About the Association
The “St. Joseph’s Association”, erected by the Holy See, is a structure of communion between several autonomous Discalced Carmelite Monasteries so that, in sharing the same charism these associated Monasteries collaborate among themselves according to these Statutes approved by the Holy See.
For over four centuries, the Magisterium of the Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, has upheld the authenticity of the charism of our Holy Mother St. Teresa of Jesus, Doctor of the Church, who founded a religious family dedicated to a wholly contemplative life of prayer, sacrifice, solitude and separation from the world in imitation of Christ alone upon the mountain, communing with His Father (cf. Lumen Gentium, nn. 45 and 46). The Association of Discalced Carmelite Nuns under the patronage of St. Joseph, desires to bear faithful witness to this form of contemplative life within the Church and to the continuing validity of St. Teresa’s charism as expressed, first of all, in her shining example of holiness, in the renewed way of life she established in Carmel, and in all of her writings.
The ”St. Joseph’s Association”, erected by the Holy See, is a structure of communion between several autonomous Discalced Carmelite Monasteries so that, in sharing the same charism these associated Monasteries collaborate among themselves according to these Statutes approved by the Holy See. The member Monasteries also promote contemplative life by sharing an affinity of spirit in keeping with the distinct charism of St. Teresa of Jesus. (cf. Cor Orans nn. 8, 92)
The communion among the Monasteries of the Association is drawn from the inspiration of our Holy Mother St. Teresa of Jesus who was called by the Lord to found, firstly in the tiny Monastery of San José de Avila, a renewed form of contemplative life within the Order of Carmel.
She established a “sisterly style” of life (cf. Foundations, 13 n. 5), in small Communities of Nuns, under the watchful care of Our Lady and St. Joseph where the Lord Jesus would be pleased to dwell in our midst (cf. Life, 32 n. 11).
By the express will of our Holy Mother, prayer is the “foundation” of our Monasteries where each Sister strives to become a “good friend of Jesus” (cf. Way of Perfection 1 n. 2). The ideal of Community life in the Monastery that she proposes is based on the Christian virtues, especially the love we have for one another, whereby “all must be friends, all must be loved, all must be held dear, all must be helped” (cf. Ibid. 4 n. 7). In this manner, each Community would truly form a little “Colegio de Cristo” (cf. Ibid. 13 n. 5 footnote 2). The members of the “St. Joseph’s Association” fully embrace this charismatic vision of our Holy Mother for the renewal of Carmel. The way of Community life that she proposes for our individual Monasteries, we desire to cultivate among our associated Monasteries under the watchful care of Our Lady and St. Joseph, where loving friendship with Christ reigns supreme among ourselves, for the good of the Church and especially her priests.
—From the Statutes of St Joseph’s Association
History of St. Joseph’s Association
In 1950 with the publication of his Apostolic Constitution, Sponsa Christi, Pope Pius XII strongly recommended that contemplative Nuns form bonds of communion and mutual support among themselves. These “bonds” were referred to as “Federations” and “Associations.” However, it was only in the early 1970’s that this idea of the Holy See began to be seriously considered among the Carmels in the United States. This was the period following the Second Vatican Council: a time of grace and renewal called for by the Church to all members of Religious Institutes. In Carmel, there were differing ideas as to the meaning of “renewal.” As a result, Associations were formed according to the similarity of ideas embraced by individual Carmels.
The Saint Joseph’s Association was officially erected in 1976 by four Carmels that had as their ideal Our Holy Mother St. Teresa’s charismatic vision of a renewed Carmelite life. That is: a life of unceasing prayer with the apostolic purpose of prayer for the Church and the world, a small Community of Sisters, governed by the Primitive Rule of Carmel and the Constitutions, and radically withdrawn from the world by means of the cloister. The original Statutes of the Association were approved by a Decree of the Holy See on December 14th 1976 for a period ad experimentum of seven years. These Statutes, barely three pages long with fourteen brief articles, organized our Association as a very simple structure of sisterly communion among the member Monasteries.
With the passage of time, other like-minded Carmels joined the Association, so that by 1994 the small beginning had grown to include fourteen Carmels. After a long delay due to the drafting and approval of two new sets of Constitutions for the Nuns in 1990 and 1991, the Statutes were also finally approved by the Holy See on March 12th 1994. One of the unique features of the St. Joseph’s Association is that it has among its membership Carmels from both sets of Constitutions. We see in this reality a remarkable point of unity within the Order of Carmel.
