The Carmelite Monastery of Cristo Rey was founded in 1927, after having left the spiritually war-torn nation of Mexico; leaving on October the 4th the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi not knowing that San Francisco would become their home.  The Nuns to settled down into the hilly city with the Golden Gate Bridge crossing the shiny bay and Fisherman’s Warf with the beautiful white foamed waterfront of the Pacific Ocean. The Nuns were able to resume their call to the cloister withdrawing from the world within a small oasis of prayer in one of the largest cities of America with the inflow of peoples of all cultures.  Here the Nuns live their quiet life of prayer and sacrifice for the salvation of all humanity.

The Carmelite Monastery of Cristo Rey belongs to the Western California-Arizona Province of St. Joseph, with additional states and the Carmelite Mission in Uganda, Africa.  Our Monastery is under the jurisdiction of Our Archbishop.  We became members of the St. Joseph’s Association in 2019 with the approval of the Holy See.  In this Association we found a strong love for the Teresian Charism during these challenging times of spiritual confusion.