CHAPTER 3 1THE OCCUPATIONS WHICH THOSE IN THE SOCIETY SHOULD UNDERTAKE AND THOSE WHICH THEY SHOULD AVOID

 CHAPTER 3 

1THE OCCUPATIONS WHICH THOSE IN THE SOCIETY SHOULD UNDERTAKE AND THOSE WHICH THEY SHOULD AVOID 

[582] 1. 2Given the length of time and approbation of their life which are required before admission into the Society among the professed and also the formed coadjutors,3 it is presupposed that those so admitted will be men who are spiritual and sufficiently advanced that they will run in the path of Christ our Lord 4 to the extent that their bodily strength and the exterior occupations undertaken through charity and obedience allow. 5Therefore in what pertains to prayer, meditation, and study, and also in regard to the bodily practices of fasts, vigils, and other austerities or penances, it does not seem proper to give them any other rule than that which discreet charity dictates to them [A], 6provided that the confessor always be informed and also, when a doubt about advisability arises, the superior.[21] Only this will be said in general: On the one hand, they [21] 

Clarified by CN 225

should take care that the excessive use of these practices not weaken their bodily strength and take up so much time that they are rendered inca- pable of helping the neighbor spiritually according to our Institute; 7 on the other hand, they should be vigilant that these practices not be relaxed to such an extent that the spirit grows cold and the human and lower pas- sions grow warm. 

[583] A. 1 If the superior thinks it expedient to give some subjects a prescribed time to keep them from exceeding or falling short in their spiritual exercises, he may do so. 2 So too in regard to the use of the other means: if he judges that one ought to be employed without leaving it to the discretion of the individual, he will proceed in accordance with what God our Lord leads him to think proper. 3And the part of the subject will be to accept with complete devotion the order which is given to him. 

[584] 2. 1The frequentation of the sacraments should be highly recom- mended; 2 and Holy Communion or the celebration of Mass should not be postponed beyond eight days without reasons legitimate in the opinion of the superior [22] 3 {All should confess to the confessor who is assigned to them,} [23] or according to the order which each one has from the superior. 

[585] 3. 1Of the particular rules in use in the houses where they happen to be, it is good that they strive to observe the part which is appropriate and is appointed them according to the judgment of the superior either for their own progress and edification or for that of the rest among whom they happen to be. 

[586] 4. 1Because the occupations which are undertaken for the aid of souls are of great importance, proper to our Institute, and very frequent; and because, on the other hand, our residence in one place or another is so uncertain, 2 they will not regularly hold choir for the canonical hours or sing Masses and offices [B]. For those whose devotion urges them to hear such will have no lack of places to satisfy themselves, 3 and our members ought to apply their efforts to the pursuits that are most proper to our vocation, for the glory of God our Lord. 

[22] Modified by CN 227, according to the changed sacramental practice of the Church. (See CIC 663, §2; 664; CCEO 473, 474.) [23] Abolished by the universal law of the Church: CIC 630, §1; CCEO 473, §2, 2°; 474, §2.

[587] B. 1 If it should be judged advisable in some houses or colleges, at the time when an afternoon sermon or lecture is to be given, Vespers alone could be recit- ed to occupy the people before these sermons or lectures. 2This could also be done regularly on Sundays and feast days, without measured music or plain chant but on a devout, smooth, and simple tone. 3This is done for the purpose of attracting the people to more frequent attendance at the confessions, sermons, and lectures and to the extent that it is judged useful for this, and in no other manner. 4 In Holy Week, the Tenebrae service with its ceremonies could be recited in the same tone. 5 In the principal Masses which are celebrated (even though they are low Masses), there could be, for the sake of devotion and propriety, two assistants vested in surplices, or one, with everything done according to what may be pos- sible in the Lord. 

[588] 5. 1Likewise, because the members of this Society ought to be ready at any hour to go to any part of the world where they may be sent by the sovereign pontiff or their own superiors, they ought not to take on the care of souls,[24] 2 and still less ought they to take charge of religious women or any other women whatever to be their regular confessors or to direct them.[25] However, nothing prohibits them on a single occasion from hearing the confessions of a whole monastery for special reasons. 

[589] 6. 1Neither should the members take on obligations of Masses which are to be celebrated perpetually in their churches, or similar burdens which are incompatible with the freedom required for our manner of pro- ceeding in the Lord [C]. 

[590] C. 1 In regard to the colleges, what is admissible in this matter is treated in Part IV [324, 325]. 2 In regard to the houses, not to undertake such burdens is altogether proper. 

[591] 7. 1So that the Society may be able to devote itself more entirely to the spiritual pursuits pertaining to its profession, it should abstain as far as possible from all secular employments, (such as those of being executors of wills or of mandates or of being procurators of civil affairs or of any such business), 2 through not accepting such burdens and not employing itself in them because of any requests [D]. 3 If such business affairs occur in connection with the colleges, they should have a procurator to take care of them and defend their rights. 4 If such affairs arise in connection with the houses of the Society or its whole body, to enable the Society 

[24] Clarified by CN 274. (In regard to accepting parishes.) 

[25] Clarified by CN 237 

itself to preserve its peace, the same procurator, or another {coadjutor},[26] or some person from outside the Society, or a family which undertakes the protection of the house could defend the Society s rights for the greater glory of God. 

[592] D. 1This should be observed as far as possible. But the authority to dispense for a time, in a case of necessity and importance for the end of the divine service which is sought, should be left to the superior. 2This superior will be the general or the one to whom he delegates his authority in this matter. 

[593] 8. 1For the same reason, and to avoid occasions of unrest foreign to our profession, and also the better to preserve the peace and benevolent relations with all unto the greater glory of God, 2 no professed or coadjutor or scholastic of the Society will consent to be interrogated in criminal trials or even in civil trials [E] (unless he is compelled to do so by some- one who can oblige him under sin), without permission of the superior. 3The superior will not give the permission except in the trials which touch upon the Catholic religion, or in other pious cases which are favorable to one party in such a way that they do not do damage to another.[27] 4For it is proper to our Institute to serve all in our Lord with- out offense to anyone, as far as this is possible. 

[594] E. 1 If the superior gives permission to anyone in regard to a civil trial out of respect for a person he thinks cannot be refused, a restriction will be needed prohibiting him, should any criminal or defamatory question occur, from being questioned about it. 2For no superior ought to give permission for this. 

[26] Abolished by GC 34. 

[27] Clarified by CN 239.

The Constitutions of the Society of Jesus and their Complimentary Norms 

https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf 

"I began by attending Fordham University in the Bronx, mostly because I wanted to be close to home. I got along very well with the Jesuits who ran the school, but after two years, I decided that as long as I had to be in college, I might as well test myself against the best. I applied to the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania and I got in. At the time, if you were going to make a career in business, Wharton was the place to go. Harvard Business School may produce a lot of CEOs—guys who manage public companies— but the real entrepreneurs all seemed to go to Wharton: Saul Steinberg, Leonard Lauder, Ron Perelman—the list goes on and on."

Donald Trump The Art of the Deal

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DLcbnLrl6moQT7nGj1JitG6AiQ6qgK0y/view?usp=sharing

University of Scranton welcomes President Biden

The university has illuminated its Class of 2020 Gateway in red and blue lights.

Author: WNEP Web Staff

Published: 10:52 PM EDT October 19, 2021

Updated: 10:52 PM EDT October 19, 2021

SCRANTON, Pa. — In preparation for President Joe Biden's visit, a university lit up their lights in his honor.

The University of Scranton has illuminated its Class of 2020 Gateway in blue and red with the number 46 prominently displayed to welcome the 46th president."

University of Scranton welcomes President Biden | wnep.com

https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/lackawanna-county/university-of-scranton-welcomes-president-biden-gateway-lights/523-cdba68b1-822b-4747-94be-4cd7e4de9d67

"His son, Hunter Biden, 38, is a longtime federal lobbyist for the Jesuit university located in his father's hometown, Scranton PA. According to federal disclosures, Hunter Biden has been earning about $80,000 a year since 2006 to lobby for this university. Senator Biden himself has lectured at the Jesuit University of Scranton, and received an honorary degree from the same university, in 1976." 

Codeword Barbelon by P.D. Stuart  

Friend Of Mine: Donald Trump Praises WWE Legend Kane, Mentions Undertaker's Name During Political Speech

Donald Trump, the former President of the United States of America, praised WWE legend Kane during a political speech in Iowa. He also mentioned The Undertaker's name. Trump is a WWE Hall of Famer and has been involved with the company in the past. He served as USA's president from 2017 to 2021.

author-479256118

Rishav Narang

Updated Jan 15, 2024, 20:08 IST

https://www.timesnownews.com/sports/wwe/friend-of-mine-donald-trump-praises-wwe-legend-kane-mentions-undertakers-name-during-political-speech-article-106871673 

Chapter 24

THE MARK OF CAIN 

“The mark of Cain is stamped upon our foreheads. Across the centuries, our brother Abel has lain in blood which we drew, and shed tears we caused by forgetting Thy love.” —Pope John X X I I I , A Prayer (1960), cited in VICARS OF CHRIST 

WE LIVE IN T H E N ew World Order, just as people under Augustus Caesar did. Not a future thing to be feared or avoided, the New World Order is a present reality to be identified, understood, and dealt with in a way most pleasing to God. It was God, after all, who established the New World Order. We can read about it in the Bible. In fact, the Bible is the only record we have that publicly and truthfully sets forth the essentials of the Order’s origins and development through time. The Bible records the great decisive events in the progress of human life up to the close of the first century A D . Creation of earth and the fullness thereof, creation of man and woman, their turning away from God, the first conception, the first birth, the first sacrifice, the first murder, the first insignia, the first city, the first and only great flood, the surviving family and its peculiar relationship through time with God – all of this momentous data is given in the Bible with a stark truthfulness that is invariably supported, often to the surprise of many, by the results of scientific inquiry. The writers of the Bible, Israelite prophets inspired by their God Yahweh, held no monopoly on reporting these events. Priests of other nations reported them, too. But in doing so, they cunningly adapted them to fit prevailing administrative needs. The result of their adaptations is what we call mythology. One very persistent myth, based on a crucial event accounted for in the Bible, explained to people under Babylonian rulership the divine origin of their government. This was the myth of Marduk. 1 The myth of Marduk begins with Annu, “the head deity of Babylonian mythology,”2 looking down upon earth in dismay. The land is in chaos, overrun by flood-waters and monstrous serpents. Annu senses that bringing order to such chaos is a job for Marduk, the first-born son of the moon goddess Ea. So Annu summons Marduk and asks him to organize the earth. Marduk agrees to the task, but “only on the condition that he be made first among the gods and that his word shall have the force of the decree of A n n u . ” 3 Annu accepts Marduk’s terms and vests him with “the powers and insignia of kingship – and Marduk’s word was declared to have the authority of Annu.” Armed with divine power, Marduk goes to earth and separates dry land from sea. He polices the monsters, and any evildoer foolish enough to oppose him receives the wrath of God. The result of Marduk’s ordination was depicted in the Stele of Naram-Sin, now in the Louvre. In this very ancient Babylonian monument, A n n u is shown imbuing Naram-Sin (Enoch to the Hebrews) with power over a mass of other beings. Annu’s name, seen in the tip of the stele, is the cuneiform symbol for “heaven,” the double-cross, or Marduk wears the A n n u signature like a cop with his badge. It makes him a god. In fact, the ordination-of-power iconography of ancient Babylonian nations was never without it. Even today (see Appendix: “Fifty Centuries of the A n n u Signature”), we find it in the flag of Great Britain, said to be the union of St. Andrew’s Scottish cross and St. George’s English cross. We find it prominently displayed in the decor of government buildings, especially courtrooms. It forms the motif for much of the decorative architecture of the U.S. Supreme Court Building, interior and exterior. The pavement surrounding the Obelisk of Caligula in St. Peter’s Piazza, where the multitudes stand to receive papal edicts and blessings, is inlaid with a gigantic A n n u signature. No doubt about it: a very ancient symbol has remained consistently identified with the presence of rulership. Could it be that a symbol of so much power is based on a myth? Or is it based on the fact from which the myth sprang? 

THE sensitive Bible-reader immediately sees in the myth of Marduk a missionary adaptation of the biblical account of Cain. The two protagonists are remarkably similar. Both C a i n and Marduk were firstborn sons of mothers bearing almost the same name: Marduk, son of Ea; Cain, son of Eve. Both firstborns were appointed to rule over evil, albeit for different reasons: Marduk because of his heroism, C a i n because of his own wickedness.4 So that they might move effectively among evildoers, both were given protective seals of immunity by the God of Heaven. God said to Cain, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.5 In Marduk’s case, the evildoers were chaotic beings ruining Annu’s earth. Cain’s evildoers were persons who might slay him because he had become a homeless trespasser. The Bible details exactly why C a i n became homeless. His farm refused to yield harvests because he had defiled the soil with the blood of his brother. C a i n “rose up against Abel his brother and slew him.” We’re not told why. It may have been jealous rage, and it may not. Nothing in Scripture indicates that Cain hated Abel. The most we know of their relationship is that “Cain talked with his brother,” and afterward, in a field, murdered him.6 Nor are we given details of the murder, except that it was bloody.7 The blood is an important clue as to motive. We know that C a i n was first crestfallen then angry at God for preferring Abel’s sacrifice to his own.8 Abel, the shepherd, sacrificed lambs from his flock.9 Cain, the farmer, apparently thinking sacrifice was about returning the best of his productivity to God, sacrificed the best of his harvest. God found Cain’s sacrifice offensive and Abel’s pleasing.1 0 Elsewhere in Scripture we learn why. It involves a principle that is very difficult for many of us to comprehend. The principle is this: without shedding of blood there is no remission of sin.11 Abel pleased God because he shed blood, the blood of sacrificial animals. The great teaching of the Bible is that the death sentence mankind has inherited from the original breaking of God’s Law by Cain’s parents (“Thou shalt not eat of the fruit...”) is pardonable only by death, by the extreme act of shedding blood fatally. This teaching is the bedrock of the Old Testament and the whole point of the New. In the Old Testament, the people of G o d were pardoned the sinfulness inherited from A d am by shedding the blood of animals, as Abel had dutifully done. In the New, the people of God were pardoned this same sinfulness by doing exactly as C a i n had done, shedding the blood of a man. To this day, according to the Scriptures, all who believe that Jesus Christ’s blood has power to remit sins are imputed sinless by God.1 2 Imputed sinless, their sentence of eternal separation from God is commuted, and they are given eternal life in Heaven.1 3 Now, Scripture does not tell us that God ever explained the purpose of blood sacrifice to C a i n . 1 4 But we know that G o d is the greatest of all teachers. And we know he wants the best for mankind. It’s unthinkable, then, that He would want C a i n ignorant of the life-saving effect of blood sacrifice. He must have taught C a i n as thoroughly as he taught Abel. A n d C a i n must have listened attentively, for we know he was anxious to please G o d – otherwise, why would he have been angry and crestfallen at learning of God’s dissatisfaction with his sacrifice? But C a i n was more creative than obedient. It’s entirely consistent with his character for him to have decided Okay, if it’s blood sacrifice He wants, I’ll give Him the sacrifice He deserves, a better sacrifice than lambs: I’ll give Him the blood of an innocent man! Cain’s intent was evil only in that he sought to improve on what God had commanded, in the way Saul improved on God’s commandment to annihilate the Amalekites by sparing their king and certain valuable livestock.1 5 C a i n knew the logic of God – he was, after all, the first human being born with the knowledge of good and evil. A n d we know from what happened to Jesus that God’s logic calls for the sacrifice of the only One whose perfect innocence overcame death. In his obsession to please God, wouldn’t C a i n have regarded spilling Abel’s blood as the ultimate godliness? What I am suggesting is that, in Cain’s mind, Abel was not so much murdered as sacrificed, nailed to Annu’s very name — — hanged upon a cross! Wouldn’t this explain why Scripture shows no evidence that C a i n sensed any guilt? Wouldn’t it also explain the hundreds of ancient, pre-Christian myths of young shepherds (such as Tammuz, Bacchus, Attis, Mithras) who were slain in cold blood by various villains only to rise from the dead, their shed blood having supposedly propitiated original sin and resurrected them to eternal life? T h e myths, obviously based on the fact of Abel’s crucifixion, all pointed to a universally anticipated event foretold by the Israelite prophets: Messiah’s death and resurrection, which would pardon the sins of mankind and restore eternal life. Thus emerges the possibility that the “lamb slain from the foundation of the world” mentioned at Revelation 1 3 : 8 might have indeed been Abel, God’s first obedient servant. For it is a fact that “the World” – by which the New Testament writers meant the ordering of human institutional systems which God admitted into existence – did actually begin, as we are about to see, in the immediate aftermath of Abel’s death. If this is the case, then mankind owes a strange debt to Cain. No Cain, no death of Abel. No death of A b e l , no World. No World, no incarnation of God as only begotten Son. No Son of God, no true death and resurrection. No true death and resurrection, no hope of mankind for eternal intimacy with God. 

IT was the complaint of an earth outraged by Abel’s spilt blood that moved God to banish C a i n from his accustomed habitat forever. Just as Marduk demanded protection from the monsters he had been asked to control, C a i n demanded protection from possible assailants in his exile. God graciously accommodated C a i n by “set[ting] a mark” upon h im which made C a i n seven times more powerful than any mortal competitor. The mark served as the very “powers and insignia of kingship” A n n u had granted Marduk. It empowered C a i n to rule all human beings likely to challenge his protective mark, beings unafraid of Yahweh’s name,1 6 beings who shared Cain’s environs “out from the presence of the Lord.”1 7 Armed with his mark, C a i n began the rulership of evil. The Bible accounts for Cain’s movements after his ordination. He took a wife and sired a son. Then, he built a city and named it after his son, “Enoch.”1 8 Centuries later, Enoch disappeared under the silt of Noah’s flood. It passed from memory to mystery to oblivion, until the 1840s, when archaeologists following the Bible’s descriptions of Babylonia began excavating in present-day Iraq. Along the Euphrates River, near Al Khidr, they discovered numerous strata of ancient settlements. The deepest stratum, beneath which there was nothing but bedrock, had called itself Unuk. “Unuk was founded on the oldest bricks,” declared one of the leading archaeologists, a renowned classical linguist from Queens College, Oxford, named Archibald Sayce. Having deciphered and evaluated large numbers of clay tablets from the site, Professor Sayce issued the opinion in 1887 that Unuk was indeed biblical Enoch, the city built by C a i n and his son.1 9 Lecturing at Oxford, Sayce also pointed out that one of Cain’s mythological names was Marduk2 0 – an important contribution to the Marduk-equals-Cain hypothesis. Unuk’s dominant temple bore the title “house of A n n u , ” further enhancing the probability that Marduk’s myth was spun from Cain’s murder of Abel. As ruler of Unuk, C a i n was known as Sargon – or, as other translators have rendered the spelling, Shargani, Sarrukinu, Sargoni, etc.2 1 These variations of Sargon are composites of the Babylonian shar, meaning “king” and gani, kinu, or goni, meaning “ C a i n . ” 2 2 It would be hard to say Sargon means anything other than “King Cain."

Unuk had been no primitive village. Encyclopedia Britannica noted that “transparent glass seems to have been first introduced in the reign of Sargon.”2 3 Sargon built a metropolis of enormous complexity. But what astonished the archaeologists most was the city’s miraculous historical suddenness. Unuk seemed to have materialized from out of nowhere: We have found, in short, abundant remains of a bronze culture, but no traces of preceding ages of development such as meet us on early Egyptian sites.24 The suddenness factor severely challenged those scholars who viewed history through Darwinian anti-biblicalism, which had become the fashion in Jesuit-influenced academic circles. To fit evolutionary theory, Unuk should have evidenced development from a much older civilization. As a contributor to the London Times’ prestigious Historians’ History of the World grumbled, Surely such a people as this could not have sprung into existence as a Deus ex Machina [a person or thing introduced or appearing unexpectedly so as to provide an artificial or contrived solution to an otherwise insoluble problem]. It must have had its history – a history which presupposes development of several centuries more.25 But Unuk as a social organization had no previous history. This maddening circumstance drove the British Museum’s H. R. Hall to rationalize that its “ready-made” culture must have been “brought into Mesopotamia from abroad.”2 6 Modern anti-biblicists find it easier to accept that Unuk’s sudden complexity came from other galaxies than from something as simple as... acquiring divine intelligence from biting into a piece of forbidden fruit. Of course, eating the fruit of disobedience is how the Bible explains the suddenness factor. C a i n had extraordinary powers because he inherited from his parents the knowledge of good and evil which the Trickster had encouraged them to obtain at the price of eternal life.2 7 In Mrs. Bristowe’s words: “Cain was born and bred in the atmosphere of the miraculous; his parents were possessed of supernatural knowledge, some of which must have been imparted to their children.”2 8 King C a i n was no primitive chieftain. On one of his many autobiographical inscriptions, he boasted that “in multitudes of bronze chariots I rode over rugged lands ... I governed the upper countries,” and “three times to the sea I have advanced.”2 9 A brilliant, well-organized military emperor – the prototypical Caesar – C a i n controlled a “vast empire.” The Cambridge History tells us he divided his imperium from the [Persian Gulf] to the [Mediterranean], from the rising to the setting of the sun into districts of five double hours march each, over which he placed the ‘sons of his palace.’ By these delegates of his authority he ruled the hosts of the lands together.30 Cain’s empire was founded on slavery3 1 – the inevitable result of one man’s retributive power exceeding all others sevenfold. For the most part, however, it appears that C a i n exercised his advantage in the public interest. Professor Sayce tells us that his empire was “full of schools and libraries, of teachers and pupils, and poets and prose writers, and of the literary works which they had composed.” Furthermore, the empire was bound together by roads, along which there was a regular postal service, and clay seals which took the place of stamps are now in the Louvre bearing the name of Sargon and his son.... It is probable that the first collection of astronomical observations and terrestrial omens was made for a library established by Sargon.32 The insignia of power and kingship did not vanish with Cain’s death. That C a i n built the original city with his son implies that the mark was intended to be an hereditary entitlement. The son’s name implies that he received the power of the mark from his father. “Enoch” in Hebrew means “the initiated” – to be inducted by special rites, to be instructed in the rudiments or principles of something.” Scripture implies that Enoch and perhaps C a i n in turn initiated other deputies and successors. Four generations after Cain’s birth, we find Enoch’s great-great grandson Lamech still exercising, in fact augmenting, the prerogative of divine vengeance: Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah, listen to me; wives of Lamech, hear my words. I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me. If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times.”34 Receiving authority to govern requires taking an oath which binds the initiate to a code of rights and responsibilities. Interestingly, our word “oath” is cognate with the Hebrew WFA (pronounced “oath”), which is the word translated “mark” at Genesis 4 : 1 5 , “the Lord set a mark upon Cain.” Knowing this, we may accurately say “the Lord put C a i n under oath,” an oath visibly represented by the various insignia governments display. The mark, then, stands for a covenant between G o d and Cain. It is not the all-encompassing sort of covenant which God struck with the humbly obedient Abraham – “ A n d I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.”3 5 Cain’s unwillingness to obey the letter of Yahweh’s commandments made him unfit for intimacy with the divine. In Cain’s own words, “from thy face shall I be hid.”3 6 The exile covenant was strictly limited to assuring God’s vengeance against anyone who would threaten Cain’s life. In matters of wisdom, correction, instruction in righteousness, C a i n was on his own. He was on his own, also, if he should try to attack the peaceful. The mark was a covenant of retribution only. Early on, C a i n saw there was great profit in provoking assailants. The more enemies, the more spectacular the displays of vengeance. The more vengeance, the more justice; the more justice, the more power to Cain; a more powerful C a i n could do more excellent public works. Thus, it became essential to the self-interest of the bearer of the mark – which remains to this day a first principle of ordered government – to provoke and encourage evildoing, particularly the form that manifests itself in rebellion. Cain terrorized evil with awesome dependability. His faith that God would avenge his enemies made him a highly reliable public protector. Down through the ages, righteous people could live secure in the knowledge that the mark-bearer would stop at nothing to persecute evildoers. This fact is marvelously declared in Scripture. In the seventh century BC, the mark-bearing Babylonians were appointed by God to capture the wayward Israelites and show them some harsh discipline. Israel couldn’t understand why God would put a vain, evil Babylonian king over His own chosen people. God explained saying: “See, he is puffed up, and his desires are not upright, but the righteous shall live by his faith.”37 

How has the mark managed to remain vibrant for nearly six thousand years? Grand Commander Albert Pike, in his influential Morals and Dogma, threw valuable light on the subject. He declared that “from the earliest time,” Freemasonry has been the “custodian and depository” of the “symbols, emblems, and allegories ... erected by Enoch.”3 8 The Commander was careful to say he meant not Cain’s son Enoch, but the Bible’s other Enoch, Enoch-2, the good Enoch, the Enoch “who walked with G o d . ” 3 9 However, his attempt to dissociate his institution from C a i n puts the Commander at variance with Masonic and biblical chronology. For if a biblical Enoch erected the earliest imagery of Freemasonry, it could not possibly have been Enoch-2. It had to have been Enoch-1. Let’s examine the chronology. Enoch-2 was descended from Seth, whom Eve conceived after the death of Abel – “for God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of A b e l , whom C a i n slew.”4 0 When Eve conceived Seth, A d am was 130 years old.4 1 According to the scripturally faithful computations of the Archbishop of Armagh, James Ussher ( 1 5 8 1 – 1 6 5 6 ) , A d am was created in 4004 BC. Thus, Seth was born in 3 8 7 4 BC. Genesis 5:6–20 gives us an exact toll of the years between Seth and his great-great-great-great grandson Enoch-2: 

Age of father 

Father Son at son’s birth 

Seth Enos 105 

Enos Cainan 90 

Cainan Mahaleel 70 

Mahaleel Jared 65 

Tared Enoch-2 162 

Total years 492 

According to the Bible, Enoch-2 was born 4 9 2 years after the birth of Seth, or in 3 3 8 2 BC. NOW, Commander Pike’s book, Morals and Dogma, reckons its date of publication in both Christian ( 1 8 7 1 AD) and Masonic ( 5 6 8 0 AM) chronology. To find out the beginning of Masonic history – that “earliest time” in which Enoch erected his “symbols, emblems, and allegories” – in terms of Christian chronology, we subtract the given Christian year from its Masonic equivalent ( 1 8 7 1 from 5 6 8 0 ) . This gives us a first Masonic year of 3 8 0 9 B C . 4 2 But the figures show that Enoch-2 was not born until 3 3 8 2 , some 4 2 7 years after Freemasonry’s “earliest time”! Enoch-2 could not possibly have erected the prototypical symbolic devices of which Freemasonry has ever been custodian and depository. However, Cain’s son, Enoch-1, very well could have! C a i n began his wandering after Abel’s death, which the Bible marks with Seth’s conception and Adam’s age, 1 3 0 years, in about 3 8 7 6 BC. If we give C a i n ten years to find a wife, settle down, and sire a child, Enoch-1 would have been born in 3 8 6 6 BC. This would make him a 5 5-year-old man in the first Masonic year, 3 8 0 9 . At that age, Enoch-1 would have been fully equipped to erect symbols and allegories memorializing his father’s divine appointment to rule populations “out from the presence of the Lord.”4 3 Incidentally, Professor Sayce placed C a i n in Masonry’s early years against his previous determinations. Sayce admitted to being compelled by the scholarly diligence of a latter-day Babylonian king to accept the evidence that Sargon lived as early as four thousand years before Christ: The last king of Babylonia, Nabonidas, had antiquarian tastes, and busied himself not only with the restoration of the old temples of his country, but also with the disinterment of the memorial cylinders which their builders and restorers had buried beneath their foundation. It was known that the great temple of the Sun-god at Sippara ... had originally been erected by Naram-Sin [Enoch], the son of Sargon, and attempts had been already made to find the records which, it was assumed, he had entombed under its angles. With true antiquarian zeal, Nabonidas continued the search until he had lighted upon ‘the foundation stone’ of Naram-Sin himself. This ‘foundation-stone’ he tells us had been seen by none of his predecessors for 3200 years. In the opinion, accordingly, of Nabonidas, a king who was curious about the past history of his country, and whose royal position gave him the best possible opportunities for learning all that could be known about it, Naram-Sin and his father Sargon lived 3200 years before his own time, or 3750 BC. What we see in the Bible’s account of how Unuk came about is nothing less than the foundation of the world’s legal system. That God would ordain an evil man to administer the law makes sublime sense to me. In our final chapter, I shall ask your indulgence in a few personal reflections of my own as to how a system designed to process evil can do as much good as it does.

Rulers of Evil by F. Tupper Saussy

dn720001.ca.archive.org/0/items/rulers-of-evil-f.-tupper-saussy_202201/Rulers of Evil F. Tupper Saussy.pdf

Started First Earth Battalion - Bill Cooper

Broadcast #309, 11-Mar-04. 

Bill plays a training video by Lieutenant Colonel Jim Channon, a U.S. soldier who had served in Vietnam who first proposed the idea of new military supersoldiers to be organized along New Age lines and for whom the 1982 book & 2009 movie “The Men Who Stare At Goats” would be based. 

Started First Earth Battalion - Bill Cooper - YouTube

R.I.P Amanda Todd

August 31, 2014  · 

“Why aren't you in school? I see you every day wandering around."

"Oh, they don't miss me," she said. "I'm antisocial, they say. I don't mix. It's so strange. I'm very social indeed. It all depends on what you mean by social, doesn't it? Social to me means talking to you about things like this." She rattled some chestnuts that had fallen off the tree in the front yard. "Or talking about how strange the world is. Being with people is nice. But I don't think it's social to get a bunch of people together and then not let them talk, do you? An hour of TV class, an hour of basketball or baseball or running, another hour of transcription history or painting pictures, and more sports, but do you know, we never ask questions, or at least most don't; they just run the answers at you, bing, bing, bing, and us sitting there for four more hours of film-teacher. That's not social to me at all. It's a lot of funnels and lot of water poured down the spout and out the bottom, and them telling us it's wine when it's not. They run us so ragged by the end of the day we can't do anything but go to bed or head for a Fun Park to bully people around, break windowpanes in the Window Smasher place or wreck cars in the Car Wrecker place with the big steel ball. Or go out in the cars and race on the streets, trying to see how close you can get to lampposts, playing 'chicken' and 'knock hubcaps.' I guess I'm everything they say I am, all right. I haven't any friends. That's supposed to prove I'm abnormal. But everyone I know is either shouting or dancing around like wild or beating up one another. Do you notice how people hurt each other nowadays?

https://www.facebook.com/RIP.AmandaTodd11/posts/pfbid0YQm77SypoPQTBppKdpCcQbaeLoASQDUJjde1vPJTPLN4kmyn3PkgbpyQZG7MHyX1l

John Todd, the Illuminati and Witchcraft

Introduction

The following is a talk by John Todd to the Elkton Maryland Baptist Church when Dr. Tom Berry was the pastor in the Autumn of 1978.

Here is a quote from Todd’s talk in this article that may interest you to read further!

Phillip Rothschild ordered one of his mistresses to write an 1100-page book that would describe to all witches how they would take control of the World through the Illuminati: It’s called Atlas Shrugged. (By Ayn Rand) One of the things in it is happening on the front pages of the newspapers across the United States right now. In fact she spent a third of the book describing how they would raise the oil prices and then later destroy the oil fields & then they would also completely shut down the coal.

IT ALSO DESCRIBED HOW THEY WOULD BLOW UP GRAIN MILLS, how they would derail trains. Their sole purpose is to bankrupt their own companies and destroy their own companies until they destroyed the currency of the whole World, and still be so financially strong they would withstand it!

If you have any questions about this article, before writing me please first read the FAQ on this page!

Contents

John Todd’s main message about his experience in witchcraft and the Iluminati

Audio MP3 downloads of more of John Todd’s talks

Frequently Asked Questions about John Todd

History this article

Updated view of John Todd’s testimonial

John Todd’s testimonial of his experience in witchcraft and of the Illuminati

John Todd

ONE THING I’D LIKE TO SAY BEFORE I GET STARTED, it never seems to fail that when I’m done a few of my brothers and sisters in the Lord have fear in their hearts. There is no reason to have fear in your heart. It seems like every time we talk about the Enemy, Christians become afraid rather than stirred up and fighting mad! So I just ask that if you have this fear in your hearts when this is over, that you just simply get in your prayer chamber or up front or someplace alone with the Lord and discuss the matter with Him.

