Tuesday, July 14, 2026-Bastille Day

July 06, 2026

Tuesday, July 14, 2026-Bastille Day

JULY 14 Tuesday Seventh Week of Pentecost

St. Kateri Tekakwitha-Bastille Day-Grand Marnier Day

Isaiah, Chapter 7, Verse 3-6

Then the LORD said to Isaiah: Go out to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway to the fuller’s field, and say to him: Take care you remain calm and do not FEAR; do not let your courage fail before these two stumps of smoldering brands, the blazing anger of Rezin and the Arameans and of the son of Remaliah— because Aram, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has planned evil against you. They say, “Let us go up against Judah, tear it apart, make it our own by force, and appoint the son of Tabeel king there.

These verses contain a series of oracles and narratives, all closely related to the Syro-Ephraimite war of 735–732 B.C. Several passages feature three children whose symbolic names refer to the Lord’s purposes: Shear-jashub, Emmanuel, and Maher-shalal-hash-baz. Judah and its Davidic dynasty should trust God’s promises and not fear the combined armies of Israel and Syria; within a very short time these two enemy states will be destroyed, and David’s dynasty will continue. Human plans contrary to those of the Lord are doomed to frustration.[1]

Syro-Ephraimite War[2] took place in the 8th century BC, when the Neo-Assyrian Empire was a great regional power. The tributary nations of Syria (often called Aram) and the Kingdom of Israel (often called Ephraim because of the main tribe) decided to break away. The Kingdom of Judah, ruled by King Ahaz, refused to join the coalition. In 735 BC Syria, under Rezin, and Israel, under Pekah, attempted to depose Ahaz through an invasion. Judah was being defeated and, according to 2 Chronicles, lost 120,000 troops in just one day. Many significant officials were killed, including the king's son. Many others were taken away as slaves. During the invasion, the Philistines and Edomites were taking advantage of the situation and raiding towns and villages in Judah. Ahaz asked Tiglath-Pileser III of Assyria for help. The Assyrians defended Judah, conquering Israel, Syria, and the Philistines, but the post-war alliance only brought more trouble for the king of Judah. Ahaz had to pay tribute to Tiglath-Pileser III with treasures from the Temple in Jerusalem and the royal treasury. He also built idols of Assyrian gods in Judah to find favor with his new ally.

Isaiah tells King Ahaz that the invasion will be unsuccessful and tells him to ask God for a sign. Ahaz refuses, claiming he does not want to test God. Isaiah then announces that God himself will choose the sign:

A young woman shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse evil and choose the good. For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted.— Isaiah 7:14-16

Isaiah 8 details another prophecy about a child by the name of Maher-shalal-hash-baz (Hebrew: מַהֵר שָׁלָל חָשׁ בַּז "Hurry to the spoils!" or "He has made haste to the plunder!"). Isaiah then explains that the significance of this name is that before this child can speak, Assyria will plunder both Syria and Ephraim. Isaiah concludes these prophecies concerning his children, Shear-Jashub (meaning "the remnant shall return"), Immanuel (meaning "God with us"), and Maher-shalal-hash-baz, by saying,

Here am I, and the children the LORD has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion.— Isaiah 8:18

The context continues into chapter 9 which also uses the birth of a child as its object.

Copilot’s Take

July 14 carries a double resonance: the memorial of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, the lily of the Mohawks, and Bastille Day, the storming of a fortress that symbolized tyranny and the birth of a restless modern nation. Into this day steps Isaiah, confronting King Ahaz at the conduit of the upper pool, the place where leaders go when fear begins to dictate their decisions. The prophet arrives with his son Shear‑jashub, whose very name is a quiet proclamation: “A remnant shall return.” Isaiah’s opening word cuts through every century of political anxiety and national upheaval: “Take care you remain calm and do not fear.” The Catechism teaches that hope is the virtue by which one confidently expects God’s help in every trial (CCC 1817), and Isaiah is summoning that hope in the face of encroaching armies.

The enemies of Judah—Rezin of Aram and Pekah of Ephraim—appear overwhelming, yet God names them with divine irony: “two stumps of smoldering brands.” What terrifies human eyes is already fading in the eyes of heaven. Evil often presents itself as a roaring fire, but Isaiah reveals its true nature: burnt‑out wood, noisy but powerless. Bastille Day echoes this paradox. The Bastille was a symbol of oppression, yet its fall unleashed forces that would later devour their own children. Human revolutions, like ancient coalitions, often burn hot and fast, but their flames do not endure. Isaiah teaches that fear misreads the battlefield; God alone sees the true scale of danger.

