AENGULICA HIERARCHIA

[Monomakhos 1849]

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

AENGULICA HIERARCHIA - A COMPENDIUM OF AENGULIC HIERARCHIES

 

Recovered from

THE HOLY SAINT MIKHAĒL TOU KÓRDOVA MONASTERY

 

Attributed to

EX. PROPHET SIGISMUND

 

Translated by

FR. SERAPHIM OF LEORA

 

HOREN’S CALLING

1773

 

An icon depicting a guardian angel in the old Ruskan style.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

 

┏━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓

I - PREFACE - TRANSLATOR’S NOTES

II - THE ORDERS

III - PRAYERS TO THE ARCHAENGULS

IV - ON THE NATURE OF GUARDIAN AENGULS

┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛

 

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

| Section I |

 

God is good. These writings are purported to be the work of the most holy and sanctified Prophet, Exalted Sigismund, whose witness of the word of the Lord is said to have been the premise for a vast repertory of wisdoms and insight that were, while not the divinely inspirated word of God as is the case with the prophecies of the Scroll of Auspice, nevertheless a window into godliness and the experiences and wisdom of The Preserver, whose sight reached beyond mortal gleaning and inspired generations of augurs to strive towards the mysteries of faith. The compendium, translated from writings in both the old Lendian script as well as the North Rhenyar Akritian dialects, was discovered during a personal trip on return to my land of birth, in the care of the Schemamonks at the Holy Saint Mikhaēl tou Kórdova Monastery in the city of Leora. So gracious and welcoming were they, that they opened their doors to me and allowed me the vast wealth of knowledge contained within their walls; what was not only the personal (and great) wisdoms of the generations of monks who had inhabited the enclave itself, but many writings of the Saints and many holy men commonly venerated within Rhen.

 

Yet, what stood out to me, and what I have since translated into both the common tongue and the standards of Church Flexio, is the Compendium of the Aengulic Hierarchies ( or simply the Aengulica Hierarchia / Aengelikí Ierarchía). This stood out to me for multiple reasons. Clearly, to even be assumed as the writings of the Exalted Prophet is significant (whether or not there is true credibility), but is with little doubt drawn from heavenly inspirations and can be corroborated through various accounts throughout history, such as the various aengulic messengers of the Lord appearing before the prophets, or even the descent of the Archaengul Michael before the faithful of Luciensport, among whom were Bl. High Pontiff Everard II and Bl. Baldwin de Bar who spoke to the image of God’s servant on high and whose accounts have been preserved even to this day. Thereby we presume these to be apocryphal works that, while are not the inspired word of the Lord, are most valuable in their insights and fall in line with the dogmas of our Church.

 

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

| Section II |

 

THE ORDERS

As was with the creation of the Heavens, so too were they adorned with the mantle of hierarchy, and the creations of our Lord God; his most sanctified and faultless servants stood in vigil over his skies, and for each among them was an ordering to who were granted the glories of creation. Accordingly, are the orders of the aenguls separated into seven orders, who in turn represent the skies and the earth, and encompass all the things within to each of whom is afforded the authorities over their domain to act in the judgement of the Lord and as his unerring and forever obedient servants. Chief among them are the Virtues who carry out the command of the Lord and guide the heavenly hosts in their everlasting glorification of God, the Winds, Waters and Fires who represent the primal elements of creation and watch over all the skies beneath the throne of God, and then the Watchers, Attendants and Guardians who minister over the earth and protect mankind so much as they guide them towards virtue and sanctification in the arms of the Lord.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

VIRTUES

The Virtues, known also as the Archaenguls of the Lord, are distinct among the orders for their presence among the rest. For to each order is known an archaengul, and therefore six are named and known who carry with them the virtue of the Lord and carry his message unto the nations, carrying with them all the glories of Heaven in supreme and total obedience to the one God. They are named as Tesion, Tetel, Michael, Eshtael, Aeriel and Razael. Each is a prince of the Lord’s kingdom and derives their authority from God in their command over the Aengulic hierarchies. They are distinct in their depictions and in accounts of their descent for having six wings.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

