My Mama

 By Anna Von Reitz

My Mama told me to paddle my own canoe. Now, I am telling the same thing to you. 

In the midst of all this madness and chaos and claim and counterclaim and rumors and theories of all kinds, stand firm.  There are just two questions to answer. 

(1) Are you an American? 

(2) Do the codes, regulations, statutes, etc., being presented by pundits like "the Mayor of Chicago" apply to you?  (Hint: not if you are an American.) 

Well, I have already told you why you need to declare and record your natural birthright status as an American --- a diatribe necessitated by and summed up by the Nationality Act of 1940 which impacted the (Municipal) United States "citizenry" and prepared them to be sacrificed as scapegoats in the Second World War.  

This motive and this legislation is what created the "presumption" that you, Joe Average American, are a Municipal US citizen.  It's the reason you have to get up off your couch and declare otherwise. 

There's a lot of housekeeping left over from the Second World War, because the nature of the Congress changed between 1940 and 1948, owing to yet more "federal" bankruptcies and bank corruption, new treaties, and politics on steroids. 

The evil Congress of 1940 dissolved like the Wicked Witch of the West in 1948, leaving the Victory Tax on autopilot, leaving behind liability for the Buck Act and also the illegal conscription of the military draft, aka, press-ganging, they engaged in.  In 1948, a brand new Congress operating in the Commercial Jurisdiction of the Air opened up shop and the boom times were on.... 

Similar to what happened after the Civil War, we were treated to a Waltz-Me-Around-Again-Willy after the First World War and the Second World War, and now, too ---  with Chinese Corporations buying bankrupt US CORPORATIONS that claim to own assets they don't own as pay-off for debts unrelated to the actual asset owners. 

At each turn, the "Congresses" changed, and went to other venues, leaving behind decades of dirty laundry, but conveniently for them, there is nobody left in that jurisdiction to clean up the mess. 

Take a good look. 

After the Civil War, Congress went to Admiralty. (Sea)

After the First World War, Congress went to Maritime. (Air)

During the Second World War, Congress went to Admiralty. (Sea)

After the Second World War, Congress went to Maritime. (Air) 

And now, they are beating feet back to Admiralty, again. (Sea)

Each time they do this, they leave unresolved gunk behind where it festers and simmers for decades -- but they don't care, because they left it behind for the rest of us to deal with.  

Ours to deal with the unrepealed Victory Tax. 

Ours to deal with the Nationality Act. 

Ours to deal with the Buck Act. 

And if you inquire, pointedly, you will be told that yes, it's ours to deal with, because nobody else can.  The Congress presiding over that jurisdiction vacated it, and so there is no way to address the harmful legislation and liabilities involved. 

None of this has a thing to do with the land and soil jurisdiction.  It's all misbehavior in the Air and Water domains of the Federal citizenry -- not us, if we have sense enough to know that we are not Federal citizens.  And also know that their debts and their laws don't apply to us. 

This is why LAW has been reduced to AW. 

Absolutely all of this corruption and the Congresses creating and supporting it, are operating in the domains of Air and Water.  Not Land.  Not soil. 

Now, the cretins want to make you responsible for their wrong-doing and their spending sprees, but by the same token, you reasonably want to toss that responsibility back on them.  

And you have every right to do so. 

The one thing that you cannot do, is acquiesce and do nothing. 

Many Americans are doing nothing, or nothing effective, out of sheer ignorance. 

They don't know that they are in the bull's eye to pay off British and Papist debts, even at the cost of their lives. 

Literally --- the cost, as in dollars and cents, profits, taxes, insurance payments, probate, and patent claims. 

The one thing that takes you and your assets out of the maelstrom these crooks have created is to return to the land and soil.  

Come home to Kansas, Dorothy.  And shut the screen door. 

Every time someone gets "vaccinated" they become a Genetically Modified Organism -- a GMO, owned and patented by a corporation.  They are no longer a "man of God" but a "man of Test Tube", because their blood has been polluted with fragments of man-made mRNA. 

What happens when you own a man by any means?  He is your slave.  And slaves are very, very valuable assets.  The GMO Patent Holder stands to gain not only the man's body and labor, but his progeny and his personal assets, his land, his home, his businesses, and his public share of resources, too. 

When he dies, and the man-made mRNA also guarantees that result, they probate his estate in their interest, and voila --- private ownership of anything ceases to exist. 

That corporation acting as the GMO Patent Holder, in turn, is owned by a parent corporation, which is owned by a foreign holding company, which is owned by a bank, which is owned by another holding company, which is owned by the Holy See. 

Rome wins and continues on its age-old practice of supporting itself via slaves. Only this time, they plan to own the entire world as a slave kingdom, and they can do it, so long as the rest of us remain limp and silent as boiled frogs.   

Many people have noticed that so-called Public Bankruptcies are followed by wars.  Many have speculated that the wars are to make profit and rebuild economies through arms sales and similar activities.  While that may be true, they are missing the Bigger Game. 

What is the most precious commodity? 

Life. 

So, therefore, what do the monsters buy and sell at the highest game tables? 

Lives and souls. That's what changes hands in Rome. 

And all these wars that follow the bankruptcies are to pay back debts, at the whopping rate of $400 million on average, per body.  

Wars and genocide are what happen when you are worth more dead than alive.

So, once again, I say to you all --- this is not rocket science.  Debase your intellect for a few minutes to think like a rat, and it is more than self-evident. 

Ninety percent of the health care expenses of an average lifetime are accrued in the last three years of that life.  In the case of the Baby Boomers, it's an unimaginable amount of money.  

The Vermin are collecting the life insurance policies they placed on you as purported Wards of their "States of State" even before you are actually dead, based on their guarantees to insurance companies that you will be dead ahead of time, and those insurance companies will not have to pay for your lingering end-of-life expenses. 

What else do you think the $950T in Life Force Value Annuities paid to Prince Philip was about?  What's a "Life Force Value Annuity" but an insider bet?

They can kill slaves, also known as "Transhumans" and/or Human GMOs with impunity, under both Canon and Commercial Law, because based on their own pollution of the human genome, they can claim to own you via patent, and they can claim that such "persons" have no rights as men, nor even as humans. 

These are the facts, Ma'am, already established by the US SUPREME COURT. 

So long as you allow these foreign, for-profit, "government services corporations" to claim you as property, you and your country will be abused.

