The New World Order South v. New World Order North

 By Anna Von Reitz

As you have noticed, a substantial part of the crime that has been committed against us has been expedited by: (1) identity theft accomplished via "mirroring"; (2) impersonation; (3) undisclosed contracts and equally undisclosed commercial claims; (4) overall fraud and deceit enabling coercion and racketeering.

So, it should come as no surprise that The New World Order has also been mirrored.

There are at least a dozen (and probably more) versions of things now calling themselves the "New World Order" or "NEW WORLD ORDER" and as many interpretations of what the words mean or imply. Let this stand as a warning and a caveat that these words cannot be accepted on face value.

The actual, and by that, I mean the first known entity calling itself the "New World Order" was a group of Catholics who joined together to form an Order of Knighthood known as The New World Order. This society formed in South America during The Spanish Conquest. The "New World" being referred to was the Americas.

It was predominantly a Spanish Order of Knighthood and many members were made extremely wealthy by the gold and silver discoveries in South America, but in time, their good fortune arrived back in Europe and spread to far flung family members in numerous countries, as did membership in the Order. It was always Catholic and it was always very forward thinking, very wealthy, and very devoted to the Church.

Okay. That's the first "New World Order" --- a secretive Catholic Order of Knighthood, mainly Spanish at first, founded by Conquistadors. Not coincident to their gold and silver discoveries in South America, many of these men became involved in the gold trade worldwide, banking, and related fields of endeavor. Their heirs and progeny continue to trace their lineage back to men like Cortes, Santiago, Rodriguez, and Romana.

The second "New World Order" formed over a hundred years after the first version, and it was a strange mix described as "Protestant Knights" who were not exactly Protestants. That is, they were not Lutherans, Anglicans, Methodists, or members of any recognizable Protestant Church. The use of the word "Protestant" is in the sense of objecting to the Catholic Church, and particularly to the rise of the modern iterations of the Holy Roman Empire and the associated activities of the Congress of Vienna, aka, League of Nations, aka, United Nations.

The Protestant New World Order included remnants of the Templars, Rosicrucians, Gnostics, Albigensians, Coptic Christians, Deists, Eastern Orthodox, Jews, Muslims, and "men of science, doctors, free-thinkers, and alchemists".

These fellows for the most part were devoted to the premise that a man should be free to make choices about what he believes in, or fails to believe in. Quite a large number of them, like George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, abhorred the excesses of murders and crimes committed in the name of Jesus and in the name of religious beliefs which "can't be proven by rational means".

These men lived in the Age of Enlightenment, also called the Age of Reason, when even Commoners engaged in the purposeful exploration of Nature, and every grand house had its library, its horticulture experiments, its telescopes, microscopes, and plethora of scientific equipment.

This second "New World Order" was a backlash against the superstitions of the Church and the rampages and excesses of various Catholic Orders including the Dominican Inquisition and the Anti-Reformation led by the Jesuits.

Rather than kill each other over religious beliefs, these men who came from every other point of the compass, resolved to put an end to theocracies, if possible, and to let religious belief be a purely private matter held separate from public governance.

So you have a Catholic New World Order (of Knighthood) up to its chin in gold and silver, and you have a mixed-bag Protestant New World Order (of Knighthood) composed of Scientists, Free Thinkers, Doctors, Inventors, Military Generals and others opposed to theocracies in general and the Holy Roman Empire in particular.

Voltaire was a member of this second version of New World Order, which professed to believe in the existence of "some greater power" --- but at the same time observed that the Holy Roman Empire "isn't holy, isn't Roman, and isn't an Empire".

In time, the sheer force of scientific method (pioneered by Sir Francis Bacon, aka, Saint Germain) and logical deduction led to some of the best and most accomplished and richest men in Europe and America joining this odd quasi-Protestant Order, which they claimed was a "New World Order" for North America (as opposed to the Catholic version in South America) and ---importantly -- for the whole world.

They were talking about a world based on individual self-governance and rational thought. They meant to overturn, once and for all, the monarchies and the theocracies that had bloodied the pages of history for the sake of unprovable beliefs, and when they said "New World" they weren't thinking about the Americas only.

They were thinking of a literal New World, where religious belief or lack thereof, would be a private matter, and everyone could be educated ("enlightened") to mind their own business, love the truth wherever they could find it, and have compassion for their fellowman.

And all of this "boiling pot" of ideas and experiments and philosophical debates was pouring directly out of the larger cauldron of the Spanish Conquest, the Protestant Reformation, and the Catholic Anti-Reformation.

America, as we know it, was formed by this second version of "New World Order" while the governments of South America got their start from the original Catholic version of New World Order.

The original Constitution for this country was written by Saint Germain, and was (and is) essentially a detailed contract between the government and the people being served by the government, outlining the duties and obligations of each, so as to achieve the greatest good for the greatest number of Americans, the most freedom, and the best husbandry of our natural resources and individual lives.

Hardly anyone has ever read this Constitution, though we may be sure that Washington, Madison, Franklin, Jefferson, Adams, and the Lees of Virginia all did. We can also be sure that some of the best and most original ideas associated with this country and its traditional government derive directly from its pages.

All Constitutions are debt agreements and the debt that we still owe to Saint Germain and LaFayette and Hiram Solomon is to listen, read, think, and act in our own best behalf, to become truly sentient and compassionate, and to jealously guard our minds and hearts against deceit, lies, programming, hypnosis, black magic and all the other wiles and means used to entrap and enslave those who were otherwise born and meant to live as free men and women.

To this day, both "New World Orders" continue to exist, and each contributes in its own way to the great panoply spread before us, each brings forward the richness of their humanitarian vision --- and one has cause to wonder, with generations of men and women, both Catholic and Protestant, so wealthy, so intelligent, so kind --- how is it possible that the vision of goodness that ultimately motivated both sides to surrender their wealth, has yet to be realized?

And there is only one answer: Middlemen. Trustees. Faithless Employees. Those who were unworthy of the trust vested in them. Those who kept the money for themselves and used it as a means to harm rather than help. Those who hoarded it. Those who Slush Funded it. Those who profited at the expense of the innocent.

And they are not the actual owners of the wealth at all.

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A Mandate is Not a Law

 By Anna Von Reitz

There is no "force of law" connected to a mandate, which is a private appointment matter, thus you see that we provide for decrees of the sovereignty over mandates established by trust agreements.

Therefore, all the "mandates" and "proclamations" issued by Joe Biden and by the various State-of-State Governors are not enforceable as Public Laws that everyone has to obey --- contrary to what many people and even some law enforcement officials are assuming.

Joe Biden and his franchise State-of-State Governors have no authority to say one word about your health or any procedure related to health concerns, unless you are employed by their corporations.

Just as any CEO can "mandate" that his employees wear blue uniforms, Joe Biden can mandate that his workers get vaccinated, or in this case, take part in an untested experimental procedure.

Are you an employee or a dependent of the brand new US, INC.? Do you work for the Federal Civil Service? Are you a dependent of a Federal Civil Service worker?

If not, none of Mr. Biden's mandates apply to you and they cannot be imposed.

If so, it's time to change jobs or tell your Unions to go on strike.

Please note that the CDC admits that there is no reliable test for anything called Covid 19, and no tests at all for any variants. Put two and two together, folks.

For the sake of your health, your wealth, your sanity, and your future --- you need to realize that these foreign, for-profit corporations in the business of providing "essential" government services, are not trustworthy and not honest and not doing anything good for you.

They are parasitizing their own employees and killing off their dependents -- who are also their Priority Creditors -- to protect their bottom lines.

It's past time that we did our Due Diligence and Discovery to unearth exactly who has been telling these corporate "Presidents" what to do --- and started chewing our way up the food chain.

