Break Free from Christ the King? Live as Slaves in a World of Lawlessness

Although it took longer than I had expected following the election of then former President Donald John Trump to a second, non-consecutive term as President of the United States of America on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, the same coalition of forces that organized violent riots in various cities across the United States of America during the late Spring and Summer of 2020 in the aftermath of the “George Floyd” riots have arisen anew and even more organized, well-structured, better-financed, and better armed than before, and they mean to foment violent resistance to the enforcement of just laws to further their end of a violent Communist takeover of the United States of America.

Ah, do you doubt my word?

Consider the following two reports:

As a former Special Forces Warrant Officer with multiple rotations running counterinsurgency ops—both hunting insurgents and trying to separate them from sympathetic populations—I’ve seen organized resistance up close. From Anbar to Helmand, the pattern is familiar: spotters, cutouts, dead drops (or modern equivalents), disciplined comms, role specialization, and a willingness to absorb casualties while bleeding the stronger force slowly. What’s unfolding in Minneapolis right now isn’t “protest.” It’s low-level insurgency infrastructure, built by people who’ve clearly studied the playbook. Signal groups at 1,000-member cap per zone. Dedicated roles: mobile chasers, plate checkers logging vehicle data into shared databases, 24/7 dispatch nodes vectoring assets, SALUTE-style reporting (Size, Activity, Location, Unit, Time, Equipment) on suspected federal vehicles. Daily chat rotations and timed deletions to frustrate forensic recovery. Vetting processes for new joiners. Mutual aid from sympathetic locals (teachers providing cover, possible PD tip-offs on license plate lookups). Home-base coordination points. Rapid escalation from observation to physical obstruction—or worse. This isn’t spontaneous outrage. This is C2 (command and control) with redundancy, OPSEC hygiene, and task organization that would make a SF team sergeant nod in recognition. Replace “ICE agents” with “occupying coalition forces” and the structure maps almost 1:1 to early-stage urban cells we hunted in the mid-2000s. The most sobering part? It’s domestic. Funded, trained (somewhere), and directed by people who live in the same country they’re trying to paralyze law enforcement in. When your own citizens build and operate this level of parallel intelligence and rapid-response network against federal officers—complete with doxxing, vehicle pursuits, and harassment that’s already turned lethal—you’re no longer dealing with civil disobedience. You’re facing a distributed resistance that’s learned the lessons of successful insurgencies: stay below the kinetic threshold most of the time, force over-reaction when possible, maintain popular support through narrative, and never present a single center of gravity. I spent years training partner forces to dismantle exactly this kind of apparatus. Now pieces of it are standing up in American cities, enabled by elements of local government and civil society. That should keep every thinking American awake at night. Not because I want escalation. But because history shows these things don’t de-escalate on their own once the infrastructure exists and the cadre believe they’re winning the information war. We either recognize what we’re actually looking at—or we pretend it’s still just “activism” until the structures harden and spread. Your call, America. But from where I sit, this isn’t January 2026 politics anymore. It’s phase one of something we’ve spent decades trying to keep off our own soil. (Eric Schwalm on X: "@camhigby As a former Special Forces Warrant Officer with multiple rotations running counterinsurgency ops—both hunting insurgents and trying to separate them from sympathetic populations—I’ve seen organized resistance up close. From Anbar to Helmand, the pattern is familiar: spotters," / X.)

A coordinated web of encrypted chats, street alerts and tracking of ICE "Abductors" in a sophisticated database reviewed by Fox News Digital shows that agitators were already mobilized at the scene where 37-year-old Alex Pretti was killed minutes before any shots were fired. 

ICE and Border Patrol agents were there to arrest an illegal immigrant criminal, and Pretti and others were there, outside a donut shop, to meet them as part of a strategic pattern of organized interference with law enforcement operations.

Over the following hours, a national network of socialist, communist and Marxist-Leninist cells in the United States leveraged the tragic fatality into a nationwide protest operation. While grief and outrage over Pretti's death is genuine, the network's real-time rapid response, using short sensational video clips and emojis as weapons of propaganda, offers a window into the disciplined logistics, messaging and coordination of far-left warriors fomenting insurgency-like confrontation with authorities.

"This level of engineered chaos is unique to Minneapolis. It is the direct consequence of far left agitators, working with local authorities," Vice President JD Vance observed in a Sunday post on X.

The encrypted Signal messages obtained by Fox News Digital in real time show that anti-ICE "rapid responders" were actively tracking, broadcasting and summoning "backup" around federal agents outside Glam Doll Donuts on Nicollet Avenue, where the shooting happened. Local "rapid responders" made at least 26 entries into a database called "MN ICE Plates" in the critical hours before and after the killing, documenting the license plate numbers and details of alleged ICE vehicles they claimed to see around Nicollet Avenue.

The entry at row 344 read, "At the nicollet [sic] murder," chronicling a black Jeep Wagoneer at the location with agents allegedly "involved in shooting." Row 338 had a "Glam Doll Donuts" entry, tracking a black Ford Taurus. 

At 9:50 a.m. ET, just before the killing, a user identified as "Willow" shared a 22-second video on an encrypted Signal chat for anti-ICE "rapid responders."

"26and 3rd," wrote "Willow," quickly following up with, "Outside Glam Doll."

The video showed two agents, one wearing a vest marked "POLICE," studying the front door of Glam Doll before walking away, past a sign in the window that read, "ICE OUT OF MINNESOTA."

As the camera rolled, the person filming yelled, "No!"

The camera followed the agents as they returned to a maroon Dodge Durango, passing another sign in the window that read, "ALL WELCOME HERE."

In the video, someone shouted, "Get out of here!"

Just three minutes later, at 9:53 a.m. ET, a second Signal user, "Salacious B. Crumb," escalated the alert, summoning additional responders and citing the same vehicle and agents.

"Backup needed at the Black Forest Inn parking lot on Nicollet Ave just south of 26th Street," the message read.

"Multiple vehicles with many agents appear to be staging there," the alert continued. "One confirmed ICE vehicle seen was a maroon Dodge Durango [plate number], but it has driven away northbound on Nicollet." Fox News Digital has redacted the Florida license plate number included in the original message.

ICE Assistant Director Marcos Charles said Sunday that the violence on the streets was "not a coincidence," considering the "chaos and mayhem" that agitators are fomenting in Minneapolis. At the same press conference, Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) Commander-at-Large Greg Bovino confirmed that Pretti was "on the scene several minutes" before the fatal shooting.

Video of the scene shows that as Pretti stepped into the middle of Nicollet Avenue to direct traffic, fellow agitators could be heard blowing whistles to alert locals that ICE officers were around. Soon after, Pretti ended up in a street confrontation with CBP agents, across the street from Glam Doll Donuts outside a worn storefront marked "NEW AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT CENTER," a nonprofit focused on immigration entry programs for Somalis.

Within minutes, at about 10:05 a.m. ET, at least one CBP agent shot Pretti, killing him.

At 10:18 a.m. ET, the Signal network erupted.

Using a red phone emoji to signal an all-points alert, a message blasted out: "easy. URGENT: observers urgently requested at glam doll donuts @ 26th & nicollet [sic]," the alert continued. "an observer has been shot by ice, unknown condition, emts [emergency medical technicians] present, please be safe. EDIT: medics requested to join perimeter in case agents start gassing. be aware there are many agents and mpd [Minneapolis Police Department] officers present."

Within minutes, far-left activists descended on Nicollet Avenue. Soon after, a video showed corrugated boxes of supplies apparently lined up on a Minneapolis sidewalk for protesters, including boxes marked "DESINER MASKS" [sic] and "FREE WINTER HATS," next to piles of bottled water.

