Sr. Margaret Mary, O.Carm (the second from left to right),

Our Community joyfully celebrated the 65th Anniversary of our Foundation in Wahpeton on November 1, 2019. Seven Sisters left their beloved monastery in Allentown, PA to establish a Carmelite Monastery in the Fargo diocese, at the invitation of Archbishop Muench (later Cardinal) and Bishop Dworschak.
This took place in the Marian Year of 1954. The bishops had desired a special tribute to Our Lady to mark the year and considered it eminently fulfilled with the establishment of our Carmel of Mary.
The bishops also desired a public shrine and pilgrimages to honor Mary. The Shrine of Our Lady of the Prairies was constructed and the first pilgrimage was held in 1957. It has continued every August since then.
When we numbered 22 Sisters we sent out a Foundation to San Angelo, Texas. One by one our original Sisters from Allentown went to our Eternal Home except Sr. Imelda, 90 years old, who is at our Texas Carmel.