pleaseappointmetocuriaandformadicasterywithme Chadashim

[framalam 837]

 

[!] Nailed on Gottenthal, Lemon Hill, and any churches of the True Faith, lay a sprawling scroll for any to read:

CHADASHIM

A series of personal outlines and commentary on contemporary Lucienism.

UPON THE TOPICS OF LUCIENISM, FLAMENISM, THE SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH, AND ALL THAT WAS IMPARTED ONTO ME BY MY FATHER, WRITTEN UNDER ENCOURAGEMENT FROM MY FLOCK.

 

FATHER HARRENIEL, SHEPHERD OF THE IVORI,

 CARETAKER OF THE BLESSED TEMPLE OF SAINT LUCIEN,

PRIEST OF THE LINE OF KOHEN

 

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FORGIVENESS

‘How can you embody a Lord, who loves and cherishes all of Creation, when you draw for your sword and search for blood before you impart the Lord’s love and wisdom? How can you slay a man which you have not forgiven before?

Nay, brethren. As men, it is not our charge to proffer judgment, for the time of judgment comes through the breath of the Lord upon death.’

BLESSED PONTIFEX CAIUS-BRANDT

 

I am no stranger to the sword of Owyn, and how the prophet’s flame may enlighten your heart, embolden you, just as the Saint Archangel Michael may. I remind all of my flock, and all of my brothers beneath the grail of Saint Lucien, that as I serve my order now, I served my order then. It is a grand privilege, to serve, and to die for the Lord. There are many times where I thought I would, but He thought it different.

Of course, when He is so present in all that is within your life, when you have no wife, no child to take heed of, no flock to tend to, no home to return to, no bed to sleep in, no pillow to lay your head on, and all you have is the blade in your hand and the saracen before you, I am not astonished by your prevalence to violence, or rather, our, for it is a fault that I too succumb to.

 

Upon my first arrival along the King’s Road, when I erred so heavily, and upbraided royals, and thought my pride served as the Lord did, to shield and protect me, for surely I could not be wrong! and all those that doubted me, of course, were merely wrong themselves, I had, promptly, fallen into a duel with a knight of grand regard. A knight, that even now, holds an urn of our Blessed remembered’s remains, as Cardinal Ailred Druzstra once did. So, I remember, that one faithful Lucienist, one so faithful that he sook to restore the order not through chapter, but through name proper in the Midlands - mine first order - took to lashing himself. He appealed to the lord, thus:

 

‘Forgive him, father! Forgive him, for he knows not better!’

LAYMAN CANONIUS

May the Lord guide you, wherever you may be, brother-once.

 

Then promptly lashed himself, again, and again, and again. It is, of course, virtuous, to offer oneself as another: it is the greatest generosity we can offer. But what good does it do? Should the Lord look upon the youth who blaspheme, swear, utter all vile utterances there are to utter, and think, in all His mercy, that it is fair, then, for the elderly priestly man to lash himself? Should the Lord forgive them moreso, even though He already has, for he is all-loving and all-merciful, because I leave these wounds in mine own skin?

 

I would think not. My father, too, would think not, for upon the conclusion of my golus and that encroachment of my Sin-tainted soul unto the Ruach Ha’Kodesh, that tainted tincture that I did prickle onto the mercyflame, I thought to do the same. I wandered, an acolyte, still, of course, and a churchly man, for only the Lord did save me, and keep me in sustenance of faith, rather than food, or worldly licit things, and gathered penitents. I gathered them, advised them, counselled them to seek more priestly men, better men than myself, and so I shepherded them to Lemon Hill. And there, I had them undertake the rite of emundatio as did the Lectormen so long ago.

 

At their conclusion, though, I still felt their Sin. I felt it heavy upon me, and I felt, as if I was interpreter of the Lord, as if I had reached my devekut enlightenment and looked and bathed in the warmth of Him, and thusly I burnt His holy symbol into my nape. I collapsed, and I awoke to the sight of my father, who looked at me distraught. For, yes, the idea, the intent, it is oh-so-virtuous, oh so flepirly, you are innocent, you show chesed-mercy beyond that of any of your flock, you are beautiful, my son, but, what good does it bring?

