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Saturday, December 24, 2022

Public Letter to the Society of Jesus

 By Anna Von Reitz

You have been over-run from within.  Pope Francis, as a Jesuit, cannot give his ultimate allegiance to himself, except as Satan gives his ultimate allegiance only to himself. This is what the ego and the separation and the conflict of consciousness has always been about.  

The logic of this is inexorable and unavoidable. And so are the apparent results.

Earth is the Garden of Heaven, and we are separated from it by The World.  

Francis, caught in this existential conundrum, can only deceive, and the deceit results in fraud, which results in nullification and paralysis.  

The Church cannot protect herself under such a circumstance and no man can serve two Masters. 

Pope Benedict XVI gave the Seal of Saint Peter and the Keys to the Storehouse of the Lord to James Thomas McBride, and instructed him as the Regional PostMaster for North America, to open the storehouses for the comfort and survival of the living people. 

James Thomas McBride did this to the best of his ability, but he was attacked by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) ---another out of control private-for-profit corporation calling itself an "Agency" and being misdirected by unelected businessmen and hired bureaucrats. 

They stole the Seal of Saint Peter.  

They threw James Thomas McBride in jail. 

They laughed at him and they prosecuted McBride, just as the Sanhedrin prosecuted Jesus on False Charges, and it is their fault that the Storehouse of the Lord is being plundered by evil men and commandeered for the use of evil. 

We have reason to believe that the FBI is under the control of the Swiss Octagon Group and that the Seal of Saint Peter has been transferred to the Bank for International Settlements for use as a rubber stamp to okay the abuse of gold and other assets belonging to the Church and to living people who are the lawful heirs of these assets.  

The Father of All Lies has simply lied about them and claimed that they voluntarily "waived their estates" so as to form unconscionable infant decedent estates while they were themselves still babies in their cradles. 

This cruel subversion of trust and truth is the foundation that Satan would have the "New World" build itself upon.  

So now you find the Church attacked on all sides, and even worse, you find that there is factual evidence that some of these attacks are justified. 
Corruption of the Church's administration has occurred and even the Pope's Office has been twisted around out of all recognition or sense. 

Francis Bergoglio was a chemist. He knew the Carbon Cycle.  There would be no plausible excuse for ignorance on his part, leading him to support the New Green Deal.  The only green on the table is USD and a new taxation scheme designed to inflict more senseless suffering on the people.  

This, when Pope Benedict XVI has already directed that the people must be comforted and sustained, and ordered the opening of the Storehouse of the Lord? 

It is your apparent duty to deal with the FBI and the Octagon Group and the Swiss Government and the Vatican Administration, and yes, with
Pope Francis, too, while the College of Cardinals and the Roman Curia must deal with the consequences of both their actions and inactions. 

We, the international government of The United States, have asked for the dissolution and liquidation of numerous offending corporations, which have deeply indulged in unaccountable and horrific unlawful profiteering, resulting in the death, maiming, and misery of millions of innocent people.  

The offending corporations have done this to profit themselves from sales of their products and services, and to advance a scandalous redefinition of living people as Genetically Modified Organisms, which these offending corporations claim to own as property via patents held on their genetically engineered bioweapon --- a scrap of mRNA and adjunct agents disguised as a "vaccine". 

The presence and action of the Father of All Lies is apparent in all of this.

The Municipal Government of the United States acting as a parent corporation has participated in this genocide for a share of the profit and to save itself the cost of pensions and services owed to elderly retirees, and at the end of the day, all this is coming back on the Church and the Roman Curia.  

As Defenders of the Church and of the Faith, you have no choice but to act and to act decisively in favor of Life and Truth, and to bring a swift and just end to the crimes and corporations responsible. 

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International Public Notice of Fraud and Treason

 By Anna Von Reitz

International Public Notice of Fraud and Treason 

Issued 24th December 2022
We have now fully identified the circumstance under which this country has been operating for six generations. 

In 1865 so-called "Carpetbagger Courts" were established along with ten new "Military Districts" overlaying eleven Southern States.

We know that these "Military Districts" have been expanded throughout The United States and used for nefarious purposes to misaddress the General Public under conditions of deliberate fraud, so as to promote racketeering and illegal confiscation of private property under False Pretenses ever since. 

