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Monday, January 26, 2026

International Declaration of Currency

 By Anna Von Reitz

The American currencies issued by the American Government are: (1) the gold American Federation Dollar issued by our chartered Global Family Banks; (2) the all-silver United States dollars and coinage still in circulation; (3) the American Heritage Dollar representing prepaid credit owed to the Bearer for goods and services already delivered. 

These currencies are being distributed now for the use of living people and belong to living people.  

If you are breathing and reading this, these distributions apply to you, not just Americans. 

Go to:  https://globalfamilygroup.com/category/lrps/  --- and learn more.

The Federal Reserve Notes which were debt notes are being replaced by American Heritage Dollars, which are credit notes. 

National Debts are being erased.  Usury charged on National Debts are hereby declared Odious Debt: that is, debt created by some means of fraud that the victims are not aware of and do not benefit from. 

The corporations responsible for long-standing fraud against living people, are being dissolved, which is causing chaos and misunderstandings.  

If you are breathing and reading this, no matter who you are, or what continent you live on, this is good news.  

Take notice of our official currencies as listed above.

 Any other form of currency using the names "United States" or "United States of America" should be understood to be private bank scrip or military scrips which are under collection and exchangeable for American Heritage Dollars. 

American Heritage Dollars are prepaid credit instruments owed to the living people and their ancestors, who already paid out the actual goods and services backing this currency, but who were not credited until now.    

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

January 25th 2026

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International Holiday Declared

 By Anna Von Reitz

The fiat currency collapse has begun.  

All sectors of the financial system have been breached.  

Currency, stocks, bonds, commodities --- all fudged, all counterfeited, all short sold, all eaten out from within by the central banks and the commercial banks practicing "fractional reserve banking" which was patently fraudulent and evil from the first. 

It's like buying a hamburger and getting a 10th of a hamburger instead. 

Best estimates are that fiat currency values will decline by 50-80%. 

There simply isn't enough gold or silver in the world to replace these digits and pieces of paper, which is the foundational problem with a system that depends only on physical gold and silver.  To meet the needs and demands of eight billion people requires a financial system component --- and there is one ready and at hand: prepaid credit. 

Currency handlers don't worry about the amount of fiat, they worry about the speed with which transactions can be completed, the velocity of the economy it supports.  

In their endless pursuit of speed, they forgot about the substance. 

So far, we are the only ones to come up with a viable answer to the problem--- the issuance of our long delayed and obstructed prepaid credit, the American Heritage Dollar, and the American Federation Dollar.

It's important to understand that there are two systems involved here ---the financial system which runs on stocks, bonds, promissory notes, and other forms of "commercial paper", and the monetary system which has always run on gold and silver and similar physical assets. 

For many years, Americans and other people around the world have had little to no access to the actual monetary markets, because the cretins who commandeered our government back in the 1860's had to operate on credit, so credit was all they cared about, and the fractional reserve system increased credit.  

It also, by definition, created far more credit than could be supported based on any specific asset used as the chattel backing all this extra credit.  

Over time, of course, more physical assets could be recycled or mined or produced in whatever form, but there was always a time element: how long does it take for 1/10th of a commodity to recycle and produce 100% of the value already extended as credit?  

The most common average answer was thirty years, assuming reasonable interest on the "loans" -- the amount of time that the value of a house and the credit issued against that asset (ten times the value of the house) could be recouped.  

The banks' secret need to recoup all that "extra" credit that they loaned based on the value of your house and the time it took to secretly recoup all that added up to thirty years on average, hence, the "Thirty Year Mortgage".   

Now think of all the credit that the government was spending "in your name" and apply the same principles.  

The government corporations claimed you, your labor, and everything you own as chattel owned by them; they borrowed against all your assets, and under the "fractional reserve banking" scheme, they issued themselves ten times the value of everything in this country, both public and private, as credit. 

This is what bankrolled the "Federal Reserve Note".  This is what they were talking about when they talked about "indebting" future generations --- the amount of time it would take those future generations to pay back the secret "credit debt" and the interest on that debt, that these felons were creating in our names "for us". 

Right now you are seeing a very peculiar thing --- one court is trying to arrest Donald Trump and seize his assets, another court is trying to arrest most of the members of Congress and seize their assets, and before long, you will see that the members of the Supreme Court and other judicial bodies are being arrested, too.  

