By Robert Medley
Managing Editor
On a rolling, rural acreage surrounded by decades-old cedar trees that are clumped together along County Line Road near Piedmont, a monastery has opened to a new church.
The former Catholic Carmelite Monastery is now a new monastery of The Georgian Orthodox Church. The new monastery is named St. James-New Studion Monastery at 20000 N. County Line Road in Piedmont.
The location is on the east side of County Line Road near N.W. 192.
In a Nov. 28, 2020 Facebook post, Bishop Saba Intskirveli announced the opening and visited the grounds.
It is on about 40-acres with another 80-acres next to it.
“This used to be a Carmelite Monastery. We have transformed it into an Orthodox Monastery and Orthodox Church. There still is a lot to be done,” Intskirveli said on his Facebook page. The building is 48,000 square feet and was built in 1985.
Intskirveli is the Ruling Bishop of Georgian Diocese in North America at Georgian Apostolic Orthodox Church, according to his social media post.
“It is very beautifully lit with natural light,” Inskirveli said. The monastery was the former home of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns. The Nuns came to Oklahoma at the request of Bishop Francis Clement Kelley in 1938. On October 28, 1985, the Nuns moved from northwest Oklahoma City to a more remote location on County Line Road, on the Oklahoma County side of the Oklahoma and Canadian counties border.
The chapel was dedicated on March 19, 1986, the feast of St. Joseph, and the next day the monastery was blessed, according to the Discalced Carmelite Nuns website.