The continued occupation of our country by our own bought and paid for military, organized as a foreign mercenary force and acting under these spurious pretensions---- is a national and international scandal. So is the similar illegal occupation of most of western Europe and the former British Commonwealth under the same conditions of deceit and crime. 

The Perpetrators found a way to use courts as Collection Agencies, and they have used these phony "executive courts" to promote illegal confiscation of private property for the benefit of the Occupation forces and their British Territorial Bosses -- all based on an illegal Mercenary Conflict (aka "American Civil War") that ended over 150 years ago. 

The Vermin got away with it and have continued to get away with it, primarily because the people of this country have been asleep and ignorant concerning the nature of, and lack of authority of, the courts being used to perpetuate this scheme. 

They have also been kept ignorant of the fact that the members of the Bar Association are part of the British King's "civilian militia".  

There are, typically, only four kinds of courts in operation in this country at this time: the above-mentioned military district courts, administrative courts which are supposed to be limited to addressing government employees, maritime courts concerned with commercial business contracts, and Admiralty Courts concerned with acts of war and mayhem and rescue on the High Seas and  Navigable Inland Waterways. 

The people making up the General Public and populace of this country are not, customarily or in practice, supposed to be addressed by any these courts described above, because: (1) we aren't combatants in any  war; (2) we aren't government corporation employees; (3) we aren't incorporated entities; (4) we aren't on the High Seas or Navigable Inland Waterways.   

The military maintaining the fraudulent and illegal occupation of our country, has used the quasi-military Civil War-Era Carpet-Bagger court system to promote illegal confiscation of private property.  This court system seeks to maintain itself as an "executive court" permitted by their Commander-in-Chief, who is not occupying the American Government Office.  He is simply the Chief Executive of a commercial services corporation in the business of providing us with "defense services"----and doing a damned poor job of it. 

You will note that the first assault against  life and liberty and property rights is always addressed to a Municipal CORPORATION owned and operated by the British Crown, that is, to a CORPORATION which is merely named after living Americans without their knowledge or consensual agreement. 

You will also note from reading the attached articles that this PERSON is addressed under Maritime Law and that you contract with the foreign maritime court by entering their "ship" and thereby accepting their flag. 

Until very recently these courts were all flying an "Executive Flag" never adopted by or approved by any United States or American Congress.  This gold-fringed monstrosity known merely as the "National Colors" was being flown in all these foreign quasi-military courts as purported Fair Notice to the Public of what was being done to subvert justice in this country. 

Every US, INC. and USA, Inc. corporation "President" since 1925 has allowed and promoted this treason and abuse against their Employers, the people of this country, as these commercial corporations have continued to wage war--- economic war --- against the peaceful and clueless General Public. 

This has all been done by the British Government and the British Crown in collusion with the Municipal Government of Washington, DC, and it has all been prosecuted based on the "Fourteenth [By-Law] Amendment" to the USA Corporation's 1868 charter, deceptively called "The Constitution for the United States of America" ---- Incorporated, that is --- adopted by the British Territorial District of Columbia Citizenry in 1868.  

Not us. Them. 

The 1868 Corporation went bankrupt in 1907 and has been defunct for over a hundred years, yet millions of Americans have been prosecuted under the "authority" of this corporate drivel and deceit. 

Our war flag, the flag of the united States adopted as shown in Revised United States Statutes-at-Large 1791, 1792, has the same general appearance as the British Territorial war flag described under their Federal Title IV, Sections 1 and 2.  

The Title IV Flag was described and set apart as a specific proportional representation of our flag for the use of our British Territorial Subcontractors when they exercise our delegated powers under their specific Constitution.  

Thus, you will see that our American flag is denoted as "the flag of the united States" with a small "u" on the word "united" throughout, and the British Territorial flag is described as the "the flag of the United States" -- meaning the Title IV Flag, with a capital "U" on the word "United" throughout. 

There are two actual flags denoting different authorities, one representing the American Government, the other representing the British Territorial Government acting under contract to exercise our delegated authority under The Constitution of the United States of America.  

Without us, they don't have a flag, and without us, they don't have any land or soil, either.  They are simply what their actions show that they are--- criminals without a flag and without a country. As a result, their obedience to their service contracts and use permits is an obligatory and unavoidable condition for their continued political existence and all Principals responsible for this Mess are hereby fully informed. 