WINDS

The Winds are the guardians of the Fifth and Sixth Skies, the divine and sanctified messengers of God’s word delivering glory unto the unworthy. They are the word bearers of the holy gospels who speak with the voice of the Lord and carry his commands from heaven to earth and beyond, and have been responsible not only for visions experienced by prophets and saints alike, but invoke the will of the Lord over the earth through natural disasters (especially those related to storms). They serve in gifting prophecy and strengthening the faith of men, bringing with them the light of knowledge and the mysteries of the gospel to which all creation might bask in the glory of God. They are represented as messengers, and have been known to present themselves in visions as five-winged men adorned in robes of purest wool carrying with them the word. Stylistic (non-standard aengulic) depictions in Canonist iconography typically embody the Winds as is typical of their appearances in patristic writings - five-winged enwreathed in a crown of light (halo). Their prince is the Archaengul Tesion, who is the Lord of the Annunciations and chief messenger of God. He carries in one hand the divine command of the Lord, and in the other an olive branch which signifies the peace which follows the word of God. Noteworthy servants of the Archaengul Tesion and the Order of the Winds are Artifai, Cassion and Gaderiel.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

WATERS

The Waters are the guardians of the Third and Fourth Skies, governors of the cosmos, omens and miracles. It is to them that God entrusted the movement of his heavenly bodies, and in doing so do they cast their light over the domains of men, shining down with the supernal wisdom of the Lord ever radiant in the mysteries of God, and invoke the will of the Lord over the earth through natural disasters (especially those related to floods and turbulent seas). They are represented as scholars, and have been known to present themselves as four-winged figures whose bodies are the ever moving tapestries of the heavens shining with the everlasting brilliance of the stars, blinding all in their presence with their mystical and divine brilliance. Stylistic (non-standard aengulic) depictions in Canonist Iconography typically embody the Waters as stars in lieu of attributing humanity to them, though this manifests most commonly in depictions as the sun, or as the sun bearing a man’s face. Their prince is the Archaengul Tetel, who is the Lord of the Stars and God’s chief servant of sanctification. He carries in one hand the sun whose immortal light shines over creation by the glory of God, and in the other the fiery Sword of Truth by which he chases the darkness from the skies. Noteworthy servants of the Archaengul Tetel and the Order of the Waters are Tsafon, Uresion and Jovial.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

FIRES

The Fires are the guardians of the First and Second Skies, divine gatekeepers who are entrusted with the guardianship of the entrance into the Lord’s Kingdom. They are the body of the heavenly hosts of the Skies and are the innumerable and undefeated army of God, ministers of flaming glory whose wrath is the wrath of the Lord and whose love is the love of the Lord, and invoke the will of the Lord over the earth through natural disasters (especially those related to fire and the upheaval of the earth). They are represented as soldiers, and have been known to present themselves in visions as winged, immaculate and divinely beautiful men wreathed in celestial fire and fitted with garments of purest light. Stylistic (non-standard aengulic) depictions in Canonist Iconography typically embody the Fires as winged soldiers of the Lord cladden in bedecked in the fineries and armor of the Prophetic Era, wielding swords, spears and fire, typically enwreathed in a crown of light (halo) though occasionally substituted with fire. Their prince is the Archaengul Michael, who is the Lord of Battle and chief commander of the heavenly hosts. He wields in one hand the horn Holy Oliphant to which the armies of the heavens and all men answer to, and in the other the Spear of Courage with which he asserts the dominion of God over all evil and the servants thereof. Noteworthy servants of the Archaengul Michael and the Order of the Fires are Garumdus and Zacheriel.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