THERE IS NOTHING TO BE AFRAID OF WHEN IT COMES TO THE DEVIL; HE WAS DEFEATED 2,000 YEARS AGO! And that’s why I’m here; he was defeated 2,000 years ago! I think the thing that made me the most mad when I got saved was that I’d served somebody since I was a child, for over 20 years, that was defeated over 2,000 years ago! And I guess the only reason why I served him was that I didn’t realize who he was until I got saved, it took that enlightenment.

AS BROTHER BERRY PREACHED THIS MORNING ON THE DEVIL BLINDING GOD’S PEOPLE’S EYES and THE WORLD’S EYES, take it for a fact, he can do it! For some 20 years I served him as a priest and as a high priest, and later as a Grand Druid and had many thousands of people serving him under me, and never once did I even realize who I was serving.

THERE WERE MANY THINGS THAT I LEARNED IN WITCHCRAFT, I’m not going to tell you what they were, but there were many things that I learned and many things that I taught as a standard teaching in Witchcraft. As you go through apprenticeship or as you go through what we call the “Outer Court,” you are told to do things and you don’t ask why you do them. If you do ask why do them, they tell you that you’re being naughty and that you shouldn’t ask, mainly because they don’t know!

I NEVER DID KNOW WHY I WAS DOING THE THINGS I WAS DOING OR WHY I WAS TEACHING THE THINGS I WAS TEACHING. They worked, so we did them. After I got saved, it took salvation for me to find out why they worked. And I guess after knowing that, there is no way you can go back to what you came out of. Very quickly tonight–well, I can’t be really quickly, but I’ll try–I want to give my testimony, and then I want to turn it over for questions and answers.

I’VE LEARNED THE HARD WAY, AFTER FIVE YEARS, and IT’S NORMAL FOR ME TO SAY THE THINGS THAT I SAY, but it’s astounding for you to listen to them. And I realize that when the meetings are over that many things I say are strange to Christians. Most of you grew up in Christian homes, or even if you were in the World, you were not very close to what I was into, so when I say things, to me they are everyday things.

I GUESS THAT’S WHY WE HAVE SUCH A SUCCESSFUL MINISTRY WITH THE PEOPLE IN DRUGS and THE PEOPLE IN THE OCCULT, because they tried to tell Christians for years the things they’d been into and the things they’ve experienced, and they look at them like they’re crazy. Then I come along and I say, “Oh! Oh, sure I’ll listen to you, I’ve been there!” I know the same things, and I’ll sit there and I’ll listen and they find it very outstanding that I believe in them, because I’ve experienced them too.

SO I DON’T GASP AT SOMEBODY WHEN THEY TELL ME THEY’VE SEEN DEMONS or floated things through the air or received answers on Ouija boards or made people do their own will by spells, because I was there and I know it’s so, but at the same time I know how weak it is compared to what I have now.

WE WENT TO ST. PAUL WHEN THEY WERE GOING TO HAVE THEIR CONVENTION THIS YEAR, which they called off. They’re having it right now in Washington, D.C., this is the last night of it, and it was in all the front pages of the newspapers down there. Christians throughout the United States say, “You don’t really expect us to believe that witches are that organized!”–No, they’ve just got Senators and Congressmen and top witches down there all in one convention, they’re not organized, not at all!

BUT ANYWAY, WE WERE THERE, and MANY WITCHES CAME UP TO ME and ASKED ME WHY I WOULD BECOME A CHRISTIAN. See, witches have the opinion that Christians are either the most evil thing that ever lived or they’re the most foolish people that ever lived. They wanted to know why I would become a Christian. I said, “Because I’m more powerful now than I was when I was a witch!”–That’s not the real reason, but I said it in words they would understand. And they couldn’t grasp that. I know how they feel.

WHEN I WAS IN WITCHCRAFT I NEVER CONSIDERED CHRISTIANITY UNTIL THE NIGHT I GOT SAVED. I never once considered it was an answer, I never considered that Jesus was an answer and thought that the things in the Christian church were foolish, at the least, and dangerous at the most–and I guess they are dangerous to Witchcraft. But to explain what I’m talking about very quickly:

I COME FROM A FAMILY CALLED THE COLLINS. Some of them on this side of the Atlantic Ocean from England have changed their name to Todd back prior to the Civil War. That’s not to say that all Collins are Todds or the family that I came from, but this family brought Witchcraft to the United States.

I WAS IN PHILADELPHIA THE OTHER NIGHT and I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT IT WAS ALL ABOUT, but after I left there the newspaper decided that their greatest campaign would be against me, and many things I said in my testimony they said they checked out and weren’t so. It’s funny, we checked them out and they still were so!–Like many things that I’ll mention tonight.

WE EVEN WENT AS FAR AS TO SAY THAT WITCHCRAFT STARTED OUTSIDE OF SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS, and EVEN NAMED THE BAY THAT THE WITCHES LANDED AT that they named after the head witch, my ancestor, Frances Collins, and the newspaper said that place didn’t exist. It exists. We looked at the map and it was still there! We don’t quite understand quite what they were up to, but I guess they confused enough people to disregard it. We were wondering when people were going to get around to this, but anyway, I came from the Collins Family.

LET ME QUICKLY REMIND YOU, NO WITCHES WERE EXECUTED IN SALEM. There will be a book coming out shortly on this from Chick Publications. Except for one prostitute, everybody executed in Salem were Christians, and they were tried and convicted by a jury and by a pastor who was not a pastor but a slave trader hired by the Collins. The church was built by the Collins and the jury were all members of the Collins’ church. Needles to say, they weren’t Christians, they were Witches. We went back there and researched it!

BUT TO GO ON QUICKLY SO I DON’T CONFUSE YOU TOO MUCH … OF COURSE I’VE ALREADY DESTROYED YOUR HIGH SCHOOL HISTORY LESSON, I have a habit of doing that. I’ll destroy more than that before the night’s over! But when I was a youngster I started practising Witchcraft. I cast my first spell when I was eight, and I started studying for the Priesthood when I was 13. I was asked to join the Outer Court of the coven there in Columbus, Ohio, where I grew up, and at 14 I was initiated.

I WOULD LIKE TO ADD THIS BEFORE I GO ON, WHEN THE SERVICE IS OVER I WOULD BE GLAD TO TALK WITH ANY MASONS PRESENT, and I will compare my initiation to Witchcraft word for word, action for action, with yours. They are identical without change, and I’ll be glad to discuss the matter with you.

AFTER THAT AT 18 I WAS INITIATED A HIGH PRIEST. This made me the ruling pastor, more or less. You see in Witchcraft, church is a little different, only the ministers meet, and they meet once a month. The congregation doesn’t even know who is in it. They only go to their particular priest and ask for a favor, they never come together. But at 18 I was made the High Priest.

THAT MADE ME DRAFT-EXEMPT FROM THE U.S. ARMY OR FROM THE U.S. MILITARY SERVICE, because all of the denominations or Brotherhoods of Witchcraft are Federally recognized tax deductible churches and therefore their ministers do not have to serve! I stayed 4-D status, but a lot of us at that time thought it was important to get Witchcraft started at the different military bases, so we enlisted anyway, and that was in 1968.

WHEN I WAS DISCHARGED IN 1970 THERE WAS A COVEN IN EVERY MILITARY BASE IN THE UNITED STATES and EUROPE IN ALL FOUR BRANCHES OF THE SERVICE! So it grows very quickly. But I served Vietnam, flew back and re-enlisted for six years and served 30 days of my six-year term, went to Germany for that time. And up until this time I thought Witchcraft was just like being a Baptist or being a Catholic, it was a religion. I didn’t realize there was anything to it except Witchcraft, and this is where most Witches are at. In fact at this time I believed in a godhead system of gods and goddesses and believed in it very devoutly, I’d been raised in it all my life. I believed in the psychic powers and that’s all I believed in.

SO WHILE I WAS IN GERMANY ONE NIGHT, AFTER TAKING SOME DRUGS and DOING A LOT OF DRINKING, I GOT IN A SHOOT-OUT in the middle of downtown Stuttgart with an officer, and the officer got killed. Now the Army has a strict no-no about shooting officers, they don’t like it, so they placed me in solitary confinement, and there I am, waiting for Leavenworth more or less.

WE’D ALREADY OFFERED A PLEA TO THE JUDGE THAT WE WOULD PLEAD GUILTY IF HE WOULD GIVE ME 30 YEARS and CALL IT QUITS, and he tore it up and laughed at us. So I was pretty sure what was in for me, and I just sat there. And eventually through a riot that had happened at the stockade just a few days prior and a man being placed in solitary confinement with me and then released from the stockade, I got word back to the U.S. by phone of the predicament I was in.

I HAD BEEN IN GERMANY SUCH A LITTLE TIME THAT I HADN’T HAD TIME TO START A COVEN IN STUTTGART, and I had no way of getting the word out. So the man placed a phone call to Los Angeles, collect, to my foster mother and told the predicament I was in. I had told him to tell her to cast a spell on the jury so they’d think I was a real nice person, and that’s all I thought they would do. I’d seen spells like this work many times–I’ve seen them work recently many times in courts–but I was not expecting what took place!

ABOUT THREE DAYS AFTER THE MAN MADE THE PHONE CALL, MY CELL DOOR OPENED and THERE STOOD A SENATOR and A U.S. CONGRESSMAN, a couple of Generals and an Honorable Discharge. The Honorable Discharge gave no reason as to why I was being discharged; I just had an Honorable Discharge like I’d served all my time. I had all my time and rank and grade, even my top-secret security clearance.

I WAS TOLD THAT MY COURT-MARTIAL RECORDS HAD BEEN DESTROYED and that my military file would be placed with a top-secret security clerk so nobody could get into it, and that was the end of it. The Senator and the Congressman left, I went to Ft. Dix and drew the rest of my papers and stuff, and headed for Columbus, Ohio, scratching my head the whole time wondering what type of spell was so good that it had Senators and Congressmen doing its bidding!

I STILL DIDN’T KNOW WHAT WAS GOING ON, SO I ARRIVED IN OHIO and I AGAIN BEGAN ASKING QUESTIONS THE DAY I ARRIVED THERE. I was told they had been expecting me and here was an envelope with a one-way first-class ticket to Kennedy Airport in New York City, $2,000 for spending money, and I was to get on the next flight and they would make a phone call and tell them I was coming. That was fine except I wanted to know who “them” were. They said I would find out when I arrived, so I got on the plane, took off, landed at the airport and sure enough, somebody was waiting to meet me.

–A PERSON WHOSE BOOKS I HAD READ and WHO I HAD THOUGHT WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST WIZARDS, MALE WITCHES, THAT HAD EVER LIVED, and I felt very privileged that I could be staying with him learning more about Witchcraft from him. Now I gave his name–which I’m going to give a minute–in Philadelphia last Sunday night. I even gave his job at the time that I was staying with him, except the newspapers called the university that he was supposed to be working for and the university denied he’d ever been there.

IT’S FUNNY, I EVEN SAT IN HIS CLASSES AT THE UNIVERSITY. They have a way of covering things up. He has his own college now for Witches, and his name is Dr. Raymond Buckland, and at that time he was head of the Anthropology Department at Columbia University, although Columbia University likes to say that he never existed now.

BUT I LEARNED WITH HIM FOR AWHILE, LEARNED A LITTLE MORE IN MARYLAND, WENT TO CALIFORNIA and STUDIED SOME MORE. During this process I began to learn what most Witches don’t know, and that is that the gods they’ve been worshipping don’t exist, that they’re imitated by what we call “familiar spirits” or spirit guides, demons–witches don’t call them demons, they like to call them spirit guides–and that there is only one god and his name is Lucifer.

NOW THIS WAS A SHOCKING THING TO ME SINCE I WAS RAISED TO BELIEVE THAT THE DEVIL DIDN’T EXIST. You see witches aren’t Satanists, they don’t believe in Satan, and I was quickly explained to that Lucifer was a good god and not an evil god, and that Jesus was the imitator. So I learned, and I learned many things, both of Witchcraft, and I also learned why the Senators and Politicians were there!

THEY WERE THERE BECAUSE WE WERE THE RELIGION OF A POLITICAL ORGANIZATION CALLED THE ILLUMINATI, and I was told all about the Illuminati and its history. I was schooled in the things that it had done, and the things that it was going to do, and the things that I was going to do. And before I go on, I want to show you a few things that will help explain. (Charts:)

THIS THING YOU SEE UP HERE IS ON THE BACK OF YOUR ONE-DOLLAR BILL, and WHAT IT IS IS THE SEAL OF THE ILLUMINATI. America tells us it’s the reverse side of the Great Seal of the United States, the only problem is that the United States has never sealed one document with it, ever, and never intends to! It was in existence before the United States was in existence, and I invite you, if you know your Latin, to look at your one-dollar bills later, and down at the bottom you will see some Latin.

IT SAYS: “THIS NEW ORDER THAT BEGAN 1776”–THAT MEANS NOT THE 4th OF JULY, BUT MAY 1st, 1776, THE CREATION DAY OF THE ILLUMINATI. It consists of three pyramids in a sphinx, which I’ll go through very quickly. We’ve put a few blocks up here, but there are hundreds of blocks in each pyramid. This is the political organisation. This is the middle pyramid. This is some of the political and police organisations that they use, and we’ve put up ones that mainly concern the United States.

ON THE TOP OF EACH PYRAMID YOU WILL SEE A CAPSTONE WITH AN EYE IN IT. The capstone is the Rothschild Family or Tribunal that rules the Illuminati, they were the creators of it. The eye is Lucifer, their god and their voice. The first 3 top blocks are on every pyramid. (See above photo.)

THE TOP BLOCK IS WHAT I WAS INITIATED INTO, THE COUNCIL OF 13 CALLED THE GRAND DRUID COUNCIL. They only take orders from the Rothschilds and nobody else. They’re their private priesthood. The Council of 33 is directly under them, that is the 33 highest Masons in the World. The Council of 500, some of the richest people in the World–there are 500, actually, some of the richest people and conglomerates in the World–it’s their real power as I’ll show you in a minute.

I DON’T THINK YOU CAN SEE MUCH OF THE WRITING ON THIS, BUT THIS IS THE ORGANISATION OF WITCHCRAFT. The Golden Dawn is the 4th block up there, and it’s the Rothschild’s private coven. The Aquarian Arts Festival is the organization that ties all of the Occult Brotherhoods together in St. Paul, The Witches Church of America I was a member of. The Church of All Worlds is located in St. Louis. These are denominations like Northern Baptist, Southern Baptists, Independent Baptists, etc.

THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF CHURCHES, THE SATANIC BROTHERHOOD OF AMERICA, SCIENTOLOGY, UNITY, is the main platform for Witches to be speakers at towards what they consider to be Christian people. The Church of Wicca is another denomination; it’s in Greenfield, North Carolina.

THE AQUARIAN ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE IS AN ORGANIZATION THAT WAS FORMED BY ONE OF THE GRAND DRUIDS, ISAAC BONOVITZ, and the American Civil Liberties Union. Its purpose is to pass laws and to sue Christian churches in Federal court for defaming Witches and the Occult, and they have been winning millions of dollars in the Federal courts.

THE GARNARIAN BROTHERHOOD IS THE TRADITIONAL WITCHCRAFT IN ENGLAND. The Order of the Rose Cross–another word for it is Rosicrucians–they are a sacrifice order. And the Holy Order of the Garter is another traditional English Witchcraft group. (Points:)

THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT SYMBOL: THIS IS THE POWER OF THE ILLUMINATI. Without the Sphinx the mystery of the Illuminati would have no power. This is where all of its power comes from. You will notice the head of it is the Rothschild Family and the Council of 500. Under that, the Rockefellers, Duponts, Kennedys, Onasises and other families. Queen Juliana is also on the Council of 500.

OVER IN THE CENTER IS ITS HEART, THE BANK OF ENGLAND, THE BANK OF FRANCE, THE FEDERAL RESERVE ACT. Most people feel the Federal Reserve Act is a government organization. It is not! It has nothing to do with the Government of the United States; it is a stockholder company owned by individuals. Much of the stock is owned by non-Americans.

MANY BANKS and FAMOUS CORPORATIONS ARE OWNED OR CONTROLLED BY THE ILLUMINATI. We tell Christians across the U.S. that housewives and husbands cannot shop any day or any week without buying from a company that the Illuminati owns, it is impossible.

PHILLIP ROTHSCHILD ORDERED ONE OF HIS MISTRESSES TO WRITE AN 1100-PAGE BOOK that would describe to all witches how they would take control of the World through the Illuminati: It’s called Atlas Shrugged. (By Ayn Rand) One of the things in it is happening on the front pages of the newspapers across the United States right now. In fact she spent a third of the book describing how they would raise the oil prices and then later destroy the oil fields and then they would also completely shut down the coal.

IT ALSO DESCRIBED HOW THEY WOULD BLOW UP GRAIN MILLS, how they would derail trains. Their sole purpose is to bankrupt their own companies and destroy their own companies until they destroyed the currency of the whole World, and still be so financially strong they would withstand it!

NOW TO GO BACK TO MY OWN TESTIMONY WHILE EVERYBODY GETS A BREATH! I know you thought you were going to hear a lot about spell-casting or spooky ghosts, but I surprised you, I’ve got something more spooky to tell you! Anyway, as I learned all this, I was taken up to Colorado Springs, outside of NORAD Center about a mile in the same location, and placed through an initiation for the Council of 13, and then I moved to San Antonio where I lived until I was saved and ruled a 13-state area that I had from there.

WHEN I WAS SAVED I HAD 5000 COVENS, IN OTHER WORDS, CHURCHES, TOTALLING 65,000 PRIESTS and PRIESTESSES. That’s just the ministers, not the congregation, so it is quite large. This State wasn’t one of them, this is run by Mrs. Buckland, but Ohio was one of them, so it’s close enough. I lived there until I was saved on Labor Day of 1972. And what led to my salvation was this:

THE GRAND DRUIDS MEET EIGHT TIMES A YEAR ON THE WITCHES’ SABBATH AT VARIOUS LOCATIONS IN THE WORLD. I hosted the last meeting that I attended, it was held in San Antonio at the Casino Building. A courier from the London Embassy, a member of our State Department, brought a sealed courier pouch–so Immigration couldn’t touch it–to the meeting and left it. It had never been opened from the time it had been sealed at the London Embassy.

DR. BUCKLAND CUT THE SEAL ON IT and TOOK OUT SIX LETTERS THAT WERE SEALED WITH THIS ILLUMINATI CREST. The first four were just business, money that we were to pay here and there and so on. Actually, the Grand Druid Council is nothing but glorified bankers, they write millions of dollars worth of checks to people in political and religious fields every month. But the last two letters led me to want to get out.

I HAD, AS A CHILD, ACCIDENTALLY ATTENDED A FEW SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASSES because I had nothing better to do, and during those classes I heard about the Book of Revelation and a few things in it–which was very strange, being back in the early ’60s to hear anything like this, at least in the particular kind of church I was going to which was kind of liberal. So I had a little background of what the Christians felt was in their Bible. I thought it was foolish, but I had a little background.

NOW EVEN THOUGH I WAS A PART OF SETTING UP A WORLD GOVERNMENT, I ALWAYS KIND OF SNICKERED THAT THAT WAS EVER GOING TO HAPPEN, that we were serious, that it was kind of a little game we were playing. As long as the Rothschilds had all of the money to spend on our plans, we went ahead and spent the money. So I never took it seriously until we opened the last two letters.

NOW IN THE FIRST LETTER THAT WE OPENED OF THOSE LAST TWO, WAS A CHART, and IN THAT CHART IT LISTED AN EIGHT-YEAR PLAN FOR WORLD TAKE-OVER ENDING IN THE DECEMBER MONTH OF 1980. Since I have gotten out, I have not seen one thing fail or be delayed on that time chart. I’m not saying that it won’t be delayed, but it’s going to take a lot of Christians doing a lot of serious praying which I haven’t seen yet. Next, the last letter we opened contained–now I’ll have to quote it and then I’ll have to explain, it, since witches say English but they say words that may not mean anything to you–it said:

“WE HAVE FOUND A MAN WHOM WE BELIEVE TO BE THE SON OF LUCIFER. We believe that through his works and our backing he can become ruler of this world, stop all wars, and bring peace, finally, to this war-stricken World.” Now that literally meant that we had found a person so fantastically-powered that he could convince people he was their only salvation. Now that literally meant in Christian terms, he was demon-possessed like nobody had ever seen! (Ed: The Antichrist, 1Jn.2:18; Rev.13.)

AFTER READING THAT ON AUGUST 1, 1972, I DECIDED IT WAS TIME TO LOOK ELSEWHERE TO GET OUT. Now this hadn’t been a new idea, before I was made a Grand Druid I had thought about getting out.–So had a young actress in California that was ordered executed and left hanging with her throat cut by one foot–which is one of the tarot cards–to tell all witches that she had betrayed witchcraft and this was her death. And after seeing this and what happened to Sharon Tate, I decided I’d stay in. But now I wanted out. I didn’t know how to get out and I didn’t consider Christianity at all a way out, but I wanted to get out.

SO A MONTH ROLLED AROUND and I GOT DEEPER INVOLVED IN DRUGS. In fact, the night I was saved I weighed 149 pounds because I was doing $150 a day worth of methedrine speed–mainlining it–what the street people call “crystal.” So I was literally in a paranoid mess anyway because of this drug, and all these plans hadn’t made me any more restful.

SO ONE SATURDAY AFTERNOON A BAPTIST PREACHER CAME ACROSS ME IN ONE OF OUR OCCULT STORES. He was there because overnight, just about, he had come to realize that Witchcraft was real, when he had always considered it a fable about witches flying on broomsticks with warts on their noses and pointed hats. The way he’d found it was he’d found his daughter an initiated priestess of a Witchcraft coven! He’d caught her casting spells in her bedroom one night.

SO IT BECAME VERY REAL TO HIM, and AFTER MUCH PRAYER and FASTING, HE DECIDED TO TRACK DOWN A FEW WITCHES and see if he couldn’t witness to them. He wasn’t getting through to his daughter so he thought he’d go to the head of it and if they got saved, maybe his daughter would get saved. So he found me in one of our occult stores called “The Spanish Bazaar” there in San Antonio and started to witness to me.

HE KNEW WHO I WAS BECAUSE I WAS GOING BY MY WITCHCRAFT NAME, LANCE, and just about everybody in town had seen me on television or read about me in the newspapers about Witchcraft. So he started witnessing to me and I told him in certain profanities that I didn’t care for it and that I would like him to leave. So when this failed he decided that he wasn’t going to get past the demons that were in me, so he started ordering the demons to be quiet. Then he proceeded to pray for me whether I liked it or not, and the prayer went something like this:

“I DEMAND THAT SATAN STOP GIVING YOU HIS BENEFITS, INCLUDING DRUGS, I ORDER THAT TO BE SO IN THE NAME OF JESUS! And I command Satan to stop communicating with you supernaturally and I break your power of Witchcraft till you come face-to-face with the Gospel, and then I command your mind to be set free so that you can perceive the Gospel and make you own mind up.”–Now this was necessary in my condition because I didn’t have my own mind. And then he left.

I THOUGHT HE WAS CRAZY, SO I WENT UPSTAIRS and DID SOME MORE DRUGS because I couldn’t understand why I was feeling the way I was feeling, and that was not too well at that moment. So that night, I didn’t have anything to worry about, I did all my drugs up because I was expecting a very large shipment of drugs to come across at Laredo, Mexico.–Except something happened that had never happened before: The drugs got busted! The wrong guard that was not on our salary was on the border that night, and they even brought the wrong car across that had the wrong license number.

EVERYTHING THAT COULD HAVE GONE WRONG, WENT WRONG, and THE SHIPMENT WAS BUSTED and I WAS WITHOUT DRUGS. So when I found out about it, I made a few phone calls around different areas in the U.S. trying to find some drugs that could get to me very quickly. Most people had already used theirs up or were at the end of it, and I was told that I’d have some Tuesday morning–and that’s a long time to wait for an addict as bad as I was!

SO ABOUT MONDAY NIGHT, LABOR DAY NIGHT, AS I WAS GOING THROUGH EXTREME PROPORTIONATE WITHDRAWAL, I got in my car and started to drive it out of the parking lot and almost drove it in the river! So I left it there and I went for a walk. I walked about four or five blocks and I came upon a movie theater. Now it was just an everyday movie theater–it’s still there to this day–shows just regular pictures, not anything to do with the Christian Church, so I thought I was pretty safe. I paid my money and went in, sat down three rows back and wanted to get right into the movie.

AND THE MOVIE WAS CALLED “THE CROSS and THE SWITCHBLADE.” Now that my seem funny to you, it was not funny to me at the time. So I sat there trying to make wisecracks at the movie all night and became interested in Nicky Cruz. See, you think with one mind–I think with the same mind with now as a Christian–but as a witch I thought with a different mind: Dave Wilkerson was the enemy and Nicky Cruz was the hero.

SO I SAT DOWN THERE and I THOUGHT, THIS GUY’S PRETTY GOOD, THERE’S NOTHING WRONG WITH HIM, maybe he’ll convert the preacher over … and then he got saved! Now that term meant nothing to us, but when he changed from the old Nicky Cruz to the new Nicky Cruz, that meant something, that was impossible!

THE CORNERSTONE OR THE WHOLE FLOOR OF WITCHCRAFT is that you cannot cast a spell, you cannot mix a potion, you cannot do a rite without a firm knowledge of astrology. It is the base for all practices in Witchcraft, and one of its teachings is that you are born a set personality and there is nothing you can do to change from that set personality, and mine was pretty raunchy as it was.

SO IF NICKY CRUZ CHANGED, THIS WAS A MIRACLE THAT WAS NOT UNDERSTANDABLE TO ANY WITCH. So going out of there I was in a very confused state of mind, not realizing much of what had happened even to the point that I forgot I was even going through withdrawal. And as I walked out the door a young man walked up to me, handed me this tract and said, “Here, this is for you”–and turned around and walked off! Didn’t give anybody else a tract, just left, and the tract was called “Bewitched,” it was on Witchcraft.

NOW, I WAS RAISED IN A SUPERNATURAL WORLD. All our lives we had spent listening to spirit guides, and since that preacher had prayed for me, my spirit guides had not said a word to me. I was in a vacuum, much described like this: Have you ever gone through a trial where you pray and pray and you feel like you’re not getting through? Well, this was the way I felt, and nothing was coming through. I was in a vacuum.

AFTER 14 YEARS OF DEPENDING UPON THESE SPIRITS TO TELL ME EVERYTHING TO DO, NOBODY WAS TELLING ME ANYTHING–because this preacher had taken authority over them and had ordered them to be quiet. And as I was reading this booklet I had sense enough to know that something was trying to get to me, something was trying to get through, but none of my spirit guides would be giving me books on Witchcraft that was telling me the Devil was behind it! 

https://www.jamesjpn.net/conspiracy/john-todd-the-illuminati-and-witchcraft/

Devil: the enemy of perfection, particularly of poverty [553]; his or her illusions must be guarded against [260]; against his or her attacks those who are dying must be defended [595]

Index

The Constitutions of the Society of Jesus and their Complimentary Norms

https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf 

14WE ought to act on the principle that everyone who lives under obedience should let himself be carried and directed by Divine Providence through the agency of the superior 15as if he were a lifeless body, which allows itself to be carried to any place and treated in any way; or an old man s staff, which serves at any place and for any purpose in which the one holding it in his hand wishes to employ it. 16For in this way the obedient man ought joyfully to employ himself in any task in which the superior desires to employ him in aid of the whole body of the religious order; 17and he ought to hold it certain that by so doing he conforms himself with the divine will more than by anything else he could do while following his own will and different judgment.[3]"

page 221

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2 §1. The character and charism of the Society of Jesus arise from the Spiritual Exercises which our holy father Ignatius and his companions went through. Led by this experience, they formed an apostolic group rooted in charity, in which, after they had taken the vows of chastity and poverty and had been raised to the priesthood, they offered themselves as a holocaust to God,[2] so that serving as soldiers of God beneath the banner of the cross and serving the Lord alone and the Church his spouse under the Roman Pontiff, the vicar of Christ on earth,[3] they would be sent into the entire world[4] for the defense and propagation of the faith and for the progress of souls in Christian life and doctrine. [5]

The CONstitutions of The Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms

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The professed, who stand first in order and rank, should also excel by their example and heavenly manner of life. They should be like men marked out for death, ready, at the slightest bidding of the Supreme Pontiff and Vicar of Christ, to whom they have bound themselves by a special vow, to set off joyfully to preach Christ anywhere on earth, whether among pagans, Turks, or Indians, whether among believers or unbelievers. They should hold it a great privilege as indeed it is to pour out their blood, along with this momentary life, so that they might rejoice forever in immortality.

The Constitutions of the Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms

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To sum up: men crucified to the world, and to whom the world itself is crucified[7] such would our Constitutions have us to be; new men, I say, who have put off their affections to put on Christ;[8] dead to themselves to live to justice; who, with St. Paul in labors, in watchings, in fastings, in chastity, in knowledge, in long suffering, in SWEETNESS, in the Holy Spirit, in charity unfeigned, in the word of truth, show themselves ministers of God[9] and by the armor of Justice on the right hand and, on the left, by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report, by good success finally and ill success, press forward with great strides to their heavenly country. This is the sum and aim of our institute." 

The Constitutions of the Society of Jesus and Their Complementary Norms

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"[666] 6. 1On the side of the superior general, what will aid toward this union of hearts are the qualities of his person [G], to be treated in Part IX [723-25], with which he will perform his office, 2which is to be for all the members a head from which the influence required for the end sought by the Society ought to descend to them all. 3It is thus from the general as head that all authority of the provincials should flow, from the provincials that of the local superiors, and from the local superiors that of the individual members. 4And from this same head, or at least by his commission and approval, should likewise come the appointing of missions. And the same should apply to communicating the graces of the Society. 5For the more the subjects are dependent upon their superiors, the better will the love, obedience, and union among them be preserved."

The Constitutions of the Society of Jesus and Their Complementary Norms

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"Head:

1. See Illness, mental

2. The superior general, head of the Society [666]"

page 463

The CONstitutions of the Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms 

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Revelation 13:16-18

King James Version

16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation%2013%3A16-18&version=KJV

https://www.facebook.com/billy.dunn.50767/posts/pfbid0eoXfjWJgck1eMFqewjKNfKy2xiTPwxfNd2zPwFYHDvAYPCo9Hn1fUpr1tF78FRSrl

Scientology Recruits for the O.T.O. 

In 1967, the O.T.O. in England founded the Process Church of the Final Judgement soon after the rise of The Beatles rock group. In the late sixties and early seventies, the Process set up cells in a number of U.S. cities. Maury Terry says that the Process Church took over the O.T.O. in the United States. The Church of Scientology reverted to the position of Blavatsky's Theosophical Society a century earlier - that of a recruiting agency for the O.T.O. Terry said of Michael Carr, who, before his violent death was one of the leaders in the Process Church and a ranking Scientologist: If he's counselling lost souls for Scientology, allegedly helping them discover themselves, he could certainly be working both sides of the street and plucking a few out for recruitment in the Satan stuff. That Scientology movement is fertile ground for latching onto confused people. He'd have his pick of candidates.41

The O.T.O. and Psychological Warfare 

The counterculture, which today has permeated our whole society, provided and still provides recruits to the Church of Scientology which spots and selects the confused and drug addicted candidates for the homicidal O.T.O.-Process Church. One such candidate was found in Charlie Manson, who was first recruited by Scientology before he joined the Process Church. At that time the Process Church in America was led by Robert Moore (alias Robert DeGrimston), who, like Manson, was first a Scientologist. Process members worship both Satan and Christ, as did the Priory of Sion and the Templars in medieval days.42 361 Charlie Manson taught his "family" that he was Jesus Christ returned to bring judgement on America through a race war. "Helter Skelter" was his plan. He believed his instructions were concealed in the lyrics of songs sung by The Beatles.43 What Manson taught his "family" about hidden messages in rock music may well be true. Aleister Crowley himself taught such a technique to his initiates - that of writing messages backwards as a means of secret communication. William Sutton, in The New Age Movement and The Illuminati 666. states that Manson was also a Freemason. In support of this he writes that "[d]uring the Tate-LaBianca trials - with Susan Atkins testifying to how good it felt when the knife went into Sharon Tate – Manson was flashing Masonic hand signals to the Judge."44 Sutton not only links Manson to Freemasonry, but to Scientology, the Process Church, the O.T.O. and the New Age Movement.45 Likewise, Maury Terry documents that the Charlie Manson murders in California and the David Berkowitz - Son of Sam - murders in New York, were both ordered by the same organization, the O.T.O.- Process Church.46 One of Terry's first clues of this connection was the use of common terms by Berkowitz's "Sam" cult and the O.TO.-Process Church. For example, the term "German shepherds" was used by both as an allusion to their Nazi heritage. Both killers wore the same Nazi symbols - HT and HH for Hitler, the German SS lighting bolts for Satan and 666 for the mark of the beast. Both were white Aryan, anti. Christian, anti-black, and anti-Semitic.47 Berkowitz, whose murders followed some six years after Manson's, often mentioned Manson in his notes. Berkowitz himself admitted to joining the Process Church in New York in 1975, just six years after Manson's arrest. Process members openly mingling with existing O.T.O. factions were seen in New York City as late as 1973. People such as Berkowitz, Man son and members of the Process Church, and its cells around the United States, make up the current O.T.O. network. All are sub-Masonic and linked as part of an underground web of murder. The "Sam" cult, according to Terry, is headquartered near Los Angeles and has branches in Bismarck, Minot, Houston and New York. These branches shuttle killers and "contracts" back and forth.48 From evidence presented by both Terry and Sutton, there is sufficient documentation to convince the reader that the Ordo Templi Orientis was carried to the United States by English Freemason Aleister Crowley for the express purpose of preparing Christian America for destruction through mass and serial murder, drugs, licentious living, witchcraft, and the psychological terror and social chaos caused by the same. The O.T.O. continues its assault on our society to this day. The O.T.O. is English Freemasonry's psychological warfare unit targeted against Christian America. 