Within hours, socialist leaders turbocharged their "rapid responders" in Minneapolis and mobilized street protesters from New York City to Los Angeles. 

Media outlets, including CNN and MSNOW, described "angry protesters" but failed to identify the ideological networks behind the mobilization, even as protesters flashed their signs with their logos and names, touting socialism, communism and Marxism, on camera.

The Minneapolis activation marked the beginning of an almost instantaneous weekend surge by far-left organizations, including hardened socialist and communist groups operating in an ecosystem that national security experts describe as an insurgent-style operation designed to exploit tragedy to wage a domestic political war.

The strategy mirrors past mobilizations, including the aftermath of George Floyd’s killing in May 2020, and exploits well-intentioned public sympathy by rapidly framing Pretti — an intensive care unit nurse at a Veterans Administration hospital — as a symbol of resistance, much like Renee Good, the first victim of an ICE shooting in Minneapolis.

Just as they responded in real-time to mobilize "comrades" to march on the streets within 12 hours of the U.S. arrest of Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro in early January, socialist, communist and Marxist-Leninist groups now frame their activation as an action within the "belly of the beast" against the "hyperimperialism" of the United States.

Based on a digital analysis of scores of rapid-response messages following the killing on Saturday, a hub of communist and socialist nonprofit organizations emerged as key organizers of the protests. Many of them are funded by American-born billionaire Neville Roy Singham, a self-declared Marxist-Leninist living in Shanghai. Some are also offshoots of the People’s Forum Inc., a nonprofit hub Singham has funded in New York City since 2017 as an "incubator" for socialist and communist groups. The People's Forum declined requests for comment.

At 10:48 a.m. ET, BreakThrough News, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and propaganda arm of the People’s Forum, broke the news widely of the killing, sharing a video recorded from inside the Glam Doll Donut shot of the tussle outside, punctuated by gunshots and frantic narration, "Holy s--t. What the f---!...Did they f---ing kill that guy? F---ing kidding me, dude."

BreakThrough News put a dramatic black-and-white caption over the video: "BREAKING: Another CBP Shooting in Minneapolis." By Sunday afternoon, the video had 4.1 million views, alongside the outlet’s calls to support the People’s Republic of China, Venezuela’s Maduro and the communist revolution in Cuba.

Before the video cuts off, someone can be heard saying, "Yo, we need people on site!"

At 11:40 a.m., BreakThrough News broadcast a 39-second video purporting to show state police charging across a street with batons, some falling as clouds of breath rose in the cold air. 

Soon after, at 12:24 p.m., the Party for Socialism and Liberation – a political wing of the movement, working with shared leadership at the People’s Forum – published a quickly-made graphic, "CBP MURDERS ANOTHER IN MINNEAPOLIS," and the message, "EXPAND THE GENERAL STRIKE!"

The call for a "general strike," a classic communist tactic, refers to coordinated mass work stoppages aimed at paralyzing civil society to force political – and economic – outcomes.

At 12:33 p.m., the People’s Forum blasted out a bold red-and-white poster to followers, calling for an "EMERGENCY PROTEST" at 4 p.m. ET at Union Square in midtown Manhattan, with the message, "STOP ICE TERROR."

In lockstep, at 12:57 p.m., Democratic Socialists of America, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit that elected Zohran Mamdani as mayor of New York City, posted a stark black-and-white graphic on X, calling the killing an "execution" and demanding, "ABOLISH ICE NOW."

At the protest, Linda Sarsour, a Palestinian political operative who has led virulently anti-Israel protests with socialist organizations after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack against Israel by Hamas terrorists, rallied the crowd at the 4 p.m. protest, yelling, "We will bring this country to a halt!" The People’s Forum shared the 22-second video clip with the caption: “HAPPENING NOW IN NYC."

Other groups mobilized simultaneously, including Freedom Road Socialist Organization, a self-described Marxist-Leninist group that has waved its red flag with its acronym, "FRSO," in the middle of the protests since Good’s killing.

Also active: the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, which has led many of the rapid-response efforts and Black Lives Matter chapters, which led the recent stampede through a local Christian church.

By early evening, the narrative had coalesced into a chorus of voices within the far-left propaganda apparatus, adopting charged historical language to brand federal officials as Nazi-like figures. At 4:12 p.m. ET, Calla Walsh, a controversial communist activist filmed this past summer in Iran shouting, "Death to America! Death to Israel!" shared a 32-second video showing barricades built with Republic Services dumpsters.

She wrote, "People of Minneapolis build barricades, trapping ICE Gestapo at the scene of their latest murder in broad daylight. Not far from where they killed Renee Good a couple weeks ago, not far from where George Floyd was killed in 2020."

By evening, CNN was reporting from the 4 p.m. protest in New York City but did not identify the ideological affiliations of the organizers, even as activists openly carried signs from the Party for Socialism and Liberation, with the group’s full name printed across the bottom.

Another CNN segment from Minneapolis interviewed Chris Gray, describing him only as Pretti’s "next-door neighbor." Gray spoke about Pretti while delivering a well-scripted appeal for a general strike to dismantle the "Trump regime" and promote "non-violent resistance." The segment did not disclose that Gray is a member of Socialist Alternative, the U.S. affiliate of the International Socialist Alternative, a "global fighting organization of workers, young people, and all those oppressed by capitalism and imperialism," seeking to create a "socialist world."

Soon after, however, Socialist Alternative shared the interview proudly on Instagram, noting, "Chris Gray, Socialist Alternative member and next-door neighbor of Alex Pretti, speaks out."

By evening’s end, at 9:44 p.m. ET, Gloria La Riva, a co-founder of the Party for Socialism and Liberation who has described herself as "a communist," posted a message on X, using the inflammatory language now normalized: "Alex Pretti was murdered in cold blood, everyone knows that. 10 shots in his back. All of Trump's, Noem's, Bovino's lies cannot cover it up. The people's struggle will only grow!"

The maroon Dodge Durango in the early Signal alerts from Saturday morning is Entry No. 2069 in the publicly shared database, "MN ICE PLATES." It included a gallery of photos of alleged ICE vehicles.

At last count on Sunday, the database had 4,626 records of license plate numbers organized as "Highly Suspected ICE," "Confirmed ICE," "Suspected ICE," "Cleared – Not ICE" and "Unknown."

The total number of "Confirmed ICE" entries is 2,933 records. The total number of records labeled "Abductors" is 455.

A fine-print disclaimer states that the data is "for informational purposes only" and that its organizers "do not condone its use to forcibly assault, resist, oppose, impede or interfere with the official duties of any officer or employee of the United States, or of any agency in any branch of the United States Government, while engaged in or on account of the performance of official duties."

The maroon Dodge Durango that was allegedly outside Glam Doll Donuts on Nicollet Avenue is listed with three prior sightings: Jan. 11 at 3 p.m. at the Whipple federal detention facility, Jan. 13 at 1:15 p.m. and a final sighting at Powderhorn Park parking lot on 35th Street and 14th Avenue.

It’s listed with the tags, "Seen in a convoy, Tinted/blacked-out windows, ICE agent(s) seen in vehicle," and a final verdict: "Confirmed ICE."

As socialist organizations continued to dispatch their foot soldiers to Nicollet Avenue on Sunday evening, the Signal groups were as active as ever on Sunday, an alert going out at 4:37 p.m. ET, with rapid responders now chasing a black Dodge Durango around town.

"2 confirmed ICE vehicles," the alert read, "...at least 2 agents in each vehicle." (Far-left groups mobilized before and after deadly Minneapolis shooting.)