Notice to Agents is Notice to Principals; Notice to Principals is Notice to Agents.  

The British Territorial Officers responsible for this gross misadministration and criminal Breach of Trust are the United States Secretary of State and his franchise counterparts the State-of-State Secretaries of State stationed in and "residing" in each of our States of the Union.  

They are joined in the Rogues Gallery of criminal malfeasance by the United States Attorney Generals and Inspector Generals of the United States.  All these Officers acting under the Naval Agency and Distribution Act of the British Parliament have committed both fraud and treason against their loyal Employers, the American People, for the better part of 150 years. 

These Undeclared Foreign Agents  have gotten away with pillaging, illegal confiscation, impersonation, inland piracy, conspiracy against the Constitutions, kidnapping, unlawful conversion and worse ---with no consequence, simply because they kept their mouths shut and embarked on their rampage under cover of a "cloak of secrecy" and non-disclosure, preying upon their trusting Employers like so many wolves in sheep's clothing.  

And now, this circumstance must come to an end and our liens against the American Bar Association and the International Bar Association and the Principals responsible for their charters are in effect. 

The Legal Presumptions created by their corporate Fourteenth [By-Law] Amendment are hereby Noticed as Error and long overturned by bankruptcy.  

Every Bar Attorney is operating as an "Esquire" -- a member of the British King's "civilian militia",  and is an Undeclared Foreign Agent; the vast majority of them are in violation of the Foreign Agent Registration Act, having no right or reason to address any member of the American General Public. 

All military officers holding commissions in the United States Armed Forces and all those holding commissions in the American Armed Forces are hereby forewarned, held liable, and placed under Supreme Command to take action and bring a prompt, equitable, and peaceful end to the aforementioned trespasses of these courts, their Undeclared Foreign Agents, the abuses of our flags and of their own foreign corporation offices to promote fraud and illegal acts against the General Public of this country.  

This circumstance is well-within the meaning of protecting us and our property against "all Enemies, both foreign and domestic." 

The United States Secretary of State and his State-of-State Secretary of State counterparts are similarly acting in foreign and undisclosed capacities and are failing to recognize the political standing of average Americans and they are thereby allowing and promoting Crimes of State against our people and our country as a whole.  

This entire Mess must be cleaned up with no further attacks or presumptions of any form of "war" seeking to validate them. 

The American People have been at peace since 1814.  We are at peace now and we are flying our peacetime flag.  No other Legal Presumptions against us may be entertained by any Office or Officer of any level of the Federal Government or their associated State-of-State franchises. 

Any corporation caught being engaged in or promoting unlawful activities will be summarily liquidated under the Public Law or otherwise liquidated by the responsible foreign Principals.  

All Admiralty Courts are hereby provided with Notice of Fraud and Piracy. 

All Admiralty Court Officers including the JAG Officers currently occupying the Provost Marshal's Office are empowered and instructed to arrest and prosecute members of the Bar Association caught operating unauthorized courts on our soil, impersonating Americans, and pillaging Public Trusts. 

All Bar Association Members are required to register as Foreign Agents, including those that are active in State-of-State franchise capacities and running enfranchised County Courts, as all of these are merely local franchises of the parent Federal Corporations.  

Counselors of Law operating or serving Article III Courts are not subject to registration. 

The above circumstances present very serious issues of public mis-administration and corruption in this country and throughout many other countries worldwide.  

Any individual or corporation supporting or promoting or further tolerating the presumptions and practices described above, is a criminal by definition, acting in violation of the Treaties owed to Americans and against the Constitutions implementing them. 

Whereupon we establish this International Public Notice of Fraud and Treason and present it to The Department of the Federal Treasury within the Bank for International Settlements and to the other people and governments and corporations throughout the world for the purpose of establishing ownership and liability related to our assets and contracts. 

We object to our assets being used for the purpose of illegal commercial warring against us or any other people.  

We object to the continued false Legal Pretenses seeking to deprive us of our assets and control of our assets based on meaningless, unauthorized, non-consensual and unconscionable implied contracting processes.

We object to any claim that we are not now present and accounted for among the living governments and corporate Principals of the world. 

We object to any claim that our assets, individual, national, or corporate, have been abandoned. 