Ahaz refuses to trust the Lord, and his refusal is cloaked in religious language: “I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.” Isaiah exposes the truth—this is not reverence but resistance. Fear has already driven Ahaz toward Assyria, toward alliances that will corrupt worship and enslave the nation. The Catechism warns that idolatry begins whenever security is placed in anything other than God (CCC 2113). Political strategies become spiritual betrayals when they are rooted in fear rather than faith. Ahaz’s heart is already divided, and divided hearts always seek false saviors.

In response, God offers a sign that overturns every expectation: a child. Not an army, not a treaty, not a diplomatic triumph—a child. “A young woman shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Vulnerability becomes the vessel of divine strength. Isaiah’s children—Shear‑jashub, Immanuel, and Maher‑shalal‑hash‑baz—form a living liturgy of God’s intentions. One promises a remnant, one promises presence, one promises the downfall of the plunderer. Their names are like vineyard rows planted in faith, each destined to bear fruit in its appointed season.

Bastille Day, viewed through Isaiah’s lens, becomes a meditation on the spiritual posture of nations. France confronts its own smoldering brands: ideological extremism, secular tension, cultural fragmentation, and the temptation to trust in political saviors rather than spiritual renewal. The question is the same one posed to Ahaz: Will fear drive the nation toward alliances, policies, or cultural compromises that erode the soul? Or will courage be rooted in something deeper than the shifting winds of politics? The Christian conviction is clear—Immanuel remains the only enduring safeguard of any people. Nations rise and fall, but the presence of Christ is the true fortress.

Thus July 14 becomes a day to contemplate the remnant, the presence, and the plunderer. Shear‑jashub calls attention to the faithful who endure in every land. Immanuel proclaims that God is with His people even in secular republics and turbulent histories. Maher‑shalal‑hash‑baz reminds that the plans of those who seek violence collapse before they mature. The Catechism affirms that fear is conquered not by human strength but by trust in divine providence (CCC 2090). Isaiah’s message is not merely historical; it is perennial. Every confrontation with evil—whether ancient or modern—is ultimately answered not by fear, but by fidelity.

St. Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-1680).

Kateri was born in 1656 near the town of Auriesville, New York, the daughter of a Mohawk warrior. She was baptized by Jesuit missionary Fr. Jacques de Lambertville on Easter of 1676 at the age of twenty. She devoted her life to prayer, penitential practices, and the care of the sick and aged in Caughnawaga near Montreal (where her relics are now enshrined). She incurred the hostility of her tribe because of her faith. She was devoted to the Eucharist, and to Jesus Crucified, and was called the "Lily of the Mohawks." She died in 1680 and was beatified June 22, 1980, and canonized on October 21, 2012—the first native American to be declared "Blessed" and "Saint."
—Excerpted from Magnificat, July 2003

Bastille Day[3]

Today, July 14, is Bastille Day, the commemoration of the revolution that brought down France’s Ancien Régime and led to the establishment of a new order that promised to totally refashion society. Unlike the American Revolution, which was fought to conserve rights and maintain political order, the French Revolution destroyed the fabric of French society. No aspect of human life was untouched. The Committee of Public Safety – influenced by Rousseau – claimed that to convert the oppressed French nation to democracy, “you must entirely refashion a people whom you wish to make free, destroy its’ prejudices, alter its habits, limit its necessities, root up its vices, purify its desires.” To achieve this end, the new rational state, whose primary ideological plank was that the sovereignty of “the people” is unlimited, attempted to eliminate French traditions, norms, and religious beliefs.

The revolutionary governing bodies were particularly determined to destroy every vestige of the Roman Catholic Church because France was hailed by Rome as the Church’s “eldest daughter” and the monarch had dedicated “our person, our state, our crown and our subjects” to the Blessed Virgin. The Constituent Assembly began the campaign against the Church by stating in the Declaration of the Rights of Man, “nobody or individual may exercise any authority which does not proceed directly from the nation.” In other words, the Church could no longer have any say in public matters. The secular state would now have the final word over every aspect of human and social life.

Next, the government abrogated the 1516 Concordat that defined France’s relationship with the Vicar of Christ. Financial and diplomatic relations with the papacy ceased. In the name of freedom, all monastic vows were suspended and in February 1790, legislation was approved to suppress the monasteries and confiscate their properties. The Civil Constitution of the Clergy, passed on July 12, 1790, decreed that the priesthood was a civil body and all bishops and priests were to be selected by the people and paid by the state.