Alex Pretti, whose killing by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents cannot be justified before God, was not some “bystander” who happened to be near the “Glam Doll Donut Shop” in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Saturday, January 24, 2026, the Feast of Saint Timothy. He may have been a registered nurse who worked in an intensive care unit of a hospital, but he was also a leftist activist who was intent on interfering with the enforcement of just Federal laws to remove illegal immigrants who have committed violent crimes, some of which have been of the most heinous nature imaginable.

Although I disagree with the arrest and deportation of illegal immigrants who have been here for decades, have established themselves as responsible employees or even business owners and have developed deep ties in the United States of America, the claim made by leftist activists in Minneapolis that ICE agents “abducted” a five-year old boy is patently false:

“I am outraged, and you should be too.” That message from former Vice President Kamala Harris has been a virtual mantra of the Democratic Party for years. For several months, this has meant decrying the imminent death of democracy and our descent into authoritarianism. Now, it means falsely claiming that ICE “kidnapped” or “arrested” a five-year-old boy and used him as “bait” to catch someone.

The “bait boy” story is actually the latest clickbait hoax in our “Age of Rage.” 

Five years ago, Harris was expressing the same call for outrage over the false story of Border agents whipping migrants in Texas. She expressed disgust over the “horrible and deeply troubling” scenes reminiscent of the slave period.

It quickly became a pile-on, with the media spreading the false account. Reps. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) described the incident as “worse than what we witnessed in slavery” and “white supremacist behavior.”

President Biden threw the agents under the bus, publicly expressing disgust over their conduct and promising punishment before any investigation had occurred: “It was horrible what to see, as you saw — to see people treated like they did: horses nearly running them over and people being strapped. It’s outrageous. I promise you, those people will pay.”

The media continued to repeat the false account, even as many of us pointed out that the publicly available video showed the story was demonstrably untrue. It did not matter. It fit the narrative on the left, and the agents were left under investigation for more than a year before being cleared of the “whipping” charges.

After the false story was exposed, the media just shrugged and went on to the next gotcha story.

As for this new hoax, Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) declared the incident to be “the worst of the damn worst” in a video on X. Craig, a candidate for Senate, accused federal officers of taking the boy to “use him to lure his father out.”

That is false. According to reports, the father was spotted in public and fled, abandoning the boy. Like Harris, Craig reminded citizens that “this is a time where we should all be outraged. If this doesn’t pierce through your humanity, as a Republican member of Congress, if you can’t speak out about this, then you’ve got no humanity left.”

The key, again, is the requisite outrage. If you are not outraged, you are not human.

It is often said that we are living in a “post-truth” political environment. The term rose to favor due to the 2016 election of President Trump. Oxford Dictionaries specifically cited Trump when it selected the term as word of the year. The irony is that the proof of post-truth politics is often found among those who use it the most on the left, in the media and academia.

The bait boy hoax is particularly disgraceful. It is common to have minor children present during arrests of all kinds. Officers will often try to get family members to take a child rather than put him into child services.

In this case, ICE officers were trying to detain Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, an undocumented Ecuadorian national, when he bolted and left behind his five-year-old child, Liam Conejo Ramos.

Rather than leave the child in the freezing cold on the street, the officers took the child to his home to get his mother to take him in. She refused to open the door despite agents reportedly saying that she would not be detained. They proceeded to take the boy to McDonald’s, play his favorite music, and take care of him. He was never arrested. They also did not send him into detention. According to ICE, his father asked for the boy to be allowed to stay with him at a detention facility, and ICE agreed.

One can have good-faith objections to immigration enforcement policies. The Trump administration has made it a priority to deport the millions of undocumented migrants allowed into the country under the Biden administration. That is what Trump pledged to do in his campaign.

Post-truth politics and post-truth journalism are designed to fuel rage — to give people license to say and do things that they would not ordinarily say or do. 

Even nurses this week have joined in the hate-fest against ICE and the administration. In New York, an injured NYPD officer and his colleagues were treated rudely by nurses when they were mistaken for ICE officers. 

In Florida, a nurse named Lexie Lawler at the Baptist Health Boca Raton Regional Hospital directed her rage at White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt, who is expecting her second child.  Lawler posted that “As a labor and delivery nurse, it gives me great joy to wish Karoline Leavitt a fourth-degree tear. I hope you f——- rip from bow to stern and never s— normally again, you c—.” Like the ICE agents, Leavitt is not treated as a person but some Golem who can be joyfully and righteously harmed.

There is a strange aspect to rage addictions. Many on the left will use false stories to virtue signal, then unleash the most unvirtuous attacks. The greatest irony is that these individuals are doing precisely what they accuse ICE of doing. They are using this five-year-old as bait — clickbait — to fuel protests and outrage.

The call for outrage is meant to strip away the humanity of ICE agents, who are portrayed as having no sympathy or concern for a child. Indeed, the use of this child by protesters strips him of his humanity. He was as much of a prop as the ICE agents were.  

The bait boy hoax does show that Harris and Craig may be right about one thing: “This is a time where we should all be outraged.” (Clickbait: How the left created yet another false story to trigger outrage.)

This false narrative helped to foster the events that led up to Alex Pretti being on the scene at the Glam Doll Donut Shop, where he got in the face of ICE agents with his cellular phone while coming to the “rescue” of two women, who were fellow “activists.” He was, though, at no point “brandishing” his concealed weapon, which he was licensed to carry as such, thus making the narrative spun by the United States Department of Homeland Security as the one about ICE agents having abducted the five-year-old boy:

With Border Czar Tom Homan headed to take charge of Homeland Security efforts in Minneapolis and President Donald Trump finding some common ground with Gov. Tim Walz, a rapid reduction in tensions is thankfully well under way.

Alex Pretti’s death plainly prompted a sobering all around, as it should.

We’re glad to see Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem elbowed aside. Her performance in recent weeks as the situation in Minnesota escalated out of control did not serve the president or the country well. 

Without anyone backing off on matters of principle, state and federal leaders now can find some accommodation to avoid the lunatic faceoffs between federal agents and crowds of protesters and agitators.

That’s in everyone’s interest. Walz acknowledged as much by finally calling in the National Guard on Saturday to separate the two sides. Then Trump, declared “we’re reviewing everything” in his Sunday night Wall Street Journal interview.

Their call Monday by all accounts continued the de-escalation.

Let’s hope some lessons were learned all around: Neither state nor federal leader seemed prepared for how quickly a covert lefty network turned protests into riots.

Walz insists his state was already complying with some of Trump’s reasonable four points for eliminating any need for an elevated federal presence; perhaps Minnesota can quietly move ahead on the rest.

Washington, meanwhile, is on notice that its rapid staffing up of ICE and the Border Patrol brought in a lot of guys who’ve not yet had full training — and that normal training covers making arrests, not dealing with crowds of protesters actively trying to interfere with enforcement.

We are not sure if this was behind US Border Patrol’s chief Greg Bovino and some agents being ordered out of Minneapolis on Monday. But it is welcome.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt did her usual masterful job Monday afternoon, refusing reporters’ bids for her to back off on Trump’s clearly stated positions or condemn any administration figures — while deftly distancing the president from the incendiary comments of some of his minions.

As she noted, the feds still need to deport “hundreds of thousands” of the “worst of the worst” criminal illegal immigrants waved in by the Biden crew — a goal Americans overwhelmingly support even as they blanch at the Minnesota madness.

Noem, who’s pushed a different deportation agenda, should be wondering if she herself will eventually be “deported” from the administration. 

Tom Homan is no shrinking violet, but he’s always been laser-focused on getting the violent criminals out; Walz would be wise to offer him maximum cooperation now.

It’s far harder for the hard left to rally against such common-sense enforcement, while cities that cooperate with reasonable federal requests see nothing like the Minneapolis insanity.

That’s enough common ground for almost everyone to stand on — sidelining those who can’t or won’t see sense. (It's in everyone's interest to find common ground in Minnesota.)

