• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Elizabeth Scalia
          • Michael R. Heinlein
          • Effie Caldarola
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Mark Viviano
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
        • CR Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
Sister Bridget of Holy Mystery, left, and Sister Kelly of the Child Jesus are new members of the Carmelite Monastery in Dulaney Valley. (Courtesy Carmelite Monastery)

Dulaney Valley monastery welcomes two Carmelites

June 14, 2023
By Sharon Crews Hare
Special to the Catholic Review
Filed Under: Feature, Local News, News, Vocations

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

Bridget Rickard first set foot in the Carmelite Monastery in Dulaney Valley on Pentecost Sunday in 2019. Her plan was to meet a friend, Sister Denise Lyon of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for Mass and then, discuss over breakfast a long-time “itch” she was exploring.

The Holy Spirit had a bigger plan.

Sister Bridget said the seed of a vocation was planted at St. Joan of Arc school in Boca Raton, Fla., where she grew up. (Courtesy Carmelite Monastery)

In March, following a year of postulancy, the 26-year-old woman became a novice, Sister Bridget of Holy Mystery, with the Carmelite Sisters of Baltimore.

Sister Bridget explained that the seed of a vocation had been planted many years ago by the Irish Sisters of Mercy who taught at St. Joan of Arc school in Boca Raton, Fla., where she grew up. But the seed has been watered and fed over the years by the joyful demeanor of several religious sisters.

“I don’t know what it is about nuns,” Sister Bridget said, “but there’s something in the joyful witness of them that absolutely pulls you in.”

That decision to meet her friend at the Carmelite Monastery brought about a surprise encounter with another Carmelite, Sister Constance FitzGerald.

“It was a light-bulb moment for me because in class we had read some of her writings,” Sister Bridget said. “I read the forward to one of her essays and it described her life in the community and there was something in me that thought ‘Isn’t that beautiful.’ So, in that moment, I guess to me, that was the beginning of my love story with God.”

In addition to Sister Bridget, Kelly Ulloque Romano, a native of Barranquilla, Colombia, has also recently joined the Carmelite Sisters of Baltimore. Known as Sister Kelly of the Child Jesus, she had lived in a Carmelite religious community in Bogotá, Colombia, for more than 20 years, but sought a more contemporary expression of contemplative life. The Dulaney Valley location where the Baltimore sisters reside was a perfect match because there were already Spanish-speaking sisters in the community.

Each Carmelite community is autonomous, explained Sister Cecilia of the Cosmic Christ, one of the newer members of the Baltimore monastery. The community focuses on a contemplative life centered around prayer and union with the heart of God, she said. In contrast to what many consider a life of solitude, the community focuses on a creative balance between solitude and communion with others.

Sister Kelly is happy to be part of the Carmelite community in Baltimore (Courtesy Carmelite Monastery)

“Our life is all about love,” Sister Bridget said. “We try, when we’re at our best, to be God’s midwives, bringing the love of God to others in skin form. I think we try it both for ourselves, and to walk with others as they discover the fire of God’s love.”

She pointed out that there is often a misconception about contemplative life, specifically about solitude, that it is private for oneself.

“I can appreciate how one comes to that,” Sister Bridget said, “but I don’t think that true solitude is ever for itself. It’s a means of communing with God and with the world.”  

With the addition of Sister Bridget and Sister Kelly, the Baltimore community now numbers 17. This summer, the community will be offering Monastic Experience, an opportunity to share with those who are seeking to know a little more about life in the community.

“Interested women can come for a day, a weekend, a week or up to six weeks,” Sister Cecilia explained. “We have a handful of applicants already, even one from Ireland.”

The schedule gives visitors an opportunity to experience the life of a religious sister, and to attend some classes that are being planned.

“You come and experience a little bit, and it gives them a little exposure,” Sister Cecilia said. “So maybe they’ll think, ‘I want to come back.’”

Information about Monastic Experience can be obtained by contacting the community by phone at 410-823-7415 or by email to info@baltimorecarmel.org.

Editor’s note: This story was updated June 15, 2023, at 2:58 p.m. to correct the spelling of names and to clarify information.

Read More Vocations

New York archdiocese sees hundreds of responses to ‘Called By Name’ program

Quo Vadis attracts biggest crowd ever, promotes camaraderie and faith

Study: Devotion to Mary has significant impact on discerning, sustaining vocations

Loyola University Maryland graduate ordained Jesuit priest

ordination 2025 baltimore

Excitement and pride abound at ordination of five priests for Archdiocese of Baltimore

Deacon O’Donnell’s ‘normal’ faith life led to priestly vocation

Copyright © 2023 Catholic Review Media

Print Print

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

Primary Sidebar

Sharon Crews Hare

Click here to view all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • The ‘both/and’ pope

  • Patrick Brice sentenced to home detention for attacks on elderly pro-life supporters

  • Statue of Confederate general known as anti-Catholic to be reinstalled in nation’s capital

  • Movie Review: ‘The Naked Gun’

  • Gun buyback exceeds expectations, previous totals

| Latest Local News |

Gun buyback exceeds expectations, previous totals

Radio Interview: The situation in Gaza with Catholic Near East Welfare Association

Patrick Brice sentenced to home detention for attacks on elderly pro-life supporters

Notre Dame of Maryland University joins with Milwaukee college to address teacher shortage

Sister Agnese Neumann dies at 95

| Latest World News |

For Gazans, the deep silence of hunger has replaced noise of daily life

Hope is knowing God is always ready to forgive, pope says at audience

Report: Christian church attacks down, but recent totals still higher than 2018-2022

Petition filed at Supreme Court seeks overturn of landmark same-sex marriage ruling

Head of Spanish political party criticizes Catholic Church’s defense of Muslim community

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • For Gazans, the deep silence of hunger has replaced noise of daily life
  • Hope is knowing God is always ready to forgive, pope says at audience
  • Images of Mary: Can we find the Blessed Mother in the Old Testament?
  • Report: Christian church attacks down, but recent totals still higher than 2018-2022
  • How public opinion can influence migration policies
  • Home viewing roundup: What’s available to stream and what’s on horizon
  • Petition filed at Supreme Court seeks overturn of landmark same-sex marriage ruling
  • Head of Spanish political party criticizes Catholic Church’s defense of Muslim community
  • At 80th anniversary Mass in Nagasaki, people urged to bring Christ’s love, peace to world

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2025 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

en Englishes Spanish
en en