Views from the Choir Loft

Solemn Novena for Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

Fr. David Friel · July 8, 2020

MONG the great traditions of the Carmelite Monastery of St. Joseph and St. Anne in Philadelphia is an annual, public novena leading up to the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. This year marks the 117th iteration of this annual devotion.

The novena begins today, July 8th, and concludes on the feast, itself, July 16th. The rosary and litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary will be prayed at 6:30 PM daily, during which time confessions will also be available. Mass celebrated in the Extraordinary Form will be offered each evening at 7 PM.

Mass for the feast day will be a Solemn High Mass. This year’s preacher will be Fr. Joseph Lee, F.S.S.P. The novena is open to the public, and clergy & seminarians are welcome to attend in choir.

The historic Philadelphia Carmel was founded in 1902. In addition to its rich legacy of prayer for the local Church of Philadelphia, this Carmel is also noteworthy for its pivotal role in cultivating devotion to St. Therese of Lisieux in the United States (see more on this history).

If you are not able to participate in the novena in Philadelphia, another fitting way to prepare for the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel would be to pray the beautiful sequence, Flos Carmeli from July 8th through July 16th. The text, in Latin and English, is available here.

Carmelite Side Altar at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel is a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and serves as Director of Liturgy at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary. —(Read full biography).

“What Martin Luther Said…”

My pastor asked me to write little columns for the bulletin each week. The article for 20 July 2025 has been posted, and it’s called: “What Luther Said…” Martin Luther (an ex-priest and apostate) was an infamous heretic whose ignorance of JESUS CHRIST was only exceeded by his filthy and disgusting vulgarity.

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Music List” • 15th in Ordinary Time (Year C)

Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (13 July 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and propers for this Sunday are also provided at the the feasts website.

—Jeff Ostrowski

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

This coming Sunday—13 July 2025—is the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). All the chants have been conveniently assembled and posted at the feasts website. The OFFERTORY, Ad Te Levávi, is particularly beautiful.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Pope Pius XII Hymnal?

Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.

—Corpus Christi Watershed

“Hybrid” Chant Notation?

Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.

—Corpus Christi Watershed

Antiphons Don’t Match?

A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).

—Corpus Christi Watershed