WATCHERS

The Watchers are the guardians of the worldly domains of the earth, the earthly wardens of the Lord’s creation who stand in vigil over all that lie beneath the Skies. They are the protectors of the world and its inhabitants, interceding on the behalf of God to do battle against evil spirits and drive their contempt from the hearts of men whom they possess power over, and record all the deeds of every man and woman who is born, both good and ill-natured. Watchers are often called upon (often specifically their archaengul) to intercede during exorcisms and in all things related to possession and the overwhelming presence of sin. They are represented as sentries, and have been known to present themselves in visions as winged yet empyreal figures of pure light, uncontained and all encompassing in their glory, embodying in themselves the Holy Light of the one God. Stylistic (non-standard aengulic) depictions in Canonist iconography typically embody Watchers as being surrounded in an aureole and having two faces from which they might witness all things. Their prince is the Archaengul Eshtael, who is the Lord of All Prayer and protector of the sanctity of righteous souls. He carries with him a thurible overflowing with incense warding against all the servants of the deceiver, and in one hand the scales of balance which weigh judgement on those who would defy God. Noteworthy servants of the Archaengul Eshtael and the Order of the Watchers are Castiel, Anahel and Savriel.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

ATTENDANTS

The Attendants are the guardians of all the nations of the earth, and of the souls of mankind, presiding over the Lord’s creation as, for a lack of better phrasing, celestial pallbearers. They are the guides to the dead of mankind, who descend from the Lord’s kingdom in divine brilliance to usher the souls of the recently deceased on to the Skies. They guard all the kingdoms and nations of men and anoint the worthy towards righteous office, directing the faithful towards power only for spreading God’s glory to all corners of the land. They are represented as healers, and have been known to present themselves in visions as thrice-winged figures ushering with them the benefactions of the Lord through healing and mercy. Stylistic (non-standard aengulic) depictions in Canonist iconography typically embody Attendants as having animalistic features (such as the face of a lion). Their prince is the Archaengul Aeriel, who is the Lord of Intercession and the protector of all those who ascend into the Lord’s kingdom. He carries in one hand a lantern full with the light of the heavens leading all souls into the embrace of God, and in the other a whip by which he rebukes the unworthy. Noteworthy servants of the Archaengul Aeriel and the Order of the Attendants are Varaqiel, Avistus and Oriel.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

GUARDIANS

The Guardians are the guardians of all the men of the earth, and of all mankind on the earth and beyond it within the Skies. They are the friends and protectors of each and every man who is born and dies, shielding them from evil and gracing them with good thoughts and virtue in the hopes that they shall strive towards salvation in all things and praise the good word, appointed to them by the grace of the Lord to all believers anointed in the cleansing waters of Gamesh. They proclaim the lesser mysteries of the Lord and teach men to live righteously and for God. They are represented as wardens, and have been known to present themselves in visions as what is generally recognized to be the ‘aengulic standard’ that is applied to all the other orders in many iconographical works, being androgonyously beautiful winged figures clad in flowing robes and wreathed with crowns of light (halo). Their prince is the Archaengul Razael, who is the Lord of Shepherds and protector of the Lord’s chosen. He carries in one hand a shepherd’s crook by which he entreats and guides all those anointed in the faith towards virtue, and in the other a white rose whose petals he scatters over the earth as the Lord’s blessings showering down upon the righteous. There are no noteworthy servants among the Order of the Guardians, as they are innumerable and personal in nature being adjoined to the anointed faithful who serve God’s covenant.

 

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

| Section III |

 

PRAYERS TO THE ORDERS

 

The following are prayers dedicated to the Archaenguls of the Six Orders, who intercede upon our behalf and in the name of the Lord do they grant us their benefactions and lead us towards virtue and glory.

 

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

PRAYER TO THE ARCHAENGUL TESION

O Holy Mighty and Glorious Archaengul Tesion, 

we who are unworthy beseech you by your prayers,

do we ask you encompass us within your immaterial glory,

and faithfully preserve us who fall down and cry to you: 

Deliver us from all harm and tribulations and torments,

and sing praise of God forever in his heavenly kingdom. 

Amen.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

PRAYER TO THE ARCHAENGUL TETEL

O Holy and Sanctified Archaengul Tetel, Sanctifier of All Things,

intercede for us that our hearts might burn evermore with the fire of the Lord. 

