Dear friends, We wish you: Merry Christmas, and a Holy Year 2026! All our gratitude for the past year! Our friendship, and the assurance of our prayers accompany you throughout this year 2026! Your Carmelite Sisters of Carmel du Pater Noster, Jerusalem Our Circulary in French:

Carmel of the Pater Noster – November 3, 2025             On November 3, 2025, our community at Carmel of the Pater Noster had the great joy of welcoming the Prioresses of the Contemplative Sisters of the Holy Land to our monastery for their biannual meeting.             This moment of fraternal and spiritual communion brought together, in an atmosphere of prayer and sharing, several contemplative communities present in the Holy Land. Representing Carmel were the Prioresses o

On the 15 th  of October, our community joyfully celebrated the feast of Our Mother Saint Teresa of Jesus, in the presence of the Consul General in Jerusalem, Mr. Nicolas Kassianides, and in the midst of a moment filled with hope. A few days earlier, the ceasefire of October 10 had rekindled in the hearts of all, near and far, the fragile but real breath of peace. In this Jubilee Year of Hope, Carmel, which devotes its life to prayer for the Church and for the world, celebrat

Dear friends, From our Carmelite monastery of the Pater Noster, on the Mount of Olives, the moment has come to break a rather long silence of a few months. For us, as for many, this time has been marked by uncertainty, pain and prayerful waiting. The night seemed long! But at the very heart of this darkness, hope appeared! Fragile, certainly, but in reality the Lord invites us to believe in what Saint Paul tells us: ‘hope does not disappoint’, because it is rooted in the One

The Solemnity of Our Lady of Mount Carmel went well!                Blessed be the Lord!                 We give thanks to God for this time spent in community and with our neighbors, on this mountain of the Mount of Olives: Monsignor Nicolas, Father Luciano of the “Silent Workers of the Cross”, the Benedictine Sisters and the other religious communities around us.               Many thanks to all those who thought of us from near and far, to all those who prayed for us! Spec

Dear friends, From our Carmelite monastery of the Pater Noster, on the Mount of Olives, the moment has come to break a rather long silence of a few months. For us, as for many, this time has been marked by uncertainty, pain and prayerful waiting. The night seemed long! But at the very heart of this darkness, hope appeared! Fragile, certainly, but in reality the Lord invites us to believe in what Saint Paul tells us: ‘hope does not disappoint’, because it is rooted in the One

Rejoice, Jerusalem, and all who love her. Be joyful, all who were in mourning; exult and be satisfied at her consoling breast. (cf. Is 66:10-11) Opening Antiphon             On this 4th Sunday of Lent the Church invites us to rejoice! We are now at the midway point in our journey towards Easter. On this 4th Sunday the colour of the priest's vestment changes from its penitential purple to a lighter, rose-coloured one. This underlines both the road we have already travelled thi

There are several communities of consecrated Religious living on the Mount of Olives, and we have had the joy of meeting together during this current Jubilee Year.                The first time we met together was on the 1st of January, in order to pray for peace; especially peace in this country where we all live, and which has thus become our home. A country which has been so horribly torn by war for more than a year, but which is now on the threshold of a hope for a 'cease

“The earth has yielded its fruit; God, our God, blesses us” (Ps 66:7) While the Jewish calendar marks the succession of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and Simchat Torah, and while the Holy Land is painfully torn apart by a war that has now lasted more than a year, the Lord's faithfulness remains and time continues to pass: summer gives way to autumn, and the olive harvest season has arrived. “The earth has yielded its fruit; God, our God, blesses us!” (Ps 66:7)           

Le 15 octobre, l’Église fête Sainte Thérèse d’Avila ; cette grande solennité du Carmel est aussi pour nous, ici au carmel du Pater, l’occasion d’une messe consulaire.          Monsieur Nicolas Kassianides, consul général de France à Jérusalem, était donc présent, le 15 octobre dernier, à notre messe présidée par Dom Patrick, de l’abbaye de Latroun, entouré de quelques pères blancs (nos fidèles aumôniers), dominicains, carme, prêtres diocésains, avec une assemblée qui dessinai

JERUSALEM - On Sunday, October 6th, 2024, at the Pater Noster Carmel on the Mount of Olives, H.B. Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa presided over a Mass at which Sister Marie Madeleine of the Merciful Heart of Jesus made her solemn profession.  Concelebrating were several priests from the Latin Patriarchate, including Fr. Bernard Poggi, as well as various members from surrounding communities. The celebration was also attended by several religious sisters and brothers, expressi

The Carmelite Sisters of Carmel of Pater Noster are delighted to invite you to the Solemn Profession of Sr. Marie Madeleine of the Merciful Heart of Jesus Virginie Borner Presided over by His Beatitude Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem In the Chapel of Carmel of the Pater Noster Mount of Olives On Sunday, October 6th, 2024, at 10 a.m.

On May 8th, we had the joy of the blessing of the renovated rooms in the hosting zone of our Carmel monastery. These rooms are intended for guests and retreatants, our volunteer friends and our families too.          The renovation work was completed some time ago, but we had to wait for the favourable time. And the favourable time came on May 8th! It was the time of salvation, since all of us - Christians in the Holy Land – were in Easter season since the previous Sunday.   

On Sunday, April 28th (Easter season), religious communities of the Mount of Olives, gathered to pray for peace. We first attended Holy Mass in the Our Father Church of Carmel monastery at 3 pm, and then shared a glass of friendship on the terrace of our Benedictine neighbours, overlooking the city of Jerusalem, before praying Vespers in their chapel at 5 pm.      We were almost forty to gather together. The Holy Mass was presided by Mgr Natale Albino, the Delegation's deputy

Happy Easter! Dear Families, benefactors, Volunteers and Friends of our Carmel in Jerusalem We would like to share with you the homily of our Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa on Easter Sunday. It echoes with our daily reality here: our suffering, our Faith, and our joy in the Hope of the resurrection even in our daily life. Extracts of the homily of our Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa on Easter Sunday In this terrible time, marked by so much violence in o

On this first Lent Sunday, the Church invited us to follow Jesus into the desert. The Gospel tells us that this occurs immediately after Jesus’s baptism, when the Spirit leads Him into the desert so he may be tempted…        We began the Holy Mass celebration, joyfully and faithfully singing: “Lord, with Thee we shall go to the desert…”, not forgetting that this desert truly exists in our own lives.     For our Sister Anne of Jesus, this was first and foremost the day she ans

The Carmelite Sisters of Carmel of Pater Noster on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem are delighted to announce the First Profession of Sister Anne of Jesus in the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel on February 18th, 2024, the first Sunday of Lent. During Mass, at 11 a.m. In the meantime, we wish you a “Happy Lent”! May this long journey of 40 days purify, renew, and bring peace to all of us in our world so that we may receive the joy and peace of Easter! Your Car

“May the Lord bless you and keep you! May the Lord make his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! May the Lord turn his face toward you, and give you peace!” (Num. 6:22, 27) This is the wish that the Church offers us at the beginning of each year with the first reading of today's liturgy! It is also what we wish for one another at the beginning of this New Year! On this new day of this new year, while war and hostilities continue as yesterday, in our country, in the af