SALT LAKE CITY — In preparation for this year’s Carmelite Fair, organizers have launched an effort called “Tuesday Basket Preview.” Each Tuesday, the Carmelites’ Facebook page previews a basket that will be available at the fair’s silent auction.The annual Carmelite Fair is a primary revenue source for the Carmel of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Monastery in Salt Lake City, which houses a community of Discalced Carmelite nuns. The fair is normally held on the third Sunday in September (this year it is scheduled for Sept. 20) from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. A 5K fun run that starts and ends at the monastery begins at 8 a.m. The fair offers live entertainment, children’s games, vender booths and live and silent auctions. 
Another event that helps the nuns is a golf tournament that this year will take place on Aug. 29.
In 1222 Pope Honorius III officially recognized the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel. According to the history of the order, the feminine branch of the Carmelites was begun in 1492 by Blessed John Soreth, General of the Order. 
“Saint Teresa of Jesus, impelled both by mystical graces and by the spiritual needs of her time, founded in 1562 a first monastery in Avila, Spain, from which she initiated the Reform of the Carmelite Order. Aided by the mystical Doctor of the Church, Saint John of the Cross, Saint Teresa succeeded in introducing the Reform among the Carmelite Fathers. From Spain, the monasteries of nuns spread to France, then to Belgium and finally to America in Maryland in 1790. Subsequently this reform, known as the Discalced Carmelites, has monasteries in every part of the world, including Salt Lake City, Utah, USA,” reads in the monastery web page.
Since 1952 the Carmel of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Monastery has brought the Carmelite life and Apostolate to Salt Lake City. 
All are invited to attend the fair, and to visit the monastery’s Facebook page every Tuesday to view another basket that will be up for bid.