the Heart of Jesus, a professed nun from the Carmel of Lisieux who had spent 9 years at the Carmel in Saigon .
After some years of service in Saigon, Mother Xavier of the Heart of Jesus returned to France but her missionary spirit and certainly the Holy Spirit inspired her to visit the holy sites in Jerusalem . She traveled to Jerusalem where she met the Princess of la Tour d’Auvergne who had used her wealth to revitalize the cave of the Pater Noster, a chapel, and the first cloistered monastery of Pater and was looking to entrust it to a religious community .
Mother Xavier returned to France in order to help bring together the founding sisters of the Carmel of Pater Noster. The Monastery of Carpentras provided the first group of Carmelite nuns .
The Carmel of Pater Noster was inaugurated officially in 1874.
« Our Father….hallowed be thy name »
(Mt 6: 9)
As Carmelites our presence is at the crossroads of two great monotheistic religions, that of the Jewish world and of the Arab world, Moslem, to which we bring the presence of Christ as witnessed by our personal and communal life.
The Mount of Olives, a place well known in the Gospels that the Church and tradition have guarded faithfully for more than 2000 years, is the indelible mark of the passage of Christ.
Thousands of pilgrims from every country and of every faith come to visit the “mystical cave” of the eschatological teachings of Christ to pray the Our Father in different languages engraved on the walls of the sanctuary and numbering approximately 150.
Our community has 12 sisters representing 3 different nationalities: France, Brazil and Madagascar.
In fact we are drawn from the four corners of the earth to live the mystery of the divine filiation so that through our life of prayer, praise, fraternity, and intercession, we can attract many brothers and sisters who are seeking the face of a merciful God the Father. By living in community the message of Pater Noster with joy and faithfulness, our experience of God’s paternity will help us live in fraternity with Christ.