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Disturbing video: Australian covid camp police threaten to “gas” covid prisoner instead of releasing him after 14 days

 https://www.naturalnews.com/2021-09-09-disturbing-video-australian-covid-camp-police-threaten-to-gas-covid-prisoner.html

The Great Travesty, Not the Great Reset

 By Anna Von Reitz

The first reason we oppose the so-called Great Reset being pushed by the Temple Bar is that there is no logical, reasonable, or sane basis for it.

The truth, as often expressed by the Committee responsible, is that nobody knows the actual value of any commodity (including money) because the commodity markets have all been artificially rigged for so long.

In such a situation, those responsible lack a basis for taking action.

"We don't know the value of gold or anything else," I was told with great candor, and I have no reason to think that that evaluation is incorrect.

The Free Market hasn't existed since the 1880's, when the Robber Barons began consolidating control of transportation and energy sectors.

And everything has gone downhill since then.

By the 1930's, FDR and Cronies had the lock on what was left of the Free Market and were intently regulating it to death.

By the 1970's, when Dick Nixon and his Kaiser Permanente friends took over the medical sector and commercialized it, the handwriting on the wall was very, very clear: there have been no free markets left in any sector of the world economy ever since.

Thanks to this circumstance, there's no way to know the market driven price of beans in China. And no firm basis to launch any reset, much less a great one.

The second reason we object to any such "Great Reset" is that it unfairly targets America and enriches criminals.

The men who have engineered this have engineered it so that they and their cronies emerge from it as the wealthiest people on the planet, and everyone else takes it in the shorts.

The Insiders have bet against the US DOLLAR while being in position to manipulate and tank the same US DOLLAR.

They have bought tons of foreign currencies, most especially Vietnamese Dong and Zimbabwean Zim and Iraqi Dinar, as hedges against the collapse of the US DOLLAR --- a collapse (or not) which they control.

Talk about illegal market rigging.

This is at the very least unsavory insider trading and market rigging and unpatriotic activity in the extreme. I would go so far as to call it treasonous. What else do you call it, when the "American" military offers to sell out America and Americans?

Under this plan, the US DOLLAR would immediately lose more than half of its value. And almost immediately after that, people acting under conditions of Non-Disclosure Agreements, would start spending all their ill-gotten gain, which would create hyperinflation and destroy whatever value remained.

The Great Reset would be instead The Great Destruction, not only of the USD, but of any semblance of an economy anywhere in the world. The same thing would happen in a stair-step fashion with the Dong, the Zim, and Dinar. And then what?

The entire world would be left dependent on the ancient (and still false) answer of gold and silver coinage. Those who engineered the debacle of the Federal Reserve watch from the grave, expecting to be rewarded for their guile of over a hundred years ago: the chumps they stole the gold from will now have to pay 500-fold to buy it back.

Or so they think.

But there, too, are obvious problems, one of which is that the vastness of the world's gold holdings is now known, and it is infamously difficult to maintain the illusion of dearth and "value" in the presence of a surplus that would make Midas blush.

Same with silver, only more so.

What's a beleaguered, messed up, shown-to-be-immoral-and-illegal World Government to do? Both sides of this criminality stand to be destroyed, and then, what's left of society? We will (if we continue like this) be left with no sane means to trade goods and services.

That would cause more trouble, misery, and destruction than all the wars ever fought to date --- and these Bar Attorneys and Generals all have cause to know that.

So, the big question is --- how to unwind this whole situation, without killing people by the billions? How do we bring forth any kind of justice from this gigantic hot pile of horse manure?

We keep the USD in place, backed by silver and gold, and we adjust exchange rates in a sane way to promote overall economic growth worldwide, we make the medical and pharmaceutical sector non-profit again-- as it used to be, prior to Tricky Dick and always should have remained-- and most of all, we give the people of the whole world debt relief.

Money is like manure. A little in the right place works miracles. Too much anywhere merely burns the Earth and kills the plants. And we've got a gigantic hot pile of horse manure to deal with, folks -- whether we look at fiat, gold, or both.

Let those who hear my voice, hear my voice. The only plan that works, is the measured and disciplined plan that the actual American Government is proposing.

We step-by-step retrace our path and release the choke points on the world economy that were placed there by evil men seeking to profit themselves at everyone else's expense.

We do away with Blood Money and use the residuals for the benefit of the former slaves and indentured servants, and do it without recourse to any "trans-human" agenda seeking to boot up another round of excuses to de-humanize and deprive innocent people of their identities and health.

We introduce a worldwide currency to serve as a beneficial hedge, instead of trying to use and artificially control the Dong, Zim, and Dinar -- with destructive results.

As governments, we turn our attention to the real enemies of Mankind --- lies and ignorance, fear, filth, and avarice.

Both camps of the economic huddle have been proven wrong, as well as criminal. Their "war" bodes nothing but destruction for them and everyone else. Into the gap comes a Third Option.

Tell the truth, at least to yourselves, and do the right thing for once, straight out of the box, without trying every other alternative first.

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For The State Recording Secretaries

 By Anna Von Reitz

There seem to be some common threads of confusion and misdirection and plain old wrong information impacting the performance of our State Recording Secretaries.

The first issue to understand is that international Public Records from other sources are valid. There is no special magic attached to the means by which an international (land jurisdiction) Public Record is established.

A Public Record from the State of Washington is as valid as a Public Record published on the Land Recording Service (LRS) or by the Assembly Land Recording Office (LRO). Public Records can even be established by publication in a newspaper, so long as the publication is sustained for an appropriate period of time and has reasonable distribution.

A Public Record, backed up by appropriate action, has the power to overcome and rebut a private registration, which is the entire point.

Our 928 paperwork established as a Public Record by any means is sufficient to establish our political status and rebut the legal presumptions that otherwise attach to us.

More recently, we opened up a second, simpler pathway for people to establish their political status, rebut the obnoxious legal presumptions, and at the same time, obtain a State Credential, by issuing and recording a 1779 Declaration and providing the State Recording Secretaries with appropriate back up information.

When doing this function, and only this function, the Assembly Recording Secretaries are called upon to examine what they are recording, and ascertain that: (1) the individual has signed a 1779 Declaration, (2) has provided two credible Witnesses, and (3) provided additional back up in the form of a Birth Certificate, Naturalization paperwork, or other documentation establishing where they were born and who they are.

Birth Certificates and Naturalization papers, Green Cards, etc., are private documents presented to the Recording Secretaries for verification purposes and are not published.

Apart from this one function-- issuing State Credential Cards-- an Assembly Recording Secretary is not generally enabled nor empowered to comment on the correctness or efficacy of a recording--- that is entirely the responsibility of the people establishing the record and the Recording Secretary bears no responsibility or liability beyond establishing and keeping the Public Record intact.

When people wish to become official members of their State Assembly, they need to present (or create) the Public Record that they are Americans, born or naturalized in this country, and affirm that they are adopting State National and/or State Citizen political status. They also need to affirm that they have a permanent home in the State and have lived in the State for at least one year.

That's it.

Our Assembly Recording Secretaries are fulfilling a vital function and keeping the door open for other people in our States of the Union to "come home", but there are other avenues still open for people to accomplish this goal, and so long as those other avenues exist, we need to recognize them and be grateful that we can still employ multiple means to establish valid international (land jurisdiction) Public Records in this country.

People in other countries aren't so lucky, which is why we established the Land Recording System (LRS) to provide a helping hand, and the reason that we have International Land Recording Secretaries, too.

This is all about helping living people regain their natural political status as natives of their own countries, enabled to exercise their rights and treaties, access their contractual guarantees, and enjoy their private property assets.

Some Assembly Recording Secretaries have been abusing their positions of trust and this must come to an end. They have been creating "extra" requirements and enforcing them on people. They have been refusing to record materials they don't personally agree with, for whatever reason. Some have refused to do their jobs, because they didn't like someone.

Being a Recording Secretary is an honor and a public office. It's not equivalent to being a Rotary Club Secretary. It involves being responsible for Public Records and dedicated to Public Service, at the level of your State Assembly. Somehow in the years since the Civil War began, we've forgotten our obligation to our fellow men -- to honor their rights and their needs as forever equal to our own. We need to remember.

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No Second Declaration

 By Anna Von Reitz

Charlie Ward and Simon Parkes are, self-evidently, British Agents. They speak with British accents, they come from Great Britain, they are British, not American. Period.

And who is always at the bottom of every dog pile? The Brits.

At least this time, they are being up front about who they are and, more or less, what they are peddling. It is now our part to recognize who they are, and respond to their offer of a "new" Declaration of Independence with a resounding:

"No, thank you, we are not that stupid. Why don't you go home and work on learning your own Constitution?"

That's called an offer, and a counter-offer.

What they are offering is this noble-sounding piece of Bar Association drivel: "Man Of God - Declaration of the People of the United States for Global Peace and Prosperity - Final" which was prepared by Bar Attorneys, not "the People" of this country and not by men of God, either --- unless you count an ancient Babylonian Sun God as "the" God being referenced.

The actual People (State Citizens) of this country have already created a Peace Treaty among the Several States and have issued the appropriate International Peace Proclamation formally ending the so-called American Civil War.

No more legal presumption of unresolved war of any kind on our soil and shores. No more slavery or peonage exercised in any jurisdiction of the law related to our country and our people.

The International Peace Proclamation comes as a result of action taken by the actual American People who have declared who they are, recorded who they are, and qualified their standing to speak as "the People" of this country, not a bunch of Bar Attorneys pretending to be "the People" of this country.

The problem of second declarations (this is the second time they've tried this same schtick) is that if you accept a second declaration, you void the first declaration, and have to start all over.

You lose everything that you gained as a result of the first declaration.

And that is why we would be profoundly, infinitely, unforgivably stupid to accept their declaration as anything pertaining to us or our country.

Our first and only Declaration of Independence issued in 1776 covered all the bases and speaks as clearly to the abuses of the King's Government today as it did in 1776. All the same evils are the same.

If you don't believe it, take time out today to sit down and read The Declaration of Independence and the long, long list of British Abuses that prompted it to be written over two hundred years ago, and you will recognize that the same British Abuses are still being practiced today. Nothing has changed. Not an iota.

The British Government and its predatory sidearm "the Crown" are still as crooked, corrupt, inept, incompetent, cruel, unjust, predatory, unreasonable, greedy, hypocritical, deceitful, dishonest, and, overall, despicable, as ever.

Apparently, they never learn anything better. They parasitize their own people to satisfy their egos and their lust for blood and their lavish life-styles, and do the same to everyone else they can entrap.

They keep on singing the same old song, over and over and over, albeit, in a different key. If it isn't a Monarchy, it's a Constitutional Commonwealth, and when that second evil is recognized for what it is, they relabel their same old sack of rotten turnips and restyle it as Corporate Feudalism.

It's all the same nastiness, with the same abuses, the same evils, the same players, over and over and over.

It's time for the British People who have been promised a Christian Constitutional Monarchy and been delivered a Fascist Pagan Corporatocracy instead, to tell Queen Bess and the Parliament and most particularly Boris and "Natasha" Johnson what they really think of all of them.

It's not the Americans who need another Declaration of Independence. Ours is alive and well and as valid now as ever.

It's the British People who need their own Declaration of Independence--- and it needs to come from Bristol and Portsmouth, from Devonshire and Exeter, from Ulster and Edinburgh, from Liverpool and Glasgow and Galway--- and not as something concocted by Brits "for" America.

