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Thursday, December 26, 2024

International Public Notice: 31 Million

 By Anna Von Reitz

The most recent figures show 31 million "excess deaths" have taken place in this world.  This calm, British-sounding euphemism, "excess deaths" seeks to gloss over and hide the gruesome reality of 31 million extra, unexpected, unnatural deaths, the deaths of friends and loved ones impacting, if we use standard statistical factors, over a hundred and fifteen million families. 

The low-ball estimate of deaths at Hiroshima as a result of the atomic bomb is 150,000 compared to 31,000,000.  Where is the outrage?  Where is the struggle to comprehend what 31 million extra, unnecessary, unaccountable deaths looks like?  

Much less, 31 Million deaths for profit?  31 million people of all ages, all races, all religious persuasions murdered for money --- and someone's ignorant, psychopathic belief that the world is overpopulated, when in fact the entire Western Hemisphere has been in population collapse since the First World War. 

Stupid. Greedy. Soulless bastards did this to make a dime. 

They lied about it, made bets on it (World Bank "Pandemic Bonds" indeed) spent billions of dollars-worth of our credit on it --- which went right back into their coffers, and then, they willy-nilly thoughtlessly polluted the whole human genome forever, without a backward glance, so that they and their cronies and their worse-than-worthless "government services" corporations could make a buck. 

It's the day after Christmas.  We are trying to envision the 31 million families who had a strangely empty holiday, who endured the empty seat at the table that nobody talked about.  

We need to talk about this.  We need to face it.  We need to focus on it --- hard.  Every day, the death toll is rising and the silent elephant in the middle of the room looms larger and larger with every passing hour.  We all have to wonder: who did this to us?  Who gave the order for a species-wide genocide? 

Initial evidence suggests that the Queen of Great Britain, Elizabeth II, gave the order--- at least, in a titular sense; it happened under her signature, though of course, no one person is responsible for this. This particular Death-for-Money drama demanded a cast of demented thousands and preplanning that spanned decades.  

It took the money of evil men who have been dead for the better part of a century and their twisted eugenicist ideas: Cecil Rhodes, Henry Welcome, and Henry de Worms (Rothschild) otherwise known as Lord Pirbright.  

With the exception of Judy Mikovits, it took the entire staff at Fort Detrick--- which is now conveniently cleared out and abandoned.  All the rats deserted that sinking ship.  

This required the complicity of a vast cast of characters from Academe: the Louis Pasteur Institute in France, the laboratories of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the National Institutes of Health. the Centers for Disease Control, the Food and Drug Administration, at least forty-nine Surgeon Generals.  

This required the cooperation of more than a dozen giant health sector and defense contractor corporations spanning five continents, plus the collusion and collaboration of roughly half the world's for-profit "government services corporations".  Out of the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, only Russia has its hands clean of what has been described as "this tidy carnage". 

Because the victims are being picked off one-by-one and in a somewhat time-delayed fashion, it's been possible for the Perpetrators to also time-delay the public recognition of what they have done. 

Karma has a time-delay function, too.  There is no immediate and direct consequence (usually) connecting the evil things we do, to the evil end results we suffer.  Everything gets muddled up in the middle, so that we can't easily associate our slander campaign against Ellen Taylor with the payback we receive when the tides are turned ten years later. We stand aghast, wondering why we are the Innocent Victim. 

Imagine the payback for 31 million "excess deaths"? 

The so-called news media is silent, but the elephant won't fit in the living room anymore.  It's out and wandering around the streets, it's giant shadow falling on the White House and the thousands of local hospitals and drug stores and "retail locations" that participated in this genocide --- and in some cases, are still participating in it, still mindlessly advertising Covid-19 shots.  

Prompted by an increasingly desperate sense of urgency, even thousands of the physicians and nurses who allowed themselves to "take the orders" and do the deeds, are now coming forward.  They look dazed and often ashen-faced. 

The statistics we read have faces for them.  