We object to any misuse of the endowment of Saint Germain granted to this country in the name of our unincorporated Federation of States,  for purposes of immorality, war, crime, continued deceit, or pay-offs to incompetent and crooked international banks. 

We object to any misuse or abuse of our military, our sons and daughters, who have been conscripted and who have contracted to serve under conditions of non-disclosure and purposeful deceit. 

We object to any use of our military for criminal purposes, for occupation of our land and soil, or for long-term occupation of any other countries' land and soil.  As our service contracts make clear, our military exists for the defense of our country, including our international borders, and no other purpose at all. 

We object to any lying, cheating, thieving, or coercion that our Federal Subcontractors have employed "in our names" to disadvantage other countries, undermine their political processes, or damage their economies. 

We object to any presumption by the Popes or the British King that we are in "interregnum" or "absent" simply because we have not called our States into Session for a long time. 

The American People have properly identified their provenance and exercised their political birthrights and reclaimed all reversionary trust interest in their individual estates; they have recorded their identities and political status on the Public Record and brought forward their republican state assemblies and have herein and also otherwise served Notice on the United States Secretary of State and the United States Attorney General and the Inspector General of the United States, of these facts. 

No Agency including the Department of Justice nor the Department of the Federal Treasury within the Bank of International Settlements has any authority or ability to gainsay our authority as the American Government operating our States of the Union as our unincorporated Federation of States doing business as The United States of America in international jurisdiction.  We, not they, hold the authority to act on behalf of this country in international jurisdiction and we, not they, retain all interest in the land and sea assets of this country. No separation of the formerly delegated powers can be presumed, as all such powers have returned to us by Operation of Law, upon the dissolution and/or incompetence of the former Federal Republic and Confederation of States. 

We object to all international Agents, Agencies, and Trustees presuming to act on our behalf or on the behalf of other Americans, without any credible fully disclosed authorization from us and our States of the Union. 

Issued by: James Clinton Belcher, Head of State
                  The United States of America
                  In care of: Box 520994
                  Big Lake, Alaska 99652

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Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

 Rev. Fr. Leonard Goffine's

The Church's Year

CHRISTMAS EVE

"Let us therefore make him a little chamber, and put a little bed in it for him and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick, that when he cometh to us, he may abide there" (IV Kings 4:13). Such was the Sunamite woman's regard for the prophet Eliseus, that she would make such preparations for his entertainment! Will we do as much for Christ who is ready to come to us? Take pains, O Christian, to occupy this night in pious thoughts, and aspirations, for the love of God and for the good of your own soul, making yourself worthy to receive the graces which He is ready when He comes, to give you. Think how Mary, who was near her time, and Joseph her spouse obedient to the Imperial command, and perfectly submissive to the will of God, journeyed with the greatest inconvenience to Bethlehem, and when, because of the multitude of people, they found no place to receive them they took refuge, as God willed it, in a most miserable stable, at the extreme end of the town. What love does not the Savior deserve, who for love of us so humbled Himself!
COLLECT O God, who makest us rejoice in the yearly expectation of the feast of our redemption: grant, that we who cheerfully receive Thy only-begotten Son as a Redeemer, may behold without fear the same Lord Jesus Christ, coming as our judge. Through our Lord.

hc-nativity1.jpg - The Nativity

CHRISTMAS DAY
What is Christmas Day?
It is the day on which Christ Jesus, our Redeemer, was born of the Blessed Virgin in a stable at Bethlehem.
Why is this festival called "the Holy Night"?
Because this night has been especially blessed and sanctified by the holy, mysterious birth of the Redeemer of the world.
Why do priests say three Masses on this day?
In commemoration of the threefold birth of the Redeemer: of His birth from all eternity in the bosom of His Heavenly Father; of His birth in the fullness of time; and of His spiritual birth in the hearts of the faithful who, by lively faith in Him, receive the power to become children of God (Jn. 1:12).
Why is the first Mass said at midnight?
Because Christ, the true light which came into the world to enlighten those who sat in darkness and the shadow of death, that is, of unbelief and of sin (Lk. 1:79), was born at night, and because the divine birth is incomprehensible to us.
Why is the next Mass said at daybreak, and the third after sunrise?
To signify that the birth of Christ, expelling the darkness of ignorance and infidelity, brought us the clear daylight of the knowledge of God, and that the spiritual birth of Christ can take place at any time in the pure soul.
When does this spiritual birth take place?
It takes place when the soul, having been cleansed from all sin, makes the firm, unalterable resolution to die to the world and all carnal desires, and arouses in itself the ardent desire henceforth to live only for Christ, and, by His grace, to practice all virtues.