This is why it's important to know and to claim and to record your birthright political status as an American.  

This is why resisting the entire presumption that you owe obedience to their corporations is necessary.  

Go to: www.TheAmericanStatesAssembly.net and get started hauling your chestnuts out of the fire.  

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Why Computer Systems -- Including Quantum Ones -- Fail

 By Anna Von Reitz

We are, whether we want to be or not, all familiar with computers.

Most of us are familiar, more or less, with the binary operating systems that make computers operate --- the switch-like binary code flips back and forth to create the sequencing that we call a "program", and that then runs the operating system to produce the resulting "utility" that we use to accomplish whatever it is we are doing.

Quantum computing is just computing on steroids, using "qubits" instead of bits, and geometric progression of qubit interactions. What this does in a practical sense is to allow the computer to speed up and expand its powers of analysis to a fantastic degree and allow nearly instantaneous evaluation of complex variables.

This is very handy for what the gurus call "future planning". They like to pretend that this leaves nothing to chance.

But there is always chance. It's built in. And all the quantum entanglements in the world just wind up confirming that.

There's always a hobbit that Sauron isn't expecting. There's always a wrong-headed Corrigan in the bunch.

Here in Alaska a miracle of nature happens every year, regular as clockwork: the salmon return to spawn.

Millions of fish swim to the freshwater streams where they hatched after spending years at sea, to spawn a new generation.

The vast majority of all these fish make the journey unerringly, but about five percent go off-course and become wild cards, swimming to unknown destinations.

Back in the late 1980's our part of Alaska suffered a tremendous Flood Year and the creek neighboring our cabin turned into a raging Hellespont. A gigantic natural dam that had held back the flood waters of countless springs gave way, and a churning vast river carried this huge mass of rock and timber about the volume and size of a forty-story building downstream, taking out the railroad bridge and a roadhouse that had stood for over a hundred years, and scouring the bottom of our usually modest creek down to bedrock.

The salmon stream was utterly ruined and unrecognizable as a result of this natural disaster. The natural population did not return.

But.... gradually, new gravel migrated into place, and with the return of sanity to the stream bed, so did the Wrong-Headed Corrigans, the "lost" salmon of the Random 5%, who showed up to repopulate our abandoned creek.

It turns out that all living populations including that of mankind, contains about a 5% Error Battalion, a genetic bastion of unpredictability that guarantees an endless supply of factors that even quantum computing can't calculate, because the variables can't be defined.

And there you have it, the actual and factual limitation of Artificial Intelligence, summed up by an erring salmon.

If you are like me, you find this supremely satisfying. You glory in the 5%, the Bilbos and Frodos and freaks, the myopic short-sighted heroes that can't tell their home stream from a foreign brook, the Wrong-Headed Corrigans that are always on the cutting edge without really meaning to be there.

It's not just a matter of zeroes and ones, or even two to the power of infinity. It's the hand of God, forever creative, spinning the web of life into patterns nobody and nothing can expect.

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Just Another Fedsurrection

 By Anna Von Rietz

Facebook Readers, wait a few hours and then go to my website, www.annavonreitz.com and look for this Article Title to get the full story. FB would censor it, but the Truth has to come out about the way these "governmental services corporations" have been operating --- and why.

In a nutshell, evidence is emerging that the whole January 6 debacle was planned, but not by the rioters.

It was planned and carried out by Federal officers and employees.

Now, if you are an average American, the whole idea sounds loony: take a peaceful rally at the Capitol and turn it into something chaotic and threatening? On purpose?

If you have been awake and watching the show for a while, it's not loony, it's expected.

It has become routine for federal government corporations to stage "events" for political motives, whether these are False Flags or dramatizations of possible disaster scenarios, like the recent 10-nation "simulation" of a worldwide financial collapse brought on by computer hackers, all these corporate government organizations are in love with Hollywood, dramas, and disasters.

They have budgets for these productions.

They have film crews.

They have troupes of actors.

Why?

Because Fear Sells, and it brings them what they crave most --- power.

It's the ultimate Hegelian Dialectic Reward and it's easy to create in an unsuspecting population: create a danger, or just the appearance of a danger, let the public react, and then introduce the government as the (well-paid) savior.

Now, you can buy the idea of "predictive programming" --- that we create what we think about, so we can manipulate reality by seeding ideas in the general population --- or you can wake up and see that, as FDR said, there are no accidents.

We are not doing this to ourselves. We are guinea pigs in more ways than one, being poked and prodded to see what sells. What is it this week? Pedophiles, vampires, or Men in Black? Maybe WWIII? How about a pandemic?

But the fact is that the US CORP went bankrupt again on December 15th, and the only likely reason for any disaster is the resulting vacuum of power and the grasping and clawing of criminals trying to hang onto it.

If you have been smelling the java for as long as I have, it's easy to see the Hidden Hands bringing on their self-made Biblical Prophecy Fulfillment Plan.

We now know the identity of the nation which was dead, but comes suddenly alive: Israel.

We now know the identity of the Ten Kings: US, UK, UAE, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, and Thailand. All the usual suspects, in other words.

We now know about the implementation of the Mark of the Beast --- the Bar Code implants designed to RFID everyone without their knowledge or consent, and the secretive genetic engineering implants designed to reduce the population at the same time that they give the villains an excuse to claim (by patent, no less) an ownership (as in slave ownership) in their victims and their victim's estates.

First, they killed us off on paper, now, they are going for the real deal.

We even know how they plan to render both fiat and gold worthless: government sponsored cryptocurrencies that cost them virtually nothing to produce, and which they can control down to the gnat's eyelash.

Yes, in the oft-stated rhetoric of the Q Crowd, it's biblical, all right. The criminals really aren't very bright or creative, so they tag along on whatever thematic material comes to hand.

If it further discredits religion, that's even better from their perspective.

But be not like "dumb, driven cattle" restlessly bumping into each other's egos as you mill about, longing for a stampede.

Read, listen, learn and use your Shinola Sensor like never before.

Piece together the actual story lines that these various factions are trying to sell you, and realize that like vendors at a flea market, they are trying to sell you a future based on whatever you react to.

Remember the Monty Python Cheese Shop skit?