In retrospect, these are faces they will find increasingly hard to forget, little girls, old men, all tucked away out of sight in the covering and comforting veil of Earth, just six feet under.  

Late at night, they have to answer to 31 million trusting, innocent faces looking them in the eye.  

Safe and effective?  Really?  We have 31 million corpses here, telling a different tale. 

We have to deal with this.  We are the government, not merely the "service" providers.  There is nothing in any Constitution even vaguely suggesting that government service providers exercising delegated powers have anything to say about our health.

There isn't a single word about such service providers using our money to buy their snake oil and shoving the same down our throats under color of law.  

There is no "state immunity" covering any incorporated entity on Earth, nor any such protection for any officer employed by such corporations.  They are all 100% personally and commercially liable for everything they've done, everything they've said, and everything they have failed to do. 

And somewhere, deep inside, they all know that.  They are just standing around, not mentioning it, keeping quiet, and hoping that the rest of us forget about the 31 million people who are already dead and also don't notice the millions of people who are in the process of dying from this deliberate, man-made scourge.  

The death tolls in Gaza and even the Ukraine are miniscule by comparison.  The death tolls from Mike Pompeo's "live exercise" have already exceeded the non-political death tolls of World War II, and stand equal to the atrocities committed by Josef Stalin against his own people. 

The immensity of what has already happened is staring us in the face, and every day, the number of "excess deaths" keeps rising. 

Issued by: 
Anna Maria Riezinger, Fiduciary
The United States of America
In care of: Box 520994
Big Lake, Alaska 99652

December 26th 2024

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All International Jurisdictions Are Realms of the Dead

 By Anna Von Reitz

We keep banging our heads against stone walls on this one, but nonetheless must persevere.  

The only jurisdiction(s) in which living people have voice and being, are soil and air.  

The international land jurisdiction is the realm of the subsoil where no living man can live.  The land jurisdiction is inhabited by Lawful Persons, but these representations of us are "persons" nonetheless. 

The sea and the air are inhabited by species of Legal Persons. 

So, in soil jurisdiction we have the Jus Soli, the living men.  On the land jurisdiction we have Lawful Persons.  On the sea and in the air we have Legal Persons. 

Please duly note this important distinction.  

We get repeated polemics from people in their teens and their parents ranting about the Age of Majority on the land which is 21 years of age, not 18, not 16, nor, as the British Navy once claimed, 10.  

It's 21 for the Lawful Persons inhabiting the land and the measure is intended to protect our young people and give them more time to mature, because our actual law is strict and unforgiving. 

Young Americans can have ID credentials like anyone else, and many have established bank accounts that they cannot access until the age of 21 --- but this should not be any big cause for concern except in those cases where young people have been emancipated by the courts and left without caring parents or guardians,  

We are recommending that the State Assemblies set up a Special Committee to address the needs and support of young people between the ages of 18 and 21 who might otherwise slip through the cracks.  

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International Public Notice: A Different Point of View

 By Anna Von Reitz

The newspapers in Turkey are lauding the good behavior of the Turkish Government and Ben Fulford is, so far as we can see, hailing a resurgence of the Ottoman Empire --- an Empire that was doing just fine, thank you, until it was undermined by British and U.S. Corporation meddling, with help from the Roman Catholic Church. 

It was felt at the time that the predominantly Muslim but pluralistic Ottoman Empire was too populous, too successful, and too rich.  It was competing with Europe in many respects, and especially throughout Eastern Europe, was gaining significant inroads to the western marketplaces 

So the Usual Suspects plotted to, via murder, deceit, war, debt caused by war, and dishonest commercial dealings, destroy the Ottoman Empire.  

And, of course, steal the wealth of the Ottoman Empire.  And traffic their people into slavery of various kinds. And slander their victims after-the-fact. 

This is and was their playbook, then and now.  

They always portray themselves as the good and the honorable and peaceable, reasonable men, who have been put-upon by some monstrous foreign element, which they demonize to the best of their ability via manufactured news and political rhetoric.  