INSTRUCTION ON THE FIRST MASS
The Introit of this Mass reminds us of the eternal birth of Christ, the Lord.
INTROIT The Lord hath said to me: Thou art my Son, this day (that is, from all eternity) have I begotten thee (Ps. 2:7). Why have the Gentiles raged, and the people devised vain things (Ps. 2:1)? Glory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
COLLECT O God, who hast made this most sacred night to shine forth with the brightness of the true light: grant, we beseech Thee, that we may enjoy His happiness in heaven, the mystery of whose light we have known upon earth. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the Unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end, Amen.
EPISTLE (Tit. 2:11-15). Dearly beloved, the grace of God our Savior hath appeared to all men, instructing us, that denying ungodliness and worldly desires, we should live soberly, and justly, and godly in this world, looking for the blessed hope and coming of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and might cleanse to himself a people acceptable, a pursuer of good works. These things speak, and exhort, in Christ Jesus our Lord.
In what special manner has the grace and goodness of God been manifested to us?
In the incarnation and birth of Christ, His Son, whom, in His infinite love, He has made like unto us, our brother and our teacher, by whom we have become children of God, and co-heirs of His kingdom.
What does Christ by His incarnation desire to teach us especially?
That we should put aside all unrighteousness, all infidelity and injustice, and endeavor to become like unto Him, who, except in sin, has become altogether like unto us. But especially that we repress the desires of lust, wealth, and honor, and not rest until we have rooted them from our hearts.
How do we live soberly, justly, and godly?
We live soberly, when we fulfill all duties towards ourselves; justly, when we fulfill all duties towards our neighbor; and godly, when we fulfill all duties to God.
ASPIRATION Blessed art Thou, Oh! new-born Savior, who hast descended from on high to teach me the ways of justice, hast become man and equal to me. In return for this goodness of Thine, I renounce all evil, all sinful desires, words, and deeds. In return for Thy love, I will ever uproot from my heart all carnal desires, and always live soberly, justly, and godly; do Thou by Thy grace, strengthen me in this resolve.
GOSPEL (Lk. 2:1-14). At that time there went forth a decree from Caesar Augustus, that the whole world should be enrolled. This enrolling was first made by Cyrinus, the governor of Syria. And all went to be enrolled, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary his espoused wife, who was with child. And it came to pass, that when they were there, her days were accomplished, that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him up in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds watching, and keeping the night-watches over their flock. And behold, an Angel of the Lord stood by them, and the brightness of God shone round them; and they feared with a great fear. And the Angel said to them: Fear not: for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, that shall be to all the people: for this day is born to you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David. And this shall be a sign unto you: You shall find the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger. And suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God, and saying: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good-will.
Why, at the time of Augustus, were all the Roman subjects enrolled?
This happened by a special ordinance of God, that by this enrollment Mary and Joseph should be obliged to go to Bethlehem, that it might be made known to the world that Christ was really born at Bethlehem, of the tribe of Juda, and the house of David, and that He was the Messiah who had been foretold by the prophets (Mich. 5:2).
Let us learn from this how the providence of God directs all things according to His will, and consider the obedience which Mary rendered to the command of a heathen emperor, or rather to God who caused the command.
Why is Christ called the "first-born" of Mary?
Because she gave birth to no child before Him; she bore none after Him, He was the only son of Mary, as He was the only-begotten Son of the Heavenly Father.
Why was Christ born in such poverty?
To teach us not by words but by example that which He afterwards so often preached and forcibly taught, namely: the love of poverty, the practice of humility and patience with contempt of the world, and also to confound by His humble birth the foolish wisdom of the world which seeks only honors, pleasures and riches.
Why was the birth of Christ announced to poor shepherds, and not to King Herod and the chief priests?
That it might be known that God loves to dwell with poor, simple, pious, faithful people, such as the shepherds were, and reveals Himself to those who are little in their own eyes (Mt. 11:25), while He despises the proud and leaves them over to their own spiritual blindness.
Let us learn from this to acquire simplicity and humility, and despise pride and cunning, that God may reveal Himself to us by His interior inspirations.
What is meant by the angelic song of praise: "Glory be to God on high"?
By this song of praise which the priests usually say in the Mass is meant that the greatest praise and the most heartfelt thanks are due to God for having sent His Son into the world; and that those who have the good will to glorify God by all their actions, will receive peace, that is, all happiness, blessings, and salvation.
Rejoice with the angels over the birth of the Savior, return thanks to God, and honor Him alone in all things, that you may have that peace: peace with God, peace with yourself and peace with all men.
Learn also from the angels, who rejoiced in the graces which man would receive from the birth of Christ, to rejoice, and thank God for the favors which He gives your neighbor, and by rejoicing participate in them.