Aid us in affirming the grace of our confirmation, 

that the mysteries of the Lord might bear fruit in our souls. 

Obtain for us the grace of God that we might take up the Sword of Truth,

 to dispel all that offends the Will of the Lord. 

Amen.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

PRAYER TO THE ARCHAENGUL MICHAEL

O Holy, Sanctified and Great Michael, Archaengul of the Lord, 

six-winged prince, leader of the heavenly host, Lord of Battle, 

be my helper and vanquish all my foes 

by the power of the Heavenly Cross of the Lord, 

make them as meek as sheep before me 

and disperse them like dust before the wind. 

Amen.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

PRAYER TO THE ARCHAENGUL ESHTAEL

O Pure and Most Gracious Archaengul Eshtael,

who lowers himself before the Lord.

Lead us in our petitions we make unto the lord,

we will it to pray unto the Lord and to worship him earnestly.

May our lives be like incense pleasing to Him. 

That we might live in love and humility unto the ages of ages. 

Obtain for us these blessings and present them before the Lord Our God,

 that they might be seen true. 

Amen.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

PRAYER TO THE ARCHAENGUL AERIEL

O Merciful and Glorious Archaengul Aeriel, 

who dispenses the Lord's eternal mercy. 

Help us to overcome our sinful habits and be truly repentant for them. 

Bring us all to true faith in the Lord. 

That we may experience the joy of which his grace brings down upon us, 

without which never may we know true peace. 

Thou who dost continue to intercede for us, 

listen to our prayers so we may give praise for all he has given.

Amen.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

PRAYER TO THE ARCHAENGUL RAZAEL

O Mighty Archaengul Razael, 

filled with all the splendor of the Skies. 

We are but His sons placed underneath your protection, 

at the mercies of this world filled with confusion and demonic influence. 

We beseech your aid, to allow the joy of God to become our vigor. 

Grant this, through your intercessions, that we may reach our heavenly home. 

Protect us from all harm so that we may enjoy peace for all eternity,

 and the happiness that the Lord has prepared us in Heaven. 

Amen.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

PRAYER TO OUR GUARDIAN AENGULS AND PROTECTORS

O Holy Aengul of the Lord, my Protector and Guardian,

 who watches over me body and soul,

I beseech you not to abandon this wretched life,

 this sinner who lacks control and discipline.

Leave not room for the evil to gain hold over me. 

Strengthen my feeble hand and guide me unto salvation.

O Holy Aengul of God, forgive all sorrow that I have brought unto you, 

protect me during this day and keep me from all temptations, 

that I may not anger the Lord in my sin. 

Pray to Him for me that the Lord might strike into me His fear,

and make me worthy of His grace. 

Amen.

 

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

| Section IV |

 

The guardianship of aenguls over men is a tradition that reaches back into the canon of our holy gospels. For the Lord bid his servants to go unto his children and bid them to act unto his command. And so too does he send his servants unto all his children, not only the prophets and the saints, but protectors who hide themselves from our mortal gleaning that they might watch over and preserve us for all time. But when does this guardian take hold over us, and instill in us the fear and virtue of God? We can clearly discern this point as the invocation of the Sacrament of Baptism, when the supernal grace of the Lord fills us and we are purified of all our wrongdoings through the anointing waters of Gamesh. Therefore, when we are purified, it is not only in body and in spirit, but it is also in the sanctifying presence of an aengul of the Lord. Who makes his name ours and who becomes part of our journey towards salvation and heavenly inheritance. 

