The Province of the Most Pure Heart of Mary held its triennial provincial chapter June 20-23, 2023. The gathering was held in Darien, Illinois at the Carmelite Spiritual Center. It was an open chapter with members from Canada, the United States, Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, and the Provincial Commissariat of Perú participating.
The Prior General, Míceál O'Neill, and the General Councilor for America, Luis Maza, attended.
Besides the reports by the prior general and the prior provincial, sessions were held on synodality and the papal encyclical Laudato Si’. A one woman play on the life of St. Thérèse was presented one evening to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Carmelite’s birth and the 100th anniversary of her beatification.
Almost 160 years ago, two Carmelites from the monastery in Straubing (Germany) journeyed to Louisville, Kentucky, to work among the German immigrants. Unable to secure a parish, they moved to St. Joseph’s parish in what is now Sellersburg, Indiana and later to Leavenworth, Kansas. The Vicar General of the Order, Angelus Savini, appointed Cyril Knoll as the General Commissary and houses were established in Scipio, Kansas (1865) and then in Englewood, New Jersey (1869) by a Dutch Carmelite who had previously lived in Merthyr Tydvil (Wales). The Carmelites also worked among the freed Black slaves in Maryland. In 1870 the Carmelites established a base at Paducah serving a wide area of Western Kentucky, a part of the Jackson Purchase. They also accepted a parish in Louisville, where they had originally immigrated to from Germany.
The monastery of Niagara Falls (Canada) was founded in 1875 in a house overlooking the famous waterfalls. In 1881 all the houses of North America were united into one General Commissariat.
The Province of the Most Pure Heart of Mary was established in 1890 with Pius Mayer serving as the first prior provincial. He would later serve as prior general of the Order.
From 1929 to 1949 the province had a house in Palestine; and then in 1949 foundations were made in Chile (now closed) and Perú. In 1995 a foundation was made in Torreón, Mexico. In 2014, the foundation in El Salvador was officially incorporated into the province. Today there are foundations in Canada, the United States, Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, and a commissariat in Perú.
The following members were elected to leadership:
Provincial | Provincial | Provinciale
Carl Markelz, O. Carm.
Vice Provincial | Vice Provincial | Vice Provinciale
David McEvoy, O. Carm.
1st Councilor | 1er Consejero | 1o Consigliere
Rolf Nepi Willemsen, O. Carm.
2nd Councilor | 2do Consejero | 2o Consigliere
Luis Jesús Paz Acosta, O. Carm.
3rd Councilor | 3er Consejero | 3o Consigliere
Jorge Monterroso Mérida, O. Carm.
4th Councilor | 4to Consejero | 4o Consigliere
Samuel Citero, O. Carm.
