Jul. 16 Thursday of the Fifteenth Week of Ordinary Time; Optional Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Opt. Mem.

Sacred Scripture celebrated the beauty of Carmel where the prophet Elijah defended the purity of Israel’s faith in the living God. In the twelfth century, hermits withdrew to that mountain and later founded the Carmelite order devoted to the contemplative life under the patronage of Mary, the holy Mother of God.