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New Free Silver Every Month Promotion from Mint Builder

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THEY'LL KEEP LYING BECAUSE THEY WANT YOU DEAD! -- KATE DALLEY

 https://www.bitchute.com/video/5O7ZRuKVz4fy/

Instruction on the Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost

 Rev. Fr. Leonard Goffine's

The Church's Year

The Introit of the Mass is a fervent prayer; which may be said in every necessity and adversity:

INTROIT Bow down thine ear, O Lord; to me, and hear me: save thy servant, O my God, that hopeth in thee: have mercy on me, O Lord, for I have cried to thee all the day. Give joy to the soul of thy servant: for to thee, O Lord, I have lifted up my soul. (Ps. IXXXV.) 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 Let Thy continued pity, O Lord, cleanse and defend Thy Church: and because without Thee it cannot abide in safety, govern it ever by Thy gift.  Through our Lord Jesus Christ, who with Thee liveth and reignest in the Unity of the Holy Ghost, God world without end. Amen.

EPISTLE (Gal. V. 25, 26.; vi. I-Io.) Brethren, If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let u5 not be made desirous of vain-glory, provoking one another, envying one another. Brethren, and if a man be overtaken in any fault, you, who are spiritual, instruct such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so you shall fulfil the law of Christ. For if any man think himself to be something, whereas he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let every one prove his own work, and so he shall have glory in himself only, and not in another. For every one shall bear his own burden. And let him that is instructed in the word, communicate to him that instructeth him, in all good things. Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap. For he that soweth in his flesh, of the flesh also shall reap corruption: but he that soweth in the spirit, of the spirit shall reap life everlasting. And in doing good, let us not fail: for in due time we shall reap, not failing. Therefore, whilst we have time, let us work good to all men, but especially to those who are of the household of the faith.

EXPLANATION 
This epistle is taken, like that of the Sunday before last, from the epistle of St. Paul to the Galatians, in which St. Paul shows them the insufficiency of the Jewish law, and that they can only be saved by a lively faith in Christ, but now he admonishes them to the performance of good works. You now live, he tells them, in the Spirit, that is, the Holy Ghost animates your heart by His grace, enlightens, confirms, and inflames you, admonishes and teaches you, impels your heart to do good; you must, therefore, also regulate your external conduct accordingly, and in particular devote yourself to the practice of humility and charity, as the foundations of a truly spiritual life. Humility must teach and move you to think little of yourself, to avoid vain glory, and not to confide in your own strength. But charity should impel you to be meek and compassionate to all, even sinners, to correct them charitably, and lead them back to the path of virtue; since he who is harsh to the erring, despises and treats them roughly, is often permitted by God to fall into the same, nay, even into greater sins.

Particularly you must show your charity one for another, that one bears the burdens of the other: that you bear the faults and imperfections of others just as patiently as you wish others to bear with your own imperfections; thus you will fulfill the law of Christ, which commands us to love our neighbor; you will prevent many sins which are occasioned by considering yourself perfect, raising yourself above others, criticizing their failings, and causing disturbance. True glory consists in knowing ourselves, our faults and evil inclinations, and in eradicating them. Be grateful to those who instruct you in the word of God, and give to them willingly of your earthly possessions. What you sow, you shall reap; if you only follow the dictates of the flesh, do not mortify yourself, do not correct your failings, and indulge your sinful appetites, you will one day reap death, destruction and damnation, whereas, on the contrary, if you follow the dictates of the Holy Ghost, you will reap of the Spirit of life.

Let us obey this doctrine, for it is of interest to us, and impress deeply on our heart that without mortification of body and soul we cannot be saved.

ASPIRATION. O. St. Paul! beg of God the grace for me, that I may always walk in humility, and the love of my neighbor, particularly in bearing with his imperfections and failings, and thus fulfil the law of Christ in this as in all things.