Nazi Germany is a good example of The Drill.  They insinuate a paid operative as the leader of the country--- a Hitler in the case of Nazi Germany, like a Zelensky in Ukraine.  As long as he goes along and does whatever they like, he's "Uncle Adolph".  The moment he buys into his own rhetoric and is seduced by the lure of freedom and nationalism, then, he's a madman, a devil, a paper-hanger.  

After the fact, they lie and show the mass graves of German POWs, especially the Rhineland Meadows atrocity promoted by Eisenhower, as the graves of Jewish POWs instead. 

The truth is that the Jews, homosexuals, and Bible Students (Jehovah's Witnesses) and political dissenters persecuted by the Nazis were killed and buried throughout the years of the war, and they were worked to death first.  So the massive graves that are most often displayed by the tabloids are primarily artifacts of the end of the war on both sides, as the Nazis sought to clear out the camps and destroy the evidence, and as the Allies captured skeletal German soldiers and did the same thing. 

While they were advertising the Death Camps and "shocking the world", they were doing the same things, using the same facilities, even, to murder German POWs, and covering up their own atrocities under the False Cover Story that all these corpses were Jews killed by the Evil Nazis. 

Observing the way these people operate, we should not be surprised to learn that they are now backing the Turkish incursions into Syria and Lebanon --- and no doubt, Iran, too --- using the Turkish mercenaries to create a "New Ottoman Empire".  

The Turks are being used as a paid storefront the same way the Americans have been used as a paid storefront.  Usually, it's the Brits who finance such efforts, but this time, they've been under too much scrutiny, so Pope Francis has had to do a little end run and funnel the money through the Eastern hegemony of the Church. 

They will own both the New Ottoman Empire and "the State of Israel, Inc." and run both for their benefit, using local front men and corporations to run the whole operation, but they will try to sell this to us as the best thing since sliced bread, a grand return of national governments working together to create a new basis for peace in a war-torn region of the world. 

This, after they destroyed the home-grown Ottoman Empire, and now seek to replace it with their own foreign, incorporated, and thoroughly controlled version.  

Romano-British colonialism, elitism, and deceit at its finest; and, of course, Erdogan wants both the backdoor money and the credit for being the "savior".  

We are cynically sitting here this Christmas Day, wondering who they are selecting as their favorite scapegoats right now, with respect to their activities in this country.  Will they try to convince us that all this evil has been done by the Democrats?  Or aliens from outer space? 
Or some ancient and evil cult, which has somehow managed to survive among us for centuries without detection?  Or the down-trodden conservatives --- all the normal people who fill the ranks of MAGA?  

How will they explain away their own complicity?  

They've had Hollywood ginned up and working non-stop for five years on their "movie" --- all geared to demonize whichever scapegoat(s) they choose, and this narrative designed to fool the masses and traumatize them at the same time, will reliably blame the victims, because that is what these monsters always do.  

They always meet on Christmas Day to discuss these kinds of things.  

It is always while everyone else is distracted by holidays and on vacation, that these rats do their worst.  That's why we've sponsored Rat Watch since 1963.

If we believe their movie, we will be feeling gratitude toward the men who are responsible for the mess, lauding them as heroes, when all this evil happened on their watch.  

They are counting on us being so scared and horrified by their movie that we forget about that little fact. 

They also want us to forget that the only plausible way all these tunnels and underground facilities have been built and connected, is via the $30 trillion-plus that is missing from their own budgets. 

With a little fairy dust and a lot of CGI technical dubbing and plenty of experience making horror movies, they hope to bypass our logic circuits one more time.  

And keep us from asking, "Where were you from 1863 to 2016?" 

It's crucial that we ask that question and face the answer. 

Without asking that question, we just wind up getting sucked into the raging blivet all over again, non-stop and no real changes. 

"The United States of North America, Inc." equals our part of their pre-planned "North American Union".  

The "Quantum Financial System" (QFS) = their rigidly controlled digital surveillance system and abusive control of everyone's finances and buying decisions. 