The unassuming victim enters what appears to be a British Cheese Shop and innocently inquires about the availability of her favorite cheeses. One by one, she patiently asks about the different varieties, and after some dissembling, John Cleese admits that, no, he doesn't have any of that.....

Finally, in frustration, the woebegone would-be customer asks, well, what kind of cheese do you have?

A single dried up crust of cheddar.

At the end of the day, these governmental services corporations have nothing much to sell you. They never owned anything in the first place. All the power they projected was borrowed from you.

So now they are chasing each other's tails, presenting pre-planned disaster after disaster after disaster, hoping that we'll realize how necessary they are and give them a contract.

Like a milkman who props up prices by shooting cows, they create death and destruction as an excuse to keep themselves in power. The only way you get any peace is by kneeling to their extortion, or by locking the criminals up.

Here in America, we've been kneeling to them since the Civil War. It's time to try the other alternative, even if it's just a crust of cheddar.

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Mandates Are Not Laws 2.0

  By Anna Von Reitz

Mandates are written (and sometimes verbal) contractual agreements which do not take effect until they are accepted by BOTH parties.  In other words, you are not obligated to accept a mandate, and it only becomes "mandatory" when you consciously, knowingly, and freely accept it.  

It is the "consciously, knowingly, and freely" part that puts the nix on all the so-called "mandates" issued by Governors of State-of-State organizations and also President Biden's attempts to coerce compliance with his demands.  Especially the "freely" part is inconsistent with the coercive and undisclosed nature of all these demands, but also "knowingly" is at issue.  

How can people "knowingly" accept anything that is undisclosed? 

The nature of the purported threat is undisclosed, as no physical virus has ever been isolated and identified. 

The nature of the purported cure is also undisclosed, as the definition of "vaccine" has been repeatedly altered.  

Finally, the audience purportedly subject to all these "mandates" is undisclosed. 

As the President of a foreign corporation, Joe Biden has a right to demand action from his employees and their dependents, just as the President of IBM can require his employees to take various actions, but obviously, neither Joe Biden nor the President of IBM has any authority to address such demands to the General Public--- all the people who are not his employees or dependents. 

By failing to make it clear that he is only addressing his own employees, Joe Biden is following in the footsteps of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who made a similar deceptive omission when speaking about the Social Security Program and claiming that everyone needed a Social Security Number in order to have a job.  

He omitted saying that he was speaking only to Federal Municipal Employees. 

And this omission resulted in a fundamental lack of disclosure, both to Federal Municipal Employees and the Public-at-Large, which was left to assume that his pronouncements applied to them.  

A similar scenario is presented by Joe Biden and his "mandates".  

No doubt his demands as an employer do apply to his employees, and they are free to accept them or find other employment---- but his demands and mandates do not apply to the General Public.  

His demands may also apply to US CORPORATIONS including franchises of his US CORP, as they are considered US CITIZENS; however, again, these corporations are limited to compliance of their officers and employees and must first and foremost comply with the Supremacy Clause of the US Constitution while operating on our soil.  

They cannot force any American to surrender any of their Constitutional Guarantees either as corporate officers, or as employees, or as customers. 

That is, the Supremacy Clause overrides all private arrangements, contracts, laws, codes, and statutes within the physical boundaries of this country.  

If Joe's employees are Americans, including Dual Citizens who are American State Nationals and Municipal Employees, they cannot be coerced or deprived of their Constitutional Guarantees as a condition of employment. 

The only question is --- are you an American?  Are you claiming your birthright political status, or "voluntarily" adopting a foreign identity?  

Most Americans, including Federal Employees, have left that question hanging to their detriment.  

Most Americans are unaware (and have been deliberately kept unaware) of any need to declare their political status and nationality as Americans, but such a need does exist if they wish to claim and invoke their constitutional guarantees. 

This is because --- until now --- their government has been assumed to be "in interregnum" and they have not taken steps to record their own political status in public and they have not served Notice on the UN Secretary General and the US Attorney General that they are not Wards of the State, and not voluntary Transactors in Commerce.  

And not subject to military occupation by their own employees. 

Our State Assemblies are now in Session and all Americans are called to stand up for themselves, reclaim their birthright political status as Americans, record it on the public record, and join their State Assembly.  

This is the lawful government of this country to which all public employees and contractors and corporations owe good faith service, and to which the military owes fidelity.  These State Assemblies composed of declared American State Nationals and State Citizens have the right to invoke and enforce the constitutional guarantees owed to all Americans --- and they have done so. 

The only question is--- are you an American? 

Even Federal Employees are protected from gross trespass against their Natural and Unalienable rights, if they claim back their American political status and operate as Dual State National-Federal Citizens. 

Dual Citizenship is allowed to Federal workers for precisely this reason.  

For example, they can operate as an American State National (a Texan, New Yorker, Wisconsinite, etc.), and a Municipal citizen of the United States who works for the Post Office, or, as an American State National (a Pennsylvanian, Floridian or Californian) and as a Territorial U.S. Citizen who works for the U.S. Army.  

These American Federal Employees are owed all their Constitutional Guarantees, and as long as they claim and publish their birthright political status as Americans, neither Joe Biden or any other corporation "President" can trespass upon them, make any improper demands, or issue any mandates as a condition of employment. 

Just as Federal Employees are protected by the Supremacy Clause so long as they claim and record their birthright political status as Americans, members of the General Public are also protected and owed their Constitutional Guarantees when they reclaim and record their birthright political status.  

And no corporation, foreign or domestic, has any right to discriminate against any American for any reason while operating on our soil.  

The Supremacy Clause protects all Americans at all times.  

The only question is --- are you an American? 

Go to: www.TheAmericanStatesAssembly.net today and start answering that question. 

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IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE...

 https://www.bitchute.com/video/sqTd8LtViqI0/

Viganò:"those who resist the NWO will have the help and protection of God"

 https://www.theyeoftheneedle.com/2021/12/03/viganothose-who-resist-the-nwo-will-have-the-help-and-protection-of-god/

Is It Time To Burn Anti-Vax Doctors At The Stake?

Take Note Dr. Fauci, Science Says No!

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2021/12/no_author/time-to-burn-anti-vax-doctors-at-the-stake-take-note-dr-fauci-science-says-no/

From Man to Human to Transhuman --- Rebel Now

 By Anna Von Reitz

Your blood is being polluted.  Literally.  This is ancient advanced warfare being brought forward into the modern day.  If you want to know more about it, read Isaiah and the Vedic Manuscripts that record the events of The Great Plasma War, when Lord Krishna successfully defended Earth from invasion. 