 

You are nearer to the Lord, but the penitents are not! So, to the self-flagellator, would I say, take not the lash upon yourself, but throw it to the floor! You should rather take to them your word, your arm, and offer it to them, clasp them on the shoulder and say, 

 

“Fret not, for I am here, and I will listen, and as I listen, and I am here, so too is the Lord here with us, and so too does he listen, for no word spoken is a word hidden from the Lord.”

 

Of course, you mustn't do so so verbosely, but should such a need come to pass, as the venerable Father Paco did once instruct us, it is upon the foundation, scripture, and guidance of our predecessors that we near the Lord and His kingdom, one generation upon the next painted on the Tapestry of Man.

 

Just as you should not lash yourself, then, should you not bring your flaming sword upon the heretic, the pagan, the Shade, even! I do not advocate for the total docility of the Mother Church and her venerable soldiers and army, but rather, an appeal to the chesed mercy in us all. We may be born of Sin, but it is not our obligation to remain there. The Blessed Pontifex Caius-Brandt did bring this concept of the ‘Elect’, those chosen among us, by chance, through His favor, to be naturally closer to the Lord, but this is one I must unequivocally rebuke! We are all borne of sin, for Ibliz cursed us all. It is through the overcoming of this collective Sin, through the tenfold virtue that I must encourage and instil upon all my flock and so hope in writing this instil upon all who read, that we may distance ourselves, and our souls, from the Void, and near ourselves to the eternal throne of virtue that is the Lord.

 

So, the born sinner, for instance, the laity who is born out of the fold of Canondom, who is raised in Nornish solitude with not a whisper of the Lord and his servants reaching him, when he comes to you, Canonist, why would you strike him down for his Sin of merely being? You would raise your sword against the raider, and not your tongue? Even the most banditrous of bandits can be tamed, and if not tamed, reasoned with. We are all men, all us of Horen, and we are all gifted with the life, with the self agency and the yechidah within us, even if it should so sleep within the Norn, is in us all the same, we are unity, we are one.

 

It is not through cleaving his head from his shoulders that we awaken the heathen’s binah, but from breaking bread with him, offering him all we can, giving him all we can, in hopes that we may awaken it within him. The gates, sons of Horen, are closed. We hold the key, and we must open them anew, but I ask you: is it the warrior, or the priest, who will more likely lose his hand? What good is a sword to a closed gate?

 

---

 

ADMISSION OF GUILT

There is no greater thing for man to do than admit he has wronged others. I steadfastly must agree with this, no matter how embedded, or unbased it may be in virtue. No man is above sin. To admit one's sin to a cleric is the first step, from sin, to being welcomed once more into the loving fray of the Mother Church.

It represents all that a man should be before the Lord: humble. You are not He, you are not better, you are flawed and sinful. As you are flawed and sinful, you must recognise your flaws, and your sins, and confess them so that you may better yourself. In bettering yourself so can you near yourself to the Lord.

 

It is in the shade of the tree of pride that Saulican whispers eat and devour. It is the disgraced tainted fruit of virtue that falls upon the floor, and sweetens, as we expose it to all indecencies. There, and in that fruit, where it sweetens sickly, do the grubs of Ibliz work their way into virtue. And though the fruit of virtue does not rot, and it does not decay, and it is eternal, as it is the role of shepherd to tend to his flock, so too is it the role of layman to tend to his orchard. So when the layman looks upon his grove and sees the leaves withering, and the fruit swelling, and does not act, he obfuscates. It is in this sloth that Ibliz strikes.

 

When the layman sees this, and he says, craning his neck and humbling himself in genuflexion before the Lord;

 

“Lord, forgive me, I have been taken victim by sloth!”

