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One day in the year 1888, the Prioress of Baltimore Carmel remarked at the community recreation,

“perhaps there will one day be a Carmel in Dubuque, Iowa.”

Those simple words became the “bud of a new direction” for Mary Elizabeth Nagle, a young postulant in the group and a native of Dubuque, Iowa.

Soon after that, Sister Clare began to work

towards bringing Carmel to the Midwest.

She pronounced her vows in Carmel on May 16, 1889, becoming known

as Sister Clare of the Blessed Sacrament.

A second midwesterner

from Deerfield, Minnesota, Anna

Heiker, pronounced her vows in Carmel,

May 4, 1893, receiving the name Sister

Aloysius of Our Lady of Good

Counsel.

Sister Clare and Sister Aloysius were

destined to work together in bringing about the foundation in Davenport, Iowa.

It was through the persistence of Joseph Nagle, Sister Clare’s brother, that Bishop James Davis agreed to welcome Carmelites from Baltimore into the diocese of Davenport.

Cardinal James Gibbons appointed

Mother Clare prioress of the new Carmel

and Mother Aloysius sub-prioress.

On the feast of St. Cecilia, November 22, 1911, Mother Clare, Mother Aloysius, sister Gertrude McCarthy, a native New

Yorker, and sister Gabriel, a novice who later left the Order, departed from Baltimore escourted by Mother Clare’s brother

and sister-in-law, Joseph and Elizabeth (Liz) Nagle.

They carried in their hearts the zeal of Elijah,

the faith of Our Lady of Mount

Carmel, the blazing spirit of

St.Teresa of Avila,

together with their own

pioneering spirit.

Arriving in Davenport the following day, November 23, 1911, they were met at the station by Fr. Garrett Nagle and taken to the little Queen Anne cottage on the corner of 15th and Brady.

The next day being the feast of the great Carmelite saint, John of the Cross, November 24, 1911, Holy Mass was offered by Father Garrett Nagle. This officially inaugurated the new monastery.

For three days, open house was held. Such great crowds, descended upon the sisters that there was fear that the floors would give way. When Bishop Davis began the solemn blessing

of the house and grounds, it was estimated that at least 5,000 had gathered to witness

the event.

The first contemplative monastery in Iowa was now a fact of history

Although Midnight Mass on Christmas was the first Mass, the dedication did not take place until February 11, 1913.

At the Sister’s request, the chapel became known as the Pater Noster

chapel, with its titular feast on Trinity Sunday. At the same time, the

monastery itself was named in honor of the holy prophet Elijah.

Later the monastery was renamed Regina Coeli, or Queen of heaven,

when the Sisters moved to Bettendorf, Iowa.

Unfortunately, 15th and Brady was less than ideal. The sisters were forced to look elsewhere for their third building. Driving along River Road one day

after another fruitless search, Mother Clare addressed her companion and motioned towards

Bettendorf:

“I feel as though there is a place for us among those

hills somewhere.”

Situated on a height of 691 feet overlooking the undulating waters of the mighty Mississippi River surrounded by woods and farmland, this was a perfect setting for a life of prayer far from the noise and bustle of the busy city.

On June 29, 1916, two automobiles drove the little community of nine to their new home in Bettendorf. Realizing that the vehicles would

never make it to the crest of the hill on 14th Street, the Sisters trudged up the perpendicular

incline with their luggage, all the while lamenting that horses were no longer at their

disposal.

The next day, which was the Feast of the Sacred Heart that year, the first Mass was

celebrated by Father N. Meinhardt.

Mother Clare did not live to see the brick wall erected. God called her

August 18, 1923, leaving

Mother Aloysius to guide the

community through good times and bad until her death April 24, 1955.

On the sister’s fifth anniversary of their arrival in Davenport, Friday, November 24, 1916,

Bishop Davis consecrated the monastery bells before they were hoisted into the bell tower. The large bell was

appropriately christened VOX DOMINI (the voice of God), and the small bell, PATER NOSTER

(Our Father).

When the sisters moved to Eldridge, the large bell moved with them where it found a welcome space in its

own tower overlooking the wide open spaces and verdant fields of

Iowa.

Later, the small Alleluia bell also found a home in

Eldridge.

Later, three new foundations were made from the Bettendorf Carmel, beginning 1922:

Indianapolis, Indiana;

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

(now in Pewaukee, Wisconsin);

and Sioux City, Iowa.

Because the physical resources of the remaining Sisters were taxed to the limit maintaining such a large building, a ten-acre piece of Farmland near Eldridge just north of Davenport, and a

fifteen minute drive from Bettendorf, was purchased.

The new building was ready for occupancy November 24, 1975, coinciding with the opening

date of the Davenport monastery in 1911. It seemed just the right thing for a small

community and a site which would allow for expansion.

The open farmlands teeming with corn, expanded the human spirit, and the rigors of the changing seasons served as Sister’s life of prayer.

One may ask what does it mean to be a Carmelite nun?

As the Carmelite Sisters of the Diocese of Davenport, Iowa enter

the 21st century, they know that the mission of Carmel continues to live

both in the Heartland and in the human heart.

It means to seek God with all one’s heart, and to be at peace.