 

The Guardian Aengul is a sanctifier, one who stands before the face of God and intercedes on our behalf, who protects us from evil and wards us from the temptations and grasping claws of demonic influences. Who reflects the image of the Lord and instills in us all the good thoughts and virtues that we may be as God intended us to be, his leal and humble servants. They are not simply this unknowable, esoteric force that looks over us from on high, though. They are friends to us, companions for life who keep us and who have the same love for us that we have for the Lord. They adjoin in harmony the grace of God and ensure that we are not only safe of body, but safe and sound of mind and soul. When doubt gnaws at the back of our minds, what overcomes it? Man is weak and feeble, certainly, it is not man who overcomes it alone, for it is the benefaction of our Guardian that shines over in the intercession of the Lord to aid us and to protect us from such things.

 

This unconditional love that our Guardian holds for us does not mean we are free to abuse their protections and live a life of sin. For even when we are cleansed by the waters of sacrament, we are still bound to follow in the virtues of the Lord. An aengul of the Lord might be scandalized in his vigil over a man; if one was to engage in a life of degeneracy, to openly and wantonly partake in premarital relations with women, or worse yet adultery, then his Guardian might depart from him, overwhelmed by the sorrows of his charge falling into a life of sin and defiance in the face of God. Therefore, it is paramount that to ensure a beneficial friendship with the Guardian, one must be diligent in their confessions, repentance and in their prayers to their Guardian or to the Archaenguls who intercede above them. If we fail in this, if we become sick in sin, then we shall not enjoy the protections afforded to us by our Lord, for if we are unworthy of them now, how can we be worthy of them when we partake in a life that would only earn us the disgust of God, the aenguls and all his saints?

 

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[JoanOfArc 4604]

Fr. Griffith showed his son Ex. Prophet Sigismund’s Aengulica Hiearchia and told him, “Keep your guardian forever in your prayers, son. Someday you may be destitute and the only friend protecting you is your loyal companion.” After telling his son that, he offered his own silent prayer for son’s guardian- hoping that his son may live a long life and meet a peaceful ending.

[Urahra 5779]

Tanith inspects the document with a curious tilt of the head.

 

“I thought Aeriel was usually depicted as a woman,” she comments, more to herself than anyone else. “And where is Xan? And Tahariae? And all the others?”

[VIROS 2915]

HIS HOLINESS JAMES II, High Pontiff of the Church of the Canon, Archbishop of Visigia, Successor of the High Priesthood of the Church, Supreme Pontiff of the Church of True Faith, Keeper of the Canon, Missionary to Aeldin, High Servant to the Exalted's Testaments, Humble Servant of the Faithful and Vicar of GOD places his seal of imprimatur upon the document.

[thesmellypocket 1859]

"So by Mankind, I assume you mean mankind alone, which I assume you got from the Flexio homo. Do you suppose, then, that the Prophet meant the other Descendants have not guardians?" Asks Pius of Sutica in a short letter to the author. "For it seems to be sad the Scripture says, God has given us each a treasure in our interior. And since that all the descendant races share in this interior life through the gift of the soul, surely God would guard the treasure within all of them with equal scrupulosity...?"

 

"Also Angel worshippers be mad, imagine actually learning Angel lore instead of becoming a religious fanatic."

 

[Monomakhos 1849]

On 6/18/2020 at 8:18 AM, thesmellypocket said:

"So by Mankind, I assume you mean mankind alone, which I assume you got from the Flexio homo. Do you suppose, then, that the Prophet meant the other Descendants have not guardians?" Asks Pius of Sutica in a short letter to the author. "For it seems to be sad the Scripture says, God has given us each a treasure in our interior. And since that all the descendant races share in this interior life through the gift of the soul, surely God would guard the treasure within all of them with equal scrupulosity...?"

 

"Also Angel worshippers be mad, imagine actually learning Angel lore instead of becoming a religious fanatic."

 

”A most valid concern to raise. And certainly, one that lies in the issue of translation. In the Akritan dialect which is most common in Rhen, and from which most of the translation is derived, the word árrhen which is simply man. We can infer, via the context of the original texts, that this usage of man applies itself to the four brothers and all their descendants, not simply the descendants of Ex. Horen. Thus, it is safe to presume that all descendants are to inherit this gift – that of a guardian angel, so long as they are baptized in the sacraments of the Lord, and are virtuous and true that they do not scandalize their protector. That is to say that the vast majority of those who are outside of mankind, be it elves, dwarves or orcs, do not receive this guardian of the soul and virtue because they are outside the faith and have not been cleansed in the waters of Gamesh.” Seraphim penned in reply to Pius of Sutica, clarifying upon the wording.

[thesmellypocket 1859]

21 hours ago, Bagley said:

”A most valid concern to raise. And certainly, one that lies in the issue of translation. In the Akritan dialect which is most common in Rhen, and from which most of the translation is derived, the word árrhen which is simply man. We can infer, via the context of the original texts, that this usage of man applies itself to the four brothers and all their descendants, not simply the descendants of Ex. Horen. Thus, it is safe to presume that all descendants are to inherit this gift – that of a guardian angel, so long as they are baptized in the sacraments of the Lord, and are virtuous and true that they do not scandalize their protector. That is to say that the vast majority of those who are outside of mankind, be it elves, dwarves or orcs, do not receive this guardian of the soul and virtue because they are outside the faith and have not been cleansed in the waters of Gamesh.” Seraphim penned in reply to Pius of Sutica, clarifying upon the wording.

"And yet the text saith that "each and every man" born receives this Guardian. How sayest thou, then, that only the baptised and not the pagans receive this Guardian?"

[The Lion 736]

A man appearing of lower class approaches the author. He speaks to Seraphim when the chance presents itself, “Trying not to offend ye when suggesting ye mistranslated daes, but ist possible ye did?” He shows him a copy of the publishing in question. "Da prayers regarding angels dance da line ov polytheism in da way ov daes translation. Sigismund intended pure monotheism like predeccesors nei? Thinking he wouldn't want angels put before God in power. Da translated prayers associate partners to He by suggesting we ask angels for intercession rather than asking Him directly. Nothing intercedes without da permission ov God, uened God har no partners, so I think ye mistranslated da prayers by owing intercession upon us to da will ov angels rather than first acknowledging God’s will. Verily! Only e pagan would think themselves unworthy to ask God directly, so they invented partners to intercede for them, and some even forgot God by doing daes as ye know. Ye clearly eru e man ov God, so I ask ye clarify daes matter. God forgive me for any wrongdoing.” The man remains at Seraphim’s attention unless otherwise removed.

[Monomakhos 1849]

29 minutes ago, The Lion said:

A man appearing of lower class approaches the author. He speaks to Seraphim when the chance presents itself, “Trying not to offend ye when suggesting ye mistranslated daes, but ist possible ye did?” He shows him a copy of the publishing in question. "Da prayers regarding angels dance da line ov polytheism in da way ov daes translation. Sigismund intended pure monotheism like predeccesors nei? Thinking he wouldn't want angels put before God in power. Da translated prayers associate partners to He by suggesting we ask angels for intercession rather than asking Him directly. Nothing intercedes without da permission ov God, uened God har no partners, so I think ye mistranslated da prayers by owing intercession upon us to da will ov angels rather than first acknowledging God’s will. Verily! Only e pagan would think themselves unworthy to ask God directly, so they invented partners to intercede for them, and some even forgot God by doing daes as ye know. Ye clearly eru e man ov God, so I ask ye clarify daes matter. God forgive me for any wrongdoing.” The man remains at Seraphim’s attention unless otherwise removed.