 

Doth the Lord forgive. If you have Sinned, stolen from my house and my flock and my person, how am I to know you have sinned? How am I to forgive you for a crime I know you not to have made? And though the Lord has seen that you have sinned, and he has forgiven, for he is all-merciful, and all-knowing, it is through the servants of the lord who have taken the vocation of twin priests Evaristus and Clement, in the line of Kohen, that assign you your penance. They assign you the penance the line of Kohen, who were entrusted themselves by the first Son of Spirit with prudence and all diligence, would have so assigned to you as well. 

It is through this penance that you humble yourself, and mark yourself as a son of virtue, as you were born.

We are all born with the curse Ibliz placed upon us, but it is our duty, as I have said countless times, to overcome it. It is our duty to be virtuous, so it is the duty of the layman to preach, and of the priest to labor.

 

I am evidently a fierce advocate for the redemption and penance of the soul and spirit. Likewise, though, am I an avid admirer of the licit, worldly benefits of confession. To confess your crimes, and know that you have done wrong, to your own ego, rights that wrong. You have recognised the pattern is flawed, that one tree in your grove withers: you have dug out the roots to expose to His light all that festers down beneath. So, even if the tree still withers above the ground, for you have not done your penance, by confessing you take your first step toward it. You ease your own conscience by mere admission. You seek forgiveness in confession.

 

It was the opinion of the Lectorate, or rather of their laymen, that the duty of a lector to a penitent was to guide them, and take an active role in their confession and penance. I am not an instrument, nor determiner, of the Lord’s justice. I cannot possibly ever claim to be, for all that can ever be ascertained from the prophets are their words, verbatim. In admission, you expel your fears, and the sinful shackle Ibliz has wrought round your ankle nonconsensually. You demonstrate, both to the Lord, and to your peers that you wish to do better. You acknowledge you have done wrong unto the world and Creation, and so you tell Creation, ‘take me, take me, I am changed!’ and so He takes you, and we take you as His sons.

 

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DIFFERENCE OF SECT

Long have Owynists critiqued Sigismundites and the Ruskan Orthodox for accepting Siegmund as a fourth Exalted, and this is, by all means, the most defining differentiator between the two most populous sects: Owynism and Orthodox Canonism. However, Owynism did not stem exclusively from this idea, and I would argue, rather, even if non-chronologically, evolved from Flamenist ideals. Chief among these, then, that virtue should be upheld and sin dispelled not merely through prayer and utterances, but rather action.

 

So, then, when the Orenian emperors attempted to render the Church a tool of their will and make the laurel and horn one once more, it was regrettably Owynists who led this charge. The degree to which they can by modern, and by Lectormonk, standards be called Owynist is debatable, but they titled themselves such with overwhelming belief in caesaropapism. Of course, this was all a result of politicking, and the Darfeyists, more apt a name for them, quickly fell off as soon as they came to be.

 

Rather, Owynism and Lucienism split off at an impasse from this action-oriented interpretation of the Scripture. Owynism promotes “proactive and militant approaches to combating threats to the faith and flock by any means necessary”. Lucienism, its namesake being a Pontiff himself and originating from holy ordermen, focuses rather on the ideal of papal infallibility. That the pontifex, as he is anointed by the college of cardinals, cannot err, and thus his will is absolute and resolute and to defy it is to defy virtue.

 

Again, though, the traditional flock of either sect plays a large role in how their dogma may be perceived today. The Order of Saint Lucien, in most if not all of its iterations, was, and is, renowned for a reputation of Horenic superiority. Where both sects should agree and differ solely on their application of the law of Virtue given unto Horen, we see a distinct disconnect between them in organisation and application. Lucienism thrived, almost entirely, in the keeps of Lucienist orders, and in the cities they were in, where contemporary Owynism thrived first as a defiant force against their Darfeyists once-kin in the Church of True Faith, relying on missionary work and being largely, more successful in spreading their ideology and interpretation over the other. This became especially true with the fall of the Chivays from imperial purple, and the rise of the Lectorate.