O.T.O., Mother of the New Age 

The O.T.O. membership was so vast that the Order boasted having knowledge of all the secrets of occultism on both sides of the English Channel. Miller reports that after Karl Kellner founded the O.T.O., the organization produced a manifesto called Manifesto of the 0.7:0. Under the heading "Liber III" is proof that all Masonic and non-Masonic occult orders were under its direct 362 control: Karl Keliner revived the exoteric49 organization of the O.T.O. and initiated the plan now happily complete of bringing all occult bodies again under one governance.... The order is international, and has existing branches in every civilized country of the world. In its bosom repose the Great Mysteries; its brain has resolved all the problems of philosophy and life. Moreover, it possesses a Secret capable of realizing the world-old dream of the Brotherhood of Man.50 The "Secret" it possessed, and is now manifesting, is the program followed by the New Age Movement. From this point we are able to trace the present New Age Movement to Freemasonry.

Scarlet and the Beast by John Daniel

https://ia803001.us.archive.org/28/items/ScarletAndTheBeastJohnDaniel1995/Scarlet%20and%20the%20Beast,%20John%20Daniel%20(1995).pdf 

Step inside Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s ultra-private $14M Montecito mansion

By Social Links forLeah Bitsky

Published Nov. 16, 2023, 2:10 p.m. ET

It’s a castle fit for a resigned prince and princess.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been living a not-so-quiet life in a luxurious $14 million megamansion in Montecito, Calif., since stepping away from their royal roles in 2020.

While the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have attempted to keep the interiors of their opulent abode quite private — even staging their controversial Netflix docuseries “Meghan & Harry” in another California home — the couple has inadvertently shared some inside glimpses of the lavish nine-bedroom, 16-bathroom living quarters over the years.

The Sussexes’ 18,000-square-foot home — where they are raising their son Prince Archie, 4, and daughter Princess Lilibet, 2 —breathes royal elegance with a mix of midcentury modern touches and Victorian elements. 

Harry, 39, and the former “Suits” star, 42, have flaunted the cushy office in which they both conduct business from the comfort of their own splendid estate.

Markle first shared a sneak peek of their home office while announcing her 40×40 initiative in a 2021 promotional video.

The workspace features a gorgeous $1,699 hand-crafted pine wood Pottery Barn dining table functioning as a desk, ivory chairs, a $1,800 cashmere Hermés blanket, and several carefully crafted coffee table books.

The WFH room, which was also spotted in Harry’s “Heart of Invictus” Netflix documentary, also includes a stunning stone fireplace, a tan woven rug, and lots of natural light streaming in through round-top French doors.

Views of the Sussexes’ many marvelous rooms were shared in photos during the “Meghan & Harry” limited series.

One mirror selfie of Markle cradling Lilibet showed her daughter’s adorable fairytale-style nursery featuring wood beams along the ceiling, soft carpeting, an oval crib and nature details painted on the walls.

Harry and Markle also enjoy a lush living space adorned with fine art and contemporary accents, which were seen in her 2020 “American’s Got Talent” appearance. Patterned throw pillows, a gallery wall and a Diptyque candle bring the simple room to life.

Their home is also filled with greenery and flower bouquets, adding pops of color and dimension to their mainly monochromatic themes.

Of course, the outside of their mansion is just as lush as the inside. Their spanning property has a pool, tennis court, tea house, rose garden, olive trees, two-bed guest house, and children’s cottage.

“We did everything we could to get this house,” Markle told The Cut last August of buying the home, adding that it’s “healing” and makes her “feel free.”

Rumors swirled that the duo were planning to move into another home in Malibu. However, their spokesperson exclusively told Page Six there was “no truth to them moving to Malibu or anywhere.”

Harry and Markle tied the knot in 2018 and briefly lived in Tyler Perry’s $18 million Beverly Hills mansion before moving into their current residence.

https://pagesix.com/2023/11/16/royal-family/step-inside-meghan-markle-and-prince-harrys-14m-montecito-mansion/ 

Prince William says Kate's 'doing well,' in rare comments since she announced her cancer diagnosis

Prince William has offered a positive assessment of his wife’s health in one of his few statements about Kate’s condition since she announced that she was undergoing treatment for cancer

ByThe Associated Press

May 10, 2024, 11:12 AM

LONDON -- LONDON (AP) — Prince William on Friday offered a positive assessment of his wife's health, a hospital administrator said, in one of the royal's few comments about Kate's condition since she announced that she was undergoing treatment for cancer.

William was on a solo tour of St. Mary’s Community Hospital on the Isles of Scilly, an archipelago off the Cornish coast in southwestern England. He traveled there to break ground for a new building that will include inpatient treatment beds and a maternity suite.

“I asked William about his wife Kate and he said, ‘she’s doing well, thanks,’" hospital administrator Tracy Smith told reporters. "And I suggested they might like to come for a visit and bring the children.”

The Princess of Wales stepped away from public duties after announcing on March 22 that she had been diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer. In a video message, she said she had begun chemotherapy.

The news came after King Charles III, her father-in-law, announced his own cancer diagnosis. Charles returned to public-facing duties last week after Buckingham Palace said doctors were encouraged by his progress, even as his treatment continues.

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/prince-william-kates-rare-comments-announced-cancer-diagnosis-110115202#:~:text=The%20Princess%20of%20Wales%20stepped,announced%20his%20own%20cancer%20diagnosis.

PART VI 1THE PERSONAL LIFE OF THOSE ALREADY ADMITTED AND INCORPORATED INTO THE BODY OF THE SOCIETY

SECTION 1: THE APOSTOLIC CHARACTER OF OUR VOWS IN GENERAL

143 §1. Our consecration by profession of the evangelical counsels, by which we respond to a divine vocation, is at one and the same time the following of Christ poor, virginal, and obedient and a rejection of those idols that the world is always prepared to adore, especially wealth, pleasure, prestige, and power. Hence, our poverty, chastity, and obedience ought visibly and efficaciously to bear witness to this attitude, whereby we proclaim the evangelical possibility of a certain communion among men and women that is a foretaste of the future kingdom of God.[1]

§2. Our religious vows, while binding us, also set us free:

free, by our vow of poverty, to share the life of the poor and to use whatever resources we may have, not for our own security and comfort, but for service;

free, by our vow of chastity, to be men for others, in friendship and communion with all, but especially with those who share our mission of service;

free, by our vow of obedience, to respond to the call of Christ as made known to us by him whom the Spirit has placed over the Church, and to follow the lead of all our superiors.[2] [1] See GC 32, d. 4, no. 16; see GC 31, d. 16, no. 4; d. 17, no. 2; d. 18, no. 3. [2] GC 32, d. 2, no. 20. 215

The Constitutions of The Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms

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On the continent of Europe, French Freemasonry is known as Scottish Rite, Grand Orient, French Grand Lodge, Continental, or Latin Freemasonry. The Templar York Rite in England was transported to America, where it remains to this day. English Freemasonry continued with the three Craft Degrees until 1860, when it adopted the thirty additional degrees of the Scottish Rite, but for competitive reasons refused to call it "Scottish." After the expulsion of the Stuarts to France, the Church of England and the British monarchy became subservient to Rosicrucian Freemasonry. Since 1737, every male monarch in Great 35 Britain has been a Mason, while the head of the Anglican Church (Church of England) is a member of the Masonic hierarchy. Masonry in England since has controlled both Church and Crown. Even today we see this alliance in effect. For example, Geoffrey Fisher, the past Archbishop of Canterbury, was a Mason. Likewise, Queen Elizabeth II, the reigning monarch, is the Patroness of English Freemasonry, while her consort, Prince Philip, is a Freemason.62"

Scarlet and the Beast by John Daniel

https://ia803001.us.archive.org/28/items/ScarletAndTheBeastJohnDaniel1995/Scarlet%20and%20the%20Beast,%20John%20Daniel%20(1995).pdf

https://www.facebook.com/billy.dunn.50767/posts/pfbid0ckGjiC8nqUPWzjn3YebmnyRUxSre3xPJWQt7Nkj16cmoLmks1sDkaA6HVEY5vepol 

Coat of arms of Pope Benedict XVI

The personal papal coat of arms of Pope Benedict XVI was designed by Archbishop Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo (who was later created a Cardinal) soon after the papal election in 2005.

History

The coat of arms was published in April 2005, after the papal election, in the Osservatore Romano.[1]

Shield

The shape of the shield varies from artist to artist. In the official rendering of the coat of arms of Pope Benedict XVI the shape chosen is that of a chalice.

Blazon

The blazon (the written description, in terminology peculiar to heraldry, of the contents of the coat of arms) given on the Vatican website is as follows:

Gules, chape ployé Or, with the scallop shell Or; the dexter chape with a moor's head Proper, crowned and collared Gules, the sinister chape a bear trippant (*passant) Proper, carrying a pack Gules belted Sable.

This means, in non-technical English:

A red shield mantled in gold and with a gold scallop shell; the right (for the bearer of the shield, the left for the viewer) part of the mantle has the head of a moor in her natural colour (brown) wearing a red crown and red collar; the left part of the mantle has a walking bear in its natural colour (brown) carrying a red pack tied with black bands.

Note 1. A mantle outside the shield does not normally contain charges (an heraldic term for objects). Within the shield, as here, it is a religious symbol, and indicates ideals inspired in monastic spirituality.[citation needed] It is also a reference to the Order of Saint Benedict.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coat_of_arms_of_Pope_Benedict_XVI

Arturo

Other Origin(s):

British, Icelandic, Irish, Scottish

Meaning:

Bear; Bear king, bear man; Noble; Lofty hill; Rock; Follower of Thor

Arturo is a boy's name of Irish, Scottish, and British origins with all the makings of a legendary figure. Similar in Scottish, Arturo is said to derive from the Old Celtic word artos, meaning "bear." This meaning is also associated with Arthur, meaning "bear king" or "bear man." In other parts of the world, Arthur means "noble" and "lofty hill" in Irish, as well as "rock" in English. Dating back to Arturo's strong Celtic roots, one can uncover the Gaulish Bear Goddess, Artio. Associated with nature and rebirth, Artio was a deity revered by ancient Celtic tribes across Ireland and Switzerland. Across variations, cultures, and creeds, some may even find an Arturo link to the Icelandic Arthur, meaning “follower of Thor.”

https://www.thebump.com/b/arturo-baby-name 

Arturo Marcelino Sosa Abascal SJ (born 12 November 1948) is a Venezuelan Catholic priest who serves as the 31st and present superior general of the Society of Jesus. He was elected by the Society's 36th General Congregation on 14 October 2016, succeeding Adolfo Nicolás. He is the first person born in Latin America to lead the Jesuits.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arturo_Sosa

[605] B. 1The intention of the fourth vow pertaining to the pope was not for a particular place but for having the members dispersed throughout the various parts of the world. 2For those who first united to form the Society were from dif ferent provinces and realms and did not know into which regions they were to go, whether among the faithful or the unbelievers; 3and therefore, to avoid erring in the path of the Lord, they made the promise or vow in order that His Holiness might distribute them for the greater glory of God, in conformity with their inten tion to travel throughout the world 4and, when they could not find the desired spiritual fruit in one place, to pass on to another and another, ever seeking the greater glory of God our Lord and the greater aid of souls.

The Constitutions of the Society of Jesus and Their Complementary Norms

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The fourth star is that of Venus, Luciferus by name. Some say it is Juno's. In many tales it is recorded that it is called Hesperus, too. It seems to be the largest of all stars. Some have said it represents the son of Aurora and Cephalus, who surpassed many in beauty, so that he even vied with Venus, and, as Eratosthenes says, for this reason it is called the star of Venus. It is visible both at dawn and sunset, and so properly has been called both Luciferus and Hesperus.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucifer

https://www.facebook.com/billy.dunn.50767/posts/pfbid02ds9AC7uf23TTRtjfqjWWeEGkGtMJ2vfudtZvQBDvz4RVk2ZKeXuDAG7cHuNSh7Xgl

Brad Pope Lyon County Nevada Sheriff MOST Team sent their Mentally Ill psychologists to intimidate

May 8, 2024 (youtube.com)

BUT I LEARNED WITH HIM FOR AWHILE, LEARNED A LITTLE MORE IN MARYLAND, WENT TO CALIFORNIA and STUDIED SOME MORE. During this process I began to learn what most Witches don’t know, and that is that the gods they’ve been worshipping don’t exist, that they’re imitated by what we call “familiar spirits” or spirit guides, demons–witches don’t call them demons, they like to call them spirit guides–and that there is only one god and his name is Lucifer.

NOW THIS WAS A SHOCKING THING TO ME SINCE I WAS RAISED TO BELIEVE THAT THE DEVIL DIDN’T EXIST. You see witches aren’t Satanists, they don’t believe in Satan, and I was quickly explained to that Lucifer was a good god and not an evil god, and that Jesus was the imitator. So I learned, and I learned many things, both of Witchcraft, and I also learned why the Senators and Politicians were there!

THEY WERE THERE BECAUSE WE WERE THE RELIGION OF A POLITICAL ORGANIZATION CALLED THE ILLUMINATI, and I was told all about the Illuminati and its history. I was schooled in the things that it had done, and the things that it was going to do, and the things that I was going to do. And before I go on, I want to show you a few things that will help explain. (Charts:)

THIS THING YOU SEE UP HERE IS ON THE BACK OF YOUR ONE-DOLLAR BILL, and WHAT IT IS IS THE SEAL OF THE ILLUMINATI. America tells us it’s the reverse side of the Great Seal of the United States, the only problem is that the United States has never sealed one document with it, ever, and never intends to! It was in existence before the United States was in existence, and I invite you, if you know your Latin, to look at your one-dollar bills later, and down at the bottom you will see some Latin.

IT SAYS: “THIS NEW ORDER THAT BEGAN 1776”–THAT MEANS NOT THE 4th OF JULY, BUT MAY 1st, 1776, THE CREATION DAY OF THE ILLUMINATI. It consists of three pyramids in a sphinx, which I’ll go through very quickly. We’ve put a few blocks up here, but there are hundreds of blocks in each pyramid. This is the political organisation. This is the middle pyramid. This is some of the political and police organisations that they use, and we’ve put up ones that mainly concern the United States.

ON THE TOP OF EACH PYRAMID YOU WILL SEE A CAPSTONE WITH AN EYE IN IT. The capstone is the Rothschild Family or Tribunal that rules the Illuminati, they were the creators of it. The eye is Lucifer, their god and their voice. The first 3 top blocks are on every pyramid. (See above photo.)

THE TOP BLOCK IS WHAT I WAS INITIATED INTO, THE COUNCIL OF 13 CALLED THE GRAND DRUID COUNCIL. They only take orders from the Rothschilds and nobody else. They’re their private priesthood. The Council of 33 is directly under them, that is the 33 highest Masons in the World. The Council of 500, some of the richest people in the World–there are 500, actually, some of the richest people and conglomerates in the World–it’s their real power as I’ll show you in a minute.

I DON’T THINK YOU CAN SEE MUCH OF THE WRITING ON THIS, BUT THIS IS THE ORGANISATION OF WITCHCRAFT. The Golden Dawn is the 4th block up there, and it’s the Rothschild’s private coven. The Aquarian Arts Festival is the organization that ties all of the Occult Brotherhoods together in St. Paul, The Witches Church of America I was a member of. The Church of All Worlds is located in St. Louis. These are denominations like Northern Baptist, Southern Baptists, Independent Baptists, etc.

THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF CHURCHES, THE SATANIC BROTHERHOOD OF AMERICA, SCIENTOLOGY, UNITY, is the main platform for Witches to be speakers at towards what they consider to be Christian people. The Church of Wicca is another denomination; it’s in Greenfield, North Carolina.

THE AQUARIAN ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE IS AN ORGANIZATION THAT WAS FORMED BY ONE OF THE GRAND DRUIDS, ISAAC BONOVITZ, and the American Civil Liberties Union. Its purpose is to pass laws and to sue Christian churches in Federal court for defaming Witches and the Occult, and they have been winning millions of dollars in the Federal courts.

THE GARNARIAN BROTHERHOOD IS THE TRADITIONAL WITCHCRAFT IN ENGLAND. The Order of the Rose Cross–another word for it is Rosicrucians–they are a sacrifice order. And the Holy Order of the Garter is another traditional English Witchcraft group. (Points:)

THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT SYMBOL: THIS IS THE POWER OF THE ILLUMINATI. Without the Sphinx the mystery of the Illuminati would have no power. This is where all of its power comes from. You will notice the head of it is the Rothschild Family and the Council of 500. Under that, the Rockefellers, Duponts, Kennedys, Onasises and other families. Queen Juliana is also on the Council of 500.

OVER IN THE CENTER IS ITS HEART, THE BANK OF ENGLAND, THE BANK OF FRANCE, THE FEDERAL RESERVE ACT. Most people feel the Federal Reserve Act is a government organization. It is not! It has nothing to do with the Government of the United States; it is a stockholder company owned by individuals. Much of the stock is owned by non-Americans.

MANY BANKS and FAMOUS CORPORATIONS ARE OWNED OR CONTROLLED BY THE ILLUMINATI. We tell Christians across the U.S. that housewives and husbands cannot shop any day or any week without buying from a company that the Illuminati owns, it is impossible.

PHILLIP ROTHSCHILD ORDERED ONE OF HIS MISTRESSES TO WRITE AN 1100-PAGE BOOK that would describe to all witches how they would take control of the World through the Illuminati: It’s called Atlas Shrugged. (By Ayn Rand) One of the things in it is happening on the front pages of the newspapers across the United States right now. In fact she spent a third of the book describing how they would raise the oil prices and then later destroy the oil fields and then they would also completely shut down the coal.

IT ALSO DESCRIBED HOW THEY WOULD BLOW UP GRAIN MILLS, how they would derail trains. Their sole purpose is to bankrupt their own companies and destroy their own companies until they destroyed the currency of the whole World, and still be so financially strong they would withstand it!

NOW TO GO BACK TO MY OWN TESTIMONY WHILE EVERYBODY GETS A BREATH! I know you thought you were going to hear a lot about spell-casting or spooky ghosts, but I surprised you, I’ve got something more spooky to tell you! Anyway, as I learned all this, I was taken up to Colorado Springs, outside of NORAD Center about a mile in the same location, and placed through an initiation for the Council of 13, and then I moved to San Antonio where I lived until I was saved and ruled a 13-state area that I had from there.

John Todd, the Illuminati and Witchcraft

https://www.jamesjpn.net/conspiracy/john-todd-the-illuminati-and-witchcraft/ 

Thirteenth Rule. To be right in everything, we ought always to hold that the white which I see, is black, if the Hierarchical Church so decides it, believing that between Christ our Lord, the Bridegroom, and the Church, His Bride, there is the same Spirit which governs and directs us for the salvation of our souls. Because by the same Spirit and our Lord Who gave the ten Commandments, our holy Mother the Church is directed and governed."

The Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YC_luOfFWl0Bm0BWkbANKZGC1kkmdHQf/view?usp=sharing

[529] C. 1The entire purport of this fourth vow of obedience to the pope was and is with regard to missions; 2and this is how the bulls should be understood where they speak of this obedience in all that the sovereign pontiff may command and wherever he may send one, and so on."

The Constitutions of The Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms

https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf  

Historical Institute of the Society of Jesus: a Roman work of the entire Society, 304 §2

The Constitutions of The Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms

https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf 

https://www.facebook.com/billy.dunn.50767/posts/pfbid0up9n1wQujvwrGv5KT75PCZw7JW65ihcors9Ri4Fx5taAK9mtNeAkXiPWuiwLzTRxl

As the Latin name for the morning appearances of the planet Venus, it corresponds to the Greek names Phosphorus Φωσφόρος, "light-bringer", and Eosphorus Ἑωσφόρος, "dawn-bringer". The entity's Latin name was subsequently absorbed into Christianity as a name for the devil. Modern scholarship generally translates the term in the relevant Bible passage (Isaiah 14:12), where the Greek Septuagint reads ὁ ἑωσφόρος ὁ πρωὶ, as "morning star" or "shining one" rather than as a proper noun, Lucifer, as found in the Latin Vulgate. The word "Lucifer" appears in The Second Epistle of Peter (2 Peter 1:19) in the Latin Vulgate to refer to Jesus. The word "Lucifer" is also used in the Latin version of Exsultet, the Easter proclamation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucifer

The Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World; French: La Liberté éclairant le monde) is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, within New York City. The copper statue, a gift to the U.S. from the people of France, was designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and its metal framework was built by Gustave Eiffel. The statue was dedicated on October 28, 1886.

The statue is a figure of Libertas, the Roman goddess of liberty. She holds a torch above her head with her right hand, and in her left hand carries a tabula ansata inscribed JULY IV MDCCLXXVI (July 4, 1776, in Roman numerals), the date of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. A broken chain and shackle lie at her feet as she walks forward, commemorating the national abolition of slavery following the American Civil War.[8] After its dedication the statue became an icon of freedom and of the United States, being subsequently seen as a symbol of welcome to immigrants arriving by sea.

The idea for the statue was born in 1865, when the French historian and abolitionist Édouard de Laboulaye proposed a monument to commemorate the upcoming centennial of U.S. independence (1876), the perseverance of American democracy and the liberation of the nation's slaves.[9] The Franco-Prussian War delayed progress until 1875, when Laboulaye proposed that the people of France finance the statue and the United States provide the site and build the pedestal. Bartholdi completed the head and the torch-bearing arm before the statue was fully designed, and these pieces were exhibited for publicity at international expositions.

The torch-bearing arm was displayed at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, and in Madison Square Park in Manhattan from 1876 to 1882. Fundraising proved difficult, especially for the Americans, and by 1885 work on the pedestal was threatened by lack of funds. Publisher Joseph Pulitzer, of the New York World, started a drive for donations to finish the project and attracted more than 120,000 contributors, most of whom gave less than a dollar (equivalent to $34 in 2023). The statue was built in France, shipped overseas in crates, and assembled on the completed pedestal on what was then called Bedloe's Island. The statue's completion was marked by New York's first ticker-tape parade and a dedication ceremony presided over by President Grover Cleveland.

The statue was administered by the United States Lighthouse Board until 1901 and then by the Department of War; since 1933, it has been maintained by the National Park Service as part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument, and is a major tourist attraction. Limited numbers of visitors can access the rim of the pedestal and the interior of the statue's crown from within; public access to the torch has been barred since 1916.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_of_Liberty

https://www.facebook.com/billy.dunn.50767/posts/pfbid02b4xvAPmSEE2QYBuooXix35ii12ddLshCvHc8JCTbsX4grzwdXHWJjUyWQKK5QGXzl

Phillip Rothschild ordered one of his mistresses to write an 1100-page book that would describe to all witches how they would take control of the World through the Illuminati: It’s called Atlas Shrugged. (By Ayn Rand) One of the things in it is happening on the front pages of the newspapers across the United States right now. In fact she spent a third of the book describing how they would raise the oil prices and then later destroy the oil fields & then they would also completely shut down the coal.

IT ALSO DESCRIBED HOW THEY WOULD BLOW UP GRAIN MILLS, how they would derail trains. Their sole purpose is to bankrupt their own companies and destroy their own companies until they destroyed the currency of the whole World, and still be so financially strong they would withstand it!

John Todd, the Illuminati and Witchcraft

https://www.jamesjpn.net/conspiracy/john-todd-the-illuminati-and-witchcraft/

The Roseville Yard Explosion | A Short Documentary | Fascinating Horror

Apr 2, 2024

"On the 28th of April, 1973, fire chief Lloyd Patterson made his way to the small town of Antelope in California..."

The Roseville Yard Explosion | A Short Documentary | Fascinating Horror - YouTube

https://www.facebook.com/billy.dunn.50767/posts/pfbid02ds9AC7uf23TTRtjfqjWWeEGkGtMJ2vfudtZvQBDvz4RVk2ZKeXuDAG7cHuNSh7Xgl

You have been taught to plant insidiously the seeds of jealousy and hatred between communities, provinces, states that were at peace, and to incite them to deeds of blood, involving them in war with each other, and to create revolutions and civil wars in countries that were independent and prosperous, cultivating the arts and the sciences and enjoying the blessings of peace; to take sides with the combatants and to act secretly with your brother Jesuit, who might be engaged on the other side, but openly opposed to that with which you might be connected, only that the Church might be the gainer in the end, in the conditions fixed in the treaties for peace and that the end justifies the means.

You have been taught your duty as a spy, to gather all statistics, facts and information in your power from every source; to ingratiate yourself into the confidence of the family circle of Protestants and heretics of every class and character, as well as that of the merchant, the banker, the lawyer, among the schools and universities, in parliaments and legislatures, and the judiciaries and councils of state, and to be all things to all men, for the Pope’s sake, whose servants we are unto death. You have received all your instructions heretofore as a novice, a neophyte, and have served as co-adjurer, confessor and priest, but you have not yet been invested with all that is necessary to command in the Army of Loyola in the service of the Pope. You must serve the proper time as the instrument and executioner as directed by your superiors; for none can command here who has not consecrated his labours with the blood of the heretic; for “without the shedding of blood no man can be saved”. 

https://www.jamesjpn.net/religion/the-jesuit-oath 

2 §1. The character and charism of the Society of Jesus arise from the Spiritual Exercises which our holy father Ignatius and his companions went through. Led by this experience, they formed an apostolic group rooted in charity, in which, after they had taken the vows of chastity and poverty and had been raised to the priesthood, they offered themselves as a holocaust to God,[2] so that serving as soldiers of God beneath the banner of the cross and serving the Lord alone and the Church his spouse under the Roman Pontiff, the vicar of Christ on earth,[3] they would be sent into the entire world[4] for the defense and propagation of the faith and for the progress of souls in Christian life and doctrine. [5]

The Constitutions of The Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms

https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf

6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

Revelation 17:6

Man Points Gun at Pastor During Church Service

Inside Edition

May 6, 2024

Shocking video shows a man pointing a gun and pulling the trigger inside a Pennsylvania church. By some miracle, it jams as the pastor dives for cover. The assailant was tackled to the floor before he could fire the gun again. The suspect was identified as Bernard Polite. Rev. Glenn Germany of the Jesus’ Dwelling Place Church says he couldn't believe he was staring down the barrel of a gun. Inside Edition’s Steven Fabian has more.

Man Points Gun at Pastor During Church Service (youtube.com)

https://www.facebook.com/billy.dunn.50767/posts/pfbid022dbs9oJqNEou5S5biWxQ7dCqatL8TeT5XidF3z3WgzWzpjHp2PpfqKPmHffemYPjl 

Anglican (adj.)

1630s, "high-church, of the Church of England," from Medieval Latin Anglicanus, from Anglicus "of the English people, of England," from Angli "the Angles" (see Angle). The noun meaning "adherent of the Church of England" is by 1797. Related: Anglicanism.

also from 1630s

angle (v.1)

"to fish with a hook," mid-15c., from Old English angel (n.) "angle, hook, fish-hook," related to anga "hook," from Proto-Germanic *angul-, from PIE *ankulo-, suffixed form of root *ang-/*ank- "to bend" (see angle (n.)). Compare Old English angul, Old Norse öngull, Old High German angul, German Angel "fishhook." The figurative sense "catch or elicit by artful wiles" is recorded from 1580s. Related: Angled; angling.

https://www.etymonline.com/word/Anglican 

Kurt Steven Angle (born December 9, 1968) is an American retired professional wrestler and collegiate wrestler. He became a gold medalist in freestyle wrestling at the 1996 Olympic Games. He is currently signed to WWE, on a Legends contract. He is also known for his tenure in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).

While at Clarion University of Pennsylvania, Angle won numerous accolades, including being a two-time NCAA Division I wrestling champion in the heavyweight division. After graduating from college, Angle won a gold medal in freestyle wrestling at the 1995 World Wrestling Championships. He then won a freestyle wrestling gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics, despite competing with a broken neck. He is one of four people to win the Junior Nationals, NCAA, World Championships, and the Olympics (known as the amateur grand slam).[4] In 2006, he was named by USA Wrestling as the greatest shoot wrestler of all time and as one of USA Wrestling's top 15 college wrestlers of all time.[5] In 2016, he was inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame.[6][4]

Angle made his first appearance at a professional wrestling event in 1996, and signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, later renamed WWE) in 1998. Noted for his rapid comprehension of the business, he had his debut match that August within the company's developmental system after just days of training, and participated in his first WWF match in March 1999. After months of dark matches, Angle made his televised in-ring debut in November 1999 and received his first major push in February 2000, when he held the European and Intercontinental Championships simultaneously. Four months later, he won the 2000 King of the Ring tournament and soon thereafter began pursuing the WWF Championship, which he won in October. Among other accomplishments, Angle has held the WWE Championship four times, the WCW Championship, and the World Heavyweight Championship. He is the tenth Triple Crown champion and the fifth winner of the Grand Slam. In 2017, Angle was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

After leaving the WWE in 2006, Angle joined TNA where he became the inaugural, and record six-time, TNA World Heavyweight champion, and the second TNA Triple Crown winner, holding all three championships simultaneously. Angle is also a two-time King of the Mountain. During his tenure with TNA, Angle competed for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and the Inoki Genome Federation (IGF), winning the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. In 2013, Angle was inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame. He is the second wrestler, after Sting, to be inducted into both the WWE and TNA halls of fame.

Angle has won over 21 professional wrestling championships and is an overall 13-time world champion. He is the only wrestler to have won the WWE Championship, WWE's World Heavyweight Championship, the WCW Championship, the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, and an NCAA wrestling championship. Angle is also the only person to have been King of the Ring (WWE) and King of the Mountain (TNA), as well as being the first to have held both the WWE and TNA Triple Crowns. He has headlined numerous pay-per-view events, including WrestleMania XIX and Bound for Glory on three occasions, the flagship events of their respective companies. In 2004, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter inducted Angle into its Hall of Fame and later named him "Wrestler of the Decade" for the 2000s.[7] He is considered one of the biggest stars of the Attitude Era[8] and one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time.[9][10] Former opponent and industry veteran John Cena said of Angle's legacy within WWE: "He is, without question, the most gifted all-around performer we have ever had step into a ring. There will never be another like him."[11]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Angle 

Kurt is a male given name of Germanic or Turkish origin. Kurt or Curt originated as short forms of the Germanic Conrad, depending on geographical usage, with meanings including counselor or advisor. In Turkish, Kurt means "Wolf" and is a surname and given name in numerous Turkic countries.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt 

Kurt Angle Recalls Training At Foxcatcher, Called Dave Schultz The Day He Was Killed

November 15, 2023 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas

Kurt Angle was being coached by Dave Schultz during the time where Schultz was murdered by John du Pont, and he recalled the situation in a recent interview. Du Pont’s murder of Schultz at Foxcatcher Farm in Pennsylvania shocked the nation, and Angle spoke about training at the facility on the True Geordie podcast.