They are going to try to scare the bejeezus out of us and make us feel so very grateful to them for "saving" us, at the same time they offer their solution to the problems they created.  And, of course, it's only their solution on the table. 

The truth is that Trump and the Parties and Principals he represents, are complicit.  They are a big part of the problem.  They have worked this system as mercenaries for over a hundred years, and lied to the American people the entire time.  

So don't lose sight of the facts no matter what the hype.  

Donald Trump and Elon Musk are right on track to foist off the blame for the criminality, slide us into the "North American Union" regional government scheme, cinch down a grossly monopolistic control and surveillance grid that is 100% unauthorized and contrary to the principals of The Constitution of the United States of America, and play a digital version of "Yankee Doodle Dandy" the whole time. 

Are we going to go along with this like nice, manipulated little sheep?  Or are we going to tell them to shove the veiled threat implied by their "ten days of darkness" --- WTH?  Who gave them authority to turn off our lights?  

Who gave Donald Trump or any other "President" of the United States, Incorporated, the authority to issue and rule by "Executive Orders"?  

Anyone see any reference to "Executive Orders" in The Constitution of the United States?   Was any such practice ratified by the actual States of the Union?   No?   

Why are we even bothering to talk about such things, when it is self-evident that these yahoos have been usurping against their Employers in gross violation of their service contracts for over a hundred years ---- and getting away with it, by a practice of secrecy, silence, omission, non-disclosure, and deceit?  

There is no reason in the world for anyone to trust these organizations nor these individuals nor their "Plan". 

Everything they say has to match what they do, and everything they do has to match the limitations laid down in the Constitutions. Donald Trump violated that measure of their merit by participating (with gusto) in the pandemic genocide that has thus far claimed 31 million innocent and trusting lives. 

As Ronald Reagan famously said, "Trust but verify."  

Look at the facts and don't be deceived.  What passes for the American Military has been in control of this carnival since 1863.  

They don't get a free pass and they shouldn't just be trusted in view of their past complicity and tolerance for all the evils they are now busily throwing under the bus with one hand, and pushing forward with the other.  

The whole "United States of North America" proposal should be recognized at an attempt to impose United Nations' style regional government, per the North American Union ---- another travesty that President George W. Bush had no authority to sign. 

The Quantum Financial System has been rigged up with the participation of the Chinese Government and they propose to run this rigidly invasive surveillance and control program under the Chinese "social merit" system used in China.  It was developed by the CIA at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and code-named "Crimson Gate".  

It's a Crimson Gate, all right --- a portal right up our bums and into our back pockets.  Chairman Mao might be very pleased, but not the American Government. 

Issued by: 
Anna Maria Riezinger, Fiduciary
The United States of America
In care of: Box 520994
Big Lake, Alaska 99652

December 25th 2024

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International Public Notice: Succinct Bad News on Christmas Day

 By Anna Von Reitz

We have, over the years, especially as regards our research of the trail of patent interests, detailed much of the information contained in this reposting of "From BAD to WORSE! BRACE YOURSELF for this...." from  OFF GRID with DOUG and STACY, which is itself a repost of a video clip of RFK, Jr., detailing how all this horrible criminality related to biowarfare--- and the recent pandemic---  developed. 

RFK, Jr., is not the only one who knows this and is not the only one sharing this information.  Look up the detailed insider information provided by Dr. Judy Mikovits, a loyal American and distinguished scientist, who has been repeatedly attacked and purportedly "discredited" --- while at the same time being upheld by the facts and having criminal charges dismissed.  

This is typical of what has gone on in this country for the past fifty years. 

People of integrity and goodwill toward humanity are the ones who have been attacked and "discredited" --- at least in the minds of their bought-and-paid-for attackers, and then, proven right, over and over again.  Pay attention.  

This is a pattern.  

When people like Judy Mikovits and Bryan Ardis (See:

https://thedrardisshow.com › free-patient-resources)    are attacked, commercial interests are involved and are acting against the Public Interest and in favor of their own bottom lines every single time we have had cause to investigate this phenomenon.  


