Fr. Paschasius Heriz of Our Lady of Mount Carmel was originally a member of the province of Navarre in Spain. He served as a missionary for some sixteen years in India before being sent to the United States to take part in the foundation of Washington. He was chosen for this ministry because he had learned to speak English while a missionary in Quilon, South India. (“The Early Years of the Washington Monastery and Province, Personal Recollections of Thomas Kilduff, O.C.D.”)

It has been recorded (Carmel Clarion, July-September 2012, Vol 28, No. 3) that Fr. Heriz along with Fr. Joseph Mary Isasi and Br. Peter Thomas were the original founders of the Washington Community of Discalced Carmelite Friars from the Spanish Catalonian Province. The first Mass of the newly formed Washington Community was celebrated in 1916.

In 1920, Fr. Paschasius was appointed vicar of the community. Fr. Thomas Kilduff recorded in his memoirs that he first met Fr. Paschasius in Washington, DC in 1927 when Thomas entered the Carmelite Order. At that time, Fr. Paschasius was Novice Master but as the years passed, he would also serve the order as subprior and then prior of the house. Fr. Paschasius died in 1936 and is buried at St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery in Washington, DC.