They are all blaming each other, but they are all crooks-- knowingly or unknowingly.   This is the denouement, where the facts meet the fictions. 

The process that proposed to legalize this enslavement of living people as "assets" backing corporation debts and which latched onto their assets both public and private as an asset base for what appeared to be government borrowing, is too complex to describe here, and we have described the elements of it in detail elsewhere. 

You have to ask yourselves --- what happens when the actual owners of these assets wake up and reclaim them?  

Then the assets of John P. Citizen are lawfully converted into assets belonging to a living man, John Percival, and removed from the asset stockpile.  Now the 1/10th of actual value supporting that 9/10ths of credit issued by the fractional reserve system is entirely unsupported and, additionally, it will take longer to pay off. 

As the nature and extent of the crime practiced against the American people becomes apparent, we look around and see that this same "system" has been exported to most other countries, too. 

At a certain point, someone wakes up and says, hey, wait a minute, where is all the profit from this scheme going?  

God knows the victims who are the actual owners of the assets and who are being plugged (together with their childrens' children) to pay back all this credit, plus interest, aren't getting a share. 

And logic dictates that the owner of the asset being used as the basis of credit is also the owner of the credit. 

What happens when the actual owners show up and say, "We didn't authorize any of this, and those who did, don't have a contract with us allowing them to do this."  

Then, all Hell breaks loose, precisely as President Trump said. 

There are a few saving graces.  The actual monetary system still exists and can be brought forward to fill some of the gap.  

Six generations of people who were victims of this system already paid back what appeared to be their "credit burden" plus interest that they didn't actually owe, and they paid with actual goods and services, so that we, their heirs, are owed prepaid credit.  

Think of this like a savings account or inheritance you didn't know you had.  

So we have issued American Heritage Dollars as units of prepaid credit to erase any "National Debt" and replace the Federal Reserve debt notes; we have ruled all interest paid on any such debts to be Odious Debt and cancelled it. 

We have issued the gold-backed American Federation Dollar as the official monetary standard for The United States and The United States of America --- please notice, both these instrumentalities are Unincorporated.  

We have prepared a new, clean, high tech banking system for you so you can use your prepaid credit and your gold and silver to buy whatever you need.  

Everyone can calm down as they realize that all they need is a Vendor Account, if you are a vendor of goods or services, and a Master Account if you are a living man or woman.  

Every man and woman on Earth is literally endowed with enough prepaid credit and actual gold and silver to live comfortably and do whatever they need to do in life.  

So stay calm.  

The so-called National Debts only appeared to exist because of bad bookkeeping and constructive fraud.  Any debts that you thought you owed are equally ephemeral.  

We have recognized that the living people are the actual owners of all physical assets and all credit derived from their physical assets, too.   

That makes you all "very well off", and it means that a lot of people are going to jail on a worldwide basis. 

So long as you are not one of them, you have nothing to fear. 

There will be some rocky spots as all this bad news about the financial system hits the airwaves, but you are already receiving the good news that comes right behind it.  

In all transactions there is a buyer and a seller, a grantor and a grantee, a bailor and a bailee, a donor and a beneficiary.... and this time, for once, the living men and women come out on top.  

So -- don't be alarmed if your pension fund is swept away, if your bank balance is zero, if you have nothing left --- this is because the accounts are being switched over to your actual ownership.  

The accounts you see and are familiar with are being wiped away, but there are other accounts that you will see that are in receipt of your credits and actual money--- so you aren't losing anything but debt.  You will soon see the actual accounting and be glad. 

Your job is to keep calm, keep the faith, and go online to set up your Global Family Bank account(s).  

You weren't aware of it, but the thieves even stole your name. Those pensions and those bank accounts that you thought were yours actually belonged to foreign franchise corporations named after you. 

That circumstance has to be corrected.  For many, this may be a two-step process, in which you have to use a QFS account for immediate relief during the transition.  

Being circumstantially forced to use the QFS account in no way compromises you or your ability to remove your fortune from the QFS to our Global Family Banks. 

Ultimately, all "franchise" accounts including QFS accounts have to be "lawfully converted" and returned to your ownership and control, not the bank's ownership and control.  

We are announcing right here and now that use of the QFS accounts does not provide any evidence of foreign citizenship or foreign citizenship obligations.  It merely indicates that a name that was seized upon has been assigned an account in that system, and exists at least temporarily as an asset in that jurisdiction.  

The bogus debts are being wiped away, the bogus contracts are being ended, the citizenship obligations conferred on you without your knowledge or consent, the debts foisted off on you --- all of that must be swept away.  

What you are seeing erupting on the television looks terrible, but just beyond all the ugly headlines is the silver lining prepared for you, the lawful conversion that not only saves you, but leaves you better off and more secure than you have ever been. 

The Brits backing the QFS will try to tell you that they are the authors of this happy result; they aren't.  As usual, they were part of the problem and only saw the light when they had no other choice.  They are still trying to chisel accolades and interests in the assets of living people, but you all have a simple way out of that trap. 

Close your QFS account and remove your assets to the Global Family Bank, so that you and your assets are living securely on the land and soil of your own country.  

What you are about to see is the cleansing and the lawful conversion.  There will be some pain associated with this but that will be caused by people who don't understand what is happening or why.  You must tell them.  

Forget about your pensions, your "benefits", your bank accounts as they existed in the crooked system; there is another system and in that system, which is honest, you are doing just fine.

You won't need a pension.  You won't need a Medicare card. You won't have to keep records for the IRS.   You will have a whole new world that belongs to you, and all that you could possibly need, is already yours, is under your ownership, and just as important, is under your control.  

This is true for Americans and everyone else throughout the world.

What appears to be a disaster is the start of great joy.  

Let the Jubilee begin. 

So said, so signed, so sealed: 

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

January 25th 2026

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International Public Notice: An End to Nonsense

 By Anna Von Reitz

Take Notice to Whom All These Presents Come: Notice to Agents is Notice to Principals; Notice to Principals is Notice to Agents: 

The American Federal Republic failed in 1861.  The only American Republic of any kind that has been organized since then is the Lakota Republic. 

The Federal Republic failed because the American Confederation of States doing business as the States of America failed. 

The States of America failed because the delegates could not agree on the limits of Britain's influence on our trade policies and the right of individual States to disagree.  Not slavery per se.  

The use of slave labor on Southern plantations gave American cotton a market advantage.  It was cheaper than Egyptian cotton that the British had invested in, despite the cost of transporting it across the Atlantic. 

The British attacked slavery, because they knew that slave labor gave American cotton a price advantage over British-owned Egyptian cotton. 

This was pure hypocrisy on their part, because the British were the primary sellers and transporters of slaves to America. 

The Southern States walked out of the trade policy negotiations and left the States of America without a quorum to conduct business. 

Once the States of America was rendered inoperable, the "Federal Republic" that they ran as the United States (Company) was cast adrift, too. 

The Federal Republic was an American Federal Service Vendor run by the States of America.  The Federal Republic operated under the Federal Constitution, a service contract issued to the States of America in 1787, The Constitution for the united States of America. 

Take notice of how the title of this document is constructed, clearly showing that the recipient of the service contract was the "States of America" --- not the United States, not the United States of America.

The British Territorial Government under Lincoln took over and ran the Federal Republic as a business from April 1861 to February 2nd 1871, when the British Territorial U.S. Congress seized upon the assets of the Federal Republic as abandoned property without giving any proper Notice to the actual Owners -- the Federation of States, which the British had meanwhile suppressed. 

They transferred the assets of the old Federal Republic to a new Municipal Corporation formed in the District of Columbia operated as the United States (INC.) under the management of a British Territorial U.S. Congress oligarchy.  Later, they formed other such Municipal Corporations such as the USA, etc.

Confused by the similar names and the fact that the Perpetrators never identified these entities as corporations, the American Public slept on, leaving these corporations to function under color of law and assumption of Successor to Contract status. 

What we are looking at now is the end result of a hidden fraud and regime change engineered by Undeclared British Agents and unlawfully converted military forces, that have unknowingly functioned as mercenary forces ever since. 

Now the American people are in danger of accepting a false narrative claiming to "restore the Republic!" and allowing the British Subcontractors to cement their ill-gotten and illegal gains.  

The American Republic can't be restored without the American Government being involved. 

Donald Trump, like Lincoln, is acting as "Commander in Chief" -- a British Naval Office attached to a British Territorial Corporation doing business as the United States of America, Incorporated (or possibly, the United States of America, LLC, registered in London).  

Like Lincoln, Donald Trump is doing his best to ignore the existence of the actual American Government vested in the States and people of this country.  

Many people in this country have been deceived and have welcomed the Trump Administration as saviors, not realizing that we are in the middle of a pre-planned "operation" promoted by two foreign corporations, which are both ultimately owned by the same parties. 

These two corporations, one commercial, one municipal,  are playing Good Cop - Bad Cop, and using two political Parties -- that is, lobbying groups -- as the storefronts for this.  

These corporations and their various "national franchises" are being used to promote civil "war" and to create social unrest for profit, not only in this country, but around the world.  

First, they deliberately import undocumented immigrants; second, they pay themselves for the service of removing all these immigrants.  

The guilty corporations make money on the front end of this, the import phase, by increasing the value of their "livestock".  

In cattlemen's terms, they redefine range steers as purebred dairy cows, and benefit from this increase in value.    

On the back end of this operation, they make more money by using their USA Corporation to remove the same immigrants welcomed by their US Corporation. 

Or, for example, they use their Australia (Incorporated) corporation to remove all the immigrants welcomed by their AUSTRALIA (INCORPORATED) corporation. 

This gives the appearance of a conflict where none actually exists.  

Both corporations and their franchises are being deliberately manipulated to unjustly enrich themselves at public expense; the fact that they distributed the funds to do all this damage to Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) acting under policy directives and non-disclosure agreements, is, in our view, immaterial.  

The Prime Movers and Principals are the same, regardless of the facilitators and instrumentalities employed.  The use of proxies to commit crimes is nonetheless binding. 

This is self-evidently the same process that has been used against our country and against all the other countries where these corporations have operated franchises: create a problem, and then get paid (and praised) for solving the problem you created or used proxies to create. 

Example: British Government  operatives used Hamas as a proxy to create the excuse for the attack on Gaza.  

Example: British Government corporations acting as subcontractors, Cecil Rhodes' British South Africa Company, was used as a proxy to asset-strip South Africa.

Example: British Government invades Iraq using territorial forces and illegally continues to commandeer control Iraq's oil supplies even after the War ended: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqF1_vhrD2E

We are not deceived.  At the end of the day the Pope owns all of these "service" corporations and despite employing different middlemen and different management teams in different jurisdictions, the responsibility for this mess comes back to the British Monarch, the Vatican and Roman Curia --- and ultimately, the Pope.  

Mr. Trump needs to be aware that our American Federation of States and our underlying Union States are the American Government he is supposed to be working for--- and we, provenanced and declared Americans, are the civilians he is supposed to be receiving his orders from.  Not British Territorial Subjects.  Not Papist Municipal citizens. 

The American Government is still here, still viable, and still competent to give orders. 

Mr. Trump needs to receive those orders and act accordingly under civilian administration.  

Most Americans are dimly aware that the Federal Republic was their government once-upon-a-time, but they lack the discernment necessary to recognize it when the Brits and their Roman patrons try to substitute "a" Republic for "the" Republic.  In this instance, they need to be defended against their own ignorance. 

We object, strongly, to the Substitution Scheme being rolled out by Donald Trump's Administration and all the look-alike, sound-alike "assemblies" that have sprung up like mushrooms, all populated by U.S. Citizens and citizens of the United States. 

Foreign citizenries do not now and never could replace the interests and identities of the American people, no matter what undisclosed registrations and impersonations are suppositioned.  

Mr. Trump needs to enter into communications with the only State Assemblies and American People who are property provenanced, declared, and recorded and knowingly invoking their retained trust interests. 

The British Empire needs to be told that we are still here, and still know who we are.

We still know what we are owed.  

We wish for our silver and gold to be returned to our safekeeping, not commandeered by JPMorgan and Chase Bank under false pretenses, and not seized upon by Donald Trump's Administration, either.  

For the better part of two centuries, the British Navy disguised as the U.S. Navy has been seizing upon our assets under the pretense of foreign public interest and "safekeeping" concerns.  They have done this with no reasonable disclosure to the American Public. 

For over a century, persons acting as unauthorized trustees (Executors de Son Tort) have been managing American assets for their own benefit under color of law, and bankrupt Maritime Commercial Banks have been allowed to continue operations under claims that this was necessary on an "emergency" basis; more recently, these same bankrupt banks have been converted into securities brokerages while continuing to run under bank trademarks and continuing to perform bank functions. 

American, Commonwealth, British Home Island, Continental European, Japanese, Iraqi, Filipino, and other assets have been illegally latched upon and securitized under False Legal Pretenses, so that even the labor assets of individuals have been misrepresented as assets belonging to corporations and "securitized" as chattel property, leading to the peonage and enslavement of living people under False Pretenses and resulting in false commercial claims and corporate tax obligations being conferred upon them and presumed against their interests. 

More recently, this criminality and misrepresentation has allowed the patently criminal "fractional reserve banking" scheme to extend to commodities, securities, and even bond markets, so that in the case of commodities, the operators have been caught selling delivery contracts for physical goods and policies issued on insurable interests they never possessed.  

The current scandal impacting the global silver market and the Commodity Exchange applies to all commodities, not just silver; traders and brokers have been operating on fractional reserve margins for decades --- and it doesn't matter what the listed commodity is: oil, soybeans, corn, pork bellies, orange juice -- future delivery contracts have been routinely oversold and traded, leveraged and marginalized without disclosure to investors. 

Deceptive terms have been used and interjected into contracts, such as  "unallocated silver" and then using this as an excuse to defraud investors.  Buyers have been led to believe that they actually purchased a commodity, in this case, silver, when in fact the seller never set aside any physical product for the buyer.  This is a pig in a poke fraud. 

Insurable interests have been packaged and sold as investments in the same way, where no insurable interest exists.  "Unallocated" interests in bundled mortgages have been sold in the same way.  Even the world bond market has been plagued with monopolization of middle term bond supplies, MTMs, and "fractional reserve" practices applied to the bond rollovers. 

These and other criminal practices, or practices which should be criminal and aren't, have eroded investor confidence and ruined entire economic sectors, not to mention the harm done to individual lives. 

In this country, the entire mining industry has been sidelined for decades; owners of mining claims have had to bear the cost of development and maintenance while the market has been artificially manipulated to suppress prices and discourage investment in new mining operations.  This has been the policy rigidly imposed by the central banks, even in the face of ever-increasing industrial demand. 

The central banks thought that by suppressing mining and manipulating a marginalized "reserve" they could ultimately spike precious metals prices to unimaginable heights. This is what they are trying to do right now, and it is no surprise; they have been planning this since 1910. 

Instead of piling in on their manipulative fraud by panic-buying precious metals --- which is what they want, we should exit the rigged market and invest directly -- physically, in other commodities, in our homes, and in ourselves, while demanding that the politicians arrest the bankers and fix this mess.  

This situation has been brought about by central bank policies and has been inflicted under color of law by persons who were never elected to any public office. These practices and manipulations are artificial, arbitrary, and dishonest; fractional reserve banking leads inexorably to market chaos, bank failures, supply chain failures, suppression of industry, destabilization of currency markets, irrational commodity prices and hyperinflation.  

The foregoing result which the world is facing right now, is the exact opposite of the reasoning that was used to justify acceptance and licensing of central banks in the first place.  

We were told that allowing central banks to control commodities -- including but not limited to currency and financial instruments -- would lead to a new era of stability, peace, and growth.  Central banks would, we were promised, ease taxation, streamline the economy, keep the commodities markets honest, and serve to prevent bank runs and other chaos. 

Instead, we have suffered two World Wars, endless meddling in the Middle East, uncounted lesser conflicts all over the planet, endless natural resource and commodity market manipulations, taxation of everything and anything has been illegally imposed and mercilessly enforced by unelected and unaccountable agencies, consistent and deliberate devaluation of fiat currencies, inflation and monopolization of the fiat currency, loss of buying and earning power, resource monopolies and manipulations, war-profiteering abroad, racketeering at home and near constant chaos in one form or another --- has been the legacy of central banks. 

This is why we want the licenses and corporate charters of the central banks pulled and for these institutions to be shut down without any need for big explanations or apologies. 