This is where the "bloodline elitism" comes from---- the "elites" polluted the blood, meaning the genetics, of their victims ---and have attempted to maintain their own bloodlines free and "pure" from this man made genetic pollution they engineered.  

They did this to ensure that they would have longer lives and greater intelligence and be able to maintain control over the rest of the population.  

Even the term "blue blood" is specific to this practice.  It refers to the engineered change of the hemoglobin molecule to selectively accept the Iron Ion which gives blood its red color and which causes the oxidative stress that limits our lifetimes to around 100 years.  There is a reason that Lord Krishna is always portrayed as blue-skinned.  

We originally had blue blood and this gave us a blue tinge to our skin. It also allowed us to live for hundreds of years, as the ionic composition of "blue blood" is relatively immune to the oxidative stress that kills those with iron-based red blood. 

This conversion from blue blood to red blood is recorded in the Bible, where God is vexed with Mankind's lack of improvement, despite all the years of life originally ordained for us; and shortened our life cycle.  It doesn't tell us how this was done, but other records do. 

It was done by genetic engineering that altered the metal ions in hemoglobin and changed our blood color from blue to red. 

There is also a reason that the blood of those who received the jab cannot be mixed with the blood of those who didn't receive the jab.  Don't believe it?  Call your local blood bank. 

We are in the clutches of madmen, who have studied the ancient manuscripts of the Aryans (Orions) and who are continuing the practices of the Nazis, seeking to build first "Super Soldiers" and then, AI Interfaced "Transhumans" that they can control as slaves and gun fodder in wars for profit. 

There is no greater criminal in the history of the world than Bill Gates.  

If you disagree, watch this: https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/899748276780302337/921809110389887026/BP.MP4

And remember to regularly check my homebase: www.annavonreitz.com for news that is fit to print, but not being covered by the Mainstream Media. 

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Fourth Sunday In Advent

Rev. Fr. Leonard Goffine's
The Church's Year

On this Sunday the Church redoubles her ardent sighs for the coming of the Redeemer, and, in the Introit, places the longing of the just of the Old Law upon the lips of the faithful, again exhorting them through the gospel of the day, to true penance as the best preparation for the worthy reception of the Savior. Therefore at the Introit she prays:
INTROIT Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the just (Is. 45). Let the earth be opened, and bud forth a Savior. The heavens show forth the glory of God, and the firmament declareth the work of his hands (Ps. 18:2). 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 Raise up, O Lord, we pray Thee, Thy power, and come, and with great might succor us: that, by the help of Thy grace, that which our sins impede may be hastened by Thy merciful forgiveness. 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 (I Cor. 4:1-5). Brethren, Let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ, and the dispensers of the mysteries of God. Here now it is required among the dispensers, that a man be found faithful. But to me, it is a very small thing to be judged by you, or by man's day: but neither do I judge my own self. For I am not conscious to myself of anything, yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord. Therefore judge not before the time, until the Lord come: who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise from God.
Why is this epistle read on this day?
The Church desires by this epistle to impress those who received Holy Orders on Ember Saturday with the dignity of their office, and exhorts them to fill it with becoming fidelity and sanctity, excelling the laity in piety and virtue, as well as in official dignity. She wishes again to remind the faithful of the terrible coming of Christ to judgment, urging them, by purifying their conscience through a contrite confession, to receive Christ at this holy Christmas time, as their Savior, that they may not behold Him, at the Last Day, as their severe judge.
How should the faithful regard the priests and spiritual superiors?
They should esteem and obey them as servants, stewards, and vicars of Christ; as dispensers of the holy mysteries (I Cor. 4:1); as ambassadors of the most High (II Con 5:20). For this reason God earnestly commands honor to priests (Ecclus. 7:31), and Christ says of the Apostles and their successors (Lk. 10:16): Who despiseth you, despiseth me; and St. Paul writes (I Tim. 5:17): Let the priests that rule well be esteemed worthy of double honor: especially they who labor in the word and doctrine.
Can the priest dispense the sacraments according to his own will?
No, he must have power from the Church, and must exercise his office faithfully, in accordance with the orders of the Church, and act according to the will of Christ whose steward he is. The priest dare not give that which is holy to dogs (Mt. 7:6), that is, he is not permitted to give absolution, and administer the sacraments to impenitent persons, under penalty of incurring eternal damnation.
Why does St. Paul consider the judgment of men a small matter?
Because it is usually false, deceptive, foolish, and is consequently not worth seeking or caring for. Man often counts as evil that which is in itself good and, on the contrary, esteems as good that which is evil. St. Paul says: If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ (Gal. 1:10). Oh, how foolish, and what poor Christians, therefore, are they, who not to displease man, willingly adopt all silly customs, and fashions in dress, manners and appearance, making themselves contemptible to God, the angels, and saints. Recall the beautiful words of the Seraphic St. Francis: "We are, what we are in the sight of God, nothing more"; learn from them to fulfil your duties faithfully, and be indifferent to the judgment of the world and its praise.
Why does not St. Paul wish to judge himself?
Because no one, without a special revelation from heaven, can know if he be just in the sight of God or not, even though his conscience may accuse him of nothing, for "man knoweth not whether he be worthy of love or hatred" (Eccles. 9:1). Thus St. Paul goes on to say, that though he was not conscious of any wrong, he did not judge himself to be justified, God only could decide that. Man should certainly examine himself as much as is in his power, to find if he has anything within him displeasing to God; should he find nothing he must not judge himself more just than others, but consider that the eyes of his mind may be dimmed, and fail to see that which God sees and will reveal to others at the judgment Day. The Pharisees saw no fault in themselves, and were saintly and perfect in their own estimation, yet our Lord cursed them.
ASPIRATION "O Lord, enter not into judgment with Thy servant: for in Thy sight no man living can be justified" (Ps. 142:2).
GOSPEL (Lk. 3:1-6). In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and Philip his brother tetrarch of Iturea and the country of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilina, under the high priests Annas and Caiphas: the word of the Lord came to John the son of Zachary in the desert. And he came into all the country about the Jordan, preaching the baptism of penance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the sayings of Isaias the prophet: A voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low: the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways plain: and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
Why is the time in which St. John commenced to preach so minutely described?
The Evangelist, contrary to his usual custom, describes the time minutely, and enumerates exactly, in their precise order, the religious and civil princes in office, that, in the first place, it could not be denied that this was truly the time and the year in which the promised Messiah appeared in this world, whom John baptized, and the Heavenly Father declared to be His beloved Son. Furthermore, it shows the fulfillment of the prophecy of the Patriarch Jacob (Gen. 49:10), that when the scepter would be taken away from Juda, that is, when the Jews would have no longer a king from their own tribes, the Savior would come.
What is meant by: "The word of the Lord came to John"?
It means that John was commissioned by divine inspiration, or by an angel sent from God, to preach penance and announce to the world the coming of the Lord. He had prepared himself for this work by a penitential, secluded life, and intercourse with God. We learn from his example not to intrude ourselves into office, least of all into a spiritual office, but to await the call from God, preparing ourselves in solitude and quiet, by fervent prayer and by a holy life, for the necessary light.
What is meant by: "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight his paths"?
It means that we should prepare our hearts for the worthy reception of Christ, by penance, amendment, and the resolution to lead a pious life in future. To do this, every valley should be filled, that is, all faintheartedness, sloth and cowardice, all worldly carnal sentiments should be elevated and directed to God, the highest Good, by firm confidence and ardent desire for heavenly virtues; the mountains and hills should be brought low, that is, pride, stubbornness, and ambition should be humbled, and the obstinate will be broken. The crooked shall be made straight, that is, ill-gotten goods should be restored, hypocrisy, malice, and double dealing be renounced, and our intentions turned to God and the performance of His holy will. And the rough ways shall be made plain, that is, anger, revenge, and impatience must leave the heart, if the Lamb of God is to dwell therein. It may also signify that the Savior put to shame the pride of the world, and its false wisdom by building His Church upon the Apostles, who, by reason of their poverty and simplicity, may be considered the low valleys, while the way to heaven, formerly so rough and hard to tread, because of the want of grace, is now by His grace made smooth and easy.
ASPIRATION O my Jesus! would that my heart were well prepared and smooth for Thee! Assist me! O my Savior to do that which I cannot do by myself. Make me an humble valley, fill me with Thy grace; turn my crooked and perverted will to Thy pleasure; change my rough and angry disposition, throw away in me whatever impedes Thy way, that Thou mayst come to me without hindrance. Thou alone possess and rule me forever. Amen.