This is all very correct as United States Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem who has been the driving force for ICE agents to meet a “quota” of all illegal immigrants even though Border Czar Thomas Homan has been advocating for the urgent removal of illegal immigrants who have committed violent crimes. Thomas Homan is a tough but fair-minded man who is not prone to the sort of histrionics as Secretary Noem or White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, both of whom made the following false statements on Saturday, January 24, 2026:

Top officials in President Donald Trump’s administration have responded to the killing of Alex Pretti by the Border Patrol in Minneapolis on Saturday with a torrent of claims that are either contradicted by video footage or unsupported by any evidence presented so far.

• Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claimed Pretti “attacked” officers, an assertion echoed by FBI Director Kash Patel, but no footage available as of Sunday afternoon shows Pretti committing any attack.
• Noem claimed Pretti was “brandishing” a gun, but no available footage shows Pretti even holding a weapon in his hand at the scene; a concealed gun appeared to be taken from his waistband area by a federal agent moments before he was shot.
• White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller referred to Pretti as “an assassin” who “tried to murder federal agents,” Vice President JD Vance reposted this claim, and Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino (and the Department of Homeland Security in a social media post) said it “looks like” Pretti “wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.” But nobody has shown any evidence that Pretti sought to kill anyone, let alone perpetrate a massacre.
• Patel suggested that Pretti broke the law by carrying a concealed gun at a protest, but the Minneapolis police chief said Pretti had a permit to carry the gun and was allowed to have it on him as he was protesting in a public place. (What Trump officials claimed about Alex Pretti — and what the evidence actually shows.)

The video evidence clearly shows that Alex Pretti never brandished his gun, which could have been taken from him while he was on the ground before agents shot him ten times, then stopped to count the bullet holes before they applauded what they had done. I am sorry, this is cold-blooded murder.

While it is understandable that ICE agents are on edge because of all the harassment and assaults to which they have been subjected, including one agent having had part of his finger bitten off by an “activist” (Officer 'will lose finger' after unhinged Minnesota rioters bite him during protests: DHS) after the killing of Alex Pretti, it is never morally justifiable to use deadly force against someone who is not directly threatening the lives of law enforcement agents even though he may been seen by them to have interfered with their duties, and, as noted earlier, it can never be morally justifiable before God to shoot anyone ten times when he is on the ground and has already died. As one friend noted to me on Sunday evening in a text, “The intellect of these people is like Pharoah . . . darkened.”

The killing of Alex Pretti by ICE agents three days ago is emboldening the “left” to such an extent that it may be very difficult for the agency to continue the capture and deportation of illegal immigrants who have committed violent crimes:

DOES AMERICA HAVE THE RESOLVE TO DEPORT ILLEGAL BORDER CROSSERS? The United States experienced a mass incursion of illegal border crossers in the years 2021 to 2025. Estimates vary, but in that period, at least 9 million people entered the U.S. illegally. Rather than turn them back, former President Joe Biden allowed most to stay, with little or no vetting. Administration officials denied that there was a problem, periodically declaring the border “closed” when in fact 200,000 to 300,000 people were crossing illegally each month. When officials conceded that there was a problem, Democrats argued that only sweeping immigration legislation would solve it.

Of course, all that changed with the election of President Donald Trump. Without any new legislation, the new administration cut border incursions to nearly zero. But the question remained: What about the 9 million or more who had recently entered the U.S. illegally? Would the Trump administration allow them to remain in the country?

That is the question at the heart of the current rebellion against federal authority in Minneapolis. Yes, some Trump administration officials have explained that Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol personnel are simply going after “the worst of the worst.” Indeed, they have arrested a lot of people who entered the U.S. illegally and then committed crimes, some of them horrendous crimes. They have also discovered people who entered illegally after having committed crimes in their home countries. Perhaps some progressive activists would disagree, but a large majority of people support the deportation of those illegal border crossers.

But what about the illegal border crossers who have not committed any additional crimes since entering the U.S.? Many polls have shown that majorities support deporting them, too.

A New York Times-Siena poll in September 2025 found that 54% strongly or somewhat support “deporting immigrants living in the United States illegally back to their home countries.” A Harvard-Harris poll in December 2025 asked the question two ways. It found that 80% support “deporting immigrants who are here illegally and have committed crimes,” while 54% support “deporting all immigrants who are here illegally.” Going back to January 2025, an Ipsos-Axios poll found that 66% supported “deporting immigrants who are in the country illegally.”

The question was made urgent by the mad influx of the Biden years. Illegal border crossers moved into U.S. cities, straining resources, budgets, and communities’ ability to deal with them, both financially and socially. The flood of migrants also raised fundamental questions of justice: Should people who enter the U.S. illegally be given legal status? All of them? And what about people who went through the time-consuming process to come to the U.S. legally?

There are immigration activists in this country who would answer the questions: Yes, yes, and too bad. They are tirelessly working to liberalize every immigration law they can. Any administration that seeks to deport large numbers of illegal immigrants must contend with them.

Beyond that, though, there is the practical difficulty of deporting people. Once someone is in the U.S., even if they have no legal right to be in the country, it can still be very difficult to deport them. And if they have teams of lawyers, advocates, and street activists on their side, it can be harder still.

Speaking about Minneapolis, the writer Mickey Kaus said, “The local protesters do not want the illegals deported, period. Even if the ICE force was incredibly well trained, wore white gloves, and followed Waldorf-Astoria rules of etiquette, if they are effective, local dissenters will press forward with resistance until it produces confrontations and some violence. That’s the way it worked in the antiwar movement I was a part of.”

That is certainly the way it is working in Minneapolis. The question for immigration activists is whether they can set off similar struggles around the country. On Meet the Press Sunday, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche blamed sanctuary jurisdictions, in which Democratic local and state governments forbid local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement, for a lot of the problems in Minneapolis. “What we see all over the country, save a few sanctuary cities like Minneapolis, is we see cooperation and support,” Blanche said. “We deport 10 times the number of illegal aliens out of Texas than we do out of Minneapolis. Why do we hear nothing out of Texas about any of the same problems that we have in Minneapolis? I’ll tell you why. Because in Texas, we have the cooperation and support of local law enforcement so that we can do these operations safely, keeping U.S. citizens and others protected and safe. That is not what we have in Minneapolis.”

One key question now is: Can the forces resisting federal law enforcement in Minneapolis nationalize the struggle? Boosted by the furor over immigration enforcement personnel’s killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, plus the agency’s general reputation for heavy-handedness, the resistance has made huge progress. Trump is now hearing voices from his own side telling him to tone ICE down.

Still, keep in mind the activists’ goal: They don’t want ICE to deport illegal immigrants in a safe, smooth, and efficient way. They want to stop the deportations. And after the mass illegal crossings of the Biden years, that is the compelling issue: Will the U.S. end up allowing the illegal crossers to stay? Doing so will create an enormous incentive for future illegal crossers. And then, what is to stop another mass incursion the next time a Democratic president, under pressure from his party’s activist groups, opens the border again? (Does America have the resolve to deport illegal border crossers?.)

What the author, Byron York, does not understand, however, is that a constitutional system based on a plethora of errors can never produce continuity of policy or stability of governance as anything one administration does is merely written in sand and can be erased with the next “wave” that washes ashore. The false opposite of the naturalist “left” must always prevail in such a situation as the only way to provide the foundation of as a truly stable society in this passing, moral vale of tears is by the conversion of men and their nations to the true Faith. Period.

Alas, this is what must happen when men are needlessly divided by error, when men do not see in each other the image of Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and treat all others as they would treat Him, when men are constantly arguing about the inarguable, when men, being untethered from any understanding of the precepts of the Divine Positive Law and the Natural Law, seek to demonize “enemies,” who become dehumanized to the point where they become the targets of violent attacks and instant executions.

