On the 29th of March last at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, in Middletown (NY) the celebration took place of the 125th anniversary of the arrival of the Irish Carmelites in New York, an event which led to the establishment of the present North American Province of St. Elias (SEL). The celebrations began on the 28th of March with Solemn Vesper at which the Prior General, Fernando Millán Romeral, O.Carm. presided. On the 29th of March, the Mass of Thanksgiving was celebrated with the Archbishop of New York, Timothy Cardinal Dolan presiding, accompanied by the Prior General, the Councillor General for the Americas, Raul Maravi, O.Carm., the Provincial of the province of Saint Elias, Mario Esposito, O.Carm., the Provincial of the Irish province, Martin Kilmurray, O.Carm., the Provincial of the province of the Most Pure Heart of Mary, William Harry, O.Carm., the former provincials of this province still living, and many other religious and priests.

The Superiors General of the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm (CSAI), Mother M. Mark Louis Anne Randall, and of the Corpus Christi Carmelite Sisters, (CCC) Mother Petronilla Joseph, along with other religious and a large group of Carmelite lay people from different cities also took part, as did the local civil authority in Middletown.

In his homily, Cardinal Dolan thanked the Carmelites for their pastoral service in this local church, reminding us how the Carmelites have been working in different parishes and ministries with great generosity all this time. He likewise expressed his gratitude to the province of ireland for the missionary drive that gave birth to this province, which in turn has shown great missionary vitality in recent years, with its work in Vietnam and Trinidad.