INSTRUCTION ON THE HOLY SACRAMENT OF PENANCE

“Preaching the baptism of penance for the remission of sins"(Lk. 3:3).
What is penance, and how many kinds are there?
Penance, says the Roman Catechism (Cat. Rom. de Pcenit. 54), consists in the turning of our whole soul to God, hating and detesting the crimes we have committed, firmly resolving to amend our lives, its evil habits and corrupt ways, hoping through the mercy of God to obtain pardon. This is interior penance, or the virtue of penance. The sincere acknowledgment of our sins to a priest and the absolution he accords, is exterior penance, or the holy Sacrament of Penance, which Christ instituted (Jn. 20:22-23), through which the sins committed after baptism, are remitted.
Which of these penances is necessary for the forgiveness of sins?
Both are necessary, for unless the conversion of the heart to God, a true consciousness of, and sorrow for sin, the firm purpose of amendment and confidence in God's mercy, precede the confession, declaring all our sins to a priest cannot obtain forgiveness of mortal sin committed after baptism. At the same time a really contrite turning to God, will not, without confession to a priest, obtain forgiveness, except when by circumstances, a person is prevented from approaching the tribunal of penance. Such a person must, however, have the ardent desire to confess as soon as possible.
Can any one who has committed mortal sin be saved without penance?
No, for penance is as necessary to such a one as baptism, if he wishes not to perish: Unless you do penance, says Christ, you shall all likewise perish (Lk. 13:3, 5).
Is this penance performed at once?
This penance is necessary every day of our lives: that is, we must from day to day endeavor to be heartily sorry for our sins, to despise them, to eradicate the roots of sin, that is, our passions and evil inclinations, and become more pleasing to God by penance and good works.
Why do so many die impenitent?
Because they do not accept and use the many graces God offers them, but put off their repentance. If such sinners, like the godless King Antiochus (II Mac. 9) intend to repent on their deathbed for fear of punishment, they usually find that God in His justice will no longer give them the grace of repentance, for he who when he can repent, will not, cannot when he will. "Who will not listen at the time of grace," says St. Gregory, "will not be listened to' in the time of anxiety." And it is to be feared that he who postpones penance until old age, will not find justice where he looked for mercy.
Can all sinners do penance?
With the grace of God all can, even the greatest sinners; as a real father God calls them when He says: As I live ...I desire not the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way, and live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways: and why will ye die, O house of Israel? And the wickedness of the wicked shall not hurt him, in what day soever he shall turn from his wickedness (Ezech. 33:11-12).
Do all who go to confession perform true penance?
Unfortunately they do not; for all is not accomplished with confession. If there is no sincere detestation of sin, no true sorrow for having offended God; if the evil inclinations and bad habits are not overcome, ill-gotten goods restored, and calumny repaired, the occasions of sin avoided; if a sincere amendment of life, or, at least, its earnest purpose does not follow, then indeed, there cannot be the least shadow of true repentance, not even though such persons confess weekly. But alas! we see many such. And why? Because many think repentance consists simply in confession, and not in the amendment of their lives. Only those obtain pardon who are truly penitent, and perform all that is enjoined upon them in confession. It is well, therefore, to read and carefully act according to the following instructions.

