Tucked in a quiet area of Lake Elmo, surrounded by acres of natural beauty, sits the Carmelite Monastery. It is home to nuns of the Carmel of Our Lady of Divine Providence, cloistered members of the Discalced Carmelite Order, who a live a contemplative life.
Their mission and ministry is prayer and sacrifice for the needs of the Church and the world. The nuns make solemn vows of obedience, poverty, and chastity and observe strict enclosure in order to foster their life of prayer and contemplation. Theirs is a life of solitude, silence, and sacrifice, modeled on the life of our Blessed Mother.
Changing Needs Require Physical Upgrades
“Our monastery, which was built in the early 1950s, included a modest two-room infirmary on the first floor. Now, over seventy years later, we have several elderly sisters who require first-floor living arrangements,” explain the nuns. “Since our monastery is without an elevator, we decided — after much prayerful discernment — to build onto the original infirmary to provide more space to care for our elderly sisters.”
For guidance, they called upon McGough Construction. The firm has a long history of working with the Carmelite Sisters — they assisted in acquiring the current land and constructing the original monastery in the 1950s. Leo B. McGough personally oversaw care of the building for decades, and McGough Construction has donated time and money to help support the mission of the Sisters, ever since their arrival in the Archdiocese.
Former director of marketing at McGough Construction Colleen McGough-Wood notes that the renovation project included two key components. The first included the expansion of the infirmary area, so as to provide each elderly sister with her own private cell, as well as access to ADA-compliant bathrooms and shower rooms. The second phase created a newer, larger, common gathering space and a new deck where the infirm sisters can enjoy fresh air and sunshine. Colleen says the firm aimed to make sure the addition blends into the original architecture of the monastery.
The Carmelite nuns received Archbishop Hebda’s permission to start the project, despite not having the funds to pay for the work. “Along with us, the Archbishop trusted that Our Lady of Divine Providence, for whom our monastery is named, would provide for us the funds we need,” the Mother Prioress explains.
Upon learning about the funding gap for the construction project, CCF distributed a grant from the President’s Fund to seed support. Still, the Carmel is about $300,000 short and currently unable to make final payments on the project.
Although they are unseen for the most part, the Carmel of Lake Elmo’s impact on the world is significant.
“The McGough company and the McGough family have relied on the sisters’ deep faith and prayer life to help us through many of life’s difficulties,” says Colleen. “They have always been our first phone call when any need arises. They are true prayer warriors and have had a significant impact on our lives. The world is better because of them.”