“What’s crazy is I would train at Foxcatcher probably seven months a year,” Angle said (per Wrestling Inc). “Because it was in Pennsylvania. It was right down the road from me, three or four-hour drive, so I would go there, and I would bounce back and forth from my hometown to Philadelphia, PA, where Foxcatcher was.”

He continued, “I called Dave [Schultz] the day that he got killed. I called him right around the time he got shot. I left him a message on his answering machine, and I told him that I’m coming out the next day to train with him. I go to practice that night after I made that call. I went to practice in Pittsburgh down at Duquesne University; it’s a college in the city of Pittsburgh, and I wrestled, I trained, and afterward, I looked up at the TV and I see on CNN, ‘Dave Schultz shot and murdered.'”

Du Pont suffered from mental health problems and murdered Schultz, who he was employing at the wrestling facility, on January 26th, 1996. The story of du Pont and Schultz was dramatized in the 2008 film Foxcatcher starring Steve Carell, Channing Tatum, and Mark Ruffalo. 

https://411mania.com/wrestling/kurt-angle-train-foxcatcher-dave-schultz/

https://www.facebook.com/billy.dunn.50767/posts/pfbid088iRBDYTVVrWoC6VZAYaLLztFwrTdXEffZSdYj2BJd7uuFbxNNaAGqNr987aXdFwl 

Fleury Abbey in Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire, Loiret was founded in about 640.[12] It is one of the most celebrated Benedictine monasteries of Western Europe, and possesses the relics of St. Benedict. Like many Benedictine abbeys it was located on the banks of a river, here the Loire.[13] Ainey Abbey is a ninth century foundation on the Lyon peninsula. In the twelfth century on the current site there was a romanesque monastery, subsequently rebuilt.

The seventeenth century saw a number of Benedictine foundations for women, some dedicated to the indigent to save them from a life of exploitation, others dedicated to the Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament such as the one established by Catherine de Bar (1614–1698).[14] In 1688 Dame Mechtilde de Bar assisted Marie Casimire Louise de La Grange d'Arquien, queen consort of Poland, to establish a Benedictine foundation in Warsaw.[15]

Abbeys were among the institutions of the Catholic Church swept away during the French Revolution. Monasteries and convents were again allowed to form in the 19th century under the Bourbon Restoration. Later that century, under the Third French Republic, laws were enacted preventing religious teaching. The original intent was to allow secular schools. Thus in 1880 and 1882, Benedictine teaching monks were effectively exiled; this was not completed until 1901.[16][17][18][19]

In 1898 Marie-Adèle Garnier, in religion, Mother Marie de Saint-Pierre, founded in Montmartre (Mount of the Martyr), Paris a Benedictine house. [20] However, the Waldeck-Rousseau's Law of Associations, passed in 1901, placed severe restrictions on religious bodies which were obliged to leave France. Garnier and her community relocated to another place associated with executions, this time it was in London, near the site of Tyburn tree where 105 Catholic martyrs—including Saint Oliver Plunkett and Saint Edmund Campion had been executed during the English Reformation. A stone's throw from Marble Arch, the Tyburn Convent is now the Mother House of the Congregation.[21]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedictines 

Christopher Michael Benoit (/bəˈnwɑː/ bə-NWAH; May 21, 1967 – June 24, 2007) was a Canadian professional wrestler. He worked for various pro-wrestling promotions during his 22-year career, including most notably the World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment (WWF/WWE), World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in the United States of America, New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in Japan, and Stampede Wrestling in his native Canada.

In a three-day double-murder and suicide, Benoit murdered his wife in their residence on June 22, 2007, killed his 7-year-old son on June 23, and committed suicide on June 24.[7][8] Subsequent research undertaken by the Sports Legacy Institute (now the Concussion Legacy Foundation) suggested that depression and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a condition of brain damage, from concussions that Benoit had sustained during his pro-wrestling career were likely contributing factors of the crimes.[9]

Bearing the nicknames The (Canadian) Crippler alongside The Rabid Wolverine throughout his career, Benoit held 30 championships between WWF/WWE, WCW, NJPW, ECW and Stampede. He was a two-time world champion, Benoit having reigned as a one-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion and a one-time World Heavyweight Champion in WWE;[10][11] he was booked to win a third world championship at a WWE event on the night of his death.[12] Benoit was the twelfth WWE Triple Crown Champion and the seventh WCW Triple Crown Champion, and the second of four men in history to achieve both the WWE and the WCW Triple Crown Championships. He was also the 2004 Royal Rumble winner, joining Shawn Michaels and preceding Edge as one of the three men to win a Royal Rumble as the number one entrant.[13] Benoit headlined multiple pay-per-views for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) including a victory in the World Heavyweight Championship main event match of WrestleMania XX in March 2004.[14]

Due to his murders, Benoit's legacy in the professional wrestling industry is heavily debated.[15][16] Benoit has been renowned by many for his exceptional technical wrestling ability. Prominent combat sports journalist Dave Meltzer considers Benoit "one of the top 10, maybe even [in] the top five, all-time greats" in professional wrestling history.[17] Benoit was inducted into the Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1995 and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 2003.[18] His WON induction was put to a re-vote for WON readers in 2008 to determine if Benoit should remain a member of the WON Hall of Fame. Ultimately, the threshold percentage of votes required to remove Benoit from it was not met.[19]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Benoit 

The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (Latin: Ordo Sancti Benedicti, abbreviated as OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic religious order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. The male religious are also sometimes called the Black Monks, in reference to the colour of their religious habits, in contrast to other Benedictine orders such as the Olivetans, who wear white.[1] They were founded in 529 by Benedict of Nursia, a 6th-century Italian monk who laid the foundations of Benedictine monasticism through the formulation of his Rule. Benedict's sister, Scholastica, possibly his twin, also became a religious from an early age, but chose to live as a hermit. They retained a close relationship until her death.[2]

Despite being called an order, the Benedictines do not operate under a single hierarchy but are instead organized as a collection of autonomous monasteries and convents, some known as abbeys. The order is represented internationally by the Benedictine Confederation, an organization set up in 1893 to represent the order's shared interests. They do not have a superior general or motherhouse with universal jurisdiction but elect an Abbot Primate to represent themselves to the Vatican and to the world.

Benedictine nuns are given the title Dame in preference to Sister.[3]

Historical development

The monastery at Subiaco in Italy, established by Benedict of Nursia c. 529, was the first of the dozen monasteries he founded. He later founded the Abbey of Monte Cassino. There is no evidence, however, that he intended to found an order and the Rule of Saint Benedict presupposes the autonomy of each community. When Monte Cassino was sacked by the Lombards about the year 580, the monks fled to Rome, and it seems probable that this constituted an important factor in the diffusion of a knowledge of Benedictine monasticism.[4]

Copies of Benedict's Rule survived; around 594 Pope Gregory I spoke favorably of it. The rule is subsequently found in some monasteries in southern Gaul along with other rules used by abbots.[5] Gregory of Tours says that at Ainay Abbey, in the sixth century, the monks "followed the rules of Basil, Cassian, Caesarius, and other fathers, taking and using whatever seemed proper to the conditions of time and place", and doubtless the same liberty was taken with the Benedictine Rule when it reached them. In Gaul and Switzerland, it gradually supplemented the much stricter Irish or Celtic Rule introduced by Columbanus and others. In many monasteries it eventually entirely displaced the earlier codes.[4]

Abbey of Monte Cassino

By the ninth century, however, the Benedictine had become the standard form of monastic life throughout the whole of Western Europe, excepting Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, where the Celtic observance still prevailed for another century or two.[4] Largely through the work of Benedict of Aniane, it became the rule of choice for monasteries throughout the Carolingian empire.[6]

Monastic scriptoria flourished from the ninth through the twelfth centuries. Sacred Scripture was always at the heart of every monastic scriptorium. As a general rule those of the monks who possessed skill as writers made this their chief, if not their sole active work. An anonymous writer of the ninth or tenth century speaks of six hours a day as the usual task of a scribe, which would absorb almost all the time available for active work in the day of a medieval monk.[7]

In the Middle Ages monasteries were often founded by the nobility. Cluny Abbey was founded by William I, Duke of Aquitaine in 910. The abbey was noted for its strict adherence to the Rule of Saint Benedict. The abbot of Cluny was the superior of all the daughter houses, through appointed priors.[6]

One of the earliest reforms of Benedictine practice was that initiated in 980 by Romuald, who founded the Camaldolese community.[8] The Cistercians branched off from the Benedictines in 1098; they are often called the "White monks".[9]

The dominance of the Benedictine monastic way of life began to decline towards the end of the twelfth century, which saw the rise of the mendicant Franciscans and nomadic Dominicans.[6] Benedictines by contrast, took a vow of "stability", which professed loyalty to a particular foundation in a particular location. Not being bound by location, the mendicants were better able to respond to an increasingly "urban" environment. This decline was further exacerbated by the practice of appointing a commendatory abbot, a lay person, appointed by a noble to oversee and to protect the assets of the monastery. Often, however, this resulted in the appropriation of the assets of monasteries at the expense of the community which they were intended to support.[10] 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedictines

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Shamash (Akkadian: šamaš[a]) was the ancient Mesopotamian sun god, earlier known as Utu (Sumerian: dUTU 𒀭𒌓 "Sun"[2]). He was believed to see everything that happened in the world every day, and was therefore responsible for justice and protection of travelers. As a divine judge, he could be associated with the underworld. Additionally, he could serve as the god of divination, typically alongside the weather god Adad. While he was universally regarded as one of the primary gods, he was particularly venerated in Sippar and Larsa.The moon god Nanna (Sin) and his wife Ningal were regarded as his parents, while his twin sister was Inanna (Ishtar). Occasionally other goddesses, such as Manzat and Pinikir, could be regarded as his sisters too. The dawn goddess Aya (Sherida) was his wife, and multiple texts describe their daily reunions taking place on a mountain where the sun was believed to set. Among their children were Kittum, the personification of truth, dream deities such as Mamu, as well as the god Ishum. Utu's name could be used to write the names of many foreign solar deities logographically. The connection between him and the Hurrian solar god Shimige is particularly well attested, and the latter could be associated with Aya as well.

While no myths focusing on Utu are known, he often appears as an ally of other figures in both Sumerian and Akkadian compositions. According to narratives about Dumuzi's death, he helped protect him when the galla demons tried to drag him to the underworld. In various versions of the Epic of Gilgamesh and in earlier Gilgamesh myths, he helps this hero defeat the monstrous Humbaba. In the myth Inanna and An, he helps his sister acquire the temple Eanna. In How Grain Came to Sumer, he is invoked to advise Ninazu and Ninmada. 

Name

The two most common names of the sun god used in Mesopotamian texts are Sumerian Utu and Akkadian Shamash.[3] A further relatively commonly attested name is Amna, whose origin is uncertain.[4]

The name Shamash is a cognate of Akkadian terms šamšu ("sun")[5] and šamšatu ("solar disc"), as well as the words referring to sun in other Semitic languages,[2] such as Arabic šams and Hebrew šemeš.[6] The linguistic connection between the name of the god and the corresponding celestial body has been compared to that between Adad (and Syrian Hadad) and the word addu, "storm."[5] The Amorite form of the name is Samsu, as attested for example in the theophoric name Samsu-iluna ("Samsu is our god").[7] The ancient Aramaic form of the name was most likely Śameš, though many variant syllabic spellings are attested.[7] Additionally, the name for the sun in Mandaean cosmology, Shamish (Mandaic language:ࡔࡀࡌࡉࡔ), is derived from Akkadian Shamash.[8]

Utu was understood as a masculine deity.[3] According to Manfred Krebernik, this most likely also resulted in his Akkadian counterpart being viewed as such, even though in the majority of Semitic languages both the word referring to the sun itself and names of solar deities are grammatically feminine.[3] Julia M. Asher-Greve considers this the oldest attested example of a Mesopotamian deity's gender being impacted by syncretism.[9] However, not all researchers agree with the assumption that the name Shamash was ever understood as referring to a female deity in Akkadian-speaking areas.[10] Christopher Woods argues that the only available evidence are early ambiguous theophoric names, which according to him do not necessarily point at the existence of female Shamash, and might omit prepositions necessary to identify the gender of the deity invoked in them.[10] Manfred Krebernik notes that a well known example of a female deity in what he deems the "cuneiform cultural sphere" is Shapash.[3] At the same time, both the Amorites and the Arameans viewed the solar deity as male, like Sumerians and Akkadians.[7]

According to Manfred Krebernik, the name Amna, attested as a synonym of Utu in the god list An = Anum and used to refer to the sun god in an inscription of Nabonidus, might be either connected to the toponym Sippar-Amnanum or to a root attested in Northwest Semitic languages, '-m-n, which can be translated as "to be reliable" or "to be firm."[4]

The most common writing of the sun god's name was the logogram dUTU, which could be read as Utu, Shamash, or, as attested in the god list An = Anum, as Amna.[4] Syllabic spellings of all three of these names are also known.[4] A further logographic spelling used the numeral 20, which was associated with him.[4] Dozens of other variant names, epithets or possibly minor deities who came to be seen as synonymous with Utu are attested in god lists.[11] Examples include Karkara (possibly related to Ninkar, one of the names of his wife Aya), Nimindu (possibly related to the name of the goddess Nimintabba), Si'e ("who shines forth"), Ṣalam (possibly a name referring to a winged sun symbol) and U'e ("sunrise").[12] 

Character

The sun god was one of the principal deities of the Mesopotamian pantheon.[13] In the Early Dynastic god list from Fara, he is the sixth among the deities listed, after Anu, Enlil, Inanna, Enki and Nanna.[14] In later god lists, for example in An = Anum, he and his circle appears between Nanna (Sin) and Ishkur (Adad).[14] The Old Babylonian Nippur god list instead places him between Ishkur and Ninurta.[14] Despite Utu's typical high status, it is agreed that the role of the sun and deities representing it in Mesopotamian religion was not comparable to that known from ancient Egyptian religion.[3] Based on the attestations of theophoric names such as Shamash-bel-ili (Akkadian: "Shamash is the lord of the gods"), Shamash-Enlil-ili ("Shamash is the Enlil of the gods") and Shamash-ashared-ili ("Shamash is the foremost of the gods"), Wilfred G. Lambert proposed that a tradition in which he was the supreme god of the pantheon did exist, but never found official support and its spread was limited to the clergy in Sippar and to a smaller degree Larsa.[15]

Common epithets characterize Utu as a "youth" (Sumerian šul, Akkadian eṭlu) and "hero" (Sumerian ursaĝ, Akkadian qarrādu).[16] As a representation of the sun, he was believed to travel every day through the sky from east to west, and at night in the opposite direction through AN.ŠAG4, a "nether sky" located directly above the underworld,[17] though the notion of a night journey only developed later, and in sources from the third millennium BCE Utu usually rests at night.[18] A reference to the latter tradition is also known from the "Standard Babylonian" version of the Epic of Gilgamesh, where Shamash meets with his wife Aya after sunset.[19] Utu's vehicle was a solar chariot,[20] which was pulled by four animals bearing the Sumerian names Uhegalanna ("the abundant light of heaven"), Uhushgalanna ("the terrifying great light of heaven"), Usurmurgalanna ("the dreadful great light of heaven") and Unirgalanna ("the noble light of heaven").[21] Their species is not entirely consistent, though in most cases the sun chariot is apparently associated with equids: "choice steeds" (niskum) in an inscription of Gudea, horses in various prayers and incantations, and mules in the Epic of Gilgamesh.[22] Manfred Krebernik argues that in early sources, his chariot was drawn by lions,[16] but this has been questioned by Marco Bonechi.[23] Nathan Wasserman in his translation of a fragment of a hymn to Utu mentioning the animals only refers to them as "beasts."[24] Sunrise and sunset were described as the sun god passing through cosmic gates situated on twin mountains on the opposite ends of the world.[25] It was believed that his daily journey let him see everything happening on earth.[26] He was also responsible for protection of travelers.[27] Formulas common in both prayers and literary compositions indicate that he was likely often invoked outside temples, presumably as an astral body.[28] Early morning was likely regarded as the most appropriate time for imploring him for help.[29]

Utu was also the primary god of justice,[30] presumably because due to traveling through the sky every day he was believed to see everything that happened in the world.[26] He could be assisted in this role by his father Nanna, his sister Inanna, and various minor judge deities.[31] At least in the third millennium BCE, Ishtaran was regarded as a divine judge equal in rank to Utu,[32] and a fragment of a myth from Ebla mentions a divine tribunal in which they both partake alongside Idlurugu (dÍD),[33] a river god also known for his association with justice and judgment who represented ordeal by water.[32] A hymn to Utu states that Idlurugu cannot give judgment without his presence.[34] As an extension of his role as a divine judge, Utu could be associated with the underworld,[35][36] though this connection is not attested before the Old Babylonian period.[37] In exorcisms, he could be implored to help with bringing restless ghosts to the land of the dead.[38] In this capacity he could be associated with the deified legendary king Gilgamesh, commonly portrayed in a similar role.[39]

Shamash and Adad were jointly regarded as gods of divination, especially extispicy.[40] The connection between the sun god and the weather god is well attested in Mesopotamian sources[40] and goes back to the Old Babylonian period.[41] Its origin is uncertain, but since in the earliest Sumerian sources Ishkur, who was analogous to Adad, was not associated with divination, it is possible that it was based on the association between Hadad and the solar deity in Ebla and possibly elsewhere in Syria and Upper Mesopotamia.[41] According to a late ritual text, Shamash and Adad were responsible for teaching divination to the mythical king Enmeduranki.[42] Subsequently, he taught it to the people of Sippar, Nippur and Babylon.[42] 

Iconography

Whether referred to as Utu or Shamash, the sun god had identical iconography.[43] Due to distinct attributes, he is considered one of the few Mesopotamian deities who can be identified in art with certainty.[44] Depictions of him are known from many sites, for example Eshnunna, Tell al-Rimah, Sippar, Ur and Susa.[45] His best attested attributes are a large saw (šaššaru)[46] and rays of light[43] emanating from his shoulders.[47] The reasons behind associating him with the former are poorly understood, and various interpretations have been proposed, for example that it was a representation of the first ray of sunshine of the day, that it was associated with judgment,[48] perhaps as a weapon used to behead criminals, or that the sun god used it to break through the mountains during his daily journey.[49] Christopher Woods points out that both in Sumerian and Akkadian, judgments had to be "cut" (kud/parāsum), and therefore considers the association with judgment to be most likely.[49] The saw's presence is often used to identify depictions of gods as Utu.[50] He could also be depicted holding the rod-and-ring symbol, commonly associated with major deities.[50] In some cases he is shown handing them to human rulers.[51]

Utu was commonly depicted on cylinder seals as early as in the third millennium BCE.[52] Multiple motifs recur on them, some not known from textual sources.[45] On seals from the Sargonic period, he could be depicted climbing over two mountains,[53] which has been interpreted as a representation of sunrise.[45] He was also commonly depicted traveling in a boat.[54] This motif is the single best attested type of cylinder seal image from the third millennium BCE, with over fifty examples presently known.[54] Another recurring image is a depiction of Utu, sometimes accompanied by another god, partaking in a battle between deities.[45] The attendant deity is sometimes interpreted as Bunene.[55] In some cases Inanna is shown watching the battle or partaking in it on Utu's side.[55] It has been suggested that it is a symbolic representation of a conflict between day and night,[45] or that the deities confronted by Utu and his allies are rebellious mountain gods.[55] Wilfred G. Lambert suggested that in some cases figures from battle scenes with rays emanating from their shoulders might be representations of Enmesharra rather than the sun god, as in a tradition known from a late myth, Enmesharra's Defeat, he was their original owner.[56]

In the second millennium BCE, Utu was typically portrayed in front of worshipers, either standing or seated on a throne.[50] One well known example of such an image is a stele of Hammurabi of Babylon, inscribed with his legal code.[50]

Anna Kurmangaliev points out that only a single depiction of the sun god in anthropomorphic form has been identified among works of art from Babylonia from the first millennium BCE, the so-called Sun God Tablet.[50] It is commonly discussed in scholarship, and has been described as "one of the masterpieces of ancient Near Eastern art."[57] It was discovered by Hormuzd Rassam in December 1880 during his excavations in Abu Habbah in modern Iraq.[58] Its discovery subsequently made it possible to identify this site with Sippar.[59] It dates to the Neo-Babylonian period,[60] but its style has been described as "archaizing,"[61] and most likely was inspired by motifs found in presentation scenes from the Ur III period.[62] It shows three individuals, an intercessory minor goddess (lamma) and two men, possibly the king Nabu-apla-iddina and the priest Nabu-nadin-shumi, facing Shamash.[62] While other anthropomorphic depictions of the sun god are known from Assyria from the same period, in Babylonia he came to be usually portrayed in the form of a symbol instead.[50]

The symbolic representation of Utu was the sun disc,[50] typically represented as a four-pointed star with wavy lines placed between the points.[63] It is attested as early as in the Sargonic period, and continued to be represented in art through the rest of history of ancient Mesopotamia.[50] It is well known from kudurru (boundary stones), where it is typically depicted in the first row of symbols, next to the eight-pointed star representing Inanna (Ishtar) and the crescent representing Nanna (Sin).[64] Additionally the symbol of a winged sun came to be associated with the sun god in Assyria in the first millennium BCE.[65] Some depictions of it add a bird tail as well.[48] It only arrived in Babylonia during the reign of Nabonidus.[48] 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamash

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Pedro Arrupe Gondra, SJ (14 November 1907 – 5 February 1991) was a Spanish Basque priest who served as the 28th Superior General of the Society of Jesus from 1965 to 1983.[3] He has been called a second founder of the Society, as he led the Jesuits in the implementation of the Second Vatican Council, especially with regard to faith that does justice and preferential option for the poor.[4][3]

Stationed as novice master outside Hiroshima in 1945, Arrupe used his medical background as a first responder to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.[5]

In 1983, a paralysis from a stroke caused him to resign from office. He lived on until 1991, when he died in the local Jesuit infirmary.[5] His cause for sainthood was opened by the Jesuits and the Diocese of Rome in 2018. 

Later life

On 7 August 1981, after a long and tiring trip throughout the Far East, Arrupe suffered a stroke just after his plane landed at Rome's Fiumicino Airport. He was paralysed on his right side and was able to speak only a few words. This ability gradually deteriorated until he was completely mute. From that time on he lived in the infirmary at the Jesuit headquarters in Rome. He then became the first-ever Jesuit superior general to resign. Pope John Paul II appointed Paolo Dezza as his personal delegate and interim Father General of the Society, passing over Arrupe's own choice (his vicar general). Many Jesuits saw this as an unwarranted papal interference in Jesuit affairs. For his part, Arrupe never expressed any disagreement or resentment.[13] Jesuit disobedience to the pope that was expected by some at the Roman Curia never came about.[27] With new respect for the Jesuits, Pope John Paul allowed Dezza to call the thirty-third General Congregation and elect a successor to Arrupe, whose resignation was accepted on 3 September 1983 during the Congregation. He was succeeded by Peter Hans Kolvenbach. During the opening Session of the Congregation, Arrupe was wheeled into the hall, and a prayer which he had written was read aloud:

"More than ever I find myself in the hands of God. This is what I have wanted all my life from my youth. But now there is a difference; the initiative is entirely with God. It is indeed a profound spiritual experience to know and feel myself so totally in God's hands."[9]

During his ten years in the infirmary, Arrupe received many and frequent well-wishers, including Pope John Paul II. Arrupe had earlier expressed what some regard as the key to his life: "Nowadays the world does not need words but lives that cannot be explained except through faith and love for Christ's poor."[4]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_Arrupe 

"Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" is a television film that served as the series finale of the American television series M*A*S*H. The 2 1/2-hour episode first aired on CBS on February 28, 1983, ending the series' original run. The episode was written by eight collaborators, including series star Alan Alda, who also directed.

The episode's plot chronicles the final days of the Korean War at the 4077th MASH; it features several storylines intended to show the war's effects on the individual personnel of the unit and to bring closure to the series. After the ceasefire goes into effect, the members of the 4077th throw a party before taking down the camp for the last time. After tear-filled goodbyes, the main characters go their separate ways, leading to the final scene of the series.

Plot

The film begins with Hawkeye Pierce being treated at a psychiatric hospital by Sidney Freedman. It is revealed he suffered a nervous breakdown while working in the operating room. He tells Freedman about a recent beach outing by a busload of camp staff. They picked up some refugees and wounded soldiers on their return home. Forced to pull off the road to avoid an enemy patrol, Hawkeye remembers telling a refugee to keep her chicken quiet. However, as a result of his command, the chicken was smothered and died.

Conditions back at the 4077 are chaotic with the camp now home to large numbers of refugees and prisoners of war. A wounded tank driver demolishes the camp latrine and abandons the tank in the camp. Charles Winchester leaves camp to perform his ablutions and meets five Chinese soldiers on a motorcycle-sidecar combination eager to surrender. The men are revealed to be musicians and Winchester marches them to camp while they play Oh! Susanna. B.J. eagerly takes possession of the motorcycle while Winchester begins to teach the prisoners classical music. Despite a language barrier, the musicians recognize Mozart's name and learn to play Mozart's Clarinet Quintet.[1]

Margaret Houlihan and Winchester discuss their postwar careers. Houlihan is offered an Army administrative post while Winchester is disappointed to find his absence from Boston has left a less talented colleague as the front-runner for a coveted chief surgeon spot. Winchester eventually receives a letter confirming his appointment to the position, but becomes angry after learning from Klinger that Margaret had intervened in the selection process by having a relative pull strings.

Klinger falls in love with a refugee named Soon-Lee Han, who wants to return to the combat zone to find her missing parents. B.J. Hunnicutt receives repatriation orders and prepares to leave once Colonel Potter can get a replacement surgeon. The chaos in the camp is intensified by enemy mortar fire on the abandoned tank. Father Mulcahy loses his hearing while saving POWs under fire in their holding area. He swears B.J. to secrecy about the nature of his injury, afraid the Army will return him home, away from the local orphans he has tended throughout his time in Korea.

Hawkeye's treatment progresses, and he eventually realizes that the woman on the bus had actually smothered her baby to prevent being heard by the enemy patrol, not a chicken as Hawkeye had initially thought in a false memory. He breaks down at the realization and vents anger on Sidney for making him remember the true nature of the incident. Sidney explains it is necessary for his recovery and returns Hawkeye to duty. B.J. meanwhile is offered a chance to fly out in time for his daughter's birthday and leaves. Hawkeye returns to find B.J. left without a farewell, as Trapper John had earlier in the series. When the mortar fire intensifies, Hawkeye impulsively drives the tank into a garbage dump to draw fire away from the camp, raising renewed concerns about his mental health and prompting Sidney to return to check on him.

A nearby forest fire causes the camp to relocate. A helicopter bringing B.J.'s replacement arrives, and it is revealed to be Hunnicutt himself, who had made it to Guam before being sent back to Korea. He celebrates his daughter's birthday at a party for orphaned refugee children. Hawkeye is unable to watch the party due to his experiences, and discusses his postwar future with Sidney, fearing he can no longer be around children without being reminded of his recent trauma. When Hawkeye finds he can operate on an injured young girl, Sidney leaves the 4077th with Hawkeye's thanks.

Charles's musicians leave camp as part of a prisoner exchange, playing Mozart Clarinet as they depart. The ceasefire is announced ending hostilities in the war. The 4077 returns to its campsite with wounded soldiers continuing to arrive in the last hours of the war. Winchester is shocked to find the body of one of the musicians among the wounded - he had died en route to the camp, and the others had been killed outright. Dazed, Winchester returns to The Swamp and tries to listen to the Mozart piece he'd taught the musicians but soon smashes the record in anger.[1]

The camp personnel throw a final party and reveal their postwar plans. Klinger will marry Soon-Lee and ironically, given his attempts throughout the series to be sent home, remain in Korea to help her search for her missing parents. Mulcahy officiates at their wedding while the camp is dismantled. Camp staff say their goodbyes and leave in different ways. Winchester apologizes to Houlihan for his earlier poor treatment of her, and gives her a signed book of her favorite poetry before leaving in a garbage truck, saying “what better way to leave a garbage dump” before departing. Houlihan says goodbye to Potter and B.J. before Hawkeye steals a long kiss. Potter takes a final ride on Sophie, the horse that was gifted to him earlier in the series, before donating her to the orphanage. Hawkeye and B.J. give him a final parting gift, a heartfelt salute, which Potter tearfully returns.

In the final scene of the series, B.J. gives Hawkeye a ride to his chopper on the motorcycle. Just before the chopper takes off, B.J. shouts that he left a note this time and rides away on his bike. Hawkeye doesn't understand until the helicopter gains altitude and he sees the word GOODBYE spelled out with rocks on the ground below. He smiles as the chopper carries him away.

Production

The script was written between April and September 16, 1982 with filming taking place in late September and early October. After a wildfire through Malibu Creek State Park on October 9 destroyed much of the set,[2] two additional scenes were written to incorporate a fire into the story. Morgan and Nakahara returned to the set on October 15 to film a short scene among the still smoldering ruins.[3]

Cultural reaction and impact

The anticipation before the airing of "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" was unprecedented, especially for a regular television series (in contrast to awards shows, sporting events, or special events). Interest from advertisers prompted CBS, the network broadcasting M*A*S*H, to sell 30-second commercial blocks for $450,000 (equal to $1,380,000 today) each—costlier than even NBC's airing of the Super Bowl of that year.[4][5]

On the night the episode aired, large areas of California (particularly the San Francisco Bay Area) suffered power outages due to unusually stormy winter weather, which prevented many viewers from watching the series finale.[6]

Reaction and AfterMASH

In the United States, the episode drew 105.97 million total viewers[7] and a total audience of 121.6 million,[8] more than both Super Bowl XVII and the Roots miniseries. The episode surpassed the single-episode ratings record that had been set by the Dallas episode that resolved the "Who Shot J.R.?" cliffhanger. From 1983 until 2010, "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" remained the most watched television broadcast in American history,[4] passed only in total viewership (but not in ratings or share) in February 2010 by Super Bowl XLIV. As of 2024, it still stands as the most-watched finale and single episode of any television series in U.S. history.[7][9]

As M*A*S*H was one of the most successful shows in TV history, in order not to lose the franchise completely, CBS quickly created a new series, AfterMASH, that followed the postwar adventures of Colonel Potter, Max Klinger, and Father Mulcahy in a stateside veterans hospital. Despite wide popularity in its premiere episodes, script problems and constant character changes led to a sharp decline in viewers, and the show was canceled by CBS after only two seasons. Another would-be spin-off, W*A*L*T*E*R, was a pilot made in 1984 that was never picked up. It starred Gary Burghoff, who reprised his M*A*S*H character.

"Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" was not initially included in the syndication package for M*A*S*H's final season; however, in 1992, the episode made its syndication premiere in time for its 10th anniversary. Local stations aired it as a part of a Movie of the Week.[10]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodbye,_Farewell_and_Amen 

Lieutenant (later Captain) Father Francis John Patrick Mulcahy, S.J., is a principal character from the film M*A*S*H, played by Rene Auberjonois, and the television series, played by William Christopher. He was played by George Morgan in the pilot episode of the television series, but the producers decided that a quirkier individual was needed for the role, and Christopher was cast in his place.

During the course of the television series, Father Mulcahy's name was changed from John Patrick Francis Mulcahy to Francis John Patrick Mulcahy (as he revealed in episode 7 of Season 8 when asked by a nurse he was counseling). Either form of the name is an attempt to reconcile his identification as "Father John P. Mulcahy" in the pilot episode with the name "Francis Mulcahy" established later on.

In the original film (as well as the Richard Hooker novel on which it is based), Mulcahy is familiarly known by the nickname "Dago Red" (a type of cheap wine). In an O.R. scene in the M*A*S*H pilot episode, Trapper can be heard addressing Mulcahy as "Red," and Hawkeye calls Mulcahy "Red" in "Dear Dad"; however, the nickname was quickly phased out of the series. 