This information (link below) about the modern (since World War II) history of biowarfare that is being presented by RFK, Jr.,  is available to the public and has been reported, especially in the Alternative Media for decades, but it is a rare day when anyone "puts it all together" in a simple, easy to follow seventeen-minute presentation with all the dots connected.  


We found this to be extraordinary enough to be well-worth republishing and sharing.  Please make it go viral and stop for a moment to think about how completely illegal, immoral, and unlawful all these actions and inactions by the CIA, NIH, FDA, CDC and other agencies and institutions have been.  

Millions of lives have already been lost and millions more put at risk because of the failures and crookedness of these agencies and the men and women running them.  

Not to mention the individuals like the infamous Anthony Fauci who took it all beyond common levels of bureaucratic corruption and deliberately laundered not only illegal appropriations of money for criminal purposes, but actively and purposefully evaded prohibitions adopted against bioweapons research.

Everyone who knew about any part of this vicious scheme and failed to report it and object to it, is an accomplice to capital crimes in violation of the Geneva Conventions.  

About Operation Paperclip which is mentioned in the RFK, Jr. video clip -- the Americans are often blamed for this program which imported Nazi scientists to this country and elsewhere after the end of World War II -- but it was actually the British-controlled OSS, Office of Special Services, not the CIA, that protected and imported many of the worst Nazi criminals to our shores.  

As usual, it was the Brits at the bottom of the dogpile, importing, protecting, and allowing Nazis to infiltrate the highest echelons of our scientific and academic communities. 

The institutions and agencies responsible for all of this from Operation Paperclip to today, need to be shut down.

We have heard the arguments: what about all the good work that these organizations have done over the years?  What about the important functions they are supposed to perform that benefit the public?  

Like most things, these agencies started off with good missions and good intentions.  Once upon a time, the Federal Bureau of Investigations was an honest front line resource in the fight against organized interstate crime.  Once, long ago, the Food and Drug Administration knew its job and did it.  Ditto the National Institutes of Health and the Center for Disease Control.  

These organizations all failed decades ago, and have continued on like zombies, bearing the same familiar names, but eaten alive from the inside out by successive waves of criminal administrators who have taken bribes, sold science-for-hire, redefined their service missions, and taken full advantage of the early positive reputations these organizations established for themselves as cover for their own nefarious activities. 

A close examination shows a checkered past for the Federal Bureau of Investigation and a long decline in recent decades, in which the agency has been politicized and misdirected, prevented from doing its traditional job and sidetracked into doing political and commercial  hits for corporate interests. 

The CDC stopped issuing unbiased reports and statistics over 35 years ago, and while it is worthwhile to tear apart what they have produced, it is even more noteworthy to look at what they haven't produced, all the obvious questions they haven't asked, all the statistics that were never developed, and the overall politicized slant the CDC applies to everything.  

The NIH also once performed admirable functions, but in the past 25 years it has become a catch-all for government-approved medical science profiteering, disinformation, money laundering, and evasion of the kind Anthony Fauci indulged in.  

Instead of protecting the Public Interest and holding scientists accountable, NIH has fostered a culture dependent on largesse from private corporations and allowed its scientists to patent discoveries and inventions for personal gain that have been developed using public money and public resources.  Part of Fauci's motivation was undoubtedly the millions of dollars in patent royalties that the pandemic allowed him to rake in. 

The same sort of history belongs to the Food and Drug Administration.  It started out strong as a watch-dog for public health  and has ended up as a hopelessly backward, corrupt, overworked, and politicized entity that panders unconditionally to the military and industrial interests it is supposed to oversee. 

This is how we get over 100,000 new man-made chemicals including "forever chemicals" like PFAS approved for use and distribution, including distribution in public water sources and commercial food kitchens and food packaging facilities. This is how we get boxes of hamburger patties and other meats clearly marked, "Not Fit for Human Consumption" being packed aboard U.S. Navy ships and fed to our sailors. 

If the Food and Drug Administration were functioning as it ought to, none of the above would be possible; it follows that the Food and Drug Administration is not only inept, but distinctly harmful in its current iteration.  

We are, for example, still suffering from the addition of fluoride, a known poison and industrial byproduct to our drinking water, decades after this practice was outlawed in Europe.  Fluoride causes the body to collect Aluminum, which later shows up in the plaques in the brains of Alzheimer's patients.  Alzheimer's was virtually unknown prior to the fluoridation of drinking water in this country; now, it affects one in five Americans.  Go figure. 

The FDA did nothing to protect the American Public from the experimental Covid-19 injections, growth hormones added to meat, addiction-producing chemicals added to tobacco and alcohol products, and numerous other failures antithetical to the Public Good. 

So why fund the FDA?  What good does it do? 

When these simple practical questions are applied to all of these failed and useless agencies, they fail the benefit / cost ratio test with monotonous regularity. 

No matter how worthy the intended purpose, it doesn't matter if, in the end result, that purpose is not realized. 

Shut them down.  Cut their funding.  Send the pink slips, now. 

We will find ways to get their intended jobs done, and it won't cost us billions of dollars and millions of lives, as the current system does. 

Issued by: 
Anna Maria Riezinger, Fiduciary
The United States of America
In care of: Box 520994
Big Lake, Alaska 99652

December 25th 2024

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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.

 

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.

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.

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 merry to the fallen angels. Let us learn from this, to make ourselves participators in the merry 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 bath 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 shaft continue; and they shall all grow old as a garment, and as a vesture shaft 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 Merry, 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 meet by- In the beginning was the Word, ,Od 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 meet 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 w 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.

 

THE SOCIETY OF THE HOLY CHILDHOOD FOR THE SALVATION OF HEATHEN CHILDREN

Many thousands of heathen children die every year without baptism, and what is most terrible, a great number of these unfortunate children die the most miserable death, and thus perish, soul and body. In the heathen countries, especially in China, a country that contains more than three hundred million inhabitants, it is the horrible custom of parents, when they have too many children, or when they are sickly, weak, or deformed to expose them on the streets, or to throw them with a weight around their neck into the water. On the streets the poor little children die of hunger, or are devoured by beasts, in the water their flesh becomes the food of fishes. Many, especially girls, are picked up by the wicked heathens, carried home, and so trained that when they grow up, they may enrich their masters by prostitution. A multi­tude of others are strangled immediately after birth, their bodies thrown into the water, or into the gutter. No law forbids or punishes this horrible custom. No less than twenty or thirty thousand of these unfortunate children are killed in one year.

The missionaries who preach the gospel to these heathens wit­nessed these cruelties with terror without being able to do anything to abolish this awful custom. To see these children die without baptism grieved them. Some sought to gather, baptize and raise them. Good women were engaged for this purpose. But how could the missionaries provide for so many, how support those women who collected these unfortunate children? They had no means. Necessary compelled them to turn to Christian Europe. By touching letters they solicited alms for these little unfortunates. Owing to the sad condition of these children the pious bishop of Nancy, Forbin Janson, became the founder of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, inviting all children of his diocese to form a Society of the Holy Childhood, under the patronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary, for the benefit of the miserable heathen children, giving alms out of love for the Infant Savior. All under twenty-one years of age, were to belong to it forming clubs of twelve, in honor of the twelve years of Christ's childhood; each member to contribute one cent monthly; and to say one Hail Mary every day with the invocation: "Holy Mary, pray for us and for the poor children of the heathens." By means of the money thus collected, the missionaries were enabled to save the heathen children from spiritual and corporal death. The society has been in existence since 1841, and has already embraced all Catholic countries; thousands of pious Christian children deprive themselves of a portion of their food in order to save alms, thereby performing a good work for the love of the child Jesus and the salvation of the children of the heathens. Adults are admitted as honorary members, and would it not be well, beloved reader, for you to join it, and by prayers and alms aid in saving those little ones? This would be indeed a good work, for which rich reward will be given in heaven.