 

And so as Lucienism evolves once more, with my flock, with my brothers-in-arms beneath the Grail and the Saint-Messenger Raguel, would I say the dogma has shifted defiantly against its predecessor. Where both Owynism and Lucienism were split from the Flamentree and grafted onto their own, would I now plant the sapling seed of Lucien of Ulmsbottom nearer to Flamenism once more. There is, of course, never going to be a definitive time where I can point and say, “Here, here! This is where we changed!” but rather I believe the repeated stagnation of Lucienist orders has staunched, to an extent, the Owynfire in us all.

 

So, in short, to sum all that has been said and all I will say, the difference between the Lucienism of yore and mine own interpretation that I would teach unto my flock and acolytes is thus: first, rejection of the revionist, Daniel-burdened Virosi scrolls; second, to live always in penance above all else; third, utter devotion and faith in the Lord and his vicar; fifth, proselytisation, confession, and forgiveness; sixth, to live by the septalogue delivered unto Hoten as law, and law of virtue, for the fruit of virtue is unyielding and does not rot; and seventh, worship and enlightenment in all ten aspects of His Light, the Ruach Ha’Kodesh.

 

I think it is only natural for a faith to evolve with her people, even if it does not change, and is constant, so paradoxically true.

 

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THE TEN EMANATIONS

Solitude, hermitage, humility and flepirhood do well to distance man from the Void. You are so long restricted from all your worldly urges and ambitions to enjoy only what you have before you, behind you, below you, but most of all, above. Read this at your own peril of being led astray, for none below has been corroborated, and all is my own interpretation of what I see. All the same, I know what I saw:

 

Saint Tylos’ Chariot, but upon it, no saint, but an infinite light so blinding it rendered the day black, and ice at once to melt and pool in my cell. An immaculate conception of faces upon faces and wheels upon wheels, all below a throne that was both above and below, all encompassing, and infinitely light and good. For in the chariot, I saw the three aspects of the Lord: the upper, the living, the lower. 

 

The upper, in His infinity, His wisdom, His understanding that so wholly swallowed the night.

 

The living, in His chimeric machinations of all life simultaneous, all that is mortal, in His mercy, His strength, oh how He was strong!, and in His beauty, for all life was one for all but a moment.

 

The lower, that which He shows us most, His eternal victory over the Deceiver, His glory, which shone so brilliantly, His foundation, his bridge betwixt spirit and man, and that last, His kingdom, the culmination of all that above it, which even far from the Lord as it was, was so much closer than I’ve ever been.

 

In a great flash of lightning did the chariot appear, and just as quickly as it came and my eyes were blessed so, it went, but it did not! It went not, for it was all

around, His infinity, His wisdom, His understanding, His strength, His mercy, His beauty, His glory, His foundation: all to His kingdom.

 

It was for only a moment that I felt my higher souls touch and pull me upward in devekut enlightenment to see closer to  the Lord, but it is all I needed to remain flepirly.

 

And so it is in emulation of these emanations of the Lord that I yearn to achieve devekut as I did then, whether it be in relentless mercy, relentless awe, splendor, all I must to take His chariot and be nearer to Him.

 

So similarly do I believe the prophets may have seen in the same way: it was they who saw His strength in Owyn’s sword, they who saw His mercy in forgiving Godfrey, they who saw His beauty in Horen’s pilgrimage and the tabernacle. Thus is why Flamenism persists at all!

 

In dedication to our virtue and study and vigorous goodness can we align the microcosm that is our souls within his Kingdom closer to the ladder that lets them ascend to the Skies, and join Him in Ein Sof, these DECACHADASH emanations of His light that we can pray to approach ourselves to Him with.

 

 

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BALANCE;  JUSTICE AND FORGIVENESS

The Lord’s justice is that which we as man cannot judge, but only interpret; the septalogue delivered unto Horen is His most Holy law, and so this is what we must follow.