All contracts are owed performance and the central banks, most especially, the Federal Reserve, have not performed. They have not produced the benefits touted; they have been harmful and predatory and manipulative in ways that benefited the banks and their bank's cronies at the expense of the public good and Public Interest.    

The Pope and his Imperial Majesty, Charles III, must be made aware that we know who ultimately owns all these corporations --- and who is responsible for their operations, even in bankruptcy.  

We are claiming ownership of all the banks, yes, but also claiming ownership of all our material assets, including but not limited to our own Given Names, our vessels, our beneficial treaties and contracts, our copyrights, patents, and labor, any public trusts operated in our names, our rights and our responsibilities. 

We have described our banking system and its very substantial benefits in other notices; we have also described our means to resolve all claims of National Debt and to force deployment of our prepaid credit to resolve imbalances in the financial system.

All assets belong naturally to the living people and their lawful governments; Mr. Trump has a contract to honor and it does not include any provisions to seize and traffic our assets, salvage our assets, create foreign public trust interests in our names, treat us as British Subjects, subject us to Maritime or Admiralty Law, create registrations and unconscionable foreign citizenship obligations for American babies, nor to hold our assets captive as collateral for his corporation's debts.    

We do this peaceably in the name of all Americans who have been misidentified as members of foreign citizenries residing in this country.  We further make the same asset claims and assert the same beneficial interests on behalf of all mankind, all those who have been harmed by the 

Let each one receive back their physical assets, both private and public, that have been purloined, and the prepaid credit that is theirs. 

We wish for a swift and peaceful and mutually beneficial outcome, with no continuing fraud, coercion, or deceit of any kind. 

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

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

January 24th 2026

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Sunday, January 25, 2026

Third Sunday After Epiphany

 Rev. Fr. Leonard Goffine's

The Church's Year

INTROIT Adore God, all ye His angels: Sion heard, and was glad; and the daughters of Juda rejoiced. The Lord hath reigned; let the earth rejoice; let the many islands be glad. (Ps. XCVI. 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 Almighty everlasting God, mercifully look upon our infirmity, and stretch forth the right hand of Thy majesty for our protection. Through our protection. 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 (Rom. XII. 16-21.) Brethren, be not wise in your own conceits. To no man rendering evil for evil: providing good things not only in the sight of God, but also in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as is in you, having peace with all men; not revenging yourselves, my dearly beloved but give place unto wrath; for it is written: Revenge is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. But if thy enemy be hungry, give him to eat; if he thirst, give him to drink; for doing this, thou shaft heap coals of fire upon his head. Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil by good.

When are we overcome by evil?

When we wish to take revenge. "Revenge is no sign of courage," says St. Ambrose, "but rather of weakness and cowardice. As it is the sign of a very weak stomach to be unable to digest food, so it is the mark of a very weak mind to be unable to bear a harsh word." "Are you impatient," says the same saint, "you are overcome; are you patient, you have overcome."

What should we do if our reputation is injured?

We should leave its revenge, or its defense and protection to God, who has retained that for Himself. "But as a good name," says St. Francis de Sales, "is the main support of human society, and as without it we could not be useful to that society, but even hurtful to it on account of scandal, we should feel bound, for love of our neighbor, to aim after a good reputation, and to preserve it." We should not be too sensitive about this, however, for too great a sensitiveness makes one obstinate, eccentric, and intolerable, and only tends to excite and increase the malice of the detractors. The silence and contempt with which we meet a slander or an injustice, is generally a more efficacious antidote than sensitiveness, anger, or revenge. The contempt of a slander at once disperses it, but anger shows a weakness, and gives the accusation an appearance of probability. If this does not suffice, and the slander continues, let us persevere in humility' and lay our honor and our soul into the hands of God, according to the admonitions of the Apostle.

How do we "heap coals of fire on the head of our enemy?"

When we return him good for evil, for seeing our well meaning towards him, the flush of shame reddens his face for the wrongs he has done us. St. Augustine explains these words thus: "By giving food and drink or doing other kindnesses to your enemy, you will heap coals, not of anger, but of love, upon his head, which will inflame him to return love for love." Learn therefore, from the example of Christ and His saints, not to allow yourself to be overcome by evil, but do good to those that hate and persecute you.

ASPIRATION Ah, that I might, according to the words of St. Paul, so live that I may be a child of the Heavenly Father, who lets His sun shine on the just and the unjust!

GOSPEL (Matt. VIII. 1-13.) At that time, when Jesus was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him; and behold, a leper came and adored him, saying: Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus, stretching forth his hand,  touched him, saying: I will, be thou made clean. And forthwith his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus saith to him, See thou tell no man: but go, show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift which Moses commanded for a testimony unto them. And when he had entered into Capharnaum, there came to him a centurion, beseeching him, and saying: Lord, my servant Beth at home sick of the palsy, and is grievously tormented. And Jesus saith to him: I will come and heal him. And the centurion making answer, said: Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant shall be healed. For I also am a man subject to authority, having under me soldiers; and I say to this man: Go, and he goeth; and to another: Come, and he cometh; and to my servant: Do this, and he doeth it. And Jesus hearing this, marveled; and said to them that followed him: Amen I say to you, I have not found so great faith in Israel. And I sad to you that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the children of the kingdom shall be cast into the exterior darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said to the centurion: Go, and as thou hast believed, so be it done to thee; and the servant was healed at the same hour.

Why did the leper say: “Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean"?

He believed Christ to be the promised Messiah, who as true God had the power to heal him. From this we learn to have confidence in the omnipotence of God, who is a helper in all need, (Ps. CVI. 6. 73. 19.) and to leave all to the will of God, saying: Lord, if it be pleasing to Thee, and well for me, grant my petition.

Why did Jesus stretch forth His hand and touch the leper?

To show that He was not subject to the law which forbade the touching of a leper through fear of infection, which could not affect Jesus; to reveal the health-giving, curative power of His flesh, which dispelled leprosy by the simple touch of His hand; to give us an example of humility and of love for the poor sick, that we may learn from Him to have no aversion to the infirm, but lovingly to assist the unfortunate sick for the sake of Jesus who took upon Himself the leprosy of our sins. The saints have faithfully imitated Him in their tender care for those suffering from the most disgusting diseases. Oh, how hard it will be for those to stand before the Tribunal of God at the Last Day, who cannot even bear to look at the poor and sick!

Why did Christ command the leper to tell no man?

To instruct us that we should not make known our good works in order to obtain frivolous praise, (Matt. VI 1.) which deprives us of our heavenly reward.

Why did Christ send the healed leper to the Priest?

That he might observe the law which required all the healed lepers to show themselves to the priests, to offer a sacrifice, to be examined and pronounced clean: that the priest if he beheld the miracle of the sudden cure of the leper, might know Him who had wrought the cure, to be the Messiah; and finally, to teach us that we must honor the priests because of their high position, even when they do not live in a manner worthy of their dignity, as was the case with the Jewish priests.

What it taught by the centurion's solicitude for his servant?

That masters should take care of their sick servants, see that they are attended to in their illness, and above all that they are provided with the Sacraments. It is unchristian, even cruel and barbarous, to drive from the house a poor, sick servant, or to leave him lying in his distress without assistance or care.

Why did Christ say: I wild come and heal him?

Because of His humility, by which He, although God and Lord of lords, did not hesitate to visit a sick servant. Here Christ's humility puts to shame many persons of position who think themselves too exalted to attend the wants of a poor servant.

Why did the centurion say: Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldst enter under my roof?

Because he recognized Christ's divinity and his own nothingness, and therefore regarded himself as unworthy to receive Christ into his house.

From this we learn to humble ourselves, especially when we receive Christ into our hearts, hence the priest in giving holy Communion uses the centurion's words, exhorting those to humility who are about to receive.

Why did he add: But only say the word, and my servant shall be healed?

By this he publicly manifested his faith in Christ's divinity and omnipotence, because he believed that Christ, though absent, could heal the servant by a word.

If a Gentile centurion had such faith in Christ, and such confidence in His power, should not we Christians be ashamed that we have so little faith, and confidence in God?

What is meant by: Many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the children of the kingdom shall be cast into the exterior darkness?

This was said by Christ in reference to the obdurate Jews who would not believe in Him. Many pagans who receive the gospel, and live in accordance with it, will enjoy heavenly bliss with the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who were the most faithful friends of God, while the Jews, God's chosen people, who as such, possessed the first claim to heaven, will, because of their unbelief and other sins, be cast into outer darkness, that is, into the deepest abyss of hell, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Thus it will be with those Christians who do not live in accordance with their faith. Therefore, fear lest you, for want of cooperation with God's grace, be eternally rejected, while others who have faithfully corresponded to the divine inspirations will enter into your place in the kingdom of heaven.

ASPIRATION O Jesus, rich in consolations! grant me the leper's faith and confidence, that in all things I may rely upon Thy omnipotence, and may resign myself to Thy divine will, and may ever honor Thy priests. Grant me, also, O most humble Jesus! the centurion's humility, that for Thy sake, I may compassionately assist my neighbor, and by doing so render myself worthy of Thy grace and mercy.

ON RESIGNATION TO THE WILL OF GOD

Lord, if thou wilt. (Matt. VIII. 2.)

Those who in adversity as well as in prosperity, perfectly resign themselves to the will of God, and accept whatever He sends them with joy and thanks, possess heaven, as St. Chrysostom says, while yet upon earth. Those who have attained this resignation, are saddened by no adversity, because they are satisfied with all that God, their best Father, sends them, be it honor or disgrace, wealth or poverty, life or death. All happens as they wish, because they know no will but God's, they desire nothing but that which He does and wills. God does the will of them that fear Him. (Ps. CXLIV. 10.) In the lives of the ancient Fathers we find the following: The fields and vineyards belonging to one farmer were much more fertile and yielding than were his neighbors'. They asked how it happened and he said: they should not wonder at it, because he always had the weather he wished. At this they wondered more than ever: How could that be? "I never desire other weather," he replied, "than God wills; and because my desires are conformable to His, He gives me the fruits I wish." This submission to the divine will is also the cause of that constant peace and undimmed joy of the saints of God, with which their hearts have overflowed here below, even in the midst of the greatest sufferings and afflictions. Who would not aspire to so happy a state? We will attain it if we believe that nothing in this world can happen to us except by the will and through the direction of God, sin and guilt excepted, for God can never be the cause of them. This the Holy Ghost inculcates by the mouth of the wise man: Good things and evil, life and death, poverty and riches, are from God, (Eccles. XI. 14.) that is, are permitted or sent by God; all that which comes from God, is for the best, for God doeth all things well. (Mark VII. 37.) Whoever keeps these two truths always in mind, will certainly be ever contented with the will of God, and always consoled; he will taste while yet on earth the undisturbed peace of mind and foretaste of happiness which the saints had while here, and which they now eternally enjoy in heaven, because of the union of their will with the divine will.

INSTRUCTION FOR MASTERS AND SERVANTS

The master of a house should be careful to have not only obedient, faithful, willing, and industrious servants in his home, as had the centurion in the gospel, but still more, pious and God-fearing ones, for God richly blesses the master because of pious servants. Thus God blessed Laban on account of the pious Jacob, (Gen. XXX. 30.) and the house of Putiphar because of the just Joseph. (Gen. XXXIX. 5.) The master should look to the morals and Christian conduct of his servants, and not suffer irreligious subjects in his house, for he must, after this life, give an account before the tribunal of God, and he makes himself unworthy of the blessing of God, often liable to the most terrible punishment by retaining such. Will not God punish those masters and mistresses who suffer those under them to seek the dangerous occasions of sin, keep sinful company, go about at night, and lead scandalous lives? Will not God, one day, demand the souls of servants from their masters? The same punishment which will befall those who deny their faith, will rest upon careless masters and mistresses, for St. Paul the Apostle writes:

But if any man have not care of his own, and especially of those of his house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. (I. Tim. V. 8.)

Subjects should learn from the centurion's servants who obeyed his only word, that they also should willingly, faithfully, and quickly do every thing ordered by their masters, unless it be something contrary to the law of God. They should recollect that whatever they do in obedience to their superiors, is done for God Himself. Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not serving to the eye, as pleasing men, but in simplicity of heart, fearing God. Whatsoever you do, do it from the heart as to the Lord, and not to men: knowing that you shall receive of the Lord the reward of inheritance. Serve ye the Lord Christ. (Col. III. 22-24.)