This is what must happen when men do not live informed by the Catholic Faith and thus become “believers” in one or another of the panoply of false opposites in which they find what they believe to be the “means” to “end” whatever problems they think they are trying to resolve without understanding the remote cause of all problems is Original Sin and their own Actual Sins in the objective order of things. Fallen men who do not know that they are fallen will resort to mob rule, and those who hold civil power who do not realize this will act as though power is an end unto himself and that all manner of lies can be spun to make that which is false appear to be true.

I have used the following quotation from Pope Leo XIII’s Tametsi Futura Prospicientibus, November 1, 1900, that to do so again may seem trite or redundant, but our true popes have warned us what must happen when men abandon the true Faith for the lies of “secular salvation”:

This generative and conservative power of the virtues that make for salvation is therefore lost, whenever morality is dissociated from divine faith. A system of morality based exclusively on human reason robs man of his highest dignity and lowers him from the supernatural to the merely natural life. Not but that man is able by the right use of reason to know and to obey certain principles of the natural law. But though he should know them all and keep them inviolate through life-and even this is impossible without the aid of the grace of our Redeemer-still it is vain for anyone without faith to promise himself eternal salvation. "If anyone abide not in Me, he shall be cast forth as a branch, and shall wither, and they shall gather him up and cast him into the fire, and he burneth" john xv., 6). "He that believeth not shall be condemned" (Mark xvi., 16). We have but too much evidence of the value and result of a morality divorced from divine faith. How is it that, in spite of all the zeal for the welfare of the masses, nations are in such straits and even distress, and that the evil is daily on the increase? We are told that society is quite able to help itself; that it can flourish without the assistance of Christianity, and attain its end by its own unaided efforts. Public administrators prefer a purely secular system of government. All traces of the religion of our forefathers are daily disappearing from political life and administration. What blindness! Once the idea of the authority of God as the Judge of right and wrong is forgotten, law must necessarily lose its primary authority and justice must perish: and these are the two most powerful and most necessary bonds of society. Similarly, once the hope and expectation of eternal happiness is taken away, temporal goods will be greedily sought after. Every man will strive to secure the largest share for himself. Hence arise envy, jealousy, hatred. The consequences are conspiracy, anarchy, nihilism. There is neither peace abroad nor security at home. Public life is stained with crime. (Pope Leo XIII, Tametsi Futura Prospicientibus, November 1, 1900.)

Indeed, as we see all too clearly from the daily headlines and instant news reports, public life is stained with crime.

Alas, public life is stained with crimes upon persons and property in a visible manner because most men, no matter where they stand along the Protestant and Judeo-Masonic naturalistic fault lines, sin, objectively speaking, with impunity in ways that do not make headlines against the binding precepts of the Divine Law and the Natural Law every day. These sins, which are very visible to Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Who shed droplets of His Most Precious Blood in his Agony in the Garden as He contemplated their number, gravity and enormity, make men more disposed to commit wanton acts of violence against others. Men whose lives are steeped in sin and whose only thoughts look downward upon the earth not upward towards Heaven will be prone to be agitated by the events of this passing world. Some such men will even go beyond agitation and seek to do bodily harm to others.

Acts offensive to God bring violence to men, starting with false worship and the religious indifferentism bred by “religious liberty.” Most Americans, including most Catholics who live in the United States of America, are oblivious to the harm of false worship and of religious indifferentism. Pope Leo XIII, of course, wared us of this harm that is so invisible to so many men but it nevertheless is very real and can be seen clearly by those who view the world through the supernatural eyes of the Holy Faith:

The sovereignty of the people, however, and this without any reference to God, is held to reside in the multitude; which is doubtless a doctrine exceedingly well calculated to flatter and to inflame many passions, but which lacks all reasonable proof, and all power of insuring public safety and preserving order. Indeed, from the prevalence of this teaching, things have come to such a pass that may hold as an axiom of civil jurisprudence that seditions may be rightfully fostered. For the opinion prevails that princes are nothing more than delegates chosen to carry out the will of the people; whence it necessarily follows that all things are as changeable as the will of the people, so that risk of public disturbance is ever hanging over our heads.

To hold, therefore, that there is no difference in matters of religion between forms that are unlike each other, and even contrary to each other, most clearly leads in the end to the rejection of all religion in both theory and practice. And this is the same thing as atheism, however it may differ from it in name. Men who really believe in the existence of God must, in order to be consistent with themselves and to avoid absurd conclusions, understand that differing modes of divine worship involving dissimilarity and conflict even on most important points cannot all be equally probable, equally good, and equally acceptable to God. (Pope Leo XIII, Immortale Dei, November 1, 1885.)

The United States of America, for instance, was founded on the flattery of “popular sovereignty” even though actual power was exercised by a select elite at the time and remains exercised by a select elite (career politicians, bureaucrats, agents of the Deep State) today. The lie of “popular sovereignty” has convinced men in the “civilized world” to believe that everything is a matter of debate, including the binding precepts of the Divine Positive Law and the Natural Law.

The false principles of Protestantism and Judeo-Masonry were used by the American founds to convince men that they do not need belief in, access to and cooperation with Sanctifying Grace to grow in virtue, neigh well to become saints. The Calvinist spirit of egalitarianism and the Judeo-Masonic spirit of religious indifferentism and materialism have proliferated all manner of errors in the name of “liberty.” Acknowledging nothing external to the text of its own words as a brake on the proliferation of errors, the Constitution of the United States of America, which is so revered by Americanist Catholics and by “conservative” Protestants and Talmudists, becomes as mutable as the words of Holy Writ in the hands of Modernist Catholics and Protestants of any stripe or variety.

Men who do near fear the just Judgment of Christ the King upon their immortal souls when they die will live licentiously to the point of barbarism, and when men will feel free steal and kill according to the sinister forces of false religions that deny the Holy Trinity and the Sacred Divinity of Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

We must, as the consecrated slaves of Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, offer up the sacrifices of the moment, recognizing that this is the time that God has appointed for us from all eternity in which to live and to sanctify our souls.

We have been given the weapon of Our Lady’s Most Holy Rosary and the shield of her Brown Scapular.

Conscious of our need to make reparation for our own many sins and to live in the world but without being of the world, we take seriously this instruction that Our Lady gave to the Venerable Mary of Agreda about the public manifestation of her Divine Son to Saint John the Baptist, His cousin, herald and precursor, at the Jordan River prior to embarking upon His Public Ministry to accept the sufferings of this time as redeemed creatures eager to make satisfaction in this life for how our sins have offended Divine Justice and thus worsened the state of the Church Militant and of the world-at-large:

272. My daughter, since in relating to thee the works of my most holy Son I so often remind thee how gratefully I appreciated them, thou must understand how pleasing to the Most High is the most faithful care and correspondence on thy part, and the hidden and great blessings enclosed within it. Thou art poor in the house of the Lord, a sinner, insignificant and useless as dust; yet I ask thee to assume the duty of rendering ceaseless gratitude for all the incarnate Word has done for the sons of Adam, and for establishing the holy and immaculate, the powerful and perfect law for their salvation. Especially must thou be grateful for the institution of Baptism by which He frees men from the tyranny of the devil, regenerates them as his children (Jn. 3:5), fills them with grace, clothes them with justice, and assists them to sin no more. This is indeed a duty incumbent upon all men in common, but since creatures neglect it almost entirely I enjoin thee to give thanks for all of them as if thou alone wert responsible for them. Thou art bound to special gratitude to the Lord for other things as well because He has shown Himself so generous to no one among other nations as He has with thee. In the foundation of his holy law and of his Sacraments thou wert present in his memory; He called and chose thee as a daughter of his Church, proposing to nourish thee by his own blood with infinite love.

