The Discalced Carmelite Sisters, who have lived and prayed at their monastery on Newburg Road since 1952, have moved to the Ursuline Motherhouse on Lexington Road.
The sisters sold their monastery property, located at 1740 Newburg Road, to the Archdiocese of Louisville in late December for $1 million. An announcement from the archdiocese said the property, which is adjacent to Calvary Cemetery, would become part of the cemetery’s “land and facilities.”
The sisters announced in a statement in late May of 2015 that they planned to move from their Monastery of Mary Immaculate and St. Joseph on Newburg Road.
“The decision comes after months of dialogue and discernment and with special concern for the health of the sisters,” the statement said.
“The community currently has eight members. Although arrangements for the transition are still being made, and no date has been set, the transition is expected to be finalized within the year.”
The statement said the nuns would “continue their ministry in a new context.”
The sisters made the move in August and announced in late November that their altar bread ministry — providing Communion bread to parishes — will continue.
The Carmelites came to Louisville in 1930 from Philadelphia at the invitation of then-Bishop of Louisville John A. Floersh. The bishop’s sister was one of the five sisters who established the contemplative community here.
Their first monastery was in a home at the corner of Sixth Street and Park Avenue. In 1952, the community’s 14 nuns moved to their newly built monastery on Newburg Road. The statement said that the monastery — designed for 21 nuns — was built on land donated by the archdiocese with the support of the Carmel Club.
The Carmelite Sisters’ new mailing address is 3115 Lexington Road, Louisville, Ky., 40206-3061.
