HISTORY OF THE CARMEL OF THE INFANT JESUS IN MARKHAM

Mother Therese, the Belgian foundress of the Hong Kong Carmel, arrived at Canton, China with her 3 nuns from Belgium in 1931. They left for Hong Kong in 1933 and the Carmel at Hong Kong's Stanley Bay was built.

In 1990, a lady named Sauking wrote a letter to Hong Kong Carmel about her desire to have a new Carmel in Canada . In the 1980s, the new Chinese community in Toronto had already made a similar request. Carmel 's friends in Hong Kong also made the same suggestion. In answer to their prayers, in 1990, some Carmelites came to Toronto to assess the feasibility of the new foundation.

In early 1992, a potential benefactor pledged to support the new foundation. The search for a suitable property in Toronto began. We found a property at 58 Chatelaine Drive , in a quiet section of Markham . Although the house was small, it was ideal because of its location at that time, and it had a big backyard for the cloistered contemplative life.