We strive to maintain this through our mutual support of each other and of our cherished charism; our efforts to live in loving communion with our Brothers in the Order, particularly our Superior General, the Father and Head of our Teresian family; and our striving to obey our Holy Mother the Church by faithfully implementing her directives regarding our life.
After the promulgation of the Apostolic Constitution of Pope Francis, Vultum Dei Quaerere, 2016, and the Instruction of the Congregation, Cor Orans in 2018, the Association was completely reorganized. New Statutes were drafted to implement the new legislation of the Church, our first Association Assembly was held in 2019 during which the Association President and Council were elected, and draft Statutes were finalized after we had received invaluable assistance from our higher superiors and they were reviewed by all the delegates. The Statutes were submitted to the Holy See in July of 2019 with a request for approval ad experimentum for five years. The Congregation for Institutes for Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life approved them on September 30, 2019.
During this period, the membership of the Association also underwent a major “reorganization.” Three member Monasteries joined another Association, two Carmels are still in the transfer process, three Carmels have joined our ranks, and two other Monasteries (Philadelphia and Erie) have been closed. Currently, the Saint Joseph’s Association numbers ten Monasteries, gratefully united in a Teresian spirit of sisterly communion and support. We fervently pray that St. Joseph keep us always in his fatherly care.
Holy Mother, St. Teresa, look down from Heaven and see;
visit this vine and protect what your right hand has planted.
“In the heart of the Church, my mother, I will be love.”
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux
Our Religious Assistant,
Rev. Stephen F. Watson of the Cross, OCD
The Religious Assistant for the Saint Joseph’s Association, Rev. Stephen F. Watson of the Cross, OCD, is a native of Baltimore, Maryland and entered the California-Arizona Province of the Order in 1977, directly from a ranch in Wyoming where he had been working as a cowboy off and on since his high school years. He attributes to his years on the ranch a “life changing experience” that helped to lead him to discover his vocation to religious life and the priesthood. During time spent in Mexico as a student of anthropology, he discovered Our Holy Father St. John of the Cross, through whose writings he rediscovered his faith and found his call to Carmel.
Father made his first profession of vows in 1978, completed his studies at Santa Clara University and the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley. He was ordained on June 16, 1984. He has served in many different assignments in the province, has served at pastor in two of the province’s parishes, and as student master for two years. He served the province as Provincial Superior from 1999 until 2003 and from 2014-2017. At the General Chapter of the Order in 2003, he was elected to the General Definitory as the English-speaking Definitor, an office which he found to be an extremely enriching experience for him, as he grew to know many communities of friars and nuns worldwide.
After his term on the General Definitory, he was assigned to the province’s mission in Uganda and served as its superior for two years. After completing his last term as provincial, he was assigned as pastor at Santa Cruz parish in Tucson, Arizona, where he serves at present.
Father is well known for his interest in Our Holy Mother’s great collaborator and dear son, Jerome Gracián, calling him “a measure for my living the Teresian Carmelite vocation as a friar.” He has dedicated himself to making him and his significant collaboration in Our Holy Mother’s work better known, for he is convinced of its great importance. Father says, “If we are to fully understand and appreciate our charism, we must know about Father Jerome Gracián and his relationship to St. Teresa.” To this end, he translated Gracián’s Peregrinación de Anastasio into English. This is the first translation of his full-length autobiography into any foreign language. It is now available from ICS Publications.
In 2019, at our first Association Assembly after the promulgation of Vultum Dei quaerere and Cor Orans, Father was one of the friars who received nomination from our communities to serve as our Religious Assistant. After considering the opinions of the communities and discussing them in our Council, his name was placed on the terna that we sent in to Rome that summer. On November 9, the Dicastery named him as our Religious Assistant.
Considering that Father has multiple important responsibilities in the Diocese of Tucson in addition to his duties at Santa Cruz, he is very selfless in his service and availability to us as the representative of the Holy See to the Association. He has personally lived out these words of his dear Jerome Gracián: “God is so desirous of the holiness of His spouses that it is never a waste of time to help them.” His Sisters in Carmel and in the Association are deeply grateful to our Fr. Stephen for the wise and fatherly assistance he consistently offers us. Ad Multos Annos, dear Father!