St. Teresa’s Monastery and Church The Holy Face Shrine blessing and visit of the Superior General of the order The opening of the St. Teresa’s Monastery Ernakulum at the beginning of the twentieth century was a path breaking event in the history of Indian Carmel. It was due to the great vision of Msgr. Bernard Arguinzoniz, Archbishop of Verapoly and of the two provincials of Navarra Province, Fr Ezequiel, future Superior General of the Order and Fr.Valentin, future Archbishop of Santiago of Cuba. The seven members of the Navarra province in Spain who left Europe to dedicate themselves to regular Carmelite life in India and they settled in Ernakulum in 1902. Venerable Fr. John Vincent who was already in India as a missionary and who was enthusiastic about this foundation of the regular life. He was entrusted to build the church and the monastery. The foundation stone of the Church was laid on 27th August 1902 and the church