Centenary 2022

The Melbourne Foundation was established on 22 September 1922 when ten nuns left Sydney on 21 September, travelling by train to arrive in Melbourne on 22 September. They were met at Spencer Street Station by the Estate Agent, Mr Ernest Williams and his family, and driven to their first home in Mason Street, Hawthorn.

As this property was inadequate when numbers grew a permanent Monastery, the Carmel of St Joseph and St Therese as we know today, was built in nearby Kew and the first Mass celebrated on 29 April 1929. This Public Chapel is the Australian National Shrine to St Therese of Lisieux, who was to be canonised on 17 May that same year. Since that time, regular daily Mass has been celebrated at the Monastery.

In 1997, St Therese of Lisieux was honoured with the title Doctor of the Universal Church by Pope St John Paul II, who described her as a “woman whose feminine genius grasped the Gospels in a manner that was practical, experienced and wise; her hidden life which was fruitful for the Church and world testified to the beauty of the contemplative life as the total dedication to Christ.”

Artwork by the Carmelite Community

Featuring original works of art by members and friends of the Carmelite Monastery, where their masterpieces have graced the walls of the cloister, reproduced in Calendar and Mass booklets, posters and more.