The Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm

Venerable Mary Angeline Teresa McCrory spent her early years in Northern Ireland and Scotland and after entering and professing vows with the Little Sisters of the Poor in France, was assigned to homes in America. She developed a great love for the American people and wished to care for them according to living standards in the United States. When this was not possible within the Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Poor, with the guidance and assistance of Patrick Cardinal Hayes of New York, she and six other Sisters began the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm on September 3, 1929 in an empty rectory in Upper Manhattan, New York.

The Sisters now sponsor, co-sponsor or serve in 20 facilities in the United States and one in Dublin, Ireland. In Carmelite homes, Sisters and staff alike seek to carry out Mother Angeline’s philosophy of care.  She stressed the dignity and worth of every older person and the need to provide more than an up to date facility. In her words we must bring Christ to every older person, “giving them his compassion, his interest, his loving care, his warmth morning noon and night.  It means inspiring the way people who work with us to give the same type of loving care.”  This is summed up in the Carmelite Sisters’ slogan “The difference is love” and their core values of Hospitality, Compassion, Sanctity of Life and Shared Commitment.

In 1959 the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm were invited by Most Rev Coleman Carroll to take over the former Lake Court Hotel on Flagler Drive in West Palm Beach. Lourdes Residence was dedicated in 1961, and later when that facility could no longer serve the residents adequately, Mrs. John McKeen generously donated to rebuild on the same site.  The new Lourdes-Noreen McKeen Residence for Geriatric Care was dedicated on December 14, 1980.  Next door the Sisters also administered The 210 room Pennsylvania Retirement Hotel, opened in 1965, which served seasonal and year-round guests.  When the hotel model became obsolete, the building was demolished, and a tower was built on the same site which offers independent living at McKeen Towers, assisted living at Lourdes Pavilion, as well as skilled nursing at Lourdes-Noreen McKeen Residence. The total campus serves 251 residents.