INSTRUCTION ON THE SECOND MASS
In the Introit of this Mass the Church makes use of the words of Isaias:
INTROIT A light shall shine upon us this day: for our Lord is born to us: and he shall be called Wonderful, God, the Prince of peace, the Father of the world to come; of whose reign there shall be no end (Is. 9). The Lord hath reigned, he is clothed with beauty: the Lord is clothed with strength, and hath girded himself. Glory be to the Father.
COLLECT Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that we, who are filled with the new light of Thy incarnate Word, may show forth in our works what by faith shineth in our minds. Through our Lord.
EPISTLE (Tit. 3:4-7). Dearly beloved, the goodness and kindness of God our Savior hath appeared: not by the works of justice which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the layer of regeneration, and renovation of the Holy Ghost, whom he hath poured forth upon us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior: that, being justified by his grace, we may be heirs according to hope. of life everlasting, in Christ Jesus our Lord.
To whom do we owe our salvation?
Not to ourselves, nor any good works we may have performed, but entirely to the mercy of God who from all eternity decreed our redemption, and sent His only-begotten Son into this world to accomplish it; which redemption is bestowed upon us in baptism, where we are washed from the stain of sin, and by the rich infusion of the Holy Ghost born again, heirs of eternal life.
Why, then, had God no mercy on the fallen angels?
To this question St. John of Damascus replies: "We must know here that the fall was to the angels what death is to man; for the angels there was no repentance after the fall, as for man there is no repentance after death" (De fid. orthod. lib.2. c.4). In eternity there is no available contrition and penance, so God showed no mercy to the fallen angels. Let us learn from this, to make ourselves participators in the mercy of God, by contrition and penance while there is yet time.
GOSPEL (Lk. 2:15-20). At that time the shepherds said one to another: Let us go over to Bethlehem, and let us see this word that is come to pass, which the Lord hath showed to us. And they came with haste; and they found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in a manger. And seeing they understood of the word that had been spoken to them concerning this child. And all that heard wondered, and at those things that were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God, for all the things they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

INSTRUCTION
I. The shepherds follow at once the voice of God which calls them to the manger; they exhort one another to do so; they seek the Redeemer and happily find Him; they make Him known to others, and heartily thank God for the grace given them.
Let us follow the inspirations of God with ready obedience; let us exhort one another to virtue by our good example and edifying conversation; let us make good use of the knowledge given us by God, give it to others, and praise God for the same.
II. Mary kept all these words, spoken about her Son, and pondered them in her heart. Let us learn from her to prepare food for our souls
by careful meditation on the divine truths that are made known to us: so that we may be preserved and strengthened in spiritual life.