I. ON THE EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE
The foundation of true repentance, interior and exterior (see the preceding pages), is the vivid knowledge of our sins. There are many who are unconscious of the most grievous sins in which they are buried; blinded by self-love they do not even regard them as sins, do not confess them, perform no penance for them and are consequently eternally lost. To prevent this great evil, the Council of Trent (Sess. XIV c.5) ordered a careful examination of conscience before confession, and afterwards to confess the sins which are discovered by that examination.
Why should we examine our conscience?
Because, as St. Ignatius says, no one can become fully aware of his own faults, unless God reveals them by a special light; we should, therefore, first of all, daily ask the Holy Ghost to enlighten us, and should then examine our thoughts, desires, words, actions, and omissions since our last valid confession and how often we have sinned in these respects. To know this, we should let our conscience, that is, the inner voice which tells us what is good and what is evil, speak freely, without flattering ourselves, or passing it by negligently. St. Charles Borromeo says, we should place before our eyes the Ten Commandments of God and carefully compare our life and our morals with them; it is well also to examine ourselves on the seven deadly sins, and remember the places and persons with whom we have been in contact, the duties of our state of life, the vices to which we are most inclined, the consequences that were, or might have been produced upon ourselves or others. At the same time, we should imagine ourselves standing before the judgment seat of God, and whatever would cause us fear there, whatever we could not answer for there, we should look upon as sins, be sorry for, and confess.
Is it a sin not to examine ourselves long and carefully?
Certainly it is a sin for those to examine their consciences carelessly, who live unfaithfully and in mortal sin, and who seldom confess, because they expose themselves frivolously to the danger of leaving out great sins, and consequently they make a sacrilegious confession, committing thereby a new and grievous sin.
Those who daily ask God for enlightenment and examine their conscience at least every evening before going to bed, will prepare themselves properly before approaching the tribunal of penance. "Behold, you have a book in which you write your daily expenses," says St. Chrysostom, "make a book of your conscience, also, and write there your daily sins. Before you go to bed, before sleep comes, take your book, that is, your conscience, and recall your sins, whether of thought, word, or deed. Say then to your soul: Again, O my soul, a day is spent, what have we done of evil or of good? If you have accomplished some good, be grateful to God; if evil, resolve to avoid it for the future. Shed tears in remembrance of your sins; ask forgiveness of God, and then let your body sleep."
II. ON CONTRITION
"O man," cries St. Augustine, "why dost thou weep over the body whence the soul has departed, and not over the soul from which God has withdrawn?" The idolatrous Michas (Judg. 18:23-24) complained bitterly, because his idols were taken from him; Esau grieved greatly over the loss of his birthright and his father's blessing (Gen. 27:34). Should we not therefore, be filled with sorrow, when by our sins we have lost God and Heaven?
What is contrition, and how many kinds are there?
"Contrition is a hearty sorrow and detestation of our sins, with a firm purpose of sinning no more" (Conc. Trid., Sess. XIV, can. 4). If this grief and detestation comes from a temporal injury, shame or punishment, it is a natural sorrow; but if we are sorry for our sins, because by them we have offended God, and transgressed His holy law, it is a supernatural sorrow; this, again, is imperfect when fear of God's punishment is the motive; it is perfect, if we are sorry for our sins, because we have offended God, the supreme Lord and best of Fathers.
Is natural sorrow sufficient for a good confession?
It is not, because it proceeds not from a supernatural motive, but from the love or fear of the world. A mere natural sorrow for our sins worketh death (II Cor. 7:10). If one confess his sins having only a natural sorrow for them, he commits a sacrilege, because the most necessary part of the Sacrament of Penance in wanting.
What other qualities are necessary for a true contrition?
Contrition should be interior, proceeding from the heart and not merely from the lips; it must be universal, that is, it must extend to all the mortal sins which the sinner has committed; it must be sovereign, that is, he must be more sorry for having offended God, than for any temporal evil; it must be supernatural, that is, produced in the heart by supernatural motives; namely, because we have offended God, lost His grace, deserved hell, etc.
What kind of sorrow must we have in order to obtain forgiveness of our sins?
That sorrow which proceeds from a perfect love of God, and not from fear of temporal or eternal punishment. This perfect contrition would suffice for the forgiveness of sins, if in case of danger of death, there should be a great desire, but no opportunity to confess to a priest. But the Holy Catholic Church has declared (Conc. Trid., Sess. XIV, can. 4) the imperfect contrition which proceeds from the fear of eternal punishment to be sufficient for the valid reception of the holy Sacrament of Penance.
Who are those who have reason to fear they have aroused only a natural sorrow for their sins?
Those who care little about knowing what true sorrow is; those who often commit grievous sins, and do not amend their lives; for if true sorrow for sin had been excited in their hearts, with the firm purpose of amendment, the grace of God in this Sacrament would have strengthened the resolution, and enabled them to avoid sin, at least for a time. On account of their immediate relapse we justly doubt whether they have validly received the sacrament of penance and its sanctifying grace.
How can the sinner attain true sorrow?
The sinner can attain true sorrow by the grace of God and his own co-operation. That both are necessary is shown by the prophet Jeremias (jet. 31:18-19), who prays: Convert me, O Lord, and I shall be converted: for Thou art the Lord, my God. For after Thou didst convert me, I did penance: and after Thou didst skew unto me, I struck my thigh (with sorrow). To which God replies: If thou wilt be converted, I will convert thee Qer. 15:19). We see, therefore, that the first and most essential means for producing this sorrow is the grace of God. It must begin and complete the work of conversion, but it will do this only when the sinner earnestly and faithfully co-operates. When God in whatever way has admonished the sinner that he should be converted, let him ardently implore God for the grace of a true conversion, invoke the intercession of the Mother of the Savior, his guardian angel, and like the holy penitents, David, Peter, and Magdalen, let him meditate upon the truth that God is a just judge, who hates sin, and will punish it in the eternal torments of hell. Having placed these truths vividly before his eyes, the sinner will reflect further whether by his sins he has not himself deserved this punishment, and if by the enlightenment of God he finds he has, he will also see the danger in which he stands, that if God should permit him to die impenitent, he would have to suffer forever in hell. This fear of eternal punishment urges the sinner to hope in God's mercy; for He wishes not the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; again, our Redeemer says: I came to call the sinner to repentance, and, there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who does penance, than over ninety-nine just. He considers the patience of God towards him, the graces bestowed upon him during his sinful life; namely his creation, redemption, sanctification in baptism, and many others. He will now contemplate the beauty and perfection of God: "Who art Thou, 0 my God," he cries, "who art Thou who bast loved me with such an unspeakable love, and lowest me still, ungrateful, abominable sinner, that I am! What is all the beauty of this world of the angels and of the blessed spirits compared to Thine! Thou fountain of all beauty, of all goodness, of all that is amiable, Thou supreme majesty, Thou infinite abyss of love and merry! I for one vain thought, a short, momentary pleasure, a small, mean gain, could forget, offend and despise Thee! Could I sell, could I forfeit heaven, and eternal joy with Thee! O, could I repair those crimes! Could I but wash them out with my tears, even with my blood?" Through such meditations the sinner, by the grace of God, will be easily moved to sorrow. Without such or similar reflections the formulas of sorrow as read from prayer books or recited by heart, are by no means acts of contrition.
Should we make an act of contrition before confession only?
We should make an act of contrition before confession, and not only then, but every evening after the examination of conscience; we should make one immediately after any fault committed, above all when in danger of death; for we know not when God will call us to judgment, or whether we shall then have the grace to receive the sacrament of Penance with proper preparation.
III. ON THE PURPOSE OF AMENDMENT
The purpose of amending our life is as necessary for the remission of sin, as contrition; for how could he obtain forgiveness from God, who has not the determination to sin no more? The will to sin cannot exist with the hatred of sin.
What is necessary for a firm purpose?
A firm purpose of amendment requires: the determination to avoid sin; to flee from all occasions that might bring the danger of sinning, all persons, places, societies in which we usually sin; bravely to fight against our evil inclinations and bad habits; to make use of all means prescribed by our confessor, or made known to us by God Himself; to repair the injustice we have done; to restore the good name of our neighbor, and to remove the scandal and enmity we have caused.
Who, then, have no true purpose of amendment?
Those who do not truly intend to leave the frivolous persons with whom they have associated, and committed sin; to remove the occasions of cursing, swearing, drunkenness, and secret sins, etc.; who have the intention to borrow or to contract debts which they know they cannot pay, or do not even care to pay; to squander the property of their wives and children, letting them suffer want; to frequent barrooms, or saloons, fight, gamble, indulge in vile, filthy conversations and detraction, murmur against spiritual and temporal superiors, throw away precious time, and bring, even compel others to do the same. The saloon-keepers, who for the sake of money allure such wretched people, keep them there, and what is still worse, help to intoxicate them, participate in their sins.
IV. ON CONFESSION
Confession is a contrite acknowledgment of our sins to a priest who is duly authorized, in order to obtain forgiveness. This acknowledgment of our sins is an important and necessary part of the holy Sacrament of Penance.
Even in the Old Law, a certain kind of confession was prescribed and connected with a sacrifice, called the sacrifice of Atonement; but the forgiveness of sins was effected only through faith in the coming Redeemer, towards whom this sacrifice pointed (Lev. 5:5-6; Num. 5:7; compare Mt. 3:6). In the new Law, Christ gave to the apostles and their successors, power to forgive, and to retain sins (Jn. 20:21-23), and in doing so made them judges. Without confession on the part of the sinner, they cannot act as judges, and do justice in regard to giving punishment and remedies (Conc. Trid., Sess. XIV can. 6), and as the sinner is but seldom able to make an act of perfect contrition, which obtains the forgiveness of sin without confession, it was necessary that the most merciful Lord, as the Roman Catechism says (de poen. 5. 36), through the means of confession to the priest, should provide in an easier manner for the common salvation of man. Confession, at the same time, is the best means of bringing man to a knowledge of his sins and of their malice. Therefore, even Adam was obliged to acknowledge his sins, and in the same way Cain was asked by God concerning his brother's murder, although God, the Omniscient, knew the sins of both. The desire to ease the troubled conscience, seems born in man. Thus David says of his crime: Because I was silent, my bones grew old, whilst I cried out all the day long (Ps. 31:3); and in the book of Proverbs it is said; He that hideth his sins, shall not prosper: but he that shall confess and forsake them, shall obtain mercy (Prov. 28:13). Constant experience in life verifies these words, and heretics could not entirely abolish private confession, though they rejected the Sacrament of Penance.
Is confession a human law, or a human invention?
No, confession was instituted by Christ Himself; for after His resurrection He appeared to His apostles and disciples, and said to them: Peace be with you! As the Father hath sent me, I also send you; that is, the same power to remit sin which the Father has given me, I give to you. When he had said this, he breathed on them, and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained (Jn.20:21-23; compare Mt. 18:18). In these words Christ evidently gave to the apostles and their successors the power to forgive and retain sins. This they can do only when the sins are confessed to them; and, therefore, Christ, when instituting the forgiveness of sins, instituted and connected with it the acknowledgment, that is, the confession of sins. This regulation of Christ was complied with by the first Christians in humility of heart, as is proved in the Acts of the Apostles, where we read: And many (referring to the Christians at Ephesus) of them that believed, came confessing and declaring their deeds (Acts 19:18). And the apostle James exhorts his own: Confess therefore your sins one to another: and pray one for another, that you may be saved (Jas. 5:16). The work founded by Christ must stand, as long as the world, and as the apostles and disciples of our Lord died, their successors necessarily continued the work, and received the same power from Christ. This is verified by the whole history of His Church. In the very beginning of Christianity, the faithful with great sorrow confessed to the priest all their transgressions, even the smallest and most secret, after which, they received absolution. "Let us be sincerely sorry as long as we live," says St. Clement of Rome, a disciple of St. Paul (Ep. 1. ad Cor.), "for all evil which we have committed in the flesh, for having once left the world, there will no longer be any confession and penance for us." Tertullian (217 A.D.) writes of those who hid their sins, being ashamed to confess them: "Can we also hide from the knowledge of God that which we conceal from a fellow creature" (Lib. de qcen. 5. 