The pope was to have no say in the matter. In addition, clerics had to swear an oath of loyalty to the French Constitution. Dissidents had to resign their ministries, and many were prosecuted as criminals. Lay Catholics loyal to the pope were treated as rebels and traitors. With only four out of 135 bishops taking the oath in 1791, the more radical Legislative Assembly ordered additional sanctions against the Church. All religious congregations were suppressed and wearing clerical garb was forbidden.

Priests loyal to the papacy were automatically guilty of “fanaticism” and sentenced to ten years imprisonment. Processions were forbidden; crucifixes and religious artifacts were stripped out of churches. Government priests were granted freedom to marry, divorce was permissible, and marriage became a civil procedure.

Also, education, managed for centuries by the Church, was nationalized. To further de-Christianize France, a new civil religion was introduced – patriotism. The Gregorian calendar was eliminated and replaced with names related to nature. To abolish Sunday worship, months were rearranged to contain three “weeks” of ten days apiece, thus designating every tenth day for rest.

Catholic holy days were replaced with national holidays and civic days of worship. The “Cult of Great Men” (i.e., Rousseau) replaced the veneration of saints. The use of the word “saint” was forbidden. “There should be no more public and national worship but that of Liberty and Holy Equality,” declared the revolutionary government. Every city and village were ordered to erect an “altar to the fatherland” and to conduct July “Federation Month” patriotic rites.

The Feast of Nature was observed in August and the Cult of Reason was celebrated at Paris’ Civic Temple, formerly the Cathedral of Notre Dame. A female dancer was crowned as the Goddess of Reason and performed for the assembly. In 1794, the deistic cult of the Supreme Being replaced the atheistic adoration of reason. At the first public worship, the self-declared high priest, Robespierre, pronounced in his homily, “the idea of the Supreme Being and the soul’s immortality is a continuous summons to justice and consequently social and republican.”

Despite all the efforts of the missionaries of terror, the Church was not stamped out of existence. The heroism of the thousands of martyred bishops, priests, and religious inspired millions of the faithful and caused a spiritual renascence in France during the nineteenth century. The notorious political rogue and excommunicated bishop of Autun, the Prince de Talleyrand, reviewing that terrible period of persecution, conceded, “Regardless of my own part in this affair, I readily admit that the Civil Constitution of the Clergy . . . was perhaps the greatest political mistake of the Assembly, quite apart from the dreadful crimes which flowed there from.” General of the Republic, Henri Clarke, agreed. In a report to the government in 1796, he wrote, “Our revolution, so far as religion is concerned, has proved a complete failure.

France has become once more Roman Catholic, and we may be on the point of needing the pope himself in order to enlist clerical support for the Revolution.” The French ideologues learned, as did their barbaric heirs in the twentieth century, that every effort to destroy the Church and eliminate the faithful fails. As Christ Himself promised: “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

“Therefore, do not be afraid of them. Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.

Bastille Day-the other story[4]

Bastille Day marks the anniversary of the attacks on the French prison of Bastille, a symbol of King Louis XVI's power. On July 14, 1789, a group of Parisian revolutionaries attacked the Bastille looking for gun powder to go with the rifles they had recently stolen from the Invalides. The revolutionaries stormed the prison, defeating the soldiers and bringing victory to the common people of France. This event marked the beginning of the French Revolution, the defeat of a monarchy and the birth of a republic as King Louis XVI was beheaded by use of a guillotine on July 21, 1793, in front of a crowd of Parisians. The anniversary of this attack is now the French National holiday and is observed on July 14th each year.

Bastille Day Facts & Quotes

The French Revolution was brought about partially due to the unequal class system found in France during the late 1700s. The Catholic clergy held the highest position, next came Louis XVI and his court, and lastly were the general population. Without the benefit of being born into a higher class, the general population had almost no hope of ever improving their station in life.

Louis XVI's spending at Versailles and his financial support of the American Revolutionary War against the British, placed France in severe economic crisis. The general population was starving while King Louis XVI was building a great navy and continuing his lavish lifestyle in Versailles.

The French flag consists of blue; white and red. White was the color of the Monarchy and red and blue represented Paris. During the Revolution, the white was surrounded by blue and then red.

A revolution can be neither made nor stopped. The only thing that can be done is for one of several of its children to give it a direction by dint of victories. - Napoleon Bonaparte

Bastille Day Top Events and Things to Do

Watch the Fireworks at the Eiffel Tower. They usually start around 11pm and can be viewed from the Champs de Mars and Trocadero.

Attend a French military parade.

Visit a French national museum as most is free to visit on Bastille Day or visit a local firehouse in France - they are open to the public on this holiday.

