Carmelite Monastery and Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

The monastery building was erected in the mid-18th century next to the pilgrimage church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Kostelní Vydří, to ensure the daily presence of priests for the pilgrims. However, unfavorable societal conditions at the time (the Enlightenment and the reign of Emperor Joseph II) prevented the arrival of religious orders. It is believed that Discalced Carmelites might have taken residence.

In fact, it wasn't until 1908 that the service at the Marian shrine was entrusted to a religious community. The church’s patron, Baron Bedřich Dalberg of Dačice, invited Carmelites from Austria to take over the spiritual administration of the church and the parish. Initially, a community of German-speaking friars lived and served here. From 1921 until World War II, there were only one or at most two Czech Carmelite priests, as there were not yet more Carmelites of Czech origin. When the post-war period seemed more promising, the rise of the communist regime crushed those hopes.

Following the dissolution of the local community of three priests in 1950, only one – Fr. Melichar Karásek – was allowed to remain in Kostelní Vydří. He died in 1985. After that, Carmelites – the last surviving member of the original trio, Fr. Metoděj Minařík, and those secretly admitted to the order – came only as pilgrims.

After the political changes of 1989, the bishop of Brno returned the administration of the pilgrimage site, the parish, and the monastery to the Carmelites in July 1990 – to a new community of brothers led by Prior Fr. Cyril Vojtěch Kodet. At present, under the leadership of Prior Fr. Václav Brož, the community consists of four additional brothers: Fr. Gorazd Pavel Cetkovský, Fr. Norbert J. Žuška, Fr. Serafim J. Smejkal, and Br. Pavel Slováček. A shop of the Carmelite Publishing House is also part of the site.

Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

The local estate was purchased in 1694 by G. J. Butz of Rolsberg. At that time, tales were already being told of strange lights appearing around a wayside shrine on the hill above the village. On the advice of a priest and member of the Discalced Carmelite Order, F. K. Slawata, Baron Butz had a chapel built on this site and placed an image of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in it.

The further development of this pilgrimage site was influenced by the baron’s son, Matěj Jindřich Butz, who rebuilt the chapel less than thirty years later. His sons supported the growth of the pilgrimages and building activities. Gradually, the monastery building, the church nave, cloisters, and a surrounding wall with three gates were constructed. The church itself was built between 1787 and 1789.

To commemorate the 200th anniversary of the pilgrimage site, the brothers – the aforementioned sons Josef Ignác and Jan Matěj – had the entire church decorated with paintings featuring Marian and Carmelite themes. The church contains pews and confessionals. From the older furnishings, a baptismal font, a pulpit, and two side altars dedicated to the Holy Cross and St. John of Nepomuk have been preserved. After the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council, an ambo and an altar facing the people were added.