 273. And if the Author of grace, my most holy Son, as a prudent and wise Artificer, in order to found his evangelical Church and lay its first foundations in the sacrament of Baptism, humiliated Himself, prayed, and fulfilled all justice, acknowledging the inferiority of his human nature, and if, though at the same time God and man, He hesitated not to lower Himself to the nothingness of which his purest soul was created and his human being formed, how much must thou humiliate thyself, who hast committed sins and art less than the dust and despicable ashes? Confess that in justice thou dost merit only punishment, the persecution and wrath of all the creatures, and that none of the mortals who has offended his Creator and Redeemer can say in truth that any injustice or offense is done to them if all the tribulations and afflictions of the world from its beginning to its end were to fall upon them. Since all sinned in Adam (I Cor. 15:22), how deeply should they humiliate themselves when the hand of the Lord visits them (Job 19:21)? If thou dost suffer all the afflictions of men with the utmost resignation, and at the same time fulfill all that I enjoin upon thee by my teachings and exhortations with the greatest fidelity, thou nevertheless must esteem thyself as a useless and unprofitable servant (Lk. 17:10). How much then must thou humiliate thyself when thou dost fail in thy duty and in the return due to all the blessings received from God? Since I desire thee to make a proper return both for thyself and for others, think well how much thou art obliged to annihilate thyself to the very dust, not offering any resistance, nor ever being satisfied until the Most High receives thee as his daughter and accepts thee as such in his own presence and in the celestial vision of the triumphant Jerusalem. (New English Edition of The Mystical City of God: Book Five, The Transfixion, Chapter XXIV)

The Immaculate Heart of Mary will triumph in the end, and it will be upon this triumph that the words Our Lord spoke to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque will be fulfilled:

"I will reign in spite of all who oppose Me." (quoted in The Right Reverend Emile Bougaud. The Life of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, reprinted by TAN Books and Publishers in 1990, p. 361.)

Pope Saint Pius X’s motto was to restore all things in Christ, and he closed the Oath Against Modernism, September 1, 1910, by exhorting us to “pray for the restoration that is to come.”

Yes, we must pray Our Lady through her Most Holy Rosary for the restoration that is to come as a result of the Triumph of her Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart.

Appendix A

Dom Prosper Gueranger’s Panegyric in Behalf of Saint John Chrysostom

Before our Emmanuel came upon this our earth, men were as sheep without a shepherd; the flock was scattered, and the human race was hastening on to perdition. Jesus would, therefore, not only be the Lamb that was to be slain for our sins; he made himself, moreover, a Shepherd, that so he might bring us all back to the divine fold. But, as He had to leave us when He ascended into heaven, he has provided for the wants of His sheep, by providing us with a succession of Pastors, who should, in His name, feed the flock, even to the end of the world. Now, instruction, which is the light of life, is what the flock of Christ needs above all other things; and therefore our Emmanuel required that the Pastors of His Church should also be Doctors of sacred science. The Pastor owes two things to His people; namely, the Word of God, and the Sacraments. He is under the obligation of dispensing, personally, and unceasingly, this twofold nourishment to his flock, and of laying down his very life, if needed, in the fulfillment of a duty, on which rests the whole work of the world’s salvation.

But, since the disciple is not above his Master, the Pastors and Doctors of the Christian people, if they are faithful in the discharge of their duties, are sure to be hated by the enemies of God; for they cannot spread the Kingdom of Christ, without, at the same time, taking from the power of Satan. Hence it is, that the history of the Church is filled with the persecutions endured by her Pastors and Doctors, who continued the ministry of zeal and charity begun by Christ upon the earth. These contests have been threefold, and gave occasion to three admirable victories.

The Pastors and Doctors of the Church have had to struggle with Paganism, which sought, by inflicting tortures and death, to oppose the preaching of the law of Christ. It was this sort of persecution which gave the Church such Saints as those whom we celebrate during this Season of Christmas — Polycarp, Ignatius, Fabian, Marcellus, Hyginus, and Telesphorus.

When the era of Persecution was over, the Pastors and Doctors of the Christian people had to engage with enemies of another kind. Kings and Princes became children of the Church, and then sought to make her their own slave. They imagined that it would serve their political interests to interfere with the liberty of the Word of God, which, like the light of the sun, was intended to be carried, without hindrance, throughout the whole earth. They usurped the priestly power, as did the Pagan Caesars, and presumed to set limits to the administration of those sources of life, which become corrupt as soon as they are touched by a profane hand. This usurpation gave rise to an incessant contest between the temporal and spiritual powers, and produced a second class of Martyrs. God has glorified his Church during this long period of struggle, and has given her, from time to time, a brave defender of ecclesiastical Liberty. We have met two of these champions of the Word and the holy ministry, during our Christmastide — Thomas of Canterbury, and Hilary of Poitiers.

But there is a third sort of battle in which the Pastors and Doctors of the flock of Christ have had to fight – it is the battle with the world and its vices. It began when Christianity began, and will continue to the day of Judgment. It was their courage in this battle, that made so many saintly Prelates be hated for the name of Jesus Christ. Neither their charity, nor their services to mankind, nor their humility, nor their meekness, protected them from ingratitude, spleen, calumny, and persecution. And, what was their offence? They had been faithful in their duty of preaching the doctrines of their Divine Master, of encouraging virtue, and of chiding the sins of men. The amiable Francis de Sales was as much disliked and even hated by bad men, as was John Chrysostom himself, whose triumph gladdens the Church today, and who stands near the Crib of his Lord, as one of the most illustrious Martyrs of pastoral duty courageously discharged.

Fervent in the service of his Savior, even to the observance of the divine Counsels, (for he had embraced the monastic life) this golden-mouthed Preacher made no other use of his wonderful gift of eloquence than that of urging men to the observance of the virtues taught in the Gospel, and of reproving every vice. Satan sought to have his revenge against our Saint, by raising him many enemies. Among these, were an Empress, whose vanities and sins he had rebuked; men in power, whose wickedness he had held up to notice; women of influence, who would have him preach a morality more in accordance with their own depravity; a Bishop of Alexandria, and certain Prelates of the Court, who were jealous of his virtues, and still more so of his reputation. He is exceedingly loved by his people — but neither that nor his great virtues protect him from persecution. He whose eloquence had enraptured the people of Antioch, and won for him the enthusiastic admiration of the citizens of Constantinople, was deposed in a council convened for the purpose, his name was ordered to be cancelled from the diptychs of the Altar, notwithstanding the energetic protest of the Roman Pontiff; and, at length, he was condemned to exile, and died on the way, worn out by the hardships and fatigues he had to go through.

But, this Pastor, this Doctor, was not vanquished. He said, in the midst of all his persecutions, “Woe is unto me if I preach not the Gospel!” (1 Corinthians 9:16) He made use, too, of those other words of the great Apostle: The word of God is not bound. (2 Timothy 2:9) The Church triumphed in him; she was more glorified and more consoled by the unflinching courage of Chrysostom, who was led into captivity for having preached the Gospel of Christ, than she had been by the success achieved by his eloquence, an eloquence which Libanius was heard to covet for his pagan Orators. Let us hearken to the thrilling words of Chrysostom, which he addressed to the Faithful immediately before his last banishment. He had been sent into exile once before; but a terrific earthquake happening immediately after his departure, and which was looked upon as sent by heaven to punish the authors of so crying an injustice – the Empress herself went, with tears in her eyes, to ask the Emperor to recall him. Accordingly, he was permitted to return. Shortly after, fresh occasions were sought for, and John is again sentenced to exile. He receives the intimation with all the calmness of a Saint, who knows that the whole Church is on his side. Let us study this glorious model of a Bishop trained in the school of our Jesus, who is, as the Apostle calls him, the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls? (1 Peter 2:25)

“Many are the waves, and threatening are the storms, which surround me; but I fear them not; for I am standing on the Rock. Let the sea roar; it cannot wash away the Rock: Let the billows mount as. they will; they cannot sink the bark of our Lord Jesus Christ. And tell me, what would you have me fear? Death? To me, to live is Christ; and to die, is gain (Philippians 1:21) Exile? The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof. (Psalm 23:1) Confiscation of my goods? We brought nothing into this world; and, certainly, we can carry nothing out. (1 Timothy 6:7) No — the evils of this world are contemptible, and its goods deserve but to be laughed at. I fear not poverty, I desire not riches; I neither fear to die, nor wish to live, save for your advantage sake. Your interest alone induces me to speak of these things, and to ask of you, by the love you bear me, to take courage.