Ministry

Mulcahy mentioned several times being a Jesuit. While the character was a devout Roman Catholic, Father Mulcahy would minister to the needs of people of all faiths as a matter of necessity (including the Methodist wedding ceremony of Houlihan), as he was the sole chaplain for the 4077th. However, it was a task he took on willingly and cheerfully out of a legitimate fascination with other faiths and their customs, of which he possessed a wide and eclectic array of knowledge. In one episode though, he admitted that he was somewhat intimidated by the Southern Baptist service. Performing Jewish duties in the series, he performed a bris in the absence of a Rabbi and also recited the Kaddish prayer over a dying Jewish soldier. Knowing many of the local people were Buddhists, he watched their ceremonies with fascination.

The television series did not present Mulcahy as a theological legalist; he did not criticize campmates about their personal moral habits, provided there was no harm to others. Instead, Mulcahy was portrayed as enjoying playing the piano (usually ragtime, although his skills weren't exactly astounding), drinking at the Officers Club, participating in camp raffles and betting pools, and playing the occasional game of poker (although he donated most of his winnings to the local orphanage). He often intervened when he saw his comrades about to do something drastic, such as when Hawkeye was about to assault a visiting General for monopolizing the kitchen while the entire camp was waiting for dinner. Instead, Mulcahy used his position as a priest, and the relative protection from discipline it afforded him, to ruin the General's dinner in a more passive-aggressive manner, after which he gave a conspiratorial wink to a stunned and amused Hawkeye.

In the series finale, Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen, during a mortar attack, he selflessly ran out to the POW cell and released them to the military guard, rather than leave them as "sitting ducks." During the attack, the concussion from one of the mortars caused him to lose most of his hearing. He begged B.J. Hunnicutt to keep the injury a secret. He elected to stay in Korea after the cease fire, to care for orphans.

https://mashwiki.fandom.com/wiki/Father_Mulcahy

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History Unleashed

May 1 at 2:39 PM  · 

Mt St Helens the 17th of may 1980 and 4 months later

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Pope John Paul II (Latin: Ioannes Paulus II; Italian: Giovanni Paolo II; Polish: Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła [ˈkarɔl ˈjuzɛv vɔjˈtɨwa];[b] 18 May 1920 – 2 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his death in 2005.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_John_Paul_II 

As May 18 dawned, Mount St. Helens's activity did not show any change from the pattern of the preceding month. The rates of bulge movement and sulfur dioxide emission, and ground temperature readings did not reveal any changes indicating a catastrophic eruption. USGS volcanologist David A. Johnston was on duty at an observation post around 6 mi (10 km) north of the volcano: as of 6:00 am, Johnston's measurements did not indicate any unusual activity.[9]

At 8:32 am, a magnitude-5.1 earthquake centered directly below the north slope triggered that part of the volcano to slide,[31] approximately 7–20 seconds after the shock,[9] followed a few seconds later by the main volcanic blast. The landslide, the largest subaerial landslide in recorded history, traveled at 110 to 155 mph (177 to 249 km/h) and moved across Spirit Lake's west arm. Part of it hit a 1,150 ft-high (350 m) ridge about 6 mi (10 km) north.[9] Some of the slide spilled over the ridge, but most of it moved 13 mi (21 km) down the North Fork Toutle River, filling its valley up to 600 feet (180 m) deep with avalanche debris.[31] An area of about 24 sq mi (62 km2) was covered, and the total volume of the deposit was about 0.7 cu mi (2.9 km3).[9]

Scientists were able to reconstruct the motion of the landslide from a series of rapid photographs by Gary Rosenquist, who was camping 11 mi (18 km) away from the blast 46°18′49″N 122°02′12″W.[9] Rosenquist, his party, and his photographs survived because the blast was deflected by local topography 1 mi (1.6 km) short of his location.[32]

Sound of the eruption of Mount St. Helens, as heard from 140 miles away

Duration: 44 seconds.0:44

Amateur recording of a series of booms produced by the eruption, as heard from the town of Newport, Oregon (audio filtered and amplified).

Problems playing this file? See media help.

Most of St. Helens's former north side became a rubble deposit 17 mi (27 km) long, averaging 150 ft (46 m) thick; the slide was thickest at 1 mi (1.6 km) below Spirit Lake and thinnest at its western margin.[9] The landslide temporarily displaced the waters of Spirit Lake to the ridge north of the lake, in a giant wave about 600 ft (180 m) high.[33] This, in turn, created a 295 ft (90 m) avalanche of debris consisting of the returning waters and thousands of uprooted trees and stumps. Some of these remained intact with roots, but most had been sheared off at the stump seconds earlier by the blast of superheated volcanic gas and ash that had immediately followed and overtaken the initial landslide. The debris was transported along with the water as it returned to its basin, raising the surface level of Spirit Lake by about 200 ft (61 m).[9]

Four decades after the eruption, floating log mats persist on Spirit Lake and nearby St. Helens Lake, changing position with the wind. The rest of the trees, especially those that were not completely detached from their roots, were turned upright by their own weight and became waterlogged, sinking into the muddy sediments at the bottom where they are in the process of becoming petrified in the anaerobic and mineral-rich waters. This provides insight into other sites with a similar fossil record.[34]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_eruption_of_Mount_St._Helens

On 13 May 1981, in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City, Pope John Paul II was shot and wounded by Mehmet Ali Ağca while he was entering the square. The Pope was struck twice and suffered severe blood loss. Ağca was apprehended immediately and later sentenced to life in prison by an Italian court. The Pope forgave Ağca for the assassination attempt.[1] He was pardoned by Italian president Carlo Azeglio Ciampi at the Pope's request and was deported to Turkey in June 2000. Ağca converted to Roman Catholicism in 2007.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attempted_assassination_of_Pope_John_Paul_II

pontifex (n.)

member of the supreme college of priests in ancient Rome, 1570s, from Latin pontifex "high priest, chief of the priests," probably from pont-, stem of pons "bridge" (see pons) + -fex "maker," from facere "to do, make" (from PIE root *dhe- "to set, put").

If so, the word originally meant "bridge-maker," or "path-maker." It was felt as such; the sense of "bridge-builder" was in the Medieval Latin word, and Milton uses pontifical (adj.) in this sense. Sense was extended in Church Latin to "a bishop," in Medieval Latin to "the Pope." In Old English, pontifex is glossed in the Durham Ritual (Old Northumbrian dialect) as brycgwyrcende "bridge-maker." 

Weekley points out that, "bridge-building has always been regarded as a pious work of divine inspiration." Century Dictionary speculates it had its origins as "having charge of the making or maintenance of a bridge — it is said of the Sublician bridge built over the Tiber by Ancus Marcius." Or the term may be metaphoric of bridging the earthly world and the realm of the gods. Other suggestions trace it to Oscan-Umbrian puntis "propitiary offering," or to a lost Etruscan word; in either case it would have been altered by folk etymology to resemble the Latin for "bridge-maker."

also from 1570s

https://www.etymonline.com/word/pontifex

Pontifex Maximus

Introduction

The head priest of the Roman state religion was the Pontifex Maximus, or the greatest of the college of pontifices. While an obviously important and prominent position within the ranks of the Roman system, the Pontifex Maximus was not considered a magistrate comparable to a Consul, Praetor, etc.

During the Republic, the Pontifex was elected by the Comitia Tributa and served for life, while during the Empire, the position was generally held by the Emperor himself.

Originally, the Ponifices were Patrician only, but the social conditions and changes during the late Republic allowed for Plebeian election as well. These men were responsible for the oversight of the state religious cult as a whole and didn't really oversee particular godly cults, though they could if necessary.

By the Imperial period there were 16 pontifices under the high priest, 15 flamines, who were special priests of the main deities, and the Rex Sacrorum (king of the sacrifices) who performed the religious acts that the king had usually done. Perhaps most importantly, he was he was also responsible for the 18 Vestal Virgins.

The main duty of the pontifices was to provide the pax deorum, or the 'peace with the gods'. Interpreting omens, sometimes through augures, controlling and keeping the official calendar, and the oversight of funerals all fell under the domain of the Pontifex Maximus.

He was responsible for an enormous collection of omens (annales maximi); that would be recorded and collected on a nearly constant basis. These heavenly signs would be written down along with accompanying events, and used to determine the divine favor of the gods. Doing so allowed following generations of priests and magistrates to understand the historic will of the gods and interpret future events against past patterns.

Today, the head of the Roman Catholic Church, the Pope, is still called the Pontifex Maximus. It's a political or governing office that has been in existence and in perpetual use for nearly 3,000 years.

https://www.unrv.com/culture/pontifex-maximus.php 

Pope John Paul I (Latin: Ioannes Paulus I; Italian: Giovanni Paolo I; born Albino Luciani [alˈbiːno luˈtʃaːni]; 17 October 1912 – 28 September 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City from 26 August 1978 until his death 33 days later. His reign is among the shortest in papal history, resulting in the most recent year of three popes and the first to occur since 1605. John Paul I remains the most recent Italian-born pope, the last in a succession of such popes that started with Clement VII in 1523.

Before the August 1978 papal conclave that elected him, he expressed his desire not to be elected, telling those close to him that he would decline the papacy if elected; upon the cardinals' electing him, he felt an obligation to say yes.[4] He was the first pontiff to have a double name, choosing "John Paul" in honour of his two immediate predecessors, John XXIII and Paul VI. He explained that he was indebted to John XXIII and to Paul VI for naming him a bishop and a cardinal, respectively. Furthermore, he was the first pope to add the regnal number "I", designating himself "the First".

His two immediate successors, John Paul II and Benedict XVI, later recalled the warm qualities of the late pontiff in several addresses. In Italy, he is remembered with the appellatives of Il Papa del Sorriso (transl. The Smiling Pope)[5] and Il Sorriso di Dio (transl. The Smile of God).[6] Time magazine and other publications referred to him as "The September Pope".[7] He is also known in Italy as "Papa Luciani". In his hometown of Canale d'Agordo a museum built and named in his honour is dedicated to his life and brief papacy.

He was declared a servant of God by his successor, John Paul II, on 23 November 2003, the first step on the road to sainthood. Pope Francis confirmed his heroic virtue on 8 November 2017 and named him as Venerable. Pope Francis presided over the beatification on 4 September 2022.[8][9]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_John_Paul_I 

Sunshine Skyway Bridge

1980 collapse

The southbound span (opened in 1971) of the original bridge was destroyed on the morning of May 9, 1980, when the 606 ft (185 m) freighter MV Summit Venture collided with a support column during a sudden squall, causing the catastrophic failure of over 1,200 ft (370 m) of the span.

Several vehicles were at the top of the bridge when almost a quarter-mile of roadway fell away beneath them while others drove off the edge, either because the drivers did not notice the collapse in the driving rain or could not stop quickly enough in the wet conditions.[31] In all, six cars, a truck, and a Greyhound bus plummeted 150 ft (46 m) into Tampa Bay, resulting in 35 deaths.[32] A few drivers, including former Major League Baseball player Granny Hamner, were able to stop their vehicles before reaching the gap, and as seen in many photographs of the aftermath, a Buick Skylark driven by local car dealer Richard Hornbuckle skidded to a halt just two feet from the chasm.[33][34][35]

In the water below, several small official and private boats and a transportation department diving team arrived soon after the intense but narrow squall line cleared the vicinity. However, the frantic rescue effort became a recovery operation, as only victims' bodies were found.[36] The only survivor of the fall was Wesley MacIntire, whose Ford Courier pickup truck had bounced off the hull of the Summit Venture and into the water. The truck sank to the shallow bottom of the bay, but MacIntire managed to escape and swim to the surface, where he was quickly pulled to safety aboard the freighter.[37] He sued the company that owned the ship and won a $175,000 settlement in 1984 ($513,000 today).[38]

John Lerro, the veteran harbor pilot who was steering the ship at the time of the accident, was cleared of wrongdoing by both a state grand jury and a Coast Guard investigation. The investigations concluded that the inbound freighter had been in the process of maneuvering into the narrow channel under the center of the bridge when a microburst containing sudden torrential rains and 70 mph (110 km/h) winds cut visibility to near zero and temporarily rendered the ship's radar useless.[39][40][41] Lerro put the ship's engines into full reverse and ordered the emergency dropping of the anchor when he realized that the freighter had left the channel, but the forward momentum of the 20,000-ton ship along with strong winds from astern pushed the bow into support beams to the right of the shipping lane.[42] While the main support pier nearest to the channel withstood the strike with only minor damage, a secondary support pier just to the south was not designed to withstand such an impact and failed catastrophically, causing the entire center of the southbound span to collapse at 7:38 a.m.[28] 

Replacement bridge

Soon after the disaster, the undamaged northbound span was converted back to a two-lane, two-way bridge while the state of Florida considered proposals for a replacement. Ideas included the construction of a tunnel (which was deemed impractical due to Florida's high water table) and a simple reconstruction of the broken section of the old bridge, which would not widen the narrow shipping lane. Governor Bob Graham's idea to build a "signature" cable-stayed bridge with a span that would be 50% wider than that of the old Skyway Bridge won out over other proposals. In addition to a wider shipping lane, the channel would be marked by a 1⁄4 mi (400 m)-long series of large concrete barriers, and the support piers would be protected by massive concrete "dolphins".[43]

Construction began in January 1983 with the pounding of pilings for the foundation, and work on the main piers began the following September. The complicated project was delayed several times by bad weather and various difficulties in construction, and the planned opening was pushed back several times.[44][45] Finally, the opening ceremony was set for April 30, 1987. However, on April 29 at about 3:30 p.m., the new bridge's protective bumpers were hit head-on by the Deliverance, a 74-foot (23 m) shrimp boat. The bumper sustained minor damage and the bridge was not affected, but the vessel took on water and was towed out of the channel into shallow waters, where it promptly sank. The opening ceremonies proceeded as scheduled.[46]

Demolition of former bridge

In 1990, the FDOT awarded a bid to Hardaway Company (owner of Controlled Demolition, Inc.) to demolish all steel and concrete sections of the older Sunshine Skyway spans.[47] The scope of the project required that all underwater piles and piers, and surface roadway, girders, and beams, be dismantled. Special care had to be taken in removing underwater bridge elements near the channel, and the central portion of the original bridge had to be removed in one piece to minimize closure of the only approach to the busy Port of Tampa.[48] Most of the concrete material was used to create an artificial reef near the southbound approach of the old bridge, which was converted into a long pier for newly created Skyway Fishing Pier State Park. Unused approaches to the original spans were demolished in 2008.

Wesley MacIntire, the only motorist survivor of the collapse, was the last person to drive over the intact original span before it was demolished. Accompanied by his wife, he stopped at the apex of the bridge and dropped 35 white carnations into the water, one for each person who died in the disaster.[49][50] 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunshine_Skyway_Bridge 

Maximum Overdrive - bridge scene

asian577

May 4, 2022

all rights go to they're respective owners

Maximum Overdrive - bridge scene - YouTube

Conveniently close to the Vatican, the Castel Sant'Angelo had defensive fortifications built all around it by the 14th century, and a covered walkway was built leading to St. Peter's Basilica, so the Pope could stroll unmolested to his private fort. At exactly what point the Castel gained its current starrish shape seems a bit murky, but it was strong enough to protect Pope Clement VII from Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (1500-1558)'s Landsknecht (German mercenary pikemen) in yet another Sack of Rome in 1527.

Pope Paul III (1468-1549) had a sumptuous Papal apartment built in the Castel, just in case he'd have to sit through another Holy Papal Siege.

Sant'Angelo's days as an operable fort were over, but as we all know starforts make excellent jails, and the Castel was used as a Papal prison for the next 300+ years. Among those who had the honor of being imprisoned at the Castel was Giordano Bruno (1548-1600), an Italian friar who was convicted of heresy for his belief that the sun was a star, and other outlandishly dangerous theories. Fortunately, Bruno was burned at the stake in 1600 for his transgressions, and the world continued safe in the knowledge that the sun is in fact a magical dolphin.

The fort was decommissioned in 1901 and made into a museum. The Castel Sant'Angelo features prominently in Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)'s opera Tosca, which takes place in Rome in 1800: The title character, Gloria Tosca, flings herself from its battlements in the final act. The Castel also makes appearances in two of the Assassin's Creed video games. In 1980, American rock bands Kiss and the Ramones performed at the Castel.

I also have it on good authority that one can visit the Castel Sant'Angelo and have absolutely no idea that one is in the presence of a starfort: My dad visited the mausoleum in 2008, at which time, he insists, it obviously wasn't a starfort yet.

http://www.starforts.com/santangelo.html

https://www.facebook.com/billy.dunn.50767/posts/pfbid02oCw5inngVpuWN1bxAnMcc58R8r758Zptys7DHZ5k4po566w2k5jQBteR78JHQPX3l

1. Ea according to F. Lenormant: "dwelling, house" (Chaldean Magic, London, 1878, p 155). But in the Sumerian mind "to build" was related to create, "to generate". Ea, "Beishlaf" F. Delitzsh, Sumerisches Glossar, Leipzig, 1914 p. 30. [Ea is also the name of river in Sumerian much like FinnUgor YU,YO as in fo-lyo=chief river].

2. A. Diemel: Sumerisches Lexicon II.

3. N 925. 3. Enki was preceded by Anu, the distant sky divinity of the universe and Enlil, the "Holy Wind", the violent storm god. Ninmah, the great mother, goddes of birth-giving, preceded Enki, too. S. N. Kramer: Sumerian Mythology, Philadelphia, 1944, p. 63. [Again Sumir LIL = Hungarian LEL,LEHEL,LELEG..etc]

4. Kramer, op. cit. p. 63.

5. Kramer, op. cit. p. 70.

6. L. Heuzey: Le Sceau de Goudea. Revue d'Assyriologie, 1902, p.30.

7. Stephen Langdon: Semitic Mythology, p. 95, and L. Heuzey: Les Origines Orientales de l'Art, Paris, 1915, p. 156.

8. E. Douglas Van Buren: Symbols of the Gods in Mesopotamian Art. Annalecta Orientalia, Roma, 1945, p. 104.

9. Ibid. p. 155.

10. L. Heuzey: Le Sceau, de Goudea, p. 133.

11. H. Frankfort: Cylinder Seals, London, 1939, p. 122-23.

12. In one of the still not clear myths of creation we are told that after a rather complicated process of impregnating a series of divine ladies, Enki became the father of a variety of plants and trees. But being curious, he ate those plants, which reminds one of the later Saturn story. The goddess of birth cursed Enki for this and he almost died of the curse, but then the great lady had pity on him and began to bear again. That much is clear, that Father Enki, the personified Water, is the father of plants, too. Kramer, op. cit. p. 57. [In a desert of Messopotamia, plants are very dependant on irrigation indeed.]

13. Kramer, op. cit. p. 63.

14. Kramer, op. cit. p. 70.

15. L. Heuzey: Le Sceau de Goudea, p. 131.

16. Frankfort: op. cit. p. 123.

17. "Four corners of the world" are often mentioned. We may have inherited this concept in the four cardinal points of our compass, which are arbitrary. In connection with Ea's throne, mostly square and bearing the signs of the cross we may recall that four strokes of the stylus made a sign which Delitzsch reads as NIG, "something, anything, treasure, possession", connecting it with the identical written GAR, "to be, to become" (Op. Cit. pp. 80 and 200). Fossey gives to this sign the meanings: "four; to bring; to place". (Syllabaire Cuneiforme, Paris, 1901, no. 509). Diemel reads it as NINDA and interprets it as having the meanings "four" and "bread box" (N. 597). The same sign is explained by J. Dineley Prince as having evolved from a square, with the meaning "building". Prince believes that the sign has two pronunciations: GAR and NGA (p. 110). The same author explains an almost identical sign as "surround, totality, collect" pronounced GAAR, but the name of the sign is NINDA. He explains also the word NIGI as dwelling. The sign list of Stephen Langdon gives a square as the early sign for "totality, universe". (p. 294). R. Jestin translates NIG as possession, treasury, luck everything: "toute chose". (Le verbe Sumerien, Paris, 1943, p. 395). His words for GAR: "introniser, tetablir". We may add to these data for consideration that in Hungarian for is NEGY, totality is MINDEN and the great feast of Ea, the winter solstice-today Christmas-is called (GAR-A-SU-MU) Karacsony. These data belong to the already copious literature on the "four corners". /common in most ancient cultures/

18. Many years ago Lenormant believed that the fish-man Oannes mentioned by Berossus or the Euahannes of Hyginus are identical with Enki-Ea. (Freacois Lenormant: Chaldean Magic and Sorcery, p. 203). This view is still held by Charles Virolleaud (Legendes de Babylone, Paris, 1949, p. 17). We must rather believe that the two-faced messenger and doorkeeper, the door incarnate (Iauna) is the famous Oannes or later Janus, the divinity of entrance and beginning. January begins the year, fight after the feast of the winter solstice janus, the messenger of the water-god may be the prototype of the later Joannes, who christened with water before the God-man. The leader of the last pagan resistance in Hungary was called Janus, also. /IA is also the Hungarian root word for river/

19.These reminded L. Heuzey of the later myth about the columns of Hercules. Le. Sceau de Goudea, p. `33.

20.E. Douglas Van Buren: Symbols of the Gods, p. 46.

21. Talim meaning "twins or companions". Frankfort, op. cit. p. 60. These twins may well be the heavenly Gemini, or the first Cherub angeles. KUR in Sumerian means "guarding" /becoming Cher- ub/ (Diemel, S. A., p. 147: Bewachung).

22. Lenormant's reading of the name was HEA. On the names of Enki-Ea see Deimel: Akkadisch Sumerisches Glossar, p. 91. Among them are: Dingir Magur "the god boat", NUDIMMUD "creator", DINGIR KAR-RA-E and MUL GULA. In Sumerian times Enki, in Accadian times Ea was the generally used name. It may be supposed that these names were somehow related with the Sumerian root A. meaning both water and father, or generation. Deimel, when treating this root, mention its resemblance to Indoeur. AHWA "water". (Sum. Akk. Gl. p. 1) A. Falkenstein writes: " ..vielwehr kommt der Zeichen E in der alteren Zeit der Lautwert A zu..." (Die Sprache Gudeas. Roma. 1949, p. 25). These suggest one more addition to the innumerable attempts to explain the holy name JAHVE. Did not a very early common culture of many peoples possess the concept of a god-water or god father, the Creator?

23. DARA, DAR, TAR were in Sumerian generic names of the swift cervidae, ibex, mountain goat, deer, stag, perhaps mouflon. [a generic name in many language families for horned animals.]

24. "The ibex or ture (Capra Caucasica)... was also perhaps AYALUM in Babylonian, Hebrew AYAL... The Assyrian TURAKHU is translated Steinboch by Delitzsh. It is one of the names of Ea.. and forms part of four other names of Ea". Ward: Cylinder Seals, p. 416.

25. A pre-Sargonid god of fertility, worshipped throughout the land, under a variety of epithets was represented everywhere in his warlike aspect by the "lion headed eagle". Cf H. Frankfort: Early Dynastic Sculptured Mace-heads. A. Orientalia 1935, p. 105.

26. Creating one of the heraldic schemes, which Edith Porada has well called Mesopotamia's legacy to later art. Mesopotamian Art in Cylinder Seals, N. Y. 1947.

27. Much material to illustrate the connection of art and astrology has been assembled by Prof. Willy Hartner, which he showed in a lecture: Early Traces of the Zodiac in the Near East. Chicago University. 1949.

28. Bildwerk und Volkstrum Vorderasiens zur Hethiterzeit. Leipzig. 1934, p. 12.

29. Ea was a divinity of the subterranean waters. Vladimir Georgiev, the Bulgarian decipherer of Minoan inscriptions, tells us that YA was the Minoan syllable expressed with what we call the Delta letter, and which corresponds to Latin ianus, underground passage. (Inscriptions Minoennes Quasi Bilingues Annuaire de l'Universite de Sofia. 1950, p. 21). The wise animal inhabiting the wet underground passages is the snake. And we are told: the mysterious prehistoric stone buildings of Western Europe occur invariably at spots where underground water currents are meeting (Charles Diot: Les Sourciers et les Monuments Megalithiques. Boug, 1935). Lenormant stated "that the serpent was one of the principal attributes and one of the forms of Hea". (Chaldean Magic, p. 232). The snake of Ea seems to be somehow related to Marduk's dragon. The dragon in Hungarian folklore is often called SARKANY-KIGYO "dragon-snake".[which by the way is also often assosciated with rain, storms, and fertility!!]

30. American Journal of Archeology, Vol. 55. N. 1.

31. Enumerated by Sebestyen, op. cit. p. 291-304.

32. His is the spirit of the underworld, the underworld itself. Hiisi rides a vicious fish, who swims in the waters of Tuonela, the underworld. The fish tries to catch the souls of the deceased; he makes himself a body of plants and appears over the earth as stag to lure the living. Kalevala, 13th Runo.

33. Sumerian Affiliations, Washington, 1950.

34."e. Priesterin Ea's". Sum. Akk. Glossar, p. 92.

35. Ea's name may be hidden in the archaic Hungarian word for river: JO (pronounced YO). The idea of "good" is expressed in Hungarian by the word JO also. A royal edict of the XI-th century forbade Hungarians to celebrate at rivers, fountains and trees. But a belief in the fertility magic of water survived until modern times (East). [the Hungarian Easter custom of dunking of maidens.]

36. Konstantinos Porphyrogenetos, Byzantine emperor and writer, relates that in the X-th century a young prince of Hungary visited Constantinople-his name was Termatzous. (M. H. K. p. 128).

37. The Hungarian word REG corresponds to Sumerian RIG, "to speak, recite". (Deimel, S.A., p. 191 Sprechen), also to Accadian RAGAHU (Deimel A. S., p. 395 schreien, rufen, beanspruchen); maybe to Sanscrit rk*, too-see Rig Veda.

38. Reg"s  nekek, A. Reg"s"k. Budapest, 1902, Athenaeum.

39. In medieval centuries the year began on December 25th-only since the end of the 15-th century have Christmas and New Year been separated.

40. The house of Ea, the "mountain of Ea" emerged from the waters, too. (Falkenstein, op. cit. p. 25).

41. The first word: EJ or HEJ-an exclamation-contains perhaps the name EA or HEA. The second means: recitation. The third word: REJTEM may be related to Sumerian RI "to protect"-UH "magic"-Accadian RUGHTU "magic". The refrain meaning: "EAs recitation: protective magic".

42. In some variants the foods are enumerated: a large ox to roast, hazelnuts for stuffing and Perec cakes to hand on the horns of the ox. The perec is around hard cake, which has a hole like a doughnut and recalls the torques of Cernunnos. (pretzel)

43. Some texts of songs, photographs of the groups and descriptions of the ceremony in Vol. 3 of A Magyars g N,prajza, Budapest, 1938. Egyetemi Nyomda, p. 357.

44. In a document of King Louis of Anjou, dated 1347. After the extinction of the national royal house, bad days must have come upon the former order of royal entertainers. The document states that the former property of the "Combibatorum Regalium condicionarium vulgariter Regus dictorum" the land called "Reg- teluk" is given now to a comes Lorand. K. Szab: A Kir lyi Reg"s"kr"l. Sz zadok, 1881, p. 553.

45. A group of boys go round leading ofne of their number in stags mask. Many variations of the custom are described in ethnographic publications.

46. The word means "turning the virgin cattle". A group of men go from house to house on New Year's night and make a noise with whips, horns and bells under the windows. This custom of several Hungarian villages in county Zempl,n is described in Ethnographia, Budapest, 1926, p. 89. We may read there about the custom of Hajduszoboszlo county Hajdu: lighting fires and sounding cowbells at New Years night.

47. G. Helta: Dialogus. Kolozsv r, 1552, Introduction.

48. The name is documented in witch processes: witches confessing that they were in the "army of Dromo". See also Ipolyi: Magyar Mythologia. The variant Doromo occurs in a play of Csokonai: Tempef"i. Listed as Durumo in the Magyar Etymologiai Szt r with the remark, "etymology unknown". (Gombocz Melich, Budapest, 1930, p. 1451).

49. B. Homan: a Hungarian scholar of German origin, contended that the stag of the Hungarian origin-myths was a loan from German traditions. (A Magyar Hunhagyom ny ,s Hn -Monda. Budapest, 1932, p. 64-65). Berze-Nagy refuses to believe Sebesty,ns good guess too, that the Hungarian stag is connected with the Capricorn of the Zodiac-he tries to prove that the Hungarian stag was female, could not have horns, and came from Eastern folklore and is of eschatologic character; it originated in the IX -the century A. D. We believe we have shown that Berze is right about the Eastern direction, but the stag is much older than a mere 1000 years. Being miraculous, it could well be female and have horns. We have pictures of such animals (e.g. Scythian art).

https://www.whitestag.org/program_spirit/legend/sumerian.html

Yo! MTV Raps is an American two-hour television music video program, which first aired on MTV Europe from 1987 to mid-90s and on MTV US from August 1988 to August 1995. The American version of the program (created by Ted Demme and Peter Dougherty) was the first hip hop music show on the network, and was based on the original MTV Europe show, which first aired one year before the American version. Yo! MTV Raps produced a mix of rap videos, interviews with rap stars, live in-studio performances (on Fridays), and comedy. The show also yielded a Brazilian version called Yo! MTV and broadcast by MTV Brasil from 1990 to 2005.

Hosts

The U.S. version was originally hosted by Fab 5 Freddy. Later, the show's main host was Doctor Dré and Demme's high school friend, Ed Lover who both hosted together on weekdays. Soon they were joined by Doctor Dre's Original Concept group member T Money.[1] Fab 5 Freddy proceeded to host on weekends. The original line-up of the show, starring only Fab as the host, premiered on MTV on August 6, 1988.

On the weekday version dubbed, Yo! MTV Raps Today (which debuted on March 13, 1989), Ed Lover created his own dance called the Ed Lover Dance (which was typically featured on Wednesdays) that became somewhat popular in the 1990s. The Ed Lover Dance was performed to the track "The 900 Number" by The 45 King.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yo!_MTV_Raps

Pope John Paul II's Oriental Influenced Chasuble

by Shawn Tribeon March 10, 2020

Proper inculturation in the liturgical arts is a subject that has always been of great interest to me, and some of the very best examples of it have often come from the Orient. Here one often sees the distinctive architectural and artistic themes of that region successfully embedded into Catholic liturgical art and architecture.  One example of this that I have shown in the past is the chasuble of Dom Pierre-Célestin Lou Tseng-Tsiang, OSB. More recently, the following example came to light, which shows Pope John Paul II wearing a similarly styled chasuble in 1983 for the beatification of two Salesian missionaries who were based in China.

The cut is, of course, gothic, and the silk and orphrey certainly appear to have strong oriental influences from what we can see of it.

By way of comparison, here is the aforementioned chasuble of Dom Lou, which has a similar feel and character::

Both chasubles exhibit nobility and beauty, and -- in my estimation -- bear the marks of proper inculturation.

https://www.liturgicalartsjournal.com/2020/03/pope-john-paul-iis-oriental-influenced.html

https://www.facebook.com/billy.dunn.50767/posts/pfbid0235GQ7RfsXtA2rgY3AozCtWqhWQREeqeEYKLV3ek7Pum9REw4naeqVrkj2FyWW9iil 

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Carolingian dynasty, family of Frankish aristocrats and the dynasty (750–887 CE) that they established to rule western Europe. The dynasty’s name derives from the large number of family members who bore the name Charles, most notably Charlemagne.

The family came to power as hereditary mayors of the palace of the Frankish kingdom of Austrasia, and, by the time of Pippin II of Herstal (French Héristal), who became mayor of the palace in 679, they had reduced their nominal Merovingian kings to mere figureheads. Indeed, in 687 Pippin II gained effective rule over the entire Frankish realm when he defeated his Neustrian rival, Ebroïn. At his death in 714 Pippin left a legitimate heir, a child of six, and an illegitimate son, Charles Martel. By 725 Charles Martel had established himself as ruler of the Franks, although he maintained the fiction of Merovingian sovereignty until 737, when following the death of Theuderic IV he let the throne remain vacant. Charles Martel died in 741, and his sons Pippin III the Short and Carloman divided the realm between themselves. Upon Carloman’s abdication in 747, Pippin III became the sole ruler. His position was so secure that in 750 he deposed the last of the Merovingians, Childeric III, and, with the support of Pope Zacharias, had himself elected king by an assembly of Frankish nobles and consecrated by a bishop of the Roman church.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Carolingian-dynasty 

Pope John Paul II (Latin: Ioannes Paulus II; Italian: Giovanni Paolo II; Polish: Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła [ˈkarɔl ˈjuzɛv vɔjˈtɨwa];[b] 18 May 1920 – 2 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his death in 2005.

In his youth, Wojtyła dabbled in stage acting. He graduated with excellent grades from an all-boys high school in Wadowice, Poland, in 1938, soon after which World War II broke out. During the war, to avoid being kidnapped and sent off to a German slave labour camp, he signed up for work in harsh conditions in a quarry. Wojtyła eventually took up acting and developed a love for the profession and participated at a local theatre. The linguistically skilled Wojtyła wanted to study Polish at university. Encouraged by a conversation with Adam Stefan Sapieha, he decided to study theology and become a priest. Eventually, Wojtyła rose to the position of Archbishop of Kraków and then a cardinal, both positions held by his mentor.

Wojtyła was elected pope on the third day of the second papal conclave of 1978, and became one of the youngest popes in history. The conclave was called after the death of John Paul I, who served only 33 days as pope. John Paul I had been elected in an August papal conclave to succeed Pope Paul VI. Wojtyła adopted the name of his predecessor in tribute to him.[9] John Paul II was the first non-Italian pope since Adrian VI in the 16th century, as well as the third-longest-serving pope in history after Pius IX and St. Peter.

John Paul II attempted to improve the Catholic Church's relations with Judaism, Islam, and the Eastern Orthodox Church in the spirit of ecumenism, holding atheism as the greatest threat. He maintained the Church's previous positions on such matters as abortion, artificial contraception, the ordination of women, and a celibate clergy, and although he supported the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, he was seen as generally conservative in their interpretation.[10][11] He put emphasis on family and identity, while questioning consumerism, hedonism and the pursuit of wealth. He was one of the most travelled world leaders in history, visiting 129 countries during his pontificate.

As part of his special emphasis on the universal call to holiness, John Paul II beatified 1,344 people,[12] and canonised 483 saints, more than the combined tally of his predecessors during the preceding five centuries. By the time of his death, he had named most of the College of Cardinals, consecrated or co-consecrated many of the world's bishops, and ordained many priests.[13] He has been credited with fighting against dictatorships for democracy and with helping to end communist rule in his native Poland and the rest of Europe.[14] Under John Paul II, the Catholic Church greatly expanded its influence in Africa and Latin America and retained its influence in Europe and the rest of the world.

On 19 December 2009 John Paul II was proclaimed venerable by his successor, Benedict XVI, and on 1 May 2011 (Divine Mercy Sunday) he was beatified. On 27 April 2014 he was canonised together with John XXIII.[15] Posthumously he has been referred to by some Catholics as "Pope St. John Paul the Great", though that title has no official recognition.[16] He has been criticised for allegedly, as archbishop, having condoned the sexual abuse of children by priests in Poland,[17] though the allegations themselves have been criticised.[18][19]

Under John Paul II, the two most important constitutions of the contemporary Catholic Church were drafted and put in force: the 1983 Code of Canon Law, which, among many things, began an effort to curb sexual abuse in the Catholic Church; and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which among other things clarified the Church's position on homosexuality.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_John_Paul_II

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=873535310798069&set=a.414997259985212 

The Mayor's Ascension PART 1 - BTVS

The Mayor's Ascension PART 1 - BTVS - YouTube

The Scala Sancta (English: Holy Stairs, Italian: Scala Santa) are a set of 28 white marble steps located in an edifice on extraterritorial property of the Holy See in Rome, Italy proximate to the Archbasilica of Saint John in Laterano.[1] Officially, the edifice is titled the Pontifical Sanctuary of the Holy Stairs (Pontificio Santuario della Scala Santa), and incorporates part of the old Papal Lateran Palace. Replica stairs flank the original staircase, which may only be climbed on one's knees. The Holy Stairs lead to the Church of Saint Lawrence in Palatio ad Sancta Sanctorum (Chiesa di San Lorenzo in Palatio ad Sancta Sanctorum) or simply the "Sancta Sanctorum" (English: Holy of Holies), which was the personal chapel of the early Popes.

According to Catholic Church tradition, the Holy Stairs were the steps leading up to the praetorium of Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem on which Jesus Christ stepped on his way to trial during his Passion. The Stairs reputedly were brought to Rome by Saint Helena in the fourth century. In the Middle Ages they were known as Scala Pilati (the Stairs of Pilate).[2]

For centuries, the Scala Sancta has attracted Christian pilgrims who wish to honour the Passion of Jesus Christ. Since the early 1700s, the Holy Stairs have been encased in wood for protection, but were briefly exposed in 2019 following restoration work.[3][4]

History

According to Catholic Church tradition, the Holy Stairs were the steps leading up to the praetorium of Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem on which Jesus Christ stepped on his way to trial during his Passion.[5]

Medieval legends claim that Saint Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine the Great, brought the Holy Stairs from Jerusalem to Rome circa AD 326.[6] In the Middle Ages, they were known as "Scala Pilati" ("Stairs of Pilate"). From old plans it appears that they led to a corridor of the Lateran Palace, near the Chapel of Saint Sylvester, and were covered with a special roof. In 1589, Pope Sixtus V had the Papal Lateran Palace, then in ruins, demolished to make way for the construction of a new one. He ordered the Holy Stairs be reconstructed in their present location, before the Sancta Sanctorum (Holy of Holies), named for the many precious relics preserved there. The chapel also houses an icon of Christ Pantocrator, known as the "Uronica", that was supposedly begun by Saint Luke and finished by an angel. This celebrated icon of Santissimi Salvatore Acheiropoieton ("not made by human hands"), on certain occasions, used to be carried through Rome in procession.[7]

The Scala Sancta may only be ascended on the knees. For common use, the staircase is flanked by four additional staircases, two on each side, constructed circa 1589.[8] In 1724, Pope Benedict XIII covered the marble stairs in wood for their protection, since the marble had been significantly worn away by the many pilgrims ascending the stairs over time. The stairs remained covered until 2019, when the protective wood covering was removed and the marble exposed following restoration work. When the stairs were reopened on 11 April 2019, pilgrims were permitted to ascend the exposed marble stairs on their knees for the first time in almost 300 years.[3] The stairs remained exposed and open to the public between April 2019 and July 2019, and then were again covered in wood.[4]

Decoration

The decoration of the Scala Sancta was one of the major renovations of the pontificate of Pope Sixtus V, led by Cesare Nebbia and Giovanni Guerra and occupying a crew of artists to decorate frescoes including Giovanni Baglione, Giacomo Stella, Giovanni Battista Pozzo, Paris Nogari, Prospero Orsi,[9] Ferraù Fenzoni, Paul Bril, Paulo Guidotti, Giovanni Battista Ricci, Cesare Torelli, Antonio Vivarini, Andrea Lilio, Cesare and Vincenzo Conti, Baldassare Croce, Ventura Salimbeni, and Antonio Scalvati. Numerous preliminary drawings by Nebbia for these frescoes are extant, though it is not known with certainty who painted each fresco.

A major restoration was completed in 2007 and funded largely by the Getty Foundation.[5] In early 2018, a restoration of the frescoes began, causing the Scala Sancta to be closed for over a year.[3] 

Scala Sancta in the Catholic Church

Climbing the Holy Stairs on one's knees is a devotion much in favour with pilgrims and the faithful. Several popes have performed the devotion,[5] and the Catholic Church has granted indulgences for it.[10] Pope Pius VII on 2 September 1817 granted those who ascend the Stairs in the prescribed manner an indulgence of nine years for every step. Pope Pius X, on 26 February 1908, conceded a plenary indulgence as often as the Stairs are devoutly ascended after Confession and Holy Communion. On 11 August 2015, the Apostolic Penitentiary granted a plenary indulgence to all who, "inspired by love", climbed the Stairs on their knees while meditating on Christ's passion, and also went to Confession, received Holy Communion, and recited certain other Catholic prayers, including a prayer for the Pope's intentions. Those who were physically impeded from climbing the stairs could obtain the plenary indulgence by meditating on Christ's passion while at the Stairs and completing the other conditions.[11]

As part of the ceremonies opening the Holy Year in 1933, Cardinal Francesco Marchetti Selvaggiani, Vicar of Rome, led a crowd of hundreds in mounting the steps on their knees.[12]

Between April 2019 and July 2019, pilgrims were permitted to ascend the stairs kneeling on the original uncovered marble steps for the first time in almost 300 years. As a result, visitor numbers during this time increased threefold from the usual, and long lines formed at the entrance.[4]

Visitors

Martin Luther climbed the steps on his knees in 1510. As he did so, he repeated the Our Father on each step. It was said, by doing this work one could "redeem a soul from purgatory." But when Luther arrived at the top he could not suppress his doubt, "Who knows whether this is true?"[13]

Charles Dickens, after visiting the Scala Sancta in 1845, wrote: "I never, in my life, saw anything at once so ridiculous and so unpleasant as this sight." He described the scene of pilgrims ascending the staircase on their knees as a "dangerous reliance on outward observances".[5][14]

Copies of the Scala Sancta

Imitations of the Scala Sancta were erected in several locations and indulgences were often attached to them:

Rome, Borgo Santo Spirito: the stairs lead to the Church of Santi Michele e Magno.[15][16]

Ducal palace, Mantua, Italy: 1614-5 by Ferdinando Gonzaga, then a cardinal, later Duke of Mantua.[8]

Sacro Monte di Varallo, Piedmont, Italy

Saint Paul Church, Campli, Italy (42°43′28.5″N 13°41′5.7″E): Pope Clement XIV acknowledged Campli in 1772 with the ownership of the Holy Stairs.[17]

San Girolamo, Reggio Emilia

Veroli, Italy

Basilica of Sainte Anne d'Auray, France (47°42′17.47″N 2°57′9.27″W)

Kalvarienbergkirche, Bad Tölz, Germany (47°45′49″N 11°33′21″E)

Kreuzbergkirche, Bonn, Germany (50°42′51″N 7°4′48″E): Clemens August of Bavaria, ordered the retrofitting of this church with a "Scala Sancta" according to the plans of the Baroque architect Balthasar Neumann.[18] It was constructed between 1745 and 1751.

Františkánsky kostol Nepoškvrneného Počatia Panny Márie, Malacky, Slovakia

Church of Our Lady and Saint Charlemagne in Karlov, Prague, Bohemia, Czech Republic (1708–11)

Loretto Chapel in Brno, Moravia, Czech Republic

Chapel of the Holy Stairs in the Monastery on the Mountain of the Mother of God in Dolní Hedeč, Králíky, Eastern Bohemia, Czech Republic

Pilgrim Chapel of the Holy Stairs in Rumburk, Bohemia, Czech Republic (1767–70)

Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré outside Quebec City, Canada

Sanctuaire du Sacré-Coeur et de Saint-Padre-Pio in Montreal, Canada

Saint Patrick — Saint Stanislaus Kostka in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

The National Shrine of the Cross in the Woods in Indian River (unofficial locality), Cheboygan County, Michigan, United States

Holy Family Chapel of the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph in Nazareth (unofficial locality), Kalamazoo County, Michigan, United States

Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto in Lowell, Massachusetts United States

Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Sośnica, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scala_Sancta 

Roman Britain was the territory that became the Roman province of Britannia after the Roman conquest of Britain, consisting of a large part of the island of Great Britain. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410.[1][2]

Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 and 54 BC as part of his Gallic Wars.[3] According to Caesar, the Britons had been overrun or culturally assimilated by the Belgae during the British Iron Age and had been aiding Caesar's enemies. The Belgae were the only Celtic tribe to cross the sea into Britain, for to all other Celtic tribes this land was unknown.[4] He received tribute, installed the friendly king Mandubracius over the Trinovantes, and returned to Gaul. Planned invasions under Augustus were called off in 34, 27, and 25 BC. In 40 AD, Caligula assembled 200,000 men at the Channel on the continent, only to have them gather seashells (musculi) according to Suetonius, perhaps as a symbolic gesture to proclaim Caligula's victory over the sea.[5] Three years later, Claudius directed four legions to invade Britain and restore the exiled king Verica over the Atrebates.[6] The Romans defeated the Catuvellauni, and then organized their conquests as the province of Britain. By 47 AD, the Romans held the lands southeast of the Fosse Way. Control over Wales was delayed by reverses and the effects of Boudica's uprising, but the Romans expanded steadily northwards.

The conquest of Britain continued under command of Gnaeus Julius Agricola (77–84), who expanded the Roman Empire as far as Caledonia. In mid-84 AD, Agricola faced the armies of the Caledonians, led by Calgacus, at the Battle of Mons Graupius. Battle casualties were estimated by Tacitus to be upwards of 10,000 on the Caledonian side and about 360 on the Roman side. The bloodbath at Mons Graupius concluded the forty-year conquest of Britain, a period that possibly saw between 100,000 and 250,000 Britons killed.[7] In the context of pre-industrial warfare and of a total population of Britain of c. 2 million, these are very high figures.[8]

Under the 2nd-century emperors Hadrian and Antoninus Pius, two walls were built to defend the Roman province from the Caledonians, whose realms in the Scottish Highlands were never controlled. Around 197 AD, the Severan Reforms divided Britain into two provinces: Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior.[9] During the Diocletian Reforms, at the end of the 3rd century, Britannia was divided into four provinces under the direction of a vicarius, who administered the Diocese of the Britains.[10] A fifth province, Valentia, is attested in the later 4th century. For much of the later period of the Roman occupation, Britannia was subject to barbarian invasions and often came under the control of imperial usurpers and imperial pretenders. The final Roman withdrawal from Britain occurred around 410; the native kingdoms are considered to have formed Sub-Roman Britain after that.

Following the conquest of the Britons, a distinctive Romano-British culture emerged as the Romans introduced improved agriculture, urban planning, industrial production, and architecture. The Roman goddess Britannia became the female personification of Britain. After the initial invasions, Roman historians generally only mention Britain in passing. Thus, most present knowledge derives from archaeological investigations and occasional epigraphic evidence lauding the Britannic achievements of an emperor.[11] Roman citizens settled in Britain from many parts of the Empire.[12]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Britain 

Constantine came to Britain with his father, the emperor Constantius, in 305. Constantius died in July the following year in York.

The system of succession at the time demanded that another Caesar should become emperor but the soldiers in York immediately proclaimed Constantine their leader. It proved to be a pivotal moment in history. He is known as Constantine the Great for very good reasons.

After nearly 80 years, and three generations of political fragmentation, Constantine united the whole of the Roman Empire under one ruler. By 324 he had extended his power and was sole emperor, restoring stability and security to the Roman world.

Constantine also abandoned Rome as the most important city in the empire, building a new capital modestly named Constantinople (now Istanbul). In the next two centuries, Rome and Italy became vulnerable to barbarian invasions. The much more easily defensible Constantinople lasted for another thousand years.

Finally, and perhaps most famously, Constantine’s strong support for Christianity had an incalculable impact on European history. He is said to have been converted to the faith in AD 312, although this has not been corroborated.

At the time only around ten per cent of the Roman empire’s population was Christian. The majority of the ruling elite worshipped the old gods of Rome. Constantine was the first emperor to allow Christians to worship freely, helping to unite and promote the faith. He went on to instigate the celebration of the birth of Christ we call Christmas.

In 314, a year after Constantine’s edict on religious tolerance, Eboracum had its first Bishop. Along with the Bishop’s of Londinium (London) and Lindum (Lincoln), he attended the Christian Council at Arles.

Constantine didn’t stay long in York, establishing Trier as his base for his campaigns against the Germans perhaps a year after his succession. However his place in York's history was already very firmly sealed.

http://www.historyofyork.org.uk/themes/constantine-the-great 

An extensive propaganda campaign followed, during which Maxentius' image was purged from all public places. He was written up as a "tyrant" and set against an idealised image of Constantine the "liberator". Eusebius is the best representative of this strand of Constantinian propaganda.[199] Maxentius' rescripts were declared invalid, and the honours that he had granted to leaders of the Senate were also invalidated.[200] Constantine also attempted to remove Maxentius' influence on Rome's urban landscape. All structures built by him were rededicated to Constantine, including the Temple of Romulus and the Basilica of Maxentius.[201] At the focal point of the basilica, a stone statue was erected of Constantine holding the Christian labarum in its hand. Its inscription bore the message which the statue illustrated: "By this sign, Constantine had freed Rome from the yoke of the tyrant."[202]

Constantine also sought to upstage Maxentius' achievements. For example, the Circus Maximus was redeveloped so that its seating capacity was 25 times larger than that of Maxentius' racing complex on the Via Appia.[203] Maxentius' strongest military supporters were neutralised when he disbanded the Praetorian Guard and Imperial Horse Guard.[204] The tombstones of the Imperial Horse Guard were ground up and used in a basilica on the Via Labicana,[205] and their former base was redeveloped into the Lateran Basilica on 9 November 312—barely two weeks after Constantine captured the city.[206] The Legio II Parthica was removed from Albano Laziale,[200] and the remainder of Maxentius' armies were sent to do frontier duty on the Rhine.[207]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_the_Great

Revelation 6

1599 Geneva Bible

6 1 The Lamb openeth the first seal of the book. 3 The second, 5 the third, 7 the fourth, 9 the fifth, 12 and the sixth, and then arise murders, famine, pestilence, outcries of Saints, earthquakes, and divers strange sights in heaven.

1 [a]After I beheld when the Lamb had opened one of the seals, and I heard one of the four beasts say, as it were the noise of thunder, Come and see.

2 Therefore [b]I beheld, and lo, there was a white horse, and he that sat on him, had a bow, and a crown was given unto him, and he went forth conquering that he might overcome.

3 And [c]when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.

4 And there went out another horse, that was red, and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another, and there was given unto him a great sword.

5 [d]And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. Then I beheld, and lo, a black horse, and he that sat on him, had balances in his hand.

6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A [e]measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny, [f]and oil, and wine hurt thou not.

7 [g]And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.

8 And I looked, and behold, a pale horse, and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed after him, and power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with beasts of the earth.

9 [h]And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were killed for the word of God, and for the testimony which they maintained.

10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, Lord, which art holy and true! dost not thou judge and avenge our blood on them, that dwell on the earth?

11 And long [i]white robes were given unto every one, and it was said unto them, that they should rest for a little season until their fellow servants, and their brethren that should be killed even as they were, were [j]fulfilled.

12 [k]And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake, and the Sun was as black as [l]sackcloth of hair, and the Moon was like blood.

13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, as a fig-tree casteth her green figs, when it is shaken of a mighty wind.

14 And heaven departed away, as a scroll, when it is rolled, and every mountain and isle were moved out of their places.

15 [m]And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in dens, and among the rocks of the mountains,

16 And said to the mountains and rocks, [n]Fall on us, and hide us from the presence of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.

17 For the great day of his wrath is come, and who can stand?

Footnotes

Revelation 6:1 This is the second part of this first history (which I said was common and of the whole world) of the works of God in the government of all things. Of this part there are generally 3 members, the foresignifying, the caution, and the execution of all the evils which God poureth out upon this world, which hath most hardly deserved of him. The foresignifying is set down in this chapter, the caution for preserving the Church, is in the next chapter, and the execution is described, Rev. 8:9. In every part of the foresignifying, there are three branches: the several and express calling of S. John, to prepare himself to take knowledge of the things that were to be showed unto him in the opening of the seals: the sign and the word expounding the sign: And albeit the express calling of S. John, be used only in four of the signs, yet the same is also to be understood in the rest that follow. The author of the foresignifying is the Lamb, as that word of the Father made the Mediator, opening the seals of the book. The instruments are the Angels in most of the visions, who expound the sign and words thereof. Now this first verse containeth an express calling of S. John to mark the opinion of the first seal.

Revelation 6:2 The first sign joined with declaration, is that God for the sins, and horrible rebellion of the world, will invade the same: and first of all as afar off, with his darts of pestilence most suddenly, mightily, and gloriously, bear down the same as judge, and triumph over it as conqueror.

Revelation 6:3 The second sign joined with words of declaration (after the express calling of S. John as before) is that God being provoked unto wrath by the obstinacy and hardheartedness of the world not repenting for the former plague, as setting upon the same hand, will kindle the fire of debate amongst men, and will destroy the inhabitants of this world, one by the sword of another.

Revelation 6:5 The third sign with declaration, is that God will destroy the world with famine, withdrawing all provision: which is by the figure Synecdoche comprehended in wheat, barley, wine and oil.

Revelation 6:6 Hereby is signified what great scarcity of corn there was, for the word here used is a kind of measure of dry things, which is in quantity but the eighth part of a bushel, which was an ordinary portion to be given servants for their stint of meat for one day.

Revelation 6:6 I had rather distinguish and read the words thus, and the wine and the oil thou shalt not deal unjustly. In this sense likewise the wine and the oil shall be sold a very little for a penny. Thou shalt not deal unjustly, namely, when thou shalt measure out a very little for a great price: so is the place evident: otherwise that is most true, which the wise man saith, that whoso withholdeth the corn shall be cursed of the people, Prov. 11:26.

Revelation 6:7 The fourth sign joined with words of declaration, is, that God will addict the fourth part of the world indifferently, unto death and hell, or the grave by all those means at once, by which before severally and in order he had recalled their minds unto amendment. Unto these are also added the wild and cruel beasts of the earth, out of Lev. 26:22. Thus doth God according to his wisdom dispense the treasures of his power, justly towards all, mercifully towards the good, and with patience or longsufferance towards his enemies.

Revelation 6:9 The fifth sign is that the holy martyrs which are under the altar, whereby they are sanctified, that is, received into the trust and tuition of Christ (into whose hands they are committed) shall cry out for the justice of God, in an holy zeal to advance his kingdom and not of any private perturbation of the mind, in this and the next verse, and that God will, in deed, sign and word comfort them, verse 11.

Revelation 6:11 As before 3:4.

Revelation 6:11 Until their number be fulfilled.

Revelation 6:12 The sixth sign, the narration whereof hath two parts, the sign, and the event. The sign is, that the earth, heaven, and the things that are in them for the horror of the sins of the world upon those most heavy foretellings of God, and complaints of the Saints shall be shaken most vehemently, trembling in horrible manner, and losing their light in this verse: falling from on high, verse 13, withdrawing themselves and flying away for the greatness of the trouble, verse 14. So boldly do all creatures depend upon the will of God, and content themselves in his glory.

Revelation 6:12 So they called in old time those woven works that were of hair.

Revelation 6:15 The event of the sign aforegoing: that there is no man that shall not be astonished at that general commotion, fly away for fear and hide himself in this verse, and wish unto himself most bitter death for exceeding horror of the wrath of God, and of the Lamb, at which before he was astonished. Now this perplexity is not of the godly, but of the wicked, whose portion is in this life, as the Psalmist speaketh, Ps. 17:14. Not that sorrow which is according unto God, which worketh repentance unto salvation, whereof a man shall never repent him, but that worldly sorrow that bringeth death, 2 Cor. 7:9, as their wishings do declare: for this history is of the whole world, severed from the history of the Church, as I have showed before, Rev. 4:1.

Revelation 6:16 These are words of such as despair of their escape: of which despair there are two arguments, the presence of God and the Lamb provoked to wrath against the world in this verse, and the conscience of their own weakness, whereby men feel that they are no way able to stand in the day of the wrath of God, verse 17, as it is said, Isa. 14:27.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation%206&version=GNV

Equites

From the reign of Constantine the Great (r. 306–337 AD) onwards, there was an explosive increase in the membership of both aristocratic orders. Under Diocletian, the number of sitting members of the Senate remained at around 600, the level it had retained for the whole duration of the Principate.[80] Constantine established Constantinople as a twin capital of the empire, with its own senate, initially of 300 members. By 387, their number had swollen to 2,000, while the Senate in Rome probably reached a comparable size, so that the upper order reached total numbers similar to the equo publico equites of the early Principate.[81] By this time, even some commanders of military regiments were accorded senatorial status.[82]

At the same time the order of equites was also expanded vastly by the proliferation of public posts in the late empire, most of which were now filled by equestrians. The Principate had been a remarkably slim-line administration, with about 250 senior officials running the vast empire, relying on local government and private contractors to deliver the necessary taxes and services. During the 3rd century the imperial bureaucracy, all officials and ranks expanded. By the time of the Notitia Dignitatum, dated to 395 AD, comparable senior positions had grown to approximately 6,000, a 24-fold increase.[83] The total number enrolled in the imperial civilian service, the militia inermata ('unarmed service') is estimated to have been 30–40,000: the service was professionalized with a staff made up almost entirely of free men on salary, and enrolled in a fictional legion, I Audiutrix.[84]

In addition, large numbers of decuriones (local councillors) were granted equestrian rank, often obtaining it by bribery. Officials of ever lower rank were granted equestrian rank as reward for good service, e.g. in 365, the actuarii (accountants) of military regiments. This inflation in the number of equites inevitably led to the debasement of the order's prestige. By AD 400, equites were no longer an echelon of nobility, but just a title associated with mid-level administrative posts.[56]

Constantine established a third order of nobility, the comites (companions (of the emperor), singular form comes, the origin of the medieval noble rank of count). This overlapped with senators and equites, drawing members from both. Originally, the comites were a highly exclusive group, comprising the most senior administrative and military officers, such as the commanders of the comitatus, or mobile field armies. But comites rapidly followed the same path as equites, being devalued by excessive grants until the title became meaningless by 450.[82]

In the late 4th and in the 5th century, therefore, the senatorial class at Rome and Constantinople became the closest equivalent to the equo publico equestrian class of the early Principate. It contained many ancient and illustrious families, some of whom claimed descent from the aristocracy of the Republic, but had, as described, lost almost all political and military power.[85] Nevertheless, senators retained great influence due to their enormous inherited wealth and their role as the guardians of Roman tradition and culture.[86]

Centuries of capital accumulation, in the form of vast landed estates (latifundia) across many provinces resulted in enormous wealth for most senators. Many received annual rents in cash and in kind of over 5,000 lbs of gold, equivalent to 360,000 solidi (or 5 million Augustan-era denarii), at a time when a miles (common soldier) would earn no more than four solidi a year in cash. Even senators of middling wealth could expect an income 1,000–1,500 lbs of gold.[87]

The 4th-century historian Ammianus Marcellinus, a former high-ranking military staff officer who spent his retirement years in Rome, bitterly attacked the Italian aristocracy, denouncing their extravagant palaces, clothes, games and banquets and above all their lives of total idleness and frivolity.[88] In his words can be heard the contempt for the senatorial class of a career soldier who had spent his lifetime defending the empire, a view clearly shared by Diocletian and his Illyrian successors. But it was the latter who reduced the aristocracy to that state, by displacing them from their traditional role of governing the empire and leading the army.[89]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equites 

"Church of The Holy Sepulchre

Following the siege of Jerusalem in AD 70 during the First Jewish–Roman War, Jerusalem had been reduced to ruins. In AD 130, the Roman emperor Hadrian began the building of a Roman colony, the new city of Aelia Capitolina, on the site. Circa AD 135, he ordered that a cave containing a rock-cut tomb[c] be filled in to create a flat foundation for a temple dedicated to Jupiter or Venus.[3][12] The temple remained until the early 4th century.[13][14]

Constantine and Helena: context for the first sanctuary

After seeing a vision of a cross in the sky in 312,[15] Constantine the Great began to favor Christianity, signed the Edict of Milan legalising the religion, and sent his mother, Helena, to Jerusalem to look for Christ's tomb. With the help of Bishop of Caesarea Eusebius and Bishop of Jerusalem Macarius, three crosses were found near a tomb; one which allegedly cured people of death was presumed to be the True Cross Jesus was crucified on, leading the Romans to believe that they had found Calvary.[15][16]

Constantine ordered in about 326 that the temple to Jupiter/Venus be replaced by a church.[3] After the temple was torn down and its ruins removed, the soil was removed from the cave, revealing a rock-cut tomb that Helena and Macarius identified as the burial site of Jesus.[2][17][18][19]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Holy_Sepulchre 

Infiltrating the Catholic Church 

How was Masonry able to penetrate the Catholic Church? When did its plan to infiltrate begin? Edith Starr Miller sheds light on these two questions in Occult Theocrasy. Miller explains that after the 1789-1793 destruction of old France, and prior to the reign of Napoleon, Grand Orient Freemasonry's aim was to destroy Christianity at its source. From the minutes of the Italian Masonic Lodge, entitled Permanent Instructions, or Practical Code of Rules: Guide for the Heads of the Highest Grades of Masonry, Miller quotes:

Now that we are constituted in an active body, and that our Order begins to reign as well in places most remote as in those that are nearest our centre, one great thought arises, a thought that has always greatly pre-occupied the men who aspire to the universal regeneration of the world, that thought is, the Liberation of Italy, for from Italy shall one day issue the freedom of the entire world - a Republic of Fraternity, Harmony, and Humanity. 

Our final aim is that of Voltaire and of the French Revolution, - the complete annihilation of Catholicism, and ultimately of Christianity. 

Under this cloak [of Freemasonry], we may conspire at our convenience, and arrive, little by little, at our ultimate aim. 

The Pope, whoever he may be, will never enter into a secret society. It then becomes the duty of the Secret Society to make the first advance to the Church and to the Pope, with the object of conquering both. The work for which we gird ourselves up, is not the work of a day, nor a month, nor a year. 

It may last for many years, perhaps for a century; in our ranks the soldier dies, but the war is continued. We do not at present intend to gain the Pope to our cause, nor to make him a neophyte to our principles, or a propagator of our ideas. Such would be a dream. 

That which we should seek, that which we should await, as the Jews await a Messiah, is a Pope according to our wants.17

What the Grand Orient desired was either a weak Pope, or one who could be directly manipulated. That Pope arose in 1958. He was not a weak man, but one cunningly groomed by the Grand Master of the Priory of Sion. According to the authors of Holy Blood, Holy Grail, while acting as papal nuncio to Turkey in 1935 this prelate had secretly joined a Rose-Croix order, possibly the Priory of Sion.18 

Grand Master (GM) of the Priory of Sion at that time was artist Jean Cocteau (GM 1918-1963). As helmsman of Sion, his apparent assignment was to steer the Catholic Church away from its centuries-old, anti-Masonic attitude to one that would favor the Brotherhood. A pope groomed in his younger years in a Rosicrucian order would do the job for Sion. Cardinal Angelo Roncalli of Venice was the priest selected by Cocteau. To make sure this prelate met the right people, Cocteau introduced him to those with whom he had spent a good portion of his life - members of royalist and aristocratic Catholic circles. When it came time to appoint the papal nuncio to Turkey, the nod went to Cardinal Roncalli. When it was time for the Catholic aristocracy to lobby for a Pope, a suggestion from Jean Cocteau was sufficient. 

An interesting point in this intrigue is that two years before Roncalli ascended the Papal throne, the Priory documents of 1956 list Jean Cocteau as Jean (John) XXIII. The authors of Holy Blood, Holy Grail report that two years later, "In 1958, while Coctean still presumably held the grand mastership.. the assembled cardinals elected as their new Pontiff Cardinal Angelo Roncalli of Venice."'9 The new pope took the name John XXIII, the same name listed in the Priory documents for his Rosicrucian mentor. 

A newly elected Pope traditionally chooses his own papal name, which name signifies in what direction the Vicar of Christ will lead the Church. If he takes the name of a previous Pope, adding one Roman numeral to it, he will follow in that Pope's footsteps. Holy Blood authors report that "Cardinal Roncalli caused considerable consternation when he chose the name of John XXIII. Such consternation was not unjustified. In the first place, the name John had been implicitly anathematized since it was last used in the early fifteenth century - by an Antipope."20 

Who was this Antipope? The Encyclopaedia Britannica states that Baldassare Cossa was the Antipope John XXIII, a schismatic Pope from 1410 to 1415. Cossa lived during the days of strongest Protestant Reformation, a time also when Rosicrucianism was on the rise. Since he was ecumenical in philosophy he sided with the schismatics. And as a schismatic, Cossa's claim to the name John XXIII is generally considered by the Roman Catholic Church to be illegal.21 

Because of the Cossa stigma, the name "John" had not been used by Popes until Roncalli in 1958. What is so significant about Cardinal Roncalli's revival of the line of Johns is that he took the precise Roman numeral of the schismatic Antipope, signaling to the Catholic world he not only would follow in this schismatic prelate's footsteps, but would duplicate them. Cardinal Roncalli was known as the "ecumenical Pope." 