36). Origen ('1254), after speaking of baptism, says: "There is still a severer and more tedious way of obtaining remission of sin: when the sinner moistens his pillow with tears, and is not ashamed to confess his sins to the priest of the Lord" (Hom. 3 in Lev.). St. Cyprian ('1258) writes of those Christians who during the persecutions of his time, had not sinned by openly denying the faith: "Yet because they had but thought of doing so, they make a sorrowful and simple confession to God's priests" (Sib. de laps.). Basil (f 379) writes: "Necessarily the sins must be made plain to those to whom the power of the mysteries is confided, that is, to the priests" (In reg. brew 288). Many more testimonies could be brought from the earliest centuries of Christianity, which make it clear, that Christ Himself instituted confession, and that the faithful always availed themselves of it as a means of remission of sin. It would not have been possible for a human being, though he were the mightiest prince, to have imposed upon Catholic Christianity so hard an obligation as confession, without the special command of Christ the Son of God; nor could any one have invented it without the faithful at once revolting. It is also well known that, in the Oriental Churches which separated from the true Church in the earliest ages, private confession to a priest is yet valued as a divine institution. The Catholic institution of confession, with which, in the earliest centuries, there was even connected a public confession, before the whole congregation, for notorious sinners, is as old as the Church itself, as Pope Leo the Great (f 461) proves (Ep. 136); "The secret, auricular confession was introduced into the Church as early as the times of the apostles, or their immediate successors." It was instituted by Christ, the God-Man, and instituted for the purpose of enabling the apostles and the priests, their successors, to remit in the confessional the sins committed after baptism, if the sinner heartily regrets them, sincerely confesses, and renders satisfaction for them, or to retain them if he be unworthy of absolution. From this it is seen that the enemies of the Catholic Church oppose, in rejecting confession, the plain expression of the holy Scriptures, and of entire Christian antiquity, and that it is a detestable calumny to assert that confession is simply a human invention. The divine institution of confession always was and is a fountain of sweetest consolation for sinful man, and thousands have experienced that which is said by the Council of Trent (Sess. XIV can. 3, depart.): "The effect of this Sacrament is reconciliation with God, followed by peace, cheerfulness and consolation of the heart in those who worthily receive this Sacrament."
What will aid us to make confession easy?
The consideration of the manifold benefits arising from it; first, forgiveness of all, even the most grievous sins, remission of the guilt and eternal punishment; secondly, the certainty of having again been made a child of God; thirdly, the sweet consolation and desired peace of conscience; fourthly, the necessary remedies which a pious and prudent confessor will prescribe for the cure of the diseases of the soul; finally, the prayer and exhortation of the priest which will also add to the complete conversion of the sinner.
What should be done to participate in these benefits?
Besides that which has already been said of the examination of conscience, and especially of sorrow for sin, the confession must be sincere and open-hearted; that is, a correct and exact confession not only of all mortal sins, their kind, circumstances and number, without excuses, or veiling or lessening them, but also a faithful revelation of all other spiritual affairs, fears, doubts, and other wounds of the soul; for a wound which is not shown to the physician, cannot be healed. We should not seek those confessors who are only "mute dogs" (Is. 56:10), and give absolution without hesitation, but we should trust the direction of our souls to learned, pious, and zealous priests, and remain under their guidance, as in physical sickness we remain under the care of an experienced physician, and accept their words as if Christ Himself had spoken.
How should the false shame which prevents confession be overcome?
It should be remembered that the priest in the confessional is the representative of Christ, and that whoever lies to the confessor, seeks to deceive God Himself, who abominates a lie, and at the Last Day will publicly put such a liar to shame. The confessor takes the place of Christ, and after His example must be merciful to the sinner, if, a sinful man himself, he hopes to receive merry and grace from God. At the same time, no confessor is allowed to reveal the slightest thing heard in confession, even should it cost him his life. It may be considered further that he who conceals a sin in confession, and thus obtains absolution by false pretences, receives no remission, but, on the contrary, commits a new sin, "When man uncovers his sins, God covers them; when man conceals his sins, God reveals them," says St. Augustine. Man can be deceived, but not God, the Omniscient; and who is ashamed to show his wounds to the physician? Why should it be a cause of shame to throw out the poison of sin by a sincere confession? To sin only is shameful, to confess sin is not shameful. But if by all these reflections we are still unable to overcome ourselves so as to confess our sins to a certain confessor we may seek another in whom we have confidence.
V. ON SATISFACTION AFTER CONFESSION
Satisfaction is the diligent performance of all the works of penance imposed upon us by the confessor. With this, however, a true penitent will not be satisfied; for in our times, on account of the weakness and little zeal of Christians, a light penance is imposed that they may not be deterred from the reception of the holy Sacraments. To avoid relapsing into sin, one must do penance, and bring forth worthy fruits (Lk. 13:3), for God will only then give the grace to persevere. We satisfy God by fasting, prayer, almsdeeds, avoidance of the snares of the world, diffidence in ourselves, and especially by patient endurance of the afflictions and sufferings which He imposes upon us. Those who have committed sin must do penance in this life or submit to everlasting penance in the next.
Is the heretic right in asserting that man does not need to render satisfaction since Christ has rendered it complete on the cross?
He is entirely wrong. Christ on the cross did indeed render satisfaction for all the sins of the whole world, and man is not capable to atone for one single sin but it does not follow from this that man is not required to do something. To render satisfaction means to perform a duty which has been neglected. Instead of obeying God, the sinner by his sins disobeys Him. Satisfaction for disobedience requires perfect obedience from the sinner: but this, because of his weakness and corruption, no man is able to render therefore Christ rendered it for us by His perfect obedience even unto the death of the cross. But because Christ has been thus obedient for us, must we not be somewhat obedient also? or which is the same, because Christ for love of us has atoned for our sins by perfect obedience to His Heavenly Father, are we to do no penance for ourselves? It is precisely by this atonement made by Christ that we receive the power of rendering satisfaction. But for this we must, first of all, ask the grace, i.e., pray, to restrain our earthly desires, i.e., fast, and by means of active love (charity) make ourselves susceptible to this grace. St. Paul the Apostle, who calls himself the greatest of sinners, writes of himself: I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ, in my flesh for his body, which is the Church (Col. 1:24); and to the Corinthians he writes: But I chastise my body and bring it into subjection: lest perhaps: when I have preached to others (meaning penance and conversion), I myself should become cast away (I Cor. 9:27). Christ Himself did not censure the Ninivites for their fasting and their penance in sackcloth and ashes, but gave them as an example (Mt. 12:41). In the Old Testament we find that even after remitting the sin, God imposed a punishment for it. Thus He let the child of king David die, as punishment for his adultery, even though He had forgiven the sin (II Kings 12:13, 14); thus Moses and Aaron, because they once distrusted God, were not permitted to enter the Promised Land (Num. 20:24; Deut. 34:4). According to this doctrine of the Bible, the Catholic Church teaches that there remains a temporal punishment which the sinner must expiate either in this world, or in the next, though on account of the infinite merits of Christ the guilt and eternal punishment of sin are taken away by absolution. In the earliest times of the Church certain works of penance were imposed, which were then very severe, and in the course of time, owing to the indolence of the faithful, were much moderated.