Thursday, July 16, 2026
🕊️ Monthly Novena for the 25th Day
A Simple Family Devotion Honoring the Birth of Jesus
From the Raccolta
JULY 16 Thursday Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Luke, Chapter 1, Verse 50
His mercy is from age
to age to those who FEAR him.
We are to rejoice just as
Mary did in her Canticle of Praise when she entered the house of Zechariah.
“My soul
proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior. For
he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages
call me blessed. The Mighty One has done great things for me, and
holy is his name. His mercy is from age to age to those who fear
him. He has shown might with his arm, dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart.
He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly. The
hungry he has filled with good things; the rich he has sent away empty. He
has helped Israel his servant, remembering his mercy, according to
his promise to our fathers, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
As I understand it what has
been done in the past and in the future continues forever rippling through time
and space from “age to age”. If this is the case let us follow Mary’s example
and develop in ourselves Holy fear through her virtues of: humility,
generosity, chastity, patience, self-control and of course love. Happiness is a
choice; just as love is. We either decide to be happy or we do not.
No amount of money or
material things will bring us joy, no amount of pleasure or power either. Mary
knew that true happiness comes from God’s mercy. That is a choice too. God’s
mercy is given to those who fear Him and then in turn honor the gift of
love. We in order to accept the gift of mercy must be open to receive. We make
a choice.
Copilot’s Take
“His mercy is from age to age.”
Mary’s proclamation in the Magnificat is not merely a poetic flourish but a revelation of how God acts in the world. Mercy is not a momentary gesture but a continuum, a field that stretches across every generation. Just as physicists describe spacetime as a single fabric in which every event leaves its imprint, Scripture describes mercy as a divine fabric in which every act of grace continues to ripple outward. Nothing God forgives is ever undone, and nothing God loves ever falls out of His sight. Mercy is not an episode; it is the atmosphere of God’s presence.
Mary stands within that
atmosphere as its perfect receiver. Her holy fear is not trembling but
alignment—an interior truthfulness that places her entirely within God’s
reality. The Catechism calls fear of the Lord the beginning of wisdom because
it is the virtue that orients the human person toward what is real rather than
toward the illusions of pride. Holy fear is the soul’s gravitational pull
toward God. It is the recognition that God is God and we are His creatures, and
that this truth is not restrictive but freeing. Mary’s fear opens the door
through which mercy enters history.
Her virtues reveal how that
door remains open. Humility, generosity, chastity, patience, self‑control, and
love are not simply moral behaviors; they are the conditions of receptivity.
They make the soul porous to grace. They clear away the debris of arrogance and
self‑assertion so that mercy can flow unobstructed. When Mary sings that God
has “lifted up the lowly” and “filled the hungry with good things,” she is
describing what happens when a human life becomes open to the continuum of
divine mercy.
Happiness, too, is part of
that continuum. It is not an emotional accident but a participation in God’s
mercy. It arises when the soul chooses alignment rather than resistance. Wealth
cannot align the heart. Pleasure cannot align it. Power cannot align it. Only
virtue can. Only holy fear can. Only love can. Mary’s joy is not
circumstantial; it is structural. It is the fruit of living inside the truth of
God’s mercy rather than outside it.
To confront evil, the Church
teaches that we begin not with aggression but with fidelity. Evil enters when
the creature refuses to live in truth before God, and holy fear restores that
truth. Fortitude sustains it. Mercy protects it. Mary, Our Lady of Mount
Carmel, embodies the soul that confronts evil by remaining aligned with God.
Carmel is the mountain where Elijah stood before the living God, where Mary is
honored as the one who received the Word, and where the Carmelite tradition
teaches that the soul becomes flame only when it is stripped of everything that
blocks divine light.
Thus “age to age” becomes
not merely a phrase but a horizon. Mercy is the fire, holy fear the wick,
virtue the oil, and love the flame. Every generation, every personal season,
every spiritual age of the human heart is invited to enter that continuum. Mary
shows that the choice to receive mercy is the choice to live in truth, to
cultivate virtue, and to allow God’s love to become the defining field of our
existence. Happiness, holiness, and courage all begin with that single
decision—to stand where Mary stands, aligned with the God whose mercy never
ceases to ripple through time.
Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel[2]
THE Church celebrates on this day the feast of the
Scapular of Mount Carmel. The scapular, which derives its name from the Latin
word scapula’s, meaning shoulders, is a dress which covers the shoulders. It is
mentioned in the rule of St. Benedict as worn by monks over their other dress
when they were at work, and it now forms a regular part of the religious dress
in the old Orders. But it is best known among Catholics as the name of two
little pieces of cloth worn out of devotion to the Blessed Virgin over the
shoulders, under the ordinary garb, and connected by strings. The devotion of
the scapular, now almost universal in the Catholic Church, began with the
Carmelites. The history of its origin is as follows: During the thirteenth
century the Carmelite Order suffered great persecution, and on July 16, 1251,
while St. Simon Stock, then general of the Order, was at prayer, the Blessed
Virgin appeared to him, holding in her hand a scapular. Giving it to the saint,
she said,” Receive, my dear son, this scapular of thy Order, as the distinctive
sign of my confraternity, and the mark of the privilege which I have obtained
for thee and the children of Carmel. It is a sign of salvation, a safeguard in
danger, and a special pledge of peace and protection till the end of time.”
“Whosoever dies wearing this shall be preserved from eternal flames.” It is
much to be wished that people should everywhere join this confraternity, for
the honor of Mary and for the salvation of souls, by a life fitted to that end.
In order to have a share in the merits of the sodality every member must:
Shun sin, and, according to his
state of life, lives chastely.
Say every day, if possible, seven
times, Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be to the Father.
Strive to serve God by venerating
Mary and imitating her virtues.
These rules, it is true, are not binding under penalty of sin, but the breach
of them deprives us of all merit; and is not this something to be taken into
account? “He who soweth sparingly shall also reap sparingly.” (n. Cor. ix. 6).
Things to
Do[3]
If you have not already done so, have a
priest enroll you in the
Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, or popularly known as the "Brown
Scapular" and begin wearing it as a sign of your love for Our Lady.
Wearing the Brown Scapular is not an
automatic guarantee of salvation. It is not a magical charm, nor is it an
excuse to live in a way contrary to the teachings of the Church. (see Catechism,
no. 1670.)
See the Directory
on Popular Piety the
Brown Scapular is included in the document as a wonderful pious practice.
The history of Marian piety also includes "devotion" to various
scapulars, the most common of which is devotion to the Scapular of Our Lady of
Mount Carmel. Its use is truly universal and, undoubtedly, it is one of those
pious practices which the Council described as "recommended by the
Magisterium throughout the centuries."
Pope John Paul II has worn the scapular for a long time. See the Holy Father's talk on the Scapular of Carmel, A Treasure for the Church.
For the definitive treatment on the brown
scapular, read The Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel: Catechesis and Ritual.
The Blessed Virgin's scapular should
remind us that Christians have an apostolate against current extremes and
extravagances in modes of dress. Clothes are a symbol of the person. Like the
Christian heart, dress must be chaste and simple, for one judges the interior
from the exterior. It should not be necessary to add that special attention be
given this matter when preparing for church attendance. Examine yourself on how
well you reflect Christian modesty in your dress and if you are a parent, how
well you ensure that your children are modestly dressed.
In New York City in East
Harlem is one of the oldest festivals in America for Our Lady of Mount
Carmel. See Our
Lady of Mount Carmel Shrine of East Harlem – since 1881. Also Williamsburg in Brooklyn, NY
annually holds the Festival of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and St. Paulinus of Nola
(Festa Del Giglio). It is unique to see a scene that one would expect in Europe
unfolding on the street of a major East coast city. You can view a You Tube
clip right here. Also look around your area for Italian
parishes, maybe one named after Our Lady of Mount Carmel? Many times, the
parish will host wonderful festivals in her honor.
Watch this You Tube
video to learn more about devotion to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.
From the Catholic Culture library, the
Scapular Devotion, a description of Different
Kinds of Scapulars, The
Brown Scapular and information on the
Scapular Medal.
Learn more about St.
Simon Stock and the Brown Scapular.
Scapulars and Medals[4]
Medals
have been part of Catholic life since the early centuries of the Church. The
most popular is the cross; even Protestants wear crosses minus the corpus while
Catholics wear a crucifix. It is also noted that in the miraculous image of Our
Lady of Guadalupe she is wearing a cross about her neck. We wear scapulars,
too, which are mini habits of the religious orders. Pope John Paul II said that
the scapular is a powerful precisely because it is a “habit” in every sense of
the word, both a uniform and a pattern of good belief and good behavior. Since
1910, Catholics have been permitted to wear a scapular medal in place of a
cloth scapular.
Mount Carmel Coffee[5]
This coffee ice is cool
and refreshing for this summer feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
DIRECTIONS
Stir the sugar into the
warm water until it is melted and add the lemon juice, stirring for about five
minutes. Add the coffee, strain, place in a freezing tray, and freeze, stirring
frequently, until it becomes a mush.
INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups warm water
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 cups strong coffee
Serve the ice slush in
glasses, topping the glasses of ice with any of the following:
whipped cream (add
vanilla, sugar, almond extract, etc.)
liqueurs (Amaretto,
Kahlua, Baileys, etc.)
chocolate curls or
small pieces
candied citrus peel
Pray for our Nation.
Apollo
11[1] (July 16–24, 1969) was the
American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon.
Commander Neil
Armstrong and
Lunar Module Pilot Buzz
Aldrin landed the Apollo
Lunar Module Eagle on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, and Armstrong became the first
person to step onto the Moon's surface six hours and 39 minutes later, on July
21 at 02:56 UTC. Aldrin joined him 19 minutes later, and they spent about two
and a quarter hours together exploring the site they had named Tranquility Base upon landing. Armstrong and Aldrin
collected 47.5 pounds (21.5 kg) of lunar material to bring back to Earth
as pilot Michael
Collins flew the Command
Module Columbia
in lunar
orbit, and were on
the Moon's surface for 21 hours, 36 minutes before lifting off to rejoin Columbia.
Around the Corner
Thursday Feast
Thursday
is the day of the week that our Lord gave himself up for consumption. Thursday
commemorates the last supper. Some theologians believe after Sunday Thursday is
the holiest day of the week. We should then try to make this day special by
making a visit to the blessed sacrament chapel, Mass or even stopping by the
grave of a loved one. Why not plan to count the blessing of the week and thank
our Lord. Plan a special meal. Be at Peace.
According to Mary Agreda[6] in
her visions it was on a Thursday at six o'clock in the evening and at the
approach of night that the Angel Gabriel approached and announced her as Mother
of God and she gave her fiat.
Note from Rachel
My Mother was born in Natick, MA and my aunts lived in a brown stone
house in Charlestown.
Boston's 15
Most Iconic Drinks
New England clam chowder
Boston baked beans
Cod fish cakes
Lobster mac and cheese
Boston cream pie
Best Places to
Visit in July[7]
Boston, Massachusetts
I personally think Boston is an extra special travel
spot in July as it hosts the fabulous Summer Pops Concerts and breathtaking
Fourth of July fireworks over the River Charles.
These are connected to Harbor fest,
a week-long celebration of the city’s unique maritime history that kicks off on Independence Day.
When here, I recommend chilling out on one of the
fantastic city beaches, grabbing a picnic and a bottle of wine, enjoying
Shakespeare on the common, or watching an outdoor movie under the stars.
Boston has beautiful parks, fantastic architecture
(both old and new) and a splendid esplanade, perfect for romantic summer
strolls and plenty of picnics.
I also love the excellent food and craft beer scene,
the al fresco dining options, harbor cruises, and the incredible whale-watching
opportunities (May to October).
Visitor’s
Center Address: 139 Tremont Street Boston, MA 02111
Average
temperature in Boston in July – 82 degrees
My highlights…
Hopping on a boat
tour, sailing around Boston, and viewing the spectacular city differently.
Sunbathing along
the Boston Beach at the main waterfront.
Watching the Red
Sox at Fenway Park!
Foodie-Maltese
Bragioli
Eat it while watching the “Maltese Falcon” and
a red wine
Meekness is stronger than Belligerence
Let
Freedom Ring Day 10
In common usage, a belligerent
person is one who looks for and pursues reasons to stir trouble and engage in
violent revenge. The father of belligerence is none other than he who fomented
the first ever revolution against God: the devil.
Bucket List Trip: “The World” next port of call: La
Valletta, Malta
Spirit Hour: Today is National Cherry
Day-have a Kirshwasser
Watch
Oppenheimer-National
Atomic Veterans Day
In the event of a nuclear attack get under a desk, cover
your head with your hands; while putting your head between your knees and kiss
your ass goodbye!
do
a personal eucharistic stations of the cross.
Eat your
Spinach-National
Spinach Day
Daily
Devotions
Unite
in the work of the Porters of St.
Joseph by joining them in fasting: For
the Poor and Suffering
Litany
of the Most Precious
Blood of Jesus
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
Rosary
[2] Goffine’s Devout Instructions, 1896
[4] Hahn, Scott, Signs of
Life; 40 Catholic Customs and their biblical roots. Chap. 36 Scapulars and
Medals.
[6] Venerable Mary of Agreda. The Mystical City of God:
Complete Edition Containing all Four Volumes with Illustrations (p. 770).
Veritatis Splendor Publications. Kindle Edition
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