Albert, called by God's favor to be Patriarch of the Church of Jerusalem, bids health in the Lord and the blessing of the Holy Spirit to his beloved sons in Christ, B. and the other hermits under obedience to him, who live near the spring on Mount Carmel.
Rule, chapter 1

Through the centuries the Holy Spirit has authored a wonderful variety of charisms in the establishment of religious orders and institutes of consecrated life, each serving as a school of holiness and enriching the beauty of the Face of Christ reflected in the Church. Among these schools of holiness, the Carmelites had their origins on Mt. Carmel near the Spring of Elijah, where at the very end of the Twelfth Century a group of lay men formed a community of hermits. The Fathers of the Church had always seen St. Elijah as the spiritual father of hermits; thus did these early brothers look to him as their spiritual father. Sometime between the years 1206 to 1214 these first Carmelites approached St. Albert, Patriarch of Jerusalem, who gave them a formula of life known today as the Rule of St. Albert, confirming them in their contemplative way of life. This Rule still governs Carmelite life today. An oratory was built in the midst of the cells and consecrated to Our Lady from which sprang Carmel's Marian tradition. Eventually there developed a Second Order for women and a Third Order for lay people, and the spiritual garden, which is Carmel, brought forth new fruit down the centuries as each succeeding generation enriched the whole Church. Sprouting from the roots of the great Carmelite Order at the dawn of the third millennium, the Carmelites of St. Joseph offer both clergy and laity an ancient yet ever new way of living in allegiance to Jesus Christ and faithfully serving him in a public association of the faithful.

The Carmelites of St. Joseph are a community of Carmelite brothers founded by his Excellency, Bishop Bernard J. Harrington of the Diocese of Winona. The brothers strive to live the contemplative aspect of the Carmelite charism. This entails a life of liturgical and contemplative prayer, study of Sacred Scripture, manual labor and communal fraternity. We are a Public Association of the Faithful seeking formal affiliation with the international Order of Carmelites (O. Carm.). Our Hermitage has been located on the grounds of Queen of Angels Church, Austin Minnesota, since June, 2001.