Christoval Carmelite nuns leave monastery after 35 years. What is next for the site?
The Carmelite nuns have left their home at a Christoval monastery after 35 years.
“For decades, the Carmelite sisters have carried out a contemplative life of prayer and work at Our Lady of Grace Monastery, a peaceful, secluded property tucked away in the Schleicher County desert,” Bishop Michael J. Sis of the Diocese of San Angelo said.
Sister Mary Grace Erl, Order of the Carmelites, and Sister Mary Michael Merlinger, Order of the Carmelites, came to the Diocese of San Angelo in 1989 from Wahpeton, North Dakota, upon the invitation of Bishop Michael Pfiefer.
Our Lady of Grace Monastery in Christoval, Texas.
“Their first residence here was near St. Margaret of Scotland Parish in a neighborhood of San Angelo, but they desired a place with more solitude,” Sis said.
When a tornado damaged their property in San Angelo, former NFL player Pierce Holt and his wife Deana donated an acreage of ranchland outside of Christoval that became the monastery.
Donors pitched in to build the compound in the Spanish colonial mission architectural style.
Sister Mary Grace Erl (left) and Sister Mary Michael Merlinger left their home at a Christoval monastery after 35 years.
“Since the founding community decided to close the Christoval monastery, Sister Mary Grace and Sister Mary Michael chose to move to the Carmel of St. Therese in the Diocese of Allentown, Pennsylvania,” Sis said. “That monastery was the original foundation of their order in the United States.
“The future of the beautiful monastery in Christoval will ultimately be determined by their superior general in Rome, since their religious order is a worldwide community of pontifical rite.”
A going-away Mass and reception were held for them at Christ the King Retreat Center in San Angelo on Nov. 22. They officially left on Dec. 16.
The monastery in Christoval is sitting empty since the Carmelite nuns left in December, but hopes are that another Catholic religious community will use it.
“The departure of our Carmelite sisters is a tremendous loss for us,” Sis said. “Their presence has been a tremendous spiritual benefit to our local community for so many years because they prayed for everybody.
“We are encouraged by their promise to continue praying for us from their new home in Pennsylvania. We grew fond of these sisters over the years. We have a great hope that we will find another Catholic religious community to come and utilize this monastery in Christoval, so that it may continue to be an oasis of prayer for the people of West Texas.”
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This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: Carmelite sisters leave monastery in Christoval after 35 years
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