Thusly, it is not the place of Man, or even Church, in my opinion, to judge other Man, and particularly not steal from Man the gift of life that the Lord did give.

 

Death is a last resort. The first to consider, though, is the capacity of the layman to admit, and seek forgiveness. Should a layman be so corrupted, cursed, tainted, that they cannot even see how they err and the Sin that pulls at them, then there is no greater justice than to delegate to the Lord. But wait, my son, wait, for patience and prudence are virtues as the Lord did tell unto Horen, and there is no greater injustice than to steal the gift of life that the Lord did give. Punishment, especially that which is unjust, acts only as an impetus for reflection and a return to virtue. You would rather radicalise the sinborne man than make him taste the fruit of virtue.

 

There are such cases where sin is so severe that to punish and rebuke their malefactor is inevitable. Such heinous sins; harming a cleric; falsifying miracles; bastardising sacraments; the murder of the innocent; warrant punishment, yes. All the same, redemption is possible. Should they refuse their penance, should they repeat their error, should their sin be so severe, so hurtful to the flock, that one lamb must be sacrificed in paschal humility, then so be it: there is justice there, then, in preventing the further spread of injustice, and allowing the Lord to make His final judgement. This is only in the case that the threat is real, and the penitent ignorant!

 

More benevolent is the ability of a chesed-blessed flepir flock to forgive. To not call for death where there has been death, and defy, even if the sinner himself has defied it, the will of the Lord for the sinner to be granted life. Exile, monastic vows, disablement: countless, countless alternatives to robbing a man of life. Life is sacred, in all its faces, such is the message imparted by His beauty.

 

I return to this malevolent lamb. He who eats all the yellowing pastures, so that they may never turn green, he who would shove and pull and bite their fellow lamb in a bid to eat first, he who murders. It is the duty of the faithful to protect the flock, community. You protect your fellow man, I protect you, against the injustice and corruption spilt upon this world by the first Sin. If this lamb’s actions would threaten the flock, that the threat is so real, tangible, imminent even, then it is the unfortunate necessity of the mass to expunge the wrongdoer, the dissident. Be it a dangerous necrophage, or a tyrant, it is the duty of the flock to act all the same.

 

I do not call for inaction and docility, again, I call for open minds. I call for open hearts. I call for forgiveness, but most of all, I call for CHESED-MERCY. Even the most grievous sinner can be led to His Light through kindness and generosity. All the same, there are times, there are cases, where justice and punishment toward the few are necessary to uphold the virtue of the many. It is only through the collective virtue of the flock that the sinner is granted a route to redemption to begin with: this is what we must safeguard, and hold dearest to ourselves.

 

I return, again, to this malevolent lamb. Shall we say he is a tyrant, a murderer, a voidalist, a blasphemer? He is whatever we make him to be, so long as we know that we, the flock, are merciful and virtue, and he is Sin. The Creator forgives those who keeps His commandments, but equally, He punishes those who do not. Forgiveness from the flock does not absolve the sinner of the consequences of their actions. Even if through penance and redemption, the sinner takes five steps closer to the Lord, he has still bathed four steps in the viscera of the Void. For this, he must be apprehended!

 

We must first acknowledge the severity of the crime. Has it harmed the spirit of the flock? Has it harmed the body? Has it harmed the possessions? In such an order should crimes be judged: spirit, body, possession. In the case our sinner has attacked a Kohen, and in doing so attacked our Lord Himself, this is a most grave Sin. It is an attack of Spirit, not only on the flock, but on the Lord awhole.

Has he killed several of our flock in mass homicide? In doing so, he has, yes, attacked the body, but so too has he attacked spirit!: murder is a profound violation of the Lord’s creation, and the sanctity of life He granted.

My sons must grapple with the gravity of sin before any penance can be admitted, and any forgiveness made.

 

Second, we must acknowledge the intent and mind of the sinner both during, and following his act. Forgiveