BUILDING DEVELOPMENT PROJECT
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PO Box 564 Richmond Hill, GA 31324
ABOUT US
Habit Forming Sisters Corporation is a Roman Catholic religious organization and a 501(c)(3) Nonprofit organization. The purpose of this Corporation is to help with the establishment and continued operation of a Traditional Monastery in the spirit of Carmel on the grounds of a 10 acre property in High Springs, Florida and for future upkeeping of the property and buildings to be built at the same address and for the benefit of the women religious who will be living at the same address. Although a Catholic organization, this corporation is not an arm or subsidiary of any Catholic Archdiocese, Diocese, Archeparchy, Eparchy, or any other religious or secular organization.
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For more information, review our "Media" section, wherein we give greater details on our autonomous Traditional Catholic Monastery via interviews, articles and more.
OUR MISSION
OUR DEVOTION
OUR COMMUNITY
Habit Forming Sisters Corporation desires to build a Traditional Carmelite Monastery in High Springs, Gilchrist County, Florida. We serve the Holy Roman Catholic Church in our autonomous institute of prayer for the greater glory of God, the salvation of souls, and the safekeeping of the Traditional Latin Mass.
We desire to continue to give our lives to God, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and to the Traditional Carmelite Order in the charisms of Our Holy Mother Saint Teresa of Avila. Silence, solitude, and contemplation for the world mark the totality of our life of prayer.
Habit Forming Sisters Corporation is run by a Traditional Carmelite Community, living an eremitical life of prayer. We are in fidelity to and under the autonomy of the Traditional Discalced Carmelite Order founded by Saint Teresa of Avila: The Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (Ordo Carmelitarum Discalceatorm).
CARMELITE DOGMATIC FUNDAMENTALS AND TEACHING ON OUR LADY CO-REDEMPTRIX
From The Carmelite Directory of the Spiritual Life [Part 1: Dogmatic Fundamentals of the Spiritual Life, Section 2: Man, Chapter 3: Redemption of Man, Article 1: The Work of Redemption, Part 24: Mary, Co-Redemptrix and Mediatrix]
Imprimatur: Fr. Alphonus C. De Romanis, Epis. Porphyr. Vic. Gen. Vatican City, June 1, 1940. Samuel Cardinal Stritch, Archbishop of Chicago, January 15, 1951. Nihil Obstat: Rev. Norbert G. Piper, O. Carm. Censor Deputotus. Imprimi Potest: Very Rev. Leo J. Walter, O. Carm., Prov. Dec. 1, 1950
​Mary, Co-Redemptrix and Mediatrix
Adam alone ruined the human race by his sin; Christ alone redeemed us from our ruin. But because Eve had also sinned with Adam and co-operated in our destruction, God, in His Wisdom and Goodness, associated a women with our Redeemer, her, of whom He spoke in the beginning to the devil, "I will put enmities between thee and the woman" (Gen. 3, 15). And so, just as Christ is to Adam, so Mary, the second Eve, is to the first Eve, to join forces in the work of our redemption.
Mary is blest among women. After Christ, our Lord, neither heaven nor earth has beheld or will behold anyone holier than her. From her very conception she was preserve immune from every taint of sin, nor did she ever experience even the slightest inclination to sin; indeed, from the very beginning, she was full of grace, although she increased in grace day by day unto the end. Since she had been chosen by God Himself to be the mother and spouse of Christ, she always belonged completely to God by her perfect and perpetual virginity.
She gave life to the whole world in giving us the Author of life, by freely consenting to accept the dignity of the divine motherhood. In doing so she declared herself ready to undertake all the burdens and sacrifices which were necessary for the redemption of the human race, she fed and protected the victim who was to be offered to God for our sins, and accompanied Him to the altar of sacrifice. Yes, standing beside the cross she, like the second Eve with the second Adam, accomplished the sacrifice by which salvation was restored to the human race. Relinquishing her maternal right over her Son, she suffered the most frightful cruelties in her heart and, being obedient as a true handmaid of the Lord, all but died with Him. She offered her own Son to God as the price of salvation, and united her sufferings with His. Therefore, we rightly hail her as our Co-Redemptrix; not that her work was absolutely necessary for our redemption, since all our sufficiency is from Christ, but that having been freely called by God, she also contributed her share to so great a work.
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Her co-operation toward our salvation did not cease even after Christ had sacrificed Himself. After our Lord returned to Heaven, she remained on earth several years and helped the newly established Church by her prayers and counsels. Then she was taken up to Heaven in body and soul, not only to receive immediately the full fruits of the Redemption, but also the she might become the Mediatrix of all graces and might share in the saving of mankind, since the perfect victory over the devil, which was announced at the gate of paradise, has not been fully won, as long as the Church on earth is forced to wage battle against the enemy.
