Our Lady of Confidence (Carmelite monastery for women)

About Our Lady of Confidence Carmelite Monastery

Our Lady of Confidence is a cloistered monastery of the Discalced Order of Carmelites (O.C.D.) located at 11 West Back Street in Savannah, Georgia. The community was founded in 1958 by nuns sent from the Philadelphia Carmel at the invitation of Bishop Thomas J. McDonough. The monastery overlooks the Forest River and today numbers eight professed members. The nuns live a strict contemplative life of prayer, work, and silence in the spirit of St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross, offering their lives in prayer for priests, deacons, seminarians, the Church, and all humanity.

History of the Monastery

The community traces its origin to October 15, 1957 — the feast of St. Teresa of Avila — when Bishop Thomas J. McDonough formally invited nuns from the Philadelphia Carmel to make a new foundation in the Diocese of Savannah. The first sisters arrived on June 4, 1958, and entered the monastery later that year. For decades the community lived behind grates in strict enclosure; after the Second Vatican Council, the grilles and veils were removed. In August 2010, the monastery suffered a fire that the nuns themselves helped fight with hoses and buckets before firefighters arrived. In 2023, Bishop Stephen D. Parkes publicly addressed the monastery's ongoing discernment with the Discalced Carmelite Order following an official visitation conducted under the Holy See's 2018 instruction Cor orans.

• Founded 1958 from the Philadelphia Carmel
• Invitation issued October 15, 1957 (feast of St. Teresa of Avila)
• Nuns arrived in Savannah June 4, 1958
• 2010 fire at the monastery, contained by the nuns
• 2023 statement by Bishop Stephen D. Parkes on the monastery's future under Cor orans

Charism: A Life of Prayer

The community's stated charism is prayer. Following the vision of St. Teresa of Avila, the nuns give themselves totally in prayer for the needs of the Church, and in particular for priests. As the monastery explains, they are not called to moments of prayer but to a life of prayer, which is their principal contribution to the Church and their witness to the world. Their intercessory prayer covers four explicit intentions: priests, deacons, and seminarians; the needs of the Church; the people of the Diocese of Savannah; and the people of the world.

• Prayer for priests, deacons, and seminarians
• Prayer for the needs of the Church
• Prayer for the people of the Diocese of Savannah
• Prayer for the people of the world

Prayer Requests

The nuns welcome prayer requests from anyone, by regular mail at the monastery's address or through the online form on the monastery's website. Each intention is added to the community's ongoing prayer, joining the wider intentions of the Church and the world.

• Submit a prayer request online at carmelofsavannah.org
• Or mail requests to: Our Lady of Confidence Carmelite Monastery, 11 West Back Street, Savannah, GA 31419

The Priests, Deacons, and Seminarians We Pray For

The community maintains a particular focus on praying for the clergy of the Diocese of Savannah. Their website describes the joy of praying and sacrificing for priests, seminarians, deacons, and missionaries so that they will be faithful, courageous, and saintly as they lead souls to Christ. The community also notes that, since its founding in 1958, the number of diocesan priests in the Diocese of Savannah has grown by approximately 200%, a statistic the sisters cite as a source of gratitude and encouragement.

• Bishop Stephen D. Parkes, Bishop of Savannah (ordained September 23, 2020)
• The priests of the Diocese of Savannah
• Permanent deacons serving the diocese
• Seminarians preparing for ordination

Daily Life in the Monastery

The nuns follow a contemplative schedule centered on the Eucharist and the Divine Office. According to the community's directory listings, their day revolves around Holy Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours (begun with the Office of Readings), together with about two hours of mental prayer and the manual labor of the house. As Discalced Carmelites, they observe a strict papal enclosure and the full Carmelite liturgical life in the spirit of St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, and St. Thérèse of Lisieux.

• Daily conventual Mass
• Divine Office (Liturgy of the Hours) prayed in common six times a day
• Approximately two hours of daily mental prayer
• Manual labor and work of the house
• Stability of cloistered enclosure

Vocations and Formation

The monastery welcomes women who feel called to the Discalced Carmelite contemplative life. According to the community's published directory entry, candidates are practicing Catholics who are physically and psychologically balanced, ordinarily between the ages of 20 and 40. Formation proceeds through aspirancy, one year of postulancy, three years of novitiate, and solemn vows. Later vocations are sometimes accepted on an individual basis.

• Qualifications: practicing Catholic, physically and psychologically balanced
• Age range: 20–40 (later vocations considered individually)
• Formation stages: Aspirancy → one year Postulancy → three years Novitiate → Solemn Vows

Contact and Visit

As a cloistered community, the nuns do not maintain public Mass, confession, or adoration schedules; their liturgical life is internal. Faithful wishing to support the community or submit prayer intentions may do so by mail, telephone, or email through the Prioress, Mother Mary Elizabeth Angaine, O.C.D.

• Mother Mary Elizabeth Angaine, O.C.D.
• Address: 11 West Back Street, Savannah, GA 31419
• Phone: (912) 925-8505
• Email: [email protected]
• Website: carmelofsavannah.org

Recent News: Cor orans and the Monastery

In 2023, on the Memorial of St. Joseph the Worker, the Most Reverend Stephen D. Parkes, Bishop of Savannah, issued a public statement regarding the status of Our Lady of Confidence. He recounted that in 1957 Bishop McDonough had invited the Philadelphia Carmelites to Savannah, that they had blessed the diocese for 65 years, and that in 2018 the Holy See's instruction Cor orans set new norms for contemplative monasteries worldwide. After an official visitation by the Discalced Carmelite Order, the local sisters entered into discussion and discernment with the Order's leaders regarding the monastery's future, and Bishop Parkes asked the faithful to join him in prayer for the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

• Cor orans (2018): Holy See instruction on contemplative monasteries
• Official Discalced Carmelite visitation of Our Lady of Confidence
• Bishop Stephen D. Parkes' 2023 statement on the discernment process