INSTRUCTION ON THE THIRD MASS
The Introit of this Mass reminds us of the spiritual birth of Christ, by which He is spiritually born in us:
INTROIT A child is born to us, and a Son is given to us; whose government is upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called the Angel of great counsel (Is. 9). Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle: for he hath done wonderful things (Ps. 97). Glory be to the Father.
COLLECT Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that the new birth of Thine only-begotten Son in the flesh may deliver us who are held by the old bondage under the yoke of sin. Through our Lord.
EPISTLE (Heb. 1:1-12). God, who diversely and many ways, spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, last of all, in these days hath spoken to us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the world. Who being the brightness of his glory, and the figure of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, making purgation of sins, sitteth on the right hand of the majesty on high: being made so much better than the angels, as he hath inherited a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels bath he said at any time: Thou art my son, today have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son? And again when he bringeth in the first-begotten into the world, he saith: And let all the angels of God adore him. And to the angels indeed he saith: He that maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. But to the Son: Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a scepter of justice is the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved justice, and hated iniquity: therefore, God, thy God, bath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And: Thou in the beginning, O Lord, didst found the earth; and the works of thy hands are the heavens. They shall perish, but thou shalt continue; and they shall all grow old as a garment, and as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed; but thou art the self-same, and thy years shall not fail.
INSTRUCTION The greatness of Christ Jesus, the dignity of His divinity and humanity, the love and goodness of His Heavenly Father, who has given Him to us as our teacher, could not be more gloriously described than in this epistle. Learn from it how much you are obliged, because of this, to serve God, to be grateful to Him, and to follow Christ who governs heaven and earth; and whom the angels serve.
ASPIRATION thank Thee, a thousand times, O Heavenly Father, that Thou hast spoken to us through Thy only-begotten Son, in whom Thou art well pleased. With my whole heart, O Father of Mercy, will I listen to Him, and be obedient to all His instructions.
GOSPEL (Jn. l:1-14). In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was made nothing that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men; and the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the light, that all men might believe through him. He was not the light, but was to bear witness of the light. That was the true light, which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them he gave power to be made the sons of God, to them that believe in his name. Who are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we saw his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth.
What does St. John mean by the Word?
That the Son of God, who was begotten and brought forth like a word of the mouth from the Father, but in a manner incomprehensible and inscrutable to us, is one with the Father in the divine nature, but different from Him in person; He is also called the Word of the Father, because through Him the Father has spoken and made known the divine will (Heb. 1:2; Mt. 17:5).
What is meant by- In the beginning was the Word, ,and the Word was with God?
When all things had their beginning the Son of God already was, not made or created, but born of the Father from eternity, with whom and in whom He therefore existed from all eternity. St. John here teaches the divinity, the eternity, and the equality of Christ with the Father.
What is meant by: All things were made by Him?
That the Son of God, Himself true God, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, has made all things, visible and invisible.
What is meant by: In Him was the life?
It means: The Son of God is the origin and fountain of the spiritual life of our souls upon earth, and of the glorious life in eternity. To give this true life to us, He became man, whereby we are born again, newly created, as it were, from the death of sin to the life of grace and righteousness.
Why is this life the light of men?
Because this true life of the soul which Christ has obtained for us, consists in the ever increasing knowledge of God and his salvation, which knowledge also comes from Christ, either externally through holy words and examples, or inwardly by divine inspiration.
How did the light shine in darkness?
The Son of God has given the necessary grace to find the true faith to mankind. He still imparts to all men the necessary light, especially by His holy Word which is preached to them, but the hardened sinners reject it, because they wish not to hear of faith and repentance.
How did St. John the Baptist bear witness of the light?
By announcing the Savior to the world, and even pointing Him out when He appeared.
Who receive Christ?
Those who walk in the light of His grace, co-operate with it, and so become the children of God.
How are we to understand: The Word was made flesh?
We are to understand by it that the Word was not changed into human nature, but that He became incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man, thus uniting in Himself two natures, the divine and the human. So Christ is true God, and at the same time true man, therefore God-Man; consequently there are in Christ two wills, the divine and the human. In His humanity He is less than the Father (Jn. 14:28), in His divinity He is equal to the Father On. 10:30); His humanity filled Him with a natural terror of His suffer­ings, but His divinity was perfectly united with the will of His Heav­enly Father, and could pray: Not my will, but thine be done.
ASPIRATION O God, our Heavenly Father, Who this night has given to us sinners, in the form of a child from the immaculate womb of Mary, Thine only-begotten Son as our Mediator and Redeemer, we give Thee thanks with heart and lips, and humbly beseech Thee that Thou wilt never permit us to forget such a grace, and that we may sustain ourselves by it in all temptations; that we may be ever grateful to Thee for it, and until death praise, honor and serve Thee in sanctity. Amen.
Whence comes the custom of representing in our churches and houses the crib of Bethlehem?
This custom was introduced by St. Francis of Assisi who, having a particular devotion to the Infant Jesus, was accustomed to represent to himself in this way the stable and manger at Bethlehem the further to excite his love; and as this pious practice is calculated to assist exceedingly in the instruction of the unlearned, especially of children, it was introduced into many congregations.