Thus do all graces come to us through Mary, in whose bands the Lord has placed all the treasures of Redemption. And we shall not arrive at a happy end, unless it be through her maternal protection. She is our mother, especially since we are brothers of Christ, our Lord, and since Christ Himself, dying on the cross, proclaimed, "Behold thy mother!" (John 19, 27). She is most powerful since she is not only Co-Redemptix, but also Mediatrix. We look with so much more satisfaction upon the immense treasures of the Redemption in her hands because she is our mother, immeasurably excelling every other mother in maternal affection.
Mary, therefore, far surpasses in dignity all the angels and saints; she is not merely called, but is, by right and authority, their Queen. Hence, no one can fail to see how important filial love for us a mother is for our spiritual life. We shall make so much more progress in it, the more we imitate our mother in virtue, call upon her in our prayers and honor her by our worship. Let us heed the Church who places in the mouth of the Blessed Virgin Mary these words of Holy Scripture: "Blessed are they that keep my ways. . . He that shall find me shall find life; and shall have salvation from the Lord." (Prov. 8, 32. 35).
For further readings, see The Glories of Mary by Saint Alphonsus Liguori​
See also, Bishop Schneider: Saints, doctors affirmed Mary as Co-Redemptrix, Mediatrix of All Graces
A Return to Tradition
“Lord, I am a daughter of the Church!”
- Holy Mother Saint Teresa of Avila
We are a Traditional Community of Discalced Carmelite Nuns who seek the greater honor and glory of God through the traditional practice and preservation of the Holy Order founded by Saint Teresa of Avila. We desire through the holy vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience to live a life of prayer, silence, and solitude for the salvation of souls. We hope by the will of God to build this new Traditional Carmelite Monastery where we may serve Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and Our Lady of Mount Carmel by observing the Rule of Carmel and the Constitution of Our Holy Mother Saint Teresa of Avila.
We remain ever faithful to the traditional Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and all traditional sacraments, teachings, discipline, dogma, and doctrine passed on to us by the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. We observe and recognize the legitimacy and supremacy of the Pope and the Office of the Papacy from apostolic times to the current pontificate.
We desire to build a new Traditional Carmelite Monastery under the autonomy of the traditional Discalced Carmelite Order founded Saint Teresa of Avila called The Order of the Blessed Virign Mary of Mount Carmel. Within our autonomous monastery, we make profession of perpetual solemn vows, which traditionally and historically have always been private vows within the Carmelite Order.
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We follow the Carmelite Rule, which is modeled after the life of Jesus Christ in the Gospels, and the Constitution written by Saint Teresa of Avila, which was greatly expounded upon in the 1581 Alcala Constitutions and later given greater approval by Pope John Paul II in 1990. We place our way of life under the protection of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, her Most Chaste Spouse Saint Joseph, Holy Mother Saint Teresa of Avila, and Holy Father Saint John of the Cross. We have special devotions to Our Lady Co-Redemptrix and Our Lady of Sorrows as Patroness of our future Carmel and chapel.
Our future monastery shall rely on traditional Catholic priests in union with Rome for the Holy Mass and sacraments, such as those of priestly societies and religious Orders within the Holy Roman Catholic Church who have full sacramental faculties and valid ordinations.
"It is Love alone that gives worth to all things."
-Holy Mother Saint Teresa of Avila
OUR LIFE AND SERVICE TO THE CHURCH
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Fully in communion with the Roman Catholic Church
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Dedication of a life of prayer and penance for the Pope, the Bishops and priests of the Universal Church, and the world.
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The Holy Eucharist is the Source and Summit of our Catholic Faith and our sole duty is to preserve and safeguard that Truth.
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Devotion to the Traditional Latin Mass and the 1962 Divine Office​
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Wear full, traditional Carmelite habit
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Hermetical life of Carmelite Spirituality
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Profession of Perpetual Vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience according to the Rules and Constitutions of Carmel
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Observe the Carmelite Rule and the Constitutions of Saint Teresa of Avila
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Unceasing Prayer for the Holy Souls in Purgatory and our Benefactors
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Complete trust in Divine Providence through the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts of Jesus and Mary. We rely on alms and in-kind donations ONLY through the generosity of the public
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Living a simple, quiet, prayerful lifestyle with zero-waste and farming sustainability
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Growth in a religious community based on familial values and charity for God and each other as Sisters in Christ.