“For, no one can separate us; no human power can part what God has united. It is said of husband and wife: Wherefore, a man shall leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall be two in one flesh. (Genesis 2:24) Therefore, what God hath joined together, let no man put asunder. (Matthew 19:6) Thou canst not, O man, dissolve the nuptial tie – how hopest thou to divide the Church of God? It is she whom thou attackest, because thou canst not reach him whom thou fain wouldst strike. Thou makest me more glorious, and thou but wastest thy strength in warring against me, for it is hard for thee to ‘kick against the sharp goad. (Acts 9:5) Thou canst not blunt its point, and thou makest thine own foot bleed, just as the billows, when they dash against the rock, fall back mere empty froth.

Believe me, O man, there is no power like the power of the Church. Cease thy battling, lest thou lose thy strength; wage not war with heaven. When it is with man thou warrest, thou mayest win, or lose; but when thy fighting is against the Church, it is impossible thou shouldst conquer, for God is above all in strength. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? (1 Corinthians 10:22) God founded, God gave firmness: who shall be so bold as to attempt to pull down? Knowest thou not His power? He looketh upon the earth, and maketh it tremble; (Psalm 103:32) He gives His order, and that which trembled is made firm again. If he made firm the City after an earthquake had shaken it, how much more could he not give firmness to the Church? The Church is stronger than heaven itself: Heaven and earth shall pass, but ray words shall not pass. (Matthew 24:35) What words? Thou art Peter; and upon this Rock will I build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 26:18)

If thou wilt not believe His word, believe facts. How many tyrants have sought to crush the Church? They had their gridirons, and fiery furnaces, and wild beasts, and swords – and all failed. Where are those enemies now? Buried and forgotten. And the Church? Brighter than the sun. All they had is now past; but her riches are immortal. If the Christians conquered, when they were but few in number; canst thou hope to vanquish them, now that the whole earth is filled with the holy religion? Heaven and earth shall pass, but ray words shall not pass. Wonder not at it; for the Church is dearer unto God, than the very heavens. He took flesh not from heaven, but from His Church on earth; and heaven is for the Church, not the Church for heaven.

Be not troubled at what has happened. I ask this favor of you – be firm in your faith. Have you not observed, that, when Peter was walking on the waters, and began to fear, he was in danger of sinking, not because the sea was rough, but because his faith was weak? Have I been raised to this dignity by human intrigue? Was it man that brought me to it, or can man now depose me? I say not this from arrogance or boasting; God forbid! I say it from the desire of calming your trouble.

The devil no sooner saw that your City was tranquillized, than he plotted how he might disturb the Church. Thou wicked and most impious spirit! thou couldst not throw down the walls of a City; and thinkest thou thou canst make the Church fall? Does the Church consist of walls? The Church consists of the multitude of the Faithful. Look at her pillars, and see how solid they are, fastened, not by iron, but by faith. Not only is the great multitude itself more vehement than fire, but even one single Christian would conquer thee. Hast thou forgotten the wounds thou receivedst from the Martyrs? Oftentimes the combatant was a tender maiden; delicate as a flower, yet firmer than a rock. Thou didst mangle her flesh, but her faith was proof against all thy tortures. Her blood fell as nature felt the wounds, but her faith fell not; her body was torn, but her manly soul flinched not; what was material was spoilt, what was spiritual was untouched. Thou couldst not vanquish one woman; and yet thou hopest to vanquish a whole people? Hast thou not heard these words of the Lord: Where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them? (Matthew 18:20) And thinkest thou, he will not be in the midst of a numerous people, united together by the ties of charity?

I have His pledge, and on that I trust, not on my own strength. I have His written promise. That is my staff, and my guarantee, and my tranquil port. What matters it to me if the whole world be upset – have I not His written word? have I not His letters? There is my rampart and there my defense. What letters? I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world. (Matthew 28:20) Christ is with me – of whom shall I be afraid? Though stormy billows should rise up against me, though the sea should open to swallow me, though the wrath of kings should be enkindled against me – I will heed them no more, than if they were so many spider’s webs. Had not my love for you kept me, I would have started this very day on my exile, for this is my constant prayer: O Lord! thy will be done; (Matthew 6:10) I will do thy will; not what such or such a one may will, but what thou wiliest.” This is my tower of strength, this is my firm rock, this is my trusty staff. If God will that I go, I will go. If he will me to remain here, I will give him thanks. Yea, whithersoever he wills me to go, I will bless His Holy name.” (Chrysostom – Homily before his exile)

What humility and courage in this saintly minister of Christ! What a consolation for the Church when God sends her men like this! He has given four to the Eastern Church: Athanasius, Gregory of Nazianzum, Basil, and Chrysostom. In spite of the immense dangers to which faith was exposed during the age in which they lived, these four Holy Doctors, by their sanctity, learning, and courage, kept it alive among the people. Athanasius and Gregory appear to us in that period of the Ecclesiastical Year, when the Church is radiant with her Easter joy, and celebrates the Resurrection of her Divine Spouse. Basil’s feast gladdens us in the season of Pentecost, when the Church is filled with the gifts of the Holy Ghost. Chrysostom comes at Christmastide, and adds to the joy of the dear Mystery of Bethlehem. Let us, the favored children of the Latin Church, which alone has preserved the primitive faith, because Peter is with her — let us honor these four faithful guardians of Tradition: let us, today, pay the homage of our devotion to Chrysostom, the Doctor of the universal Church, the conqueror of the world, the dauntless Pastor, the successor of the Martyrs, the Preacher by excellence, the admirer of St. Paul, and the fervent imitator of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Roman Church, in the Lessons of today’s Office, thus speaks the praises of our Saint.

John, surnamed Chrysostom on account of his golden eloquence, was born at Antioch. Having gone through the study of the law and the profane sciences, he applied himself, with extraordinary application and success, to the study of the Sacred Scriptures. Having been admitted to holy orders, and made a Priest of the Church at Antioch, he was appointed Bishop of Constantinople, after the death of Nectarius, by the express wish of the Emperor Arcadius. No sooner had he entered upon the pastoral charge, than he began to inveigh against the licentious lives led by the rich. This his courageous preaching procured him many enemies. He likewise gave great offence to the Empress Eudoxia, because he had reproved her for having appropriated to herself the money belonging to a widow, name, Callitropa, and for having taken possession of some land which was the property of another widow.

At the instigation, therefore, of Eudoxia, several Bishops met together at Chalcedon. Chrysostom was cited to appear, which he refused to do, because it was not a Council either lawfully or publicly convened. Whereupon, he was sent into exile. He had not been gone long, before the people rose in sedition on account of the Saint’s banishment, and he was recalled, to the immense joy of the whole city. But, his continuing to inveigh against the scandals which existed, and his forbidding the games held before the silver statue of Eudoxia, which was set up in the space opposite Sancta Sophia, were urged by certain Bishops, enemies of the Saint, as motives for a second banishment. The widows and the poor of the City bewailed his departure as that of a father. It is incredible how much Chrysostom had to suffer in this exile, and how many he converted to the Christian Faith.

At the very time that Pope Innocent I, in a Council held at Rome, was issuing a decree, ordering that Chrysostom should be set at liberty – he was being treated by the soldiers, who were taking him into exile, with unheard of harshness and cruelty. Whilst passing through Armenia, the holy Martyr Basiliscus, in whose Church he had offered up a prayer, thus spoke to him during the night: “Brother John! we shall be united together tomorrow.”

Whereupon, on the following morning, Chrysostom received the sacrament of the Eucharist, and, signing himself with the sign of the cross, he breathed forth his soul to his God, on the eighteenth of the Calends of October (September 14th). A fearful hail-storm happened at Constantinople after the Saint’s death, and, four days after, the Empress died. Theodosius, the Son of Arcadius, had the Saint’s body brought to Constantinople, with all due honor, where, amidst a large concourse of people, it was buried on the sixth of the Calends of February (January 27th). Arcadius, whilst devoutly venerating the Saint’s relics, interceded for his parents, that they might be forgiven. The body was, at a later period, translated to Rome, and placed in the Vatican Basilica. All men agree in admiring the unction and eloquence of his sermons, which are very numerous, as indeed of all his other writings. He is also admirable in his interpretation of the Sacred Scriptures, which he explains in their genuine sense. It has always been thought that he was aided, in his writings and sermons, by St. Paul the Apostle, to whom he entertained an extraordinary devotion.

The Greek Church, in her Menaea, honors the memory of her great Doctor with an enthusiasm which even her liturgy has seldom surpassed. We extract the following stanzas.

DIE XIII NOVEMBRIS.

Let us sweetly hymn the praises of Chrysostom, the golden trumpet, the divinely sounding organ, the exhaustless sea of doctrine, the pillar of the Church, the heavenly mind, the abyss of wisdom, the gilded vase, that pours forth the honied streams of dogma, which refresh the world.

Let us worthily honor John the Chrysologus, the unsetting star, that illumines with the rays of doctrine all nations under the sun; the preacher of penance, the golden sponge that takes away the clammy sweats of sad despair, and with refreshing dew revives the sin-worn heart.

Let Chrysostom be extolled in our hymns: he is the angel of earth and the man of heaven, a sweet and many-tuned harp, a treasury of virtues, an immoveable rock, a model of the Faithful, an imitator of Martyrs, a companion of the Holy Angels, an associate of the Apostles.

Grace is poured forth upon thy lips, Holy Father, John Chrysostom! for the Lord hath anointed thee priest of His people, to feed the flock in holiness and justice. Therefore, armed with the sword of strength, thou didst cut short the prattling of heresies: Oh! cease not, now, to pray that the world may be in peace, and our souls be saved.

The Church, enriched with the pure gold of thy words, O Chrysostom! cries out to thee, on this thy feast: “I am nourished by thy golden pastures, and by the streams of thy rich honied words. By thy exhortations, I am led from action unto contemplation, and am united to Christ, the Spouse of my soul, that I may reign with him.” We, too, that are assembled to celebrate thy memory, cry out unto thee: Cease not to pray for us, that our souls may be saved.

It was meet that the Queen of Cities should glory in her pontiff John, for he is her crown, and the golden trumpet, that makes the whole earth re-echo with the doctrines of salvation, and summons all men to keep choir in God’s praise. We, also, cry out to him: O Chrysologus! O Chrysostom! beseech our Lord that he give us salvation.

Rejoice, thou father of the orphans, that unjustly suffer the great banishment! O treasury of the poor – food of the hungry – converter of sinners – most skilled physician of souls – accurate teacher of sublime theology – interpreter of the Scriptures – living law of the Holy Spirit — theory and practice of heavenly wisdom! — Oh! pray for us to our Lord, that he show unto us His great mercy.

Thou art a most brilliant sun, enlightening the earth by thy words — a most bright star — a shining lamp — a beacon, by thy charity, that calls into the tranquil haven of salvation them that are lost on the wintry stormy sea of this world — golden-mouthed Chrysostom, thou advocate of our souls!

O Holy Father! thou didst suffer most unjustly in the discharge of thy pastoral office, and wast made to drink of bitter tribulation and exile, wherein thou didst receive a blessed death, for, as a courageous soldier, thou didst overcome the crafty enemy. Therefore, Chrysostom! ambassador of our prayers! thou didst receive from Christ the crown of victory.

What a crown is thine, O Chrysostom! Oh! how glorious is thy name in the Church of both heaven and earth! Thou didst preach the gospel in truth, thou didst fight the battle of thy Lord with courage, thou didst suffer for the cause of justice, and thou didst give up thy life in defense of the liberty of God’s word. The applause of men did not make thee less stern in claiming the rights of God, and the gift of apostolic eloquence, wherewith the Holy Ghost had enriched thee, was but a feeble image of the divine fire which burned within thy heart, and which made thee love the Word Incarnate, Christ Jesus our Lord, more than thine own glory, or happiness, or life. Thou wast calumniated by wicked men; thy name was erased from the tablets of the holy altar; and, like thy divine Master, thou wast condemned as a criminal, and deposed from the episcopal throne. But, as well might men strive to eclipse the sun, as efface thy loved name from the memory of the Christian world. Rome defended thee, and has ever honored thy admirable virtues, just as she now venerates thy sacred Relics, which repose near the tomb of the Prince of the Apostles. She and ail her children throughout the world consider thee as one of the most faithful dispensers of divine Truth.

Recompense the devotion we have for thee, O Chrysostom! by watching over us from heaven; instruct us, convert us, make us earnest Christians. Like thy beloved master St. Paul, thou didst care for no knowledge save that which would make thee know Christ Jesus — but, is it not in Christ Jesus that are hidden all the treasures of knowledge and wisdom? Teach us to know this dear Savior, who has come down to us with all His infinite perfections; teach us to know His spirit; tell us how we may please and imitate him; ask him to receive the offering of our faithful love. In one thing we resemble thee, great Saint! — we are exiles; but, alas! we are so often tempted to love our exile as though it were our home. Oh! detach us from this earth and its vanities. May we long to be united with thee, (as thou wast united with the Holy Martyr Basiliscus,) in order that we may be with our Jesus.

Faithful Pastor! pray for our Pastors; obtain for them thine own spirit, and pray that their flocks may be docile to their teachings. Bless the Preachers of God’s word, that so they may preach, not themselves, but Jesus Christ. Ask our Lord to give them that Christian eloquence which comes from the study of the Sacred Volume, and from Prayer; that thus, the Faithful may be allured to virtue by the charm of an unearthly language, and may give glory to God. Protect the Roman Pontiff, whose predecessor was thy sole defender; — may he ever be the protector of the Bishops of the Church, who are persecuted for justice’s sake. Pray for thy Church of Constantinople, which has forgotten thy faith and thy virtues. May she be raised from the degradation, in which she has been so long enslaved. May Jesus, the Eternal Wisdom, be appeased by thy prayers, and be mindful of his Church of Sancta Sophia, and purify it from profanation, and restore that altar whereon he was offered in sacrifice for so many ages. Show, too, thy love for the Western Church, which has ever revered and loved thee. Hasten the fall of the heresies which have so long laid waste large portions of her inheritance; dispel the dark clouds of incredulity, and obtain for us all, by thy powerful intercession, a lively faith and the fervent practice of every virtue. (Dom Prosper Gueranger, O.S.B., The Liturgical Year, Feast of Saint John Chrysostom, January 27.)