The authors of Holy Blood see another layer of meaning in the name: 

"If Pope John was affiliated with a Rose-Croix organization, and if that organization was the Prieure de Sion, the implications would be extremely intriguing. Among other things they would suggest that Cardinal Roncalli, on becoming Pope, chose the name of his own secret grand master - so that, for some symbolic reason, there would be a John XXIII presiding over Sion and the papacy simultaneously. "22 

We believe the significance of the name is otherwise. The Grand Master of Sion certainly knew of this fifteenth century schismatic ecumenical Antipope. The "symbolic reason" for the choice of name was not in the fact that two John XXIII's reigned simultaneously in the mid-twentieth century. It was more likely a confirmation of identity. Grand Master Jean Cocteau, when publishing his own name as Jean (John) XXIII in the Priory documents in 1956, was sending a message to the Priory of Sion's Lost King: "The Pope who names himself John XXIII, as I have named myself in this document, is the one I have been grooming in the doctrine of the Antipope by the same name!" The name would signal the "Lost King" of Sion that Cocteau had succeeded in his mission. 

In 1963 both Johns died. The authors of Holy Blood summarize the profound effects of John XXIII's pontificate upon the Catholic Church: 

Whatever the truth underlying these strange coincidences, there is no question that more than any other man Pope John XXIII was responsible for reorienting the Roman Catholic Church - and bringing it, as commentators have frequently said, into the twentieth century. Much of this was accomplished by the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, which John inaugurated. At the same time, however, John was responsible for other changes as well. He revised the Church's position on Freemasonry, for example - breaking with at least two centuries of entrenched tradition and pronouncing that a Catholic might be a Freemason.23

Chapter 8

THE JESUIT CONNECTION

(The Society of Jesus)

Scarlet and the Beast by John Daniel

Microsoft Word - SCARLET AND THE BEAST (archive.org)

https://ia803001.us.archive.org/28/items/ScarletAndTheBeastJohnDaniel1995/Scarlet%20and%20the%20Beast,%20John%20Daniel%20(1995).pdf 

295 In the elaboration and expression of our theogical views and in our choice of pastoral options, we must always actively seek to understand the mind of the hierarchical Church, having as our goal the Society s objective to help souls. At the same time we must try to articulate the sensus fidelium and help the magisterium discern in it the movements of the Spirit in accord with the teaching of Vatican II.[125]"

The CONstitutions of the Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms

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The Priory of Sion is an initiatory Order of chivalry, founded on July 15 1099 in Jerusalem, by Godfrey of Bouillon, at the Abbey "Our Lady of Mount Sion" as "Order of our Lady of Mount Sion."The Order, after being registered for the first time in history, in 1956, and then being dissolved in 1993, was newly registered in 2015, perpetuating the legitimate Pierre Plantard de Saint-Clair's lineage, through the actual Grand Master, Marco Rigamonti.The Priory of Sion is characterized by a gnostic and rosicrucian influence, who sets himself the task of supporting and nurturing personal growth, moral and spiritual, with respect and in harmony with the personal objectives that each of us, by nature, has to carry through in life experience.It's also our purpose the esoteric research as the study and experience related to the transcendent and mystical in an environment of communion with our Brothers and Sisters, Members of the Order.The Priory of Sion today inherits a tradition of esoteric, philosophical, spiritual and cultural legacy, which favors the cultivation of values and principles that offers the way to live a more aware and noble personal dimension.We work through symbols, ancient rituals, theurgic practice and traditions, in order to live a personal and collective sprirituality in communion with our Brothers and Sisters.The Order is apolitical and forbids its members to be made a place of political debate, or even worse, to be exploited for such purposes."

http://www.prieure-de-sion.com/ 

The Prieuré was cited by name in references extending from the twelfth to the early seventeenth century. Then, in documents dating from 1619, it was stated to have incurred the displeasure of King Louis XIII of France, who evicted them from their seat at Orléans and turned the premises over to the Jesuits.5 After that, the Prieuré de Sion seemed to vanish from the historical record, at least under that name, until 1956, when it appeared again, registered in the French Journal officiel. And yet the present-day Order had repeatedly cited certain of its activities between 1619 and the twentieth century, certain historical events in which it had played a role, certain historical developments in which it had some sort of vested interest. When we examined the events and developments in question, we found indisputable evidence attesting to the involvement of an organised and coherent cadre working in concert behind the scenes, sometimes using other institutions as a façade. This cadre was not named specifically, but everything indicated that it was indeed the Prieuré de Sion. What was more, it proved to involve precisely the same network of interlinked families claiming Merovingian descent. Whether it was the intrigues and the Wars of Religion in the sixteenth century, the insurrection known as the Fronde in the seventeenth century or the Masonic conspiracies of the eighteenth century, successive generations of precisely the same families were implicated, operating in accordance with a single consistent pattern."

The Messianic Legacy

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UV7FwghOOhdkp4fdk2SzG7oem2nRleW0/view?usp=sharing

"The origins of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem date back to the First Crusade, when its leader, Godfrey de Bouillon, liberated Jerusalem. As part of his operations to organize the religious, military and public bodies of the territories newly freed from Muslim control, he founded the Order of Canons of the Holy Sepulchre. According to accounts of the Crusades, in 1103 the first King of Jerusalem, Baldwin I, assumed the leadership of this canonical order, and reserved the right for himself and his successors (as agents of the Patriarch of Jerusalem) to appoint Knights to it, should the Patriarch be absent or unable to do so.The Order’s members included not only the Regular Canons (Fratres) but also the Secular Canons (Confratres) and the Sergentes. The latter were armed knights chosen from the crusader troops for their qualities of valor and dedication; they vowed to obey Augustinian Rule of poverty and obedience and undertook specifically, under the command of the King of Jerusalem, to defend the Holy Sepulchre and the Holy Places.Very soon after the First Crusade the troops – including the Knights of the Order of Canons of the Holy Sepulchre – began to return to their homelands. This led to the creation of priories all over Europe, which were part of the Order as they came under the jurisdiction of the noble knights or prelates who had been invested on the Holy Sepulchre itself and who, although they were no longer in the direct service of the King of Jerusalem, continued to belong to the Order of Canons.The Order first began to fail as a cohesive military body of knights after Saladin regained Jerusalem in 1182, and completely ceased to exist in that format after the defeat of Acre in 1291. The passing of the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem left the Order without a leader, though it continued to survive in the European priories thanks to the protection of sovereigns, princes, bishops and the Holy See. The priories kept alive the ideals of the Crusader Knights: propagation of the Faith, defense of the weak, charity towards other human beings. With the exception of events in Spain, it was only rarely that the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre ever took part again in military action to defend Christianity.In the 14th century, the Holy See made an extremely high payment to the Egyptian Sultan so that he would grant the right to protect the Christian Sanctuaries to the Franciscan Friars Minor. Throughout the whole period of the Latin Patriarchate’s suppression, the right to create new Knights was the prerogative of the representative of the highest Catholic authority in the Holy Land: the Custos.In 1847 the Patriarchate was restored and Pope Pius IX modernized the Order, issuing a new Constitution, which placed it under the direct protection of the Holy See and conferred its government to the Latin Patriarch. The Order’s fundamental role was also defined: to uphold the works of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, whilst preserving the spiritual duty of propagating the Faith.In 1949, Pius XII decreed that the Grand Master of the Order should be a Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church and assigned the position of Grand Prior to the Patriarch of Jerusalem. In 1962 Pope John XXIII and, in 1967, Pope Paul VI reorganized and revitalized the Order by adding more specific regulations to the Constitution with the intention of making the Order’s activities more co-coordinated and more effective.In February 1996, the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II enhanced the Order’s status. Today it is a Public Association of faithful with a legal canonical and public personality, constituted by the Holy See under Canon Law 312, paragraph 1:1.

https://eohsjeastern.org/a-brief-history/ 

Horses: the extent to which they can be possessed in our houses [575, 576]; the extent to which they can be used on missions [574, 625]"

The Constitutions of The Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms

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PART VI 1THE PERSONAL LIFE OF THOSE ALREADY ADMITTED AND INCORPORATED INTO THE BODY OF THE SOCIETY

SECTION 1: THE APOSTOLIC CHARACTER OF OUR VOWS IN GENERAL

143 §1. Our consecration by profession of the evangelical counsels, by which we respond to a divine vocation, is at one and the same time the following of Christ poor, virginal, and obedient and a rejection of those idols that the world is always prepared to adore, especially wealth, pleasure, prestige, and power. Hence, our poverty, chastity, and obedience ought visibly and efficaciously to bear witness to this attitude, whereby we proclaim the evangelical possibility of a certain communion among men and women that is a foretaste of the future kingdom of God.[1]

§2. Our religious vows, while binding us, also set us free:

free, by our vow of poverty, to share the life of the poor and to use whatever resources we may have, not for our own security and comfort, but for service;

free, by our vow of chastity, to be men for others, in friendship and communion with all, but especially with those who share our mission of service;

free, by our vow of obedience, to respond to the call of Christ as made known to us by him whom the Spirit has placed over the Church, and to follow the lead of all our superiors.[2] [1] See GC 32, d. 4, no. 16; see GC 31, d. 16, no. 4; d. 17, no. 2; d. 18, no. 3. [2] GC 32, d. 2, no. 20. 215

The Constitutions of The Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms

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The History and Legend of Scottish Rite Origins

The Story Unfolds…

Like much of early Masonic history, the origins of the Scottish Rite are uncertain. This is primarily due to the lack of historic documentation prior to the early 1700’s and not to any great veiled mystery. The few records kept were subject to loss, fire, weather and aging. So we can at best only speculate on many of our origins by looking at the few documents, historical references and legends that remain.

What We Know

In 1754, near Paris, Chevalier de Bonneville established the Chapter of Clermont. The Chapter resided in the College of Jesuits of Clermont, hence the name. It is said to have been created to honor the Duc de Clermont, then Grand Master of the English Grand Lodge of France.

The Chapter of Clermont was a “Chapter of the Advanced Degrees” and initially entailed six degrees and was later extended to 25 known degrees. The six initial degrees were 1˚, 2˚ and 3˚ St John’s Masonry, 4˚ Knight of the Eagle, 5˚ Illustrious Knight or Templar, 6˚ Sublime Illustrious Knight.

Interestingly enough historically, prior to the time of the Rite’s creation, James II had been in residence at Clermont in exile from Britain from 1688 to his death in 1701. As noted by German Masonic historian, Lenning… “whilst in exile, James II residing at the Jesuit College of Clermont in France, allowed his closest associates to fabricate certain degrees in order to extend their political views.” Lenning believed this to have been an attempt on the part of James and his associates to regain control of the British throne for the House of Stuart. If Lenning is right, this places the origins of the “Rite of Perfection” in the hands of James II and the Jacobite (Stuart) Freemasons who at the time were in exile from Great Britain throughout France and Italy. Lenning also contends that these degrees were introduced into French Freemasonry under the name of the Clermont System.

James II died in exile in 1701. His son James III is said to have continued his father’s Masonic legacy and later created further higher degrees.

Perhaps James II saw in the Jesuit morality plays of the College of Clermont a vessel for passing on a set of moral lessons. Some of the world’s greatest playwrights had emerged from Clermont. Jesuit tutelage had previously produced great writers such as Lope de Vega, Moliere, Racine, and the Corneille brothers. Ensconced in exile, I believe James II did find the inspiration and the training to help produce what would later become the first six degrees. From out of the darkness… comes light.

To be continued… (Author’s note… An in depth look at the Templar influence in Scottish Rite masonry’s origins can be found by visiting the Rosslyn Templars’ website.)"

https://web.archive.org/web/20190615041607/http://www.traversecityscottishrite.com/scottish-rite-history.html  

The Scottish Rite in Italy

The SC of Italy, that today is denominated “the Supreme Council SS.GG.II.GG. of the 3 rd and Last Level of the Free Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite for the Italian Jurisdiction – Grand Orient of Italy – Palazzo Giustiniani” as shown in a manuscript handed down as the Verbal of the Foundation, also called the “Seal of Foundation” which was founded and installed ritually in Milan on March16th 1805 by the Count Alexandre Francois Auguste De Grasse Tilly S.G.C. of the SC of France (1804), duly assisted by the French and Italian Brothers, with Licenses conferred by the SC Mother of the World of Charleston. The SC of Italy was a direct emanation of this Ritual Body.

In the same constitutional act of the SC of Italy, it is formally declared that it “creates and constitutes by its sovereign authority a General Grand Lodge in Italy under the name of G.O. Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite“. The Grand Orient of Italy, thus founded, was ritually installed on June 20th 1805 by the same founders of the SC of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.

The SC of Italy with headquarters in Milan, had jurisdiction only in the territory of the Italian Kingdom and the Sovereign Grand Commander was the Vice King Eugenio Beauharnais.

Subsequently, on the not yet unified Italian territory, other SS.CC ‘s were formed among which (in Naples) a SC called of the two Sicilies (1809), a SC of Palermo (1860), a SC of Naples (1860). Following the unification of Italy initially a SC was formed with the fusion of the SC Milan with that of Turin (1862), then with the transfer of the capital to Florence another SC of this city (1864) was formed. A further SC was established in 1870 in Rome, permanent Capital of the Kingdom. Following numerous agreements and with much difficulty, the unification between the various SS.CC in a single SC of Italy was achieved with headquarters in Rome.

From a schism which occurring 1908, a second SC was born called “Piazza del Gesù” which since 1912 was recognized by many SS.CC. of the world opposed to that of 2Palazzo Giustiniani”. The fascist period, during which all Masonic activity in Italy was prohibited, actually eliminated the problem of this atypical duplication between the historical continuity and the possession of recognition of the various Jurisdictions.

The separation between the Jurisdictions of the Grand Orient of Italy and the SC was sanctioned in 1922. The conference of Paris of the SS.CC. of the world, held in 1929, authorized this principle for all the SS.CC.

Upon recommencement of Masonic activity in 1943, after the failures of unification attempts, those who possessed the Supreme Level of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, formed two SS.CC. of “Palazzo Giustiniani” and “Piazza del Gesù”.

From 1960 to 1973, the residual incomprehension between the two historical blocks of Italian Masonry were settled. Since then, in spite of other efforts of schism, in particular that of 1977 which failed owing to the loyalty of the Scottish Brothers of Italy and the wisdom of SS.CC. of the rest of the world, the SC of “Palazzo Giustiniani” represents the regularity for 54 Supreme Councils in the world.

https://www.ritoscozzese.it/en/rsaa/history/

"[666] 6. 1On the side of the superior general, what will aid toward this union of hearts are the qualities of his person [G], to be treated in Part IX [723-25], with which he will perform his office, 2which is to be for all the members a head from which the influence required for the end sought by the Society ought to descend to them all. 3It is thus from the general as head that all authority of the provincials should flow, from the provincials that of the local superiors, and from the local superiors that of the individual members. 4And from this same head, or at least by his commission and approval, should likewise come the appointing of missions. And the same should apply to communicating the graces of the Society. 5For the more the subjects are dependent upon their superiors, the better will the love, obedience, and union among them be preserved."

The Constitutions of the Society of Jesus and Their Complementary Norms

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"Head:

1. See Illness, mental

2. The superior general, head of the Society [666]"

page 463

The CONstitutions of the Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms

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"Revelation 13:18

New International Version

"18 This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man.[a] That number is 666."

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation%2013%3A18&version=NIV

"BULL of Pope Boniface VIII promulgated November 18, 1302

For, according to the Blessed Dionysius, it is a law of the divinity that the lowest things reach the highest place by intermediaries. Then, according to the order of the universe, all things are not led back to order equally and immediately, but the lowest by the intermediary, and the inferior by the superior. Hence we must recognize the more clearly that spiritual power surpasses in dignity and in nobility any temporal power whatever, as spiritual things surpass the temporal. This we see very clearly also by the payment, benediction, and consecration of the tithes, but the acceptance of power itself and by the government even of things. For with truth as our witness, it belongs to spiritual power to establish the terrestrial power and to pass judgement if it has not been good. Thus is accomplished the prophecy of Jeremias concerning the Church and the ecclesiastical power: ‘Behold to-day I have placed you over nations, and over kingdoms‘ and the rest. Therefore, if the terrestrial power err, it will be judged by the spiritual power; but if a minor spiritual power err, it will be judged by a superior spiritual power; but if the highest power of all err, it can be judged only by God, and not by man, according to the testimony of the Apostle: ‘The spiritual man judgeth of all things and he himself is judged by no man‘ [1 Cor 2:15]. This authority, however, (though it has been given to man and is exercised by man), is not human but rather divine, granted to Peter by a divine word and reaffirmed to him (Peter) and his successors by the One Whom Peter confessed, the Lord saying to Peter himself, ‘Whatsoever you shall bind on earth, shall be bound also in Heaven‘ etc., [Mt 16:19]. Therefore whoever resists this power thus ordained by God, resists the ordinance of God [Rom 13:2], unless he invent like Manicheus two beginnings, which is false and judged by us heretical, since according to the testimony of Moses, it is not in the beginnings but in the beginning that God created heaven and earth [Gen 1:1]. Furthermore, we declare, we proclaim, we define that it is absolutely necessary for salvation that every human creature be subject to the Roman Pontiff."

https://www.papalencyclicals.net/bon08/b8unam.htm

[529] C. 1The entire purport of this fourth vow of obedience to the pope was and is with regard to missions; 2and this is how the bulls should be understood where they speak of this obedience in all that the sovereign pontiff may command and wherever he may send one, and so on."

The Constitutions of The Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms

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Historical Institute of the Society of Jesus: a Roman work of the entire Society, 304 §2

The Constitutions of The Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms

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Peter was called Simon when he was born and he was a fisherman. He met Jesus near the Sea of Galilee. He decided to give up everything so that he could follow Jesus and listen to him talk about God. Simon became one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. Jesus changed his name to Peter which means “rock”.

https://www.mtcarmelcoorparoo.qld.edu.au/resource-centre/student-links/Documents/Saints%20Research.pdf 

As far as Simon Magus goes, even those now considered to be early supporters of the Roman Catholic Church condemned him. Yet, those who claim Christ really should look into whether or not they have adopted the non-biblical heresies that Simon Magus and his later followers adopted. Those wanting to learn more should also consider studying the articles at the The History of Early Christianity page.

We do not know how or when Simon Magus died (there are various legends). Some early reports indicate he was buried in Samaria or in Rome. Some suspect that burial was in Vatican hill.

Notice the following:

Elevating his personal teachings above the Bible, and preaching a "no-works" doctrine of salvation, Simon Magus soon had a universal, popular following. Deified by the Romans, he was buried on Vatican Hill. ...

The records regarding Simon's death vary widely. Many of the stories try to incorporate some fiction from the Greek and Egyptian myths to enhance the reader's interest in this fascinating character. But the earliest records say that he was buried in Rome after a long period of great honour and deification.

It is not clearly known where Simon Magus alias Simon Pater or Simon Jupiter was buried. But this much is known. The place of burial for ALL prophets and holy men of the Romans was in the sacred cemetery on Vatican Hill. This much is certain.

Notice what Werner Keller in his The Bible as History says about the so-called burial of the Catholics' Peter. (Before reading Keller's statement, let us remember that he is a thorough-going Catholic and firmly, himself, believed that the Apostle Peter was buried in Rome.

However, the Bible shows nothing of the kind. Now, let's read Keller's comment — the official comment of the Roman Catholic Church):

"On the night of his death on the cross Peter's followers BURIED his body. As in the case of Jesus on the hill of Calvary it was wrapped in linen and secretly taken to a PAGAN BURIAL GROUND on the Via Cornelia, behind the stone structure of the arena. This PAGAN CEMETERY lay on a knoll called VATICANUS: the Latin word 'vatis' means a 'prophet' or 'SOOTHSAYER'. In days gone by there had been an Etruscan oracle on this spot" (p. 368).

What an admission!

Keller ought to have better sense to know that this Peter buried in this cemetery, of all places, could NOT be the Apostle Peter. In the first place, Peter was a Jew, and they had to be buried in their own cemeteries. And even if by a happen-chance a Jew could be buried in a Roman cemetery, it is most unlikely that a Jew — especially one who attacked the Roman religion as the Apostle Peter did — would ever have been allowed into the most holy of pagan cemeteries! This cemetery was reserved for prophets, soothsayers and the great ones of pagan Rome. (Martin E. SIMON MAGUS SERIES - Simonites Establish UNIVERSAL Church. Good News, August 1964)

When Vatican hill has been excavated, they have found pagan graves and one or more in costly apparel. Perhaps, one in costly apparel was Simon Magus."

https://www.cogwriter.com/simonmagus.htm 

The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican (Italian: Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica (Latin: Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church of the Italian High Renaissance located in Vatican City, an independent microstate enclaved within the city of Rome, Italy. It was initially planned in the 15th century by Pope Nicholas V and then Pope Julius II to replace the ageing Old St. Peter's Basilica, which was built in the fourth century by Roman emperor Constantine the Great. Construction of the present basilica began on 18 April 1506 and was completed on 18 November 1626.[2]

Designed principally by Donato Bramante, Michelangelo, and Carlo Maderno, with piazza and fittings by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, St. Peter's is one of the most renowned works of Italian Renaissance architecture[3] and is the largest church in the world by interior measure.[note 1] While it is neither the mother church of the Catholic Church nor the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome (these equivalent titles being held by the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran in Rome), St. Peter's is regarded as one of the holiest Catholic shrines. It has been described as "holding a unique position in the Christian world",[4] and as "the greatest of all churches of Christendom."[3][5]

Catholic tradition holds that the basilica is the burial site of Saint Peter, chief among Jesus's apostles and also the first Bishop of Rome (Pope). Saint Peter's tomb is directly below the high altar of the basilica, also known as the Altar of the Confession.[6] For this reason, many popes, cardinals and bishops have been interred at St. Peter's since the Early Christian period.

St. Peter's is famous as a place of pilgrimage and for its liturgical functions. The pope presides at a number of liturgies throughout the year both within the basilica or the adjoining St. Peter's Square; these liturgies draw audiences numbering from 15,000 to over 80,000 people.[7] St. Peter's has many historical associations, with the early Christian Church, the Papacy, the Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation and numerous artists, especially Michelangelo. As a work of architecture, it is regarded as the greatest building of its age.[8] St. Peter's is one of the four churches in the world that hold the rank of Major papal basilica, all four of which are in Rome, and is also one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome. Contrary to popular misconception, it is not a cathedral because it is not the seat of a bishop; the cathedra of the pope as bishop of Rome is at the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran.[9]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Peter%27s_Basilica 

John Hyrcanus (/hərˈkeɪnəs/; יוחנן הרקנוס‎ Yōḥānān Hurqanōs; Ancient Greek: Ἰωάννης Ὑρκανός, romanized: Iōánnēs Hurkanós) was a Hasmonean (Maccabean) leader and Jewish high priest of the 2nd century BCE (born 164 BCE, reigned from 134 BCE until his death in 104 BCE). In rabbinic literature he is often referred to as Yoḥanan Cohen Gadol (יוחנן כהן גדול‎), "John the High Priest".[1]

Name

Josephus explains in The Jewish War that John was also known as "Hyrcanus", but does not explain the reason behind this name. The only other primary sources — the Books of the Maccabees — never used this name with respect to John. The single occurrence of the name Hyrcanus in 2 Maccabees 3:11 refers to a man to whom some of the money in the Temple belonged during the c. 178 BCE visit of Heliodorus.[2]

The reason for the name is disputed amongst biblical scholars, with a variety of reasons proposed:

Familial origin in the region of Hyrcania on the Caspian Sea[3]

A Greek regnal name, which would have represented closer ties with the Hellenistic culture against which the Maccabees had revolted under Seleucid rule. However, the region of Hyrcania had been conquered by Mithridates I of Parthia in 141–139 BCE

Given the name by the Seleucids after he fought in the region alongside Antiochus VII Sidetes against Phraates II of Parthia in 130–129 BCE, a campaign which resulted in the release of Antiochus' brother Demetrius II Nicator from captivity in Hyrcania

Life and work

He was the son of Simon Thassi and hence the nephew of Judas Maccabaeus, Jonathan Apphus and their siblings, whose story is told in the deuterocanonical books of 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees, in the Talmud, and in Josephus. John was not present at a banquet at which his father and his two brothers were murdered, by John's brother-in-law, Ptolemy, son of Abubus. He attained to his father's former offices, that of high priest and ethnarch (national leader)—but not king.[4] Josephus said that John Hyrcanus had five sons but named only four in his histories: Judah Aristobulus I, Antigonus I, Alexander Jannai, and Absalom. It is this fifth brother who is said to have unsuccessfully sought the throne at the death of Aristobulus I.[5]

Siege of Jerusalem

During the first year of John Hyrcanus's reign, he faced a serious challenge to independent Judean rule from the Seleucid Empire. Antiochus VII Sidetes marched into Judea, pillaged the countryside and laid a year-long siege on Jerusalem. The prolonged siege caused Hyrcanus to remove any Judean from the city who could not assist with the defence effort (Antiquities 13.240). These refugees were not allowed to pass through Antiochus’ lines, becoming trapped in the middle of a chaotic siege. With a humanitarian crisis on his hands, Hyrcanus re-admitted his estranged Jerusalemites when the festival of Sukkot arrived. Afterwards, due to food shortages in Jerusalem, Hyrcanus negotiated a truce with Antiochus.[6]

The terms of the truce consisted of three thousand talents of silver as payment for Antiochus, breaking down the walls of Jerusalem, Judean participation in the Seleucid war against the Parthians, and once again Judean recognition of Seleucid control (Antiquities 13.245). These terms were a harsh blow to Hyrcanus, who had to loot the tomb of David to pay the 3,000 talents (The Wars of the Jews I 2:5).

Under Seleucid control (133–128 BCE)

Following the Seleucid siege, Judea faced tough economic times which were magnified by taxes to the Seleucids enforced by Antiochus. Furthermore, Hyrcanus was forced to accompany Antiochus on his eastern campaign in 130 BCE. Hyrcanus probably functioned as the military commander of a Jewish company in the campaign.[7] It is reported that Antiochus, out of consideration for the religion of his Jewish allies, at one point ordered a two days' halt of the entire army to allow them to avoid breaking the Sabbath and Festival of Weeks.[8]

This enforced absence probably caused a loss of support for the inexperienced Hyrcanus among the Judean population.[9] Judeans in the countryside were especially disillusioned with Hyrcanus after Antiochus’ army plundered their land. Furthermore, John Hyrcanus's driving out the non-military population of Jerusalem during the siege also probably caused resentment against him. The action of looting the Tomb of David violated his obligations as High Priest, which would have offended the religious leadership.[10]

Therefore, at a very early point in his thirty-one year reign of Judea, Hyrcanus had lost the support of Judeans in various cultural sectors. The Jerusalemites, the countryside Judeans and the religious leadership probably doubted the future of Judea under Hyrcanus. However, in 128 BCE Antiochus VII was killed in battle against Parthia. What followed was an era of conquest led by Hyrcanus that marked the high point of Judea as the most significant power in the Levant.[11]

Conquests

John Hyrcanus was able to take advantage of unrest in the Seleucid Empire to assert Judean independence and conquer new territories. In 130 BCE Demetrius II, the former Seleucid king, returned from exile in Hyrcania to take back control of his empire. However, transition of power made it difficult for Demetrius to assert control over Judea.[12] Furthermore, the Seleucid Empire itself fell apart into smaller principalities. The Ituraeans of Lebanon, the Ammonites of the Transjordan, and the Arabian Nabateans represented independent principalities that broke away from Seleucid control.[13] Hyrcanus was determined to take advantage of the dissipating Seleucid Empire to increase the Judean State.

Hyrcanus also raised a new mercenary army that strongly contrasted with the Judean forces that were defeated by Antiochus VII (Ant.13.249). The Judean population was probably still recovering from the attack of Antiochus, and therefore could not provide enough able men for a Hyrcanus-led army.[12] John Hyrcanus's army was supported by the Judean State once again by funds that Hyrcanus removed from the Tomb of David.[14]

Beginning in 113 BCE, Hyrcanus began an extensive military campaign against Samaria. Hyrcanus placed his sons Antigonus and Aristobulus in charge of the siege of Samaria. The Samaritans called for help and eventually received 6,000 troops from Antiochus IX Cyzicenus. Although the siege lasted for a long, difficult year, Hyrcanus was unwilling to give up. Ultimately, Samaria was overrun and totally destroyed. Cyzicenus' mercenary army was defeated and the city of Scythopolis seems to have been occupied by Hyrcanus as well.[15] The inhabitants of Samaria were then put into slavery. Upon conquering the former Seleucid regions Hyrcanus embarked on a policy of forcing the non-Jewish populations to adopt Jewish customs.[16][17]

John Hyrcanus's first conquest was an invasion of the Transjordan in 110 BCE.[18] John Hyrcanus's mercenary army laid siege to the city of Medeba and took it after a six-month siege. After these victories, Hyrcanus went north towards Shechem and Mount Gerizim. The city of Shechem was reduced to a village and the Samaritan Temple on Mount Gerizim was destroyed.[16] This military action against Shechem has been dated archaeologically around 111–110 BCE.[19] Destroying the Samaritan Temple on Mount Gerizim helped ameliorate John Hyrcanus's status among religious elite and common Jews who detested any temple to Yahweh outside of Jerusalem.

Hyrcanus also initiated a military campaign against the Idumeans (Edomites). During this campaign Hyrcanus conquered Adora, Maresha and other Idumean towns (Ant.13.257). Hyrcanus then instituted forced conversions on the Idumeans to Judaism.[20] This was an unprecedented move for a Judean ruler; it was the first instance of forced conversion perpetrated by Jews in recorded history.[21] However, some scholars dispute the narrative of forced conversion and believe that the Edomites peacefully assimilated in Judean society.[22]

Economy, foreign relations, and religion

After the siege of Jerusalem, Hyrcanus faced a serious economic crisis in Judea, although the economic difficulties probably subsided after the death of Antiochus VII, since Hyrcanus no longer had to pay taxes or tributes to a weaker Seleucid Empire.[23] The economic situation eventually improved enough for Hyrcanus to issue his own coinage (see below). On top of that, Hyrcanus initiated vital building projects in Judea. Hyrcanus re-built the walls destroyed by Antiochus. He also built a fortress north of the Temple called the Baris and possibly also the fortress Hyrcania.[24]

Moreover, out of desperation, Hyrcanus sought for good relations with the surrounding Gentile powers, especially the growing Roman Republic. Two decrees were passed in the Roman Senate that established a treaty of friendship with Judea.[25] Although it is difficult to specifically date these resolutions, they represent efforts made between Hyrcanus and Rome to maintain stable relations. Also, an embassy sent by Hyrcanus received Roman confirmation of Hasmonean independence.[26] Hyrcanus was an excellent case of a ruler backed by Roman support.

In addition to Rome, Hyrcanus was able to maintain steady relations with Ptolemaic Egypt. This was probably made possible due to various Jews living in Egypt who had connections with the Ptolemaic Court (Ant. 13.284–287). Finally, the cities of Athens and Pergamon even showed honor to Hyrcanus in an effort to appease Rome.[27]

Furthermore, the minting of coins by Hyrcanus demonstrates John Hyrcanus's willingness to delegate power. Sixty-three coins found near Bethlehem bear the inscription, "Yohanan the High Priest." The reserve side of the coins contains the phrase, "The Assembly of the Jews." This seems to suggest that during his reign, Hyrcanus was not an absolute ruler. Instead, Hyrcanus had to submit at times to an assembly of Jews that had a certain amount of minority power.[28] The coins lack any depictions of animals or humans. This suggests that Hyrcanus strictly followed the Jewish prohibition against graven images. The coins also seem to suggest that Hyrcanus considered himself to be primarily the High Priest of Judea, and his rule of Judea was shared with the Assembly.[29]

In Judea, religious issues were a core aspect of domestic policy. Josephus only reports one specific conflict between Hyrcanus and the Pharisees, who asked him to relinquish the position of High Priest (Ant. 13.288–296).[30] After this falling-out, Hyrcanus sided with the rivals of the Pharisees, the Sadducees. However, elsewhere Josephus reports that the Pharisees did not grow to power until the reign of Queen Salome Alexandra (JW.1.110) The coins minted under Hyrcanus suggest that Hyrcanus did not have complete secular authority. Furthermore, this account may represent a piece of Pharisaic apologetics due to Josephus's Pharisaic background.[31] Regardless, there were probably tensions because of the religious and secular leadership roles held by Hyrcanus.

Ultimately, one of the final acts of John Hyrcanus's life was an act that solved any kind of dispute over his role as High Priest and ethnarch. In the will of Hyrcanus, he provisioned for the division of the high priesthood from secular authority. John Hyrcanus's widow was given control of civil authority after his death, and his son Judas Aristobulus was given the role of High Priest. This action represented John Hyrcanus's willingness to compromise over the issue of secular and religious authority.[32] (However, Aristobulus was not satisfied with this arrangement, so he cast his mother into prison and let her starve.)

Legacy

John Hyrcanus the High Priest is remembered in rabbinic literature as having made several outstanding enactments and deeds worthy of memorial, one of which being that he cancelled the requirement of saying the avowal mentioned in Deuteronomy 26:12–15 once in every three years, since he saw that in Israel they had ceased to separate the First Tithe in its proper manner and which, by making the avowal, and saying "I have hearkened to the voice of the Lord my God, and have done according to all that you have commanded me," he makes himself dishonest before his Maker and liable to God's wrath.[33] In his days, the First Tithe, which was meant to be given unto the Levites, was given instead to the priests of Aaron's lineage, after Ezra had fined the Levites for not returning in full force to the Land of Israel. By not being able to give the First Tithe unto the Levites, as originally commanded by God, this made the avowal null and void.[34] In addition, John Hyrcanus is remembered for having cancelled the reading of Psalm 44:23, formerly chanted daily by the Levites in the Temple precincts, and which words, "Awake! Why do you sleep, O Lord?, etc.", seemed inappropriate, as if they were imposing their own will over God's, or that God was actually sleeping.[35] In similar fashion, the High Priest cancelled an ill-practice had by the people to cause bleeding near the eyes of sacrificial calves by beating their heads so as to stun them, prior to their being bound and slaughtered, since by beating the animal in such a way they ran the risk of causing a blemish in the animal's membrane lining its brain.[36] To prevent this from happening, the High Priest made rings in the ground of the Temple court for helping to secure the animals before slaughter.

Before John Hyrcanus officiated as Israel's High Priest, the people had it as a practice to do manual work on the intermediate days of the Jewish holidays, and one could hear in Jerusalem the hammer pounding against the anvil. The High Priest passed an edict restricting such labours on those days, thinking it inappropriate to do servile work on the Hol ha-Moed, until after the Feast (Yom Tov). It had also been a custom in Israel, since the days that the Hasmoneans defeated the Grecians who prevented them from mentioning the name of God in heaven, to inscribe the name of God in their ordinary contracts, bills of sale and promissory notes. They would write, for example, "In the year such and such of Yohanan, the High Priest of the Most High God." But when the Sages of Israel became sensible of the fact that such ordinary contracts were often discarded in the rubbish after reimbursement, it was deemed improper to show disrespect to God's name by doing so. Therefore, on the 3rd day of the lunar month Tishri, the practice of writing God's name in ordinary contracts was cancelled altogether, while the date of such cancellation was declared a day of rejoicing, and inscribed in the Scroll of Fasting.[37]

The Mishnah (Parah 3:4[5]) also relates that during the tenure of John Hyrcanus as High Priesthood, he had prepared the ashes of two Red heifers used in purifying those who had contracted corpse uncleanness.[38]

In what is seen as yet another one of John Hyrcanus's accomplishments, during his days any commoner or rustic could be trusted in what concerns Demai-produce (that is, if a doubt arose over whether or not such produce bought from him had been correctly divested of its tithes), since even the common folk in Israel were careful to separate the Terumah-offering given to the priests. Still, such produce required its buyer to separate the First and Second Tithes.[39] Some view this as also being a discredit unto the High Priest, seeing that the commoners refused to separate these latter tithes because of being intimidated by bullies, who took these tithes from the public treasuries by force, while John Hyrcanus refused to censure such bad conduct.[40]

In the later years of his life, John Hyrcanus abandoned the sect of the Pharisees and joined the Sadducees. This prompted the famous rabbinic dictum: "Do not believe in yourself until your dying day."[41] At his death, a monument (Hebrew: נפשיה דיוחנן כהן גדול) was built in his honour and where his bones were interred. The monument was located in what was outside the walls of the city at that time, but by Josephus' time was between the second[a] and third[b] walls of Jerusalem, and where the Romans had built a bank of earthworks to break into the newer third wall encompassing the upper city, directly opposite John's monument.[42]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hyrcanus

The Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran (formally named the "Major Papal, Patriarchal and Roman Archbasilica Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and Saints John the Baptist and the Evangelist in Lateran, Mother and Head of All Churches in Rome and in the World", and commonly known as the Lateran Basilica or Saint John Lateran)[c] is the Catholic cathedral of the Diocese of Rome in the city of Rome, and serves as the seat of the bishop of Rome, the pope. The archbasilica lies outside of Vatican City proper, which is located approximately four kilometres (2+1⁄2 miles) northwest. Nevertheless, as properties of the Holy See, the archbasilica and its adjoining edifices enjoy an extraterritorial status from Italy, pursuant to the terms of the Lateran Treaty of 1929.[a] Dedicated to the Christ, in honor of John the Baptist and John the Evangelist, the place name, Laterano (Lateran) comes from an ancient Roman family (gens), whose palace (domus) grounds occupied the site; the adjacent Lateran Palace was the primary residence of the pope until the Middle Ages.

The church is the oldest and highest ranking of the four major papal basilicas as well as one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome, holding the unique title of "archbasilica". Founded in 324, it is the oldest public church in the city of Rome, and the oldest basilica of the Western world.[1] It houses the cathedra of the Roman bishop,[2][3] and has the title of ecumenical mother church of the Catholic faithful. The building deteriorated during the Middle Ages and was badly damaged by two fires in the 14th century. It was rebuilt in the late 16th century during the reign of Pope Sixtus V. The new structure's interior was renovated in the late 17th century, and its façade was completed in 1735 under Pope Clement XII.

The current rector is Cardinal Archpriest Angelo De Donatis, Vicar General for the Diocese of Rome.[4] The president of the French Republic, currently Emmanuel Macron, is ex officio the "First and Only Honorary Canon" of the archbasilica, a title that the heads of state of France have possessed since King Henry IV.

The large Latin inscription on the façade reads: Clemens XII Pont Max Anno V Christo Salvatori In Hon SS Ioan Bapt et Evang. This abbreviated inscription translates as: "The Supreme Pontiff Clement XII, in the fifth year [of his Pontificate, dedicated this building] to Christ the Savior, in honor of Saints John the Baptist and [John] the Evangelist".[5] The inscription indicates, with its full title (see below), that the archbasilica was originally dedicated to Christ the Savior and, centuries later, rededicated in honor of Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist. Christ the Savior remains its primary dedication, and its titular feast day is 6 August, the Transfiguration of Christ. As the cathedral of the pope as bishop of Rome, it ranks superior to all other churches of the Catholic Church, including Saint Peter's Basilica.

Name

The archbasilica's Latin name is Archibasilica Sanctissimi Salvatoris ac Sancti Ioannis Baptistae et Ioannis Evangelistae ad Lateranum,[6] which in English is the Archbasilica of the Most Holy Savior and Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist at the Lateran, and in Italian Arcibasilica [Papale] del Santissimo Salvatore e Santi Giovanni Battista ed Evangelista in Laterano.[4]

History

Lateran Palace

Main article: Lateran Palace

The archbasilica stands over the remains of the Castra Nova equitum singularium, the "New Fort of the Roman imperial cavalry bodyguards". The fort was established by Septimius Severus in AD 193. Following the victory of Emperor Constantine the Great over Maxentius (for whom the Equites singulares augusti, the emperor's mounted bodyguards had fought) at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, the guard was abolished and the fort demolished. Substantial remains of the fort lie directly beneath the nave.

The remainder of the site was occupied during the early Roman Empire by the palace of the gens Laterani. Sextius Lateranus was the first plebeian to attain the rank of consul, and the Laterani served as administrators for several emperors. One of the Laterani, Consul-designate Plautius Lateranus, became famous for being accused by Nero of conspiracy against the Emperor. The accusation resulted in the confiscation and redistribution of his properties.

The Lateran Palace fell into the hands of the Emperor when Constantine the Great married his second wife Fausta, sister of Maxentius. Known by that time as the Domus Faustae or "House of Fausta", the Lateran Palace was eventually given to the Bishop of Rome by Constantine the Great during the pontificate of Pope Miltiades,[7] in time to host a synod of bishops in 313 that was convened to challenge the Donatist schism, declaring Donatism to be heresy. The palace basilica was converted and extended, becoming the residence of Pope Sylvester I, eventually becoming the Cathedral of Rome, the seat of the Popes as the Bishops of Rome.[8]

Early Church

Pope Sylvester I presided over the official dedication of the archbasilica and the adjacent Lateran Palace in 324, changing the name from Domus Fausta to Domus Dei ("House of God"), with a dedication to Christ the Savior (Christo Salvatori). When a cathedra became a symbol of episcopal authority, the papal cathedra was placed in its interior, rendering it the cathedral of the Pope as Bishop of Rome. When Gregory the Great sent the Gregorian mission to England under Augustine of Canterbury, some original churches in Canterbury took the Roman plan as a model, dedicating a church both to Christ as well as one to Saint Paul, outside the walls of the city. The church name "Christ Church", so common for churches around the world today in Anglophone Anglican contexts, originally came from this Roman church, central to pre-medieval Christian identity.[citation needed]

The anniversary of the dedication of the church has been observed as a feast since the 12th century. In the General Roman Calendar of the Catholic Church, 9 November is the feast of the Dedication of the (Arch)Basilica of the Lateran (Dedicatio Basilicae Lateranensis), referred to in older texts as the "Dedication of the Basilica of the Most Holy Savior".[citation needed]

The Middle Ages

On the archbasilica's front wall between the main portals is a plaque inscribed with the words SACROS LATERAN ECCLES OMNIUM VRBIS ET ORBIS ECCLESIARVM MATER ET CAPUT ("Most Holy Lateran Church, mother and head of all the churches in the city and the world"); a visible indication of the declaration that the basilica is the "mother church" of all the world. In the twelfth century the canons of the Lateran claimed that the high altar housed the Ark of the Covenant and several holy objects from Jerusalem. The basilica was thus presented as the Temple of the New Covenant.[1] Archived 24 December 2019 at the Wayback Machine

The archbasilica and Lateran Palace were re-dedicated twice. Pope Sergius III dedicated them in honor of Saint John the Baptist in the 10th century, occasioned by the newly consecrated baptistry of the archbasilica. Pope Lucius II dedicated them in honor of John the Evangelist in the 12th century. Thus, Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist became co-patrons of the archbasilica, while the primary Titular is still Christ the Savior, as the inscription in the entrance indicates and as is traditional for patriarchal cathedrals. Consequently, the archbasilica remains dedicated to the Savior, and its titular feast is the Feast of the Transfiguration of Christ on 6 August. The archbasilica became the most important shrine of the two Saint Johns, albeit infrequently jointly venerated. In later years, a Benedictine monastery was established in the Lateran Palace, and was devoted to serving the archbasilica and the two saints.[citation needed]

Every pope, beginning with Pope Miltiades, occupied the Lateran Palace until the reign of the French Pope Clement V, who in 1309 transferred the seat of the papacy to Avignon, a papal fiefdom that was an enclave in France. The Lateran Palace has also been the site of five ecumenical councils (see Lateran councils).[citation needed]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archbasilica_of_Saint_John_Lateran#Lateran_Palace  

1 John 2

1599 Geneva Bible

2 1 He declareth that Christ is our mediator and advocate, 3 and showeth that the knowledge of God consisteth in holiness of life, 12 which appertaineth to all sorts, 14 that depend on Christ alone: 15 Then having exhorteth them to contemn the world, 18 he giveth warning that Antichrists be avoided, 24 and that the known truth be stood unto.

1 My [a]little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not: and if any man sin, we have an [b]Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Just.

2 And he is the [c]reconciliation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the [d]whole world.

3 [e]And hereby we are sure that we [f]know him, [g]if we keep his commandments.

4 [h]He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

5 [i]But he that keepeth his word, in him is the [j]love of God perfect indeed: hereby we know that we are in [k]him.

6 [l]He that saith he remaineth in him, ought even so to walk as he hath walked.

7 [m]Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment, which ye have had from the beginning: this old commandment is that word, which ye have heard from the beginning.

8 [n]Again, a new commandment I write unto you, that [o]which is true in him: and also in you: for the darkness is past, and that true light now shineth.

9 [p]He that saith that he is in that light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness, until this time.

10 He that loveth his brother, abideth in that light, and there is no occasion of evil in him.

11 But he that hateth his brother, is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.

12 [q]Little children, [r]I write unto you, because your sins are forgiven you for his [s]Name’s sake.

13 [t]I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. [u]I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome that wicked one. [v]I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father.

14 [w]I have written unto you fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome that wicked one.

15 [x]Love not this [y]world, neither the things that are in this world. If any man love this world, the [z]love of the Father is not in him.

16 For all that is in this world, (as the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life) is not of the Father, but is of this world.

17 [aa]And this world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that fulfilleth the will of God, abideth ever.

18 [ab][ac]Little children, [ad]it is the last time, [ae]and as ye have heard that Antichrist shall come, even now there are many Antichrists: whereby we know that it is the last time.

19 [af]They went out from us, but they were not of us: for if they had been of us, [ag]they should have continued with us. [ah]But this cometh to pass, that it might appear, that they are not all of us.

20 [ai]But ye have an [aj]ointment from that [ak]Holy one, and know all things.

21 [al]I have not written unto you, because ye know not the truth: but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.

22 [am]Who is a liar, but he that denieth that Jesus is [an]that Christ? the same is that Antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son.

23 [ao]Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father.

24 [ap]Let therefore abide in you that same which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning, shall remain in you, ye shall also continue in the Son, and in the Father.

25 And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even that eternal life.

26 [aq]These things have I written unto you, concerning them that deceive you.

27 But that [ar]anointing which ye received of him, dwelleth in you: and ye [as]need not that any man teach you: but as the same [at]anointing teacheth you of all things, and it is true and is not lying, and as it taught you, ye shall abide in him.

28 [au]And now, little children, abide in him, that when he shall appear, we may be bold, and not be ashamed before him, at his coming.

29 [av]If ye know that he is righteous, know ye that he which doeth righteously, is born of him.

Footnotes

1 John 2:1 It followeth not hereof that we must give our wicked nature the bridle, or sin so much the more freely, because our sins are cleansed away by the blood of Christ but we must rather so much more diligently resist sin. And yet we must not despair because of our weakness, for we have an Advocate and a purger, Christ Jesus the just, and therefore acceptable unto his father.

1 John 2:1 In that he nameth Christ he shutteth forth all other.

1 John 2:2 Reconciliation and intercession go together, to give us to understand that he is both advocate and high Priest.

1 John 2:2 For men of all sorts, of all ages and all places, so that this benefit belongeth not to the Jews only, of whom he speaketh, as appeareth 1 John 2:7, but also to other nations.

1 John 2:3 He returneth to the testimony of our conjunction with God, to wit, to sanctification, declaring what it is to walk in the light, to wit, to keep God’s commandments whereby it followeth that holiness doth not consist in those things which men have devised, neither in a vain profession of the Gospel.

1 John 2:3 This must be understood of such a knowledge, as hath faith with it, and not of a common knowledge.

1 John 2:3 For the tree is known by the fruit.

1 John 2:4 Holiness, that is, a life ordered according to the prescript of God’s commandments how weak soever they be, is of necessity joined with faith, that is, with the true knowledge of the Father in the Son.

1 John 2:5 He that keepeth God’s commandments loveth God indeed. He that loveth God, is in God, or is joined together with God. Therefore he that keepeth his commandments, is in him.

1 John 2:5 Wherewith we love God.

1 John 2:5 He meaneth our conjunction with Christ.

1 John 2:6 He that is one with Christ must needs live his life, that is, must walk in his steps.

1 John 2:7 The Apostle going about to expound the commandment of charity one toward another, telleth first, that when he urgeth holiness bringeth no new trade of life (as they use to do which devise traditions, one after another) but putteth them in mind of the same Law which God gave in the beginning, to wit, by Moses, at that time that God began to give Laws to his people.

1 John 2:8 He addeth that the doctrine indeed is old, but it is now after a sort new both in respect of Christ, and also of us: in whom he through the Gospel, engraveth his Law effectually, not in tables of stone, but in our minds.

1 John 2:8 Which thing (to wit, that the doctrine is new of which I write unto you) is true in him and in you.

1 John 2:9 Now he cometh to the second Table, that is, to charity one towards another, and denieth that that man hath true light in him, or is indeed regenerate and the son of God, which hateth his brother: and such an one wandereth miserably in darkness, brag he of never so great knowledge of God, for that wittingly and willingly he casteth himself headlong into hell.

1 John 2:12 He returneth again from sanctification to remission of sins, because that free reconciliation in Christ is the ground of our salvation, whereupon afterwards sanctification must be built as upon a foundation.

1 John 2:12 Therefore I write unto you, because you are of their number whom God hath reconciled to himself.

1 John 2:12 For his own sake: And in that he nameth Christ, he shutteth out all others, whether they be in heaven or earth.

1 John 2:13 He showeth that this doctrine agreeth to all ages, and first of all speaking to old men, he showeth that Christ and his doctrine are passing ancient, and therefore they be delighted with old things, nothing ought to be more acceptable unto them.

1 John 2:13 He advertiseth young men, if they be desirous to show their strength that they have a most glorious combat set here before them, to wit, Satan the worst enemies, who must be overcome: willing them to be as sure of the victory as if they had already gotten it.

1 John 2:13 Finally, he showeth to children, that true Father, from whom they have to look for all good things, is set forth unto them in the Gospel.

1 John 2:14 He addeth afterward in like order, as many exhortations, as if he should say, Remember your fathers: as I wrote even now, that the everlasting Son of God is revealed to us. Remember ye young men, that that strength whereby I said that you put Satan to flight, is given you by the word of God, which dwelleth in you.

1 John 2:15 The world which is full of wicked desires, lusts or pleasures, and pride, is utterly hated of our heavenly Father. Therefore the Father and the world cannot be loved together: and this admonition is very necessary for green and flourishing youth.

1 John 2:15 He speaketh of the world, as it agreeth not with the will of God, for otherwise God is said to love the world with an infinite love, John 3:16, that is to say, those whom he chose out of the world.

1 John 2:15 Wherewith the Father is loved.

1 John 2:17 He showeth how much better it is to obey the Father’s will, than the lusts of the world, by both their natures and unlike event.

1 John 2:18 Now he turneth himself to little children, which notwithstanding are well instructed in the sum of religion, and willeth them by divers reasons to shake off slothfulness, which is too too familiar with that age.

1 John 2:18 He useth this word (little) not because he speaketh to children, but to allure them the more by using such sweet words.

1 John 2:18 First, because the last time is at hand, so that the matter suffereth no delay.

1 John 2:18 Secondly because Antichrists, that is, such as fall from God, are already come, even as they heard that they should come. And it was very requisite to warn that unheedy and wariless age of that danger.

1 John 2:19 A digression against certain offenses and stumbling blocks, whereat that rude age especially might stumble and be shaken. Therefore that they should not be terrified with the soul falling back of certain, first he maketh plain unto them, that although such as fall from God and his religion, had place in the Church, yet they were never of the Church, because the Church is the company of the elect which cannot perish, and therefore cannot fall from Christ.

1 John 2:19 So then the elect can never fall from grace.

1 John 2:19 Secondly, he showeth that these things fall out to the profit of the Church, that hypocrites may be plainly known.

1 John 2:20 Thirdly, he comforteth them to make them stand fast, insomuch as they are anointed by the holy Ghost with the true knowledge of salvation.

1 John 2:20 The grace of the holy Ghost, and this is a borrowed kind of speech taken from the anointings used in the Law.

1 John 2:20 From Christ who is peculiarly called holy.

1 John 2:21 The taking away of an objection. He wrote not these things as to men which are ignorant of religion, but rather as to them which do well know the truth, yet so far forth that they are able to discern truth from falsehood.

1 John 2:22 He showeth now plainly the false doctrine of the Antichrists, to wit, that either they fight against the person of Christ, or his office or both together, and at once. And they that do so do in vain boast and brag of God, for that in denying the Son the Father also is denied.

1 John 2:22 Is the true Messiah.

1 John 2:23 They then are deceived themselves, and also do deceive others, which say that the Turks and other infidels worship the same God that we do.

1 John 2:24 The whole preaching of the Prophets and Apostles is contrary to that doctrine: Therefore it is utterly to be cast away and this wholly to be holden and kept, which leadeth us to seek eternal life in the free promise, that is to say, in Christ alone, who is given to us of the Father.

1 John 2:26 The same Spirit which endueth the elect with the knowledge of the truth, and sanctifieth them, giveth them therewithal the gift of perseverance, to continue to the end.

1 John 2:27 The Spirit which you have received of Christ, and which hath led you into all truth.

1 John 2:27 You are not ignorant of these things, and therefore I teach them not as things that were never heard of, but call them to your remembrance as things which you do know.

1 John 2:27 He commendeth both the doctrine which they had embraced, and also highly praiseth their faith and the diligence of such as taught them, yet so, that he taketh nothing from the honor due to the holy Ghost.

1 John 2:28 The conclusion both of the whole exhortation, and also of the former treatise.

1 John 2:29 A passing over to the treatise following, which tendeth to the same purpose, but yet is more ample, and handleth the same matter after another order: for before he taught us to go up from the effects to the cause, and in this that followeth, he goeth down from the causes to the effects. And this is the sum of the argument: God is the fountain of all righteousness: and therefore they that give themselves to righteousness, are known to be born of him, because they resemble God the Father.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+2&version=GNV 

Daniel 2

1599 Geneva Bible

2 1 The dreams of Nebuchadnezzar. 13 The king commandeth all the wise men of Babylon to be slain, because they could not interpret his dream. 16 Daniel requireth time to solute the question. 24 Daniel is brought unto the king, and showeth him his dream, and the interpretation thereof. 44 Of the everlasting kingdom of Christ.

1 And in the [a]second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed [b]dreams wherewith his spirit was [c]troubled, and his [d]sleep was upon him.

2 Then the king commanded to call the enchanters, and the astrologians, and the sorcerers, and the [e]Chaldeans for to show the king his dreams: so they came and stood before the King.

3 And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream.

4 Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in the [f]Aramite’s language, O king, live forever: show thy servants thy dream, and we shall show the interpretation.

5 And the King answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me. If ye will not make me understand the dream with the interpretation thereof, ye [g]shall be drawn in pieces, and your houses shall be made a jakes.

6 But if ye declare the dream and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards, and great honor: therefore show me the dream and the interpretation of it.

7 They answered again, and said, Let the king show [h]his servants the dream, and we will declare the interpretation thereof.

8 Then the king answered, and said, I know certainly that ye [i]would gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me.

9 But if ye will not declare me the dream, there is but one judgment for you: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words, to speak before me till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, that I may know, if ye can declare me the interpretation thereof.

10 Then the Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is no man upon earth that can declare the king’s matter: yea, there is neither King nor Prince nor lord that asked such things at an enchanter, or astrologian, or Chaldean.

11 For it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can declare it before the king, except the gods whose dwelling is not with flesh.

12 For this cause the king was angry and in great fury, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babel.

13 ¶ And when sentence was given, the wise men were slain: and they [j]sought Daniel and his fellows to be put to death.

14 Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the king’s [k]chief steward, which was gone forth to put to death the wise men of Babel.

15 Yea, he answered and said unto Arioch the king’s captain, Why is the sentence so hasty from the king? Then Arioch declared the thing to Daniel.

16 So Daniel went and desired the king that he would give him leisure, and that he would show the king the interpretation thereof.

17 ¶ Then Daniel went to his house, and showed the matter to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah his companions,

18 That they should beseech the God of heaven for grace in this secret, that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babel.

19 Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a vision by night: therefore Daniel praised the God of heaven.

20 And Daniel answered and said, The Name of God be praised forever and ever: for wisdom and strength are his.

21 And he changeth the times and seasons: he taketh away kings: he setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and understanding to those that understand.

22 He discovereth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in darkness, and the [l]light dwelleth with him.

23 I thank thee and praise thee, O thou God of my [m]fathers, that thou hast given me wisdom and [n]strength, and hast showed me now the thing that we desired of thee: for thou hast declared unto us the king’s matter.

24 ¶ Therefore Daniel went unto Arioch, whom the King had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babel: he went and said thus unto him, Destroy not [o]the wise men of Babel, but bring me before the king, and I will declare unto the king the interpretation.

25 Then Arioch brought Daniel before the king in all haste, and said thus unto him, I have found a man of the children of Judah that were brought captives, that will declare unto the king the interpretation.

26 Then answered the king, and said unto Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to show me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof?

27 Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded, can neither the wise, the astrologians, the enchanters, nor the soothsayers declare unto the king.

28 But there is a God in [p]heaven that revealeth secrets, and showeth the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the things which thou hast seen in thine head upon thy bed, is this:

29 O king, when thou wast in thy bed, thoughts came into thy mind, what should come to pass hereafter, and he that revealeth secrets, telleth thee what shall come.

30 As [q]for me, this secret is not showed me for any wisdom that I have more than any other living, but only to show the king the interpretation, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thine heart.

31 O king, thou sawest, and behold, there was a great image: this great image whose glory was so excellent, stood before thee, and the form therefore was terrible.

32 This image’s head was of fine [r]gold, his breast, and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,

33 His legs of iron, and his feet were part of iron, and part of clay.

34 Thou beheldest it till a stone was cut without hands, which smote the image upon his feet, that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.

35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver and the gold broken all together, and became like the chaff of the summer flowers, and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image, became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

36 This is the dream, and we will declare before the king the interpretation thereof.

37 ¶ O king, thou art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.

38 And in all places where the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field, and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all: thou art [s]this head of gold.

39 And after thee shall rise another kingdom, [t]inferior to thee, of silver, and another [u]third kingdom shall be of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.

40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: for as iron breaketh in pieces, and subdueth all things, and as iron bruiseth all these things, so shall it break in [v]pieces, and bruise all.

41 Whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potter’s clay, and part of iron: the kingdom shall be [w]divided, but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, as thou sawest the iron mixed with the clay, and earth.

42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so shall the kingdom be partly strong, and partly broken.

43 And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with clay and earth, they shall mingle themselves with [x]the seed of men: but they shall not join one with another, as iron cannot be mixed with clay.

44 And in the days of these kings, shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which [y]shall never be destroyed: and this kingdom shall not be given to another people, but it shall break, and destroy all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.

45 Whereas thou sawest, that the [z]stone was cut of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold: so the great God hath showed the king, what shall come to pass hereafter, and the dream is true, and the interpretation thereof is sure.

46 ¶ Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and [aa]bowed himself unto Daniel, and commanded that they should offer meat offerings, and sweet odors unto him.

47 Also the King answered unto Daniel, and said, I know of a truth that your [ab]God is a God of gods, and the Lord of kings, and the revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest open this secret.

48 So the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many and great [ac]gifts. He made him governor over the whole province of Babel, and chief of the rulers, and above all the wise men of Babel.

49 Then Daniel [ad]made request to the King, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the charge of the province of Babel: but Daniel sat in the [ae]gate of the king.

Footnotes

Daniel 2:1 The father and the son were both called by this name, so that this is meant of the son, when he reigned alone: for he reigned also after a sort with his father.

Daniel 2:1 Not that he had many dreams, but because many matters were contained in this dream.

Daniel 2:1 Because it was so rare and strange a dream: that he had not had the like.

Daniel 2:1 He was so heavy with sleep, that he began to sleep again. Some read, and his sleep was broken from him.

Daniel 2:2 For all these Astrologers and sorcerers called themselves by this name of honor, as though all the wisdom and knowledge of the country depended upon them, and that all other countries were void of the same.

Daniel 2:4 That is, in the Syrian tongue which differed not much from the Chaldeans, save it seemed to be more eloquent, and therefore the learned used to speak it, as the Jewish writers do to this day.

Daniel 2:5 This is a just reward of their arrogance (which vaunted of themselves that they had the knowledge of all things) that they should be proved fools, and that to their perpetual shame and confusion.

Daniel 2:7 Herein appeared their ignorance, that notwithstanding their brags, yet were they not able to tell the dream, except he entered them into the matter, and therefore they would pretend knowledge where was but mere ignorance, and so as deluders of the people, they were worthy to die.

Daniel 2:8 Hebrew, redeem the time.

Daniel 2:13 Which declareth that God would not have his servant joined in the company of these sorcerers and Astrologers, whose arts were wicked, and therefore justly ought to die, though the king did it upon a rage and no zeal.

Daniel 2:14 Or, the captain of the guards.

Daniel 2:22 He showeth that man hath neither wisdom nor knowledge, but very dark blindness and ignorance of himself: for it cometh only of God, that man understandeth anything.

Daniel 2:23 To whom thou madest thy promise, and who lived in thy fear: whereby he excludeth all other gods.

Daniel 2:23 Meaning, power to interpret it.

Daniel 2:24 Whereby appeareth that many were slain, as verse 13, and the rest at Daniel’s offer were preserved on condition: not that Daniel favored their wicked profession, but that he had respect to equity, because the King proceeded according to his wicked affection, and not considering if their science were lawful or no.

Daniel 2:28 He affirmeth that man by reason and art is not able to attain to the cause of God’s secrets, but the understanding only thereof must come of God: whereby he smiteth the king with a certain fear and reverence of God, that he might be the more apt to receive the high mysteries, that should be revealed.

Daniel 2:30 Because he had said that God only must reveal the signification of this dream, the King might have asked, why Daniel did enterprise to interpret it, and therefore he showeth that he was but God’s minister and had no gifts, but such as God had given him to set forth his glory.

Daniel 2:32 By gold, silver, brass and iron, are meant the Chaldean, Persian, Macedonian and Roman kingdoms, which should successively rule all the world till Christ (which is here called the stone) come himself, and destroy the last: and this was to assure the Jews, that their affliction should not end with the empire of the Chaldeans, but that they should patiently abide the coming of Messiah, which should be at the end of this fourth monarchy.

Daniel 2:38 Daniel leaveth out the kingdom of the Assyrians, which was before the Babylonian, both because it was not a Monarchy and general empire, and also because he would declare the things that were to come, to the coming of Christ, for the comfort of the elect among these wonderful alterations, and he calleth the Babylonian kingdom the golden head, because in respect of the other three, it was the best, and yet it was of itself wicked and cruel.

Daniel 2:39 Meaning, the Persians which were not inferior in dignity, power, and riches, but were worse touching ambition, cruelty, and all kind of vice, showing that the world should grow worse and worse, till it was restored by Christ.

Daniel 2:39 That is, of the Macedonians shall be of brass, not alluding to the hardness thereof, but to the vileness in respect of silver.

Daniel 2:40 That is, the Roman empire shall subdue all these other aforenamed, which after Alexander were divided into the Macedonians, Grecians, Syrians and Egyptians.

Daniel 2:41 They shall have civil wars, and continual discords among themselves.

Daniel 2:43 They shall by marriages and affinities think to make themselves strong: yet shall they never be joined in hearts.

Daniel 2:44 His purpose is to show, that all the kingdoms of the world are transitory, and that the kingdom of Christ shall only remain forever.

Daniel 2:45 Meaning Christ, who was sent of God, and not set up by man, whose kingdom at the beginning should be small and without beauty to man’s judgment, but should at length grow and fill the whole earth, which he calleth a great mountain, as verse 35. And this kingdom which is not only referred to the person of Christ, but also to the whole body of his Church, and to every member thereof, shall be eternal: for the Spirit that is in them is life eternal, Rom. 8:10.

Daniel 2:46 Though this humbling of the king seemed to deserve commendation, yet because he joined God’s honor with the Prophet’s, it is to be reproved, and Daniel herein erred, if he suffered it: but it is credible that Daniel admonished him of his fault, and did not suffer it.

Daniel 2:47 This confession was but a sudden motion, as it was also in Pharaoh, Exod. 9:28, but his heart was not touched, as appeared soon afterward.

Daniel 2:48 Not that the Prophet was desirous of gifts or honor, but because by this means he might relieve his poor brethren, which were grievously oppressed in this their captivity, and also he received them, lest he should offend this cruel king, which willingly gave them.

Daniel 2:49 He did not this for their private profit: but that the whole Church, which was then there in affliction, might have some release and ease by this benefit.

Daniel 2:49 Meaning, that either he was a judge, or that he had the whole authority, so than none could be admitted to the king’s presence, but by him.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Daniel%202&version=GNV

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