A Carmel born from a desire for peace
December 13, 1934: the Founding Mother, Mother Teresa of the Holy Family, with a group of 6 sisters, sees realized the dream of a Carmel in a land of Islam come true, a dream born by a divine inspiration in her heart years before, as a desire for peace between different peoples, cultures and religions.
Since then, thanks to the help of sisters coming from all over the world, we perpetuate the same desire for peace and communion.
"I felt in my heart
a great desire to found
a Carmel in Africa,
in a Muslim context"
Mother Teresa of the Holy Family
Foundation day photo
The Founding Mother in the center, in the first row
We are part of the large family of the Teresian Carmel, founded by Saint Teresa of Jesus with the help of Saint John of the Cross, in the groove of the tradition of the Order of Carmel that dates back to the Prophet Elijah and takes its origin in the Mount Carmel, in the Holy Land.
As Saint Teresa's daughters, we live our Prayer Vocation as a service to the Church and the world, in the continuous search for the face of God and in a relationship of friendship with Him and with our brothers: “Mental prayer in my opinion is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends, taking time frequently to be alone with Him who we know loves us" (Teresa of Avila, The book of Her Life 8,5 )
The current Community brings together 11 sisters of 9 different nationalities. We are the only Carmelite presence in North Africa and we belong to the Iberian Province of the Teresian Carmel.
Since 2019 we are part of the Middle East and North Africa Federation.
On December 13, 2014 we celebrated the 80 years of the foundation of our Carmel in Tangier with the presence of the then Father General Saverio Cannistrá, ocd (you can read his homily here ), and we are preparing for the celebration of the 90 years, thanking God for his faithfulness and his love.
If you want to know more about our history, you can read the book that we have prepared on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the foundation:
Spanish
French