GOSPEL (Luke VII. 11-16.) At that time, Jesus went into a city called Naim: and there went with him his disciples, and a great multitude. And when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold a dead man was carried out, the only, son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a great, multitude of the city was with her. Whom when the Lord had seen, being moved with mercy towards her, said to her: Weep not. And he came near, and touched the bier. And they that carried it stood still. And he said: Young man, I say to thee, Arise. And he that was dead sat up,. and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother. And there came a fear on them all; and they glorified God, saying: A great prophet is risen up amongst us, and God hath visited his people.

Why did Christ show compassion to this widow?

To convince us that God takes sorrowful and destitute widows under His protection; and is to them a consoler and helper; and to teach us to do the same. Woe, therefore, to those who oppress them and cause them to weep. The tears and cries of widows will ascend to God, who will terribly punish the injuries inflicted upon them. (Exod xxii. 22. 23.)

Christ had still other reasons for compassion, for He saw in this deceased youth the death of sinners, and in the afflicted mother the pain which the Church experiences at the spiritual loss of so many of her children. Should this not also awaken our sympathy since it was the principal cause which moved our Saviour to compassion. I£ we are faithful children of our mother, the Church, it is impossible for us not to share her sorrow, and we would surely not be her children, if we could contemplate without sorrow the multitude who daily die the death of sin, and thus separated from the living body of Christ, hasten to eternal destruction. O let us with the Church unceasingly, ask Jesus, that He raise sinners from their spiritual death, enlighten those in error so that all recognize the truth, find, and walk the path Which leads to life !

Why did Christ say to the widow: Weep not?

He wished to moderate her excessive sorrow, and to teach us that we should not mourn for the loss of our relatives, like the heathens who have no hope of resurrection to eternal life. (Thess. iv. I a.) Resignation to the will ofGod, with prayer and good works, will be of more use to the dead than many tears.

What else do we learn from this gospel?

That no one, however young and healthy, will escape death, wherefore we should always be prepared to die.

INSTRUCTION CONCERNING DEATH

IF there were locked up in prison several hundred persons, on whom sentence of death had irrevocably been pronounced, yet who knew not the day or hour of their execution; if one after the other, and often he who least expected it, were taken out to be executed; would not each one's heart tremble, whenever the prison door opened? Now the irrevocable sentence of death is pronounced on us all; we are all locked up in our bodies, as in a prison; (Ps. cxiv. 8.) one after the other is called hence, yet we do not regard it. We live as though we could live forever; we think only of the body, but for the soul nothing is done, except that we load it with sins and vices.

Is this rational? The body will be food for worms, but the soul (without knowing when) will travel into the house of eternity, to which place she must bring treasures of good works, in order to live happy for ever. Who would, therefore, be so foolish as to care only for the body during life, and neglect the salvation of the soul?

O man, says St. Francis of Sales, (Phil. part. i. chap. 13.) represent to yourself in lively colors, that at your death the world will cease to exist with respect to you. In that last hour the pleasures, the vanities, the riches, the honors, the friendships, and all that was dear to you, will disappear before your eyes as so many shadows. O fool that I am! you will then say, for what trifles and fooleries have I lost all! On the contrary, piety, good works, penance, etc., will appear pleasant to you, and you will exclaim: O, why did I not travel on this blessed roadl Then the sins which you now consider as mere trifles, will seem to you like mountains, and all that you thought you had accomplished as, great things, with regard to piety, will seem to you very little.

What terrible fear will then seize your soul, when she must travel alone into the bottomless abyss of eternity which, as St. Bernard says, devours all possible, imaginable ages, and of which St. Gregory says, that we can easier say what it is not than what it is. What terrors will befall her, when she must appear before the tribunal of that God whom she never really loved and honored in her life-time and before whom she must now give the strictest account, and hear an irrevocable and just sentence!

Should not these thoughts make an impression upon you? How can you escape this terrible future? By living now, as you would wish to have lived at the hour of death. Die daily with St. Paul by crucifying the flesh and its lusts and by voluntarily withdrawing your heart from the world, its pomps and vanities, before death will do this by violence.

