Main

 
Carmelite Monastery History Page

 

 

 

 

     In 1906, a postulant (Ada Sullivan) from a prominent pioneer family of San Francisco entered the Carmelite Monastery in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1907 Archbishop Riordan of San Francisco, while on his way to Rome, stopped to visit the Boston Carmel and the new postulant. He was deeply impressed by the Nuns and their life of prayer for the Church. After his return home to San Francisco,  Alice Phelan Sullivan, the mother of the novice, begged him to found a monastery in San Francisco.  Although he was very desirous of doing so, he did not consider the time opportune due to the devastation and damage that had been wrought by the earthquake and fire of April 1906. Many churches and institutions needed his attention for restoration and financial support. Mrs. Sullivan then offered to take full care of the foundation and to shelter and protect it financially. Archbishop Riordan wrote immediately to the new Archbishop O'Connell of Boston and received his approval for the foundation to be made from the Boston Carmel where the Nuns had also enthusiastically accepted the invitation. 

 

  History continued...

Back    Next