Watch a movie or a documentary about the French Revolution. Our picks: The French Revolution (2005), Jefferson in Paris (1995), Marie Antoinette (2006), Danton (1983) and That Night in Varennes (1982)

Go out to a French Restaurant. Many have specials for this day.

Grand Marnier Day[5]

Grand Marnier Day celebrates this innovative adult beverage and all of the wonderful ways it can be used. Grand Marnier was the labor of love of Louis-Alexandre Marnier Lapostolle, founder of the Grand Marnier brand. His ambition to blend together Haitian tropical oranges with traditional Cognac out of France was seen as entirely unexpected during its time, but that didn’t deter him at all. Since then his family name has risen to mean quality and innovation in the liquor industry and maintains a position of distinction among connoisseurs. Nothing but the highest quality Cognac is used in the creation of Grand Marnier, specifically the Ugni Blanc grapes from within the Cognac region of France. The grapes are double distilled in copper stills to bring out the richest aromas and delicious flavor profile. The same Cognac has been sourced since the creation of Grand Marnier in 1880. Since their first release, they’ve continued to release other groundbreaking liquors including their Cordon Jaune, produced with a neutral grain spirit instead of Cognac, and their Cuvee du Centenaire, a limited release made with 25-year-old Cognacs.

How to Celebrate Grand Marnier Day

The best way to celebrate Grand Marnier Day is to try out a few of the mixed drinks that can be made with it and indulge in its rich succulent flavors.

Why not start off with a Marnier & Bubbles! All you need to do is mix Grand Marnier with Champagne or another French sparkling white wine. The proportions are 1 ounce of Grand Marnier and 4 ounces of sparkling white wine. Then, for a splash of color, add a cherry.

Or you can mix up a Grand Marnier-Ita. Simply mix 2 parts Tequila with 1-part juice of lime and mix it up. Pour it into a cocktail glass through a strainer with ice, and then add some lime wheels to finish it off.

Litany of Trust

“From the fear that evil is stronger than Your providence, deliver me, Jesus.”

There are days when the world feels like Judah standing before the armies of Aram and Ephraim—outnumbered, outmaneuvered, and outmatched. The threats seem larger than life, the dangers louder than truth, and the future more fragile than hope. Isaiah’s words to Ahaz echo across the centuries: “Take care you remain calm and do not fear.” God names the enemies not as unstoppable forces but as smoldering brands, already burning themselves out. The Catechism teaches that trust in God’s providence is not passive resignation but a living confidence in His fatherly care (CCC 2090). Fear distorts that truth; faith restores it.

Bastille Day carries its own reminder of how quickly human fear can ignite revolutions, topple structures, and unleash forces that later consume their makers. The storming of the Bastille was a cry for freedom, yet it opened a chapter of violence that revealed how fragile human solutions are when they are not rooted in God. Isaiah’s prophecy stands as a counter‑revolution: God does not save by force, but by presence. He does not send an army; He sends a child. Immanuel. God‑with‑us. The sign of victory is not power but nearness.

There is a temptation to believe that evil advances faster than grace, that the world’s fires burn hotter than God’s protection, that the threats surrounding nations, families, and hearts are too great to withstand. But Isaiah teaches that what looks overwhelming is already fading. The plunderer moves quickly, yet God moves sovereignly. The Kingdom is not secured by human strength but by divine fidelity. Fear whispers that danger is ultimate; faith answers that God is.

Lord, deliver me from the fear that evil is stronger than Your providence. Deliver me from the anxiety that rises when I see the world’s smoldering brands and forget Your sovereignty. Deliver me from the instinct to grasp for control when You ask for trust. Deliver me from the belief that chaos can overturn Your promises. Deliver me from the dread that mistakes, failures, or enemies can undo what You have willed.

Jesus, teach me to see threats as You see them—limited, temporary, already burning themselves out. Teach me to believe that Your presence is the true fortress. Teach me to rest in the truth that You govern history with a wisdom deeper than human strategy. Teach me to trust that Your signs often come in smallness: a child, a remnant, a whisper of hope. Teach me to stand firm when fear urges retreat.

From the fear that evil will triumph, deliver me, Jesus. From the belief that danger defines my future, deliver me, Jesus. From the temptation to rely on alliances instead of Your strength, deliver me, Jesus. From the illusion that the world is stronger than Your promises, deliver me, Jesus. From the dread that Your silence means abandonment, deliver me, Jesus.

Jesus, I trust that You are Immanuel—God‑with‑us. Jesus, I trust that Your providence governs nations and hearts alike. Jesus, I trust that no enemy burns hotter than Your mercy. Jesus, I trust that courage is born from Your nearness. Jesus, I trust that Your victory is already unfolding, even when I cannot see it.

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