RESOLUTION O world! because I cannot know the hour, in which I must leave you, I will not be attached to you. O you dear friends and relatives, you, too, I will in future love only with a holy inclination, directed to God, which will not cease with death, but remain forever. O Lord! help me, that I may die totally to myself and the world, and live only for Thee, and partake of eternal happiness.

INSTRUCTION ON THE CEREMONIES USED AT FUNERALS Behold, a dead man was carried out, the only son of his mother, and a great multitude of the city was with her. (Luke vii. 12.)

OF these people who accompanied the funeral of the youth, we should learn to pay the last honors to the dead, and follow their bodies to the grave. This is a meritorious work, one pleasing to God, if it be not performed from vanity and self-interest, but for love of God and the deceased, with the charitable intention of assisting him by prayers. Therefore those do very wrong, who from worldly motives either omit this good work entirely, or during the funeral procession indulge in idle talk and deny the deceased even a short prayer.

Why is a cross carried before the corpse?

By this is indicated that the deceased during life professed Christ, died believing in Him, and hoping for resurrection through Him.

Why are lighted candles carried before the bier?

To represent the desire of the Church that the deceased through the grace of God may be received into eternal light.This custom is very ancient; wax-candles and torches, together with prayer and great solemnity were made use of at the burial of St. Cyprian who was beheaded for Christ's sake, in the year 258 after Christ. (Ruinart.)

Why are the coffin and the grave sprinkled with holy water?

In order, as St. Thomas of Aquin (Lib. iii. art. 21.) remarks, to implore God, on account of the prayers which the Church says when she blesses the water, that the souls of the faithful may be cleansed from all stains, and may receive consolation and refreshment in the tortures which they may still have to suffer.

Why are the body and the grave incensed?

By this the Church indicates that the deceased by his Christian vocation was a good odor of Christ, (ii Cor. ii. 14, 15.) and admonishes the faithful that their prayers should ascend like incense to heaven for the deceased.

Why are Psalms and other sacred canticles sung?

This is done to remind us of the teaching of St. Paul, (i Thess iv. 12.) not to be excessively sorrowful for the loss of the deceased, like the heathens who have no hope of eternal life. We also signify, thereby, that we congratulate the dead for the peace which they now enjoy. (Apoc. xiv. 13.) This custom, as St. Jerome shows, (Ep. 53.) is derived from the apostles, who interred St. Stephen, singing Psalms and hymns of praise.

Why are the bells rung?

To invite the faithful to the funeral and to pray for the dead who, during lifetime, was called very often by the same bells, prayed with and for us during religious worship, and who is not separated from us by death.

Why art the bodies of the faithful buried with the head towards the East, and those of the priests towards the West?

The faithful are buried towards the East, whence the sun rises, to indicate, that they are waiting for Christ who is called the Orient from on High, (Luke i. 78.) and whose voice they will hear at the end of the world, when He calls them to the resurrection; the priests towards the West, as a sign that on the day of judgment they will be placed opposite to the souls confided to them, to give an account of their charge and to bear judgment for or against them.

Why is a cross or monument erected aver the grave?

To show that the deceased was a follower of Christ, the Crucified, to admonish the passers-by to pray for him, and to remind us of the solemn moment of death.

Why is the body laid in consecrated ground?

This is done through reverence for the bodies of the dead which are, by baptism, temples of the Holy Ghost; to show that, even in death, they still belong to the communion of that holy Church, in which they were embodied during life by baptism, and to which they clung in faith even until death; to inspire the surviving with a holy fear lest they profane graves.

Why is the solemn funeral service of the Church denied to heretics?

Because they would not belong to the Church during life, and despised the holy customs and prayers of the Church for the dead. How should the blessing and prayer of the Church be useful in death to one who despised them during life.

Why does not the Church permit criminals and suicides to be buried on consecrated ground?

In order to express her horror for the crimes perpetrated by them, and to deter the faithful from committing similar actions.