”I take no offense nor do I hold you at fault for what misconceptions you might have. It is a fair assumption to view this as some polytheistic syncretism that has found its way into our faith, yet it is simply not the case. Intercession has deep roots within the foundations and dogmas of our Holy Church. In that the prerequisites for canonization as a Saint require the intercession of the beatified through miracles. And it is these miracles that are attributed to the Saints which confirm their closeness to God. Thus, do we call out to the Saints and Blessed, or in the case of your asking, to the Aenguls, that they might gift us their protections and in turn offer their prayers for us to the Lord. We do not worship the Saints, nor the Blessed nor the Aenguls – for they are all creations of the Lord and fall short of Him, who is the One God and creator of all things. If we look to the Catechisms of the Canonist Church, it is clear that we do not indulge in polytheism because this is distinct from it; we call upon these figures but we do not believe they have any power outside of the power that God has given them, and we do not submit ourselves to them. As the Catechisms read, the difference between veneration and worship is the difference between honoring one’s elders and obeying one’s father. As with the prayer to the Archaengul Michael, we say, by the power of the Heavenly Cross of the Lord, make them as meek as sheep before me and disperse them like dust before the wind. In saying this do we recognize that the Archaengul’s power is derived from the power of the Lord, and it is only through God’s Grace that he might overcome our enemies, as we overcome our own shortcomings through that very same Grace. Veneration and worship are two very distinct things, and so long as one recognizes in his prayers that the power of the Saint or the Aengul is the power given to them by God and offer our obedience not to them but to He who is above them, we do not err into polytheistic notions as we continue to recognize one God, and He alone.” Seraphim offered his own insights in return to the man, hoping they were sufficient.

[The Lion 736]

10 hours ago, Bagley said:

”I take no offense nor do I hold you at fault for what misconceptions you might have. It is a fair assumption to view this as some polytheistic syncretism that has found its way into our faith, yet it is simply not the case. Intercession has deep roots within the foundations and dogmas of our Holy Church. In that the prerequisites for canonization as a Saint require the intercession of the beatified through miracles. And it is these miracles that are attributed to the Saints which confirm their closeness to God. Thus, do we call out to the Saints and Blessed, or in the case of your asking, to the Aenguls, that they might gift us their protections and in turn offer their prayers for us to the Lord. We do not worship the Saints, nor the Blessed nor the Aenguls – for they are all creations of the Lord and fall short of Him, who is the One God and creator of all things. If we look to the Catechisms of the Canonist Church, it is clear that we do not indulge in polytheism because this is distinct from it; we call upon these figures but we do not believe they have any power outside of the power that God has given them, and we do not submit ourselves to them. As the Catechisms read, the difference between veneration and worship is the difference between honoring one’s elders and obeying one’s father. As with the prayer to the Archaengul Michael, we say, by the power of the Heavenly Cross of the Lord, make them as meek as sheep before me and disperse them like dust before the wind. In saying this do we recognize that the Archaengul’s power is derived from the power of the Lord, and it is only through God’s Grace that he might overcome our enemies, as we overcome our own shortcomings through that very same Grace. Veneration and worship are two very distinct things, and so long as one recognizes in his prayers that the power of the Saint or the Aengul is the power given to them by God and offer our obedience not to them but to He who is above them, we do not err into polytheistic notions as we continue to recognize one God, and He alone.” Seraphim offered his own insights in return to the man, hoping they were sufficient.

 

This bearded man listens carefully and waits to speak when Seraphim has given the sufficient explanation. When it is the time, the simplistic man responds, “O brudda in humanity, dere ist nei doubt ye eru intending good here, uened for da learned manni ye answer ist sense making, but I ze concerned mitt da unlearned masses when I bring daes to ye. Intercession ist e welcomed concept ov monotheism. Ja nei doubt when proper orden ist acknowledged. Da problem I har ist about da wording orden ov da prayers I question here. Da prayers regarding intercession ov saints uened da like contained mittin ye cited works ov Canonism always begin mitt ‘o'God’, but O’ God, da prayers here begin mitt 'O’angel’. Unintentionally, ye har commanded people ta pray through angels instead ov praying for God’s blessing ta be delivered through angels. Da word ordening may seem trivial, but ist truly da difference beliden being led straight to da garden or astray to da fire. God before enkel ist monotheistic, but angel before God... Ye see meinae contention mitt translation? Neit trying ta disprove ye faith, or make ye appear other than e righteous manni, but trying ta help ye avoid contradiction ov faith, I support ye work.” The old man looks over all the papers on Seraphim’s desk. “E busy manni ye eru, so I’ll go pray until ye eru free to discuss further.”

[Monomakhos 1849]

5 hours ago, The Lion said:

 

This bearded man listens carefully and waits to speak when Seraphim has given the sufficient explanation. When it is the time, the simplistic man responds, “O brudda in humanity, dere ist nei doubt ye eru intending good here, uened for da learned manni ye answer ist sense making, but I ze concerned mitt da unlearned masses when I bring daes to ye. Intercession ist e welcomed concept ov monotheism. Ja nei doubt when proper orden ist acknowledged. Da problem I har ist about da wording orden ov da prayers I question here. Da prayers regarding intercession ov saints uened da like contained mittin ye cited works ov Canonism always begin mitt ‘o'God’, but O’ God, da prayers here begin mitt 'O’angel’. Unintentionally, ye har commanded people ta pray through angels instead ov praying for God’s blessing ta be delivered through angels. Da word ordening may seem trivial, but ist truly da difference beliden being led straight to da garden or astray to da fire. God before enkel ist monotheistic, but angel before God... Ye see meinae contention mitt translation? Neit trying ta disprove ye faith, or make ye appear other than e righteous manni, but trying ta help ye avoid contradiction ov faith, I support ye work.” The old man looks over all the papers on Seraphim’s desk. “E busy manni ye eru, so I’ll go pray until ye eru free to discuss further.”

”You seem to misunderstand the point that I make entirely. For you to say that Intercession is a welcomed thing in our monotheistic faith – Canonism, yet to then contradict yourself in saying that to pray for intercession is heathenry is telling, perhaps, of a lack of education in the faith. You say that we must begin our prayers with O Lord, O God. Yet, in all the years that the faithful have beseeched the intercession of the Saints, they would not open their prayers with O God, for they do not pray to God, but to the Saint or in this context the Aengul. No matter if we pray to our intercessor, we do not worship them, but ask for them to grant us strength and lift us on high in their prayers to the Lord. When a crusader calls upon Saint Lucien to pray for him, and to lend him blessings and strength in the battle to come, he does not need open his prayer with O God. When we pray to Saint Jude for discernment, we say this – Saint Jude, thine own writings reveal thyself to be perfectly content with how thou lived thy life, and I seek that same contentment. Am I to find it by becoming thy son, by virtue of my Brotherhood to monks? I am ready to mortify myself and accept whatever God doth will with a contrite heart, if only thou wilt help me to find out whatsoever he wills. When we pray to Saint Kristoff in our times of struggle and tribulation, we say, Saint Kristoff, the foe presses me from all sides. The occasion of sin gathers round about me, and I am too weak to resist alone. Therefore, pray for me to God, to grant me strength in this difficult time; bid Him dry my tears and renew my Faith. Because we are calling upon the Saints to intercede for us. We see specifically in the dogmatic tenets of the Church, “They are also thought to intercede on man's behalf.” This referring to the Aenguls. And in the Catechism of the Canonist Church which speaks to detail on the nature of intercession and in the clarification that it is not worship but veneration. If you stand against intercession then you make yourself opposed to the intrinsic beliefs of our faith. We venerate, we do not worship. We pray to, yet this prayer is the asking of their aid in making us stronger in the wealth of our love for God; to make known our petitions and to strengthen us and protect us. If you cannot see in these prayers that each and every one calls upon the divine and omnipresent glory of our Lord through his servants, then I fear I can be of no further help, for a man cannot be made to see the truth but only aided in doing so.” He offered a definitive refutation on the man’s continued championing of that point, returning to his work in earnest.

[Knightei 318]

Bartholomew pauses after reading the document, his head trying to put together the works he has seen.

 

“So, the Aenguls Xan and Tahreal have been omitted? Or do they not exist or perhap be Daemons themselves? I have read a great deal on the pair of them, having their respective priesthoods of the Paladins and the Clerics. I find this strange then, that the Aenguls of Order and Purity have no place in the Hierarchia, if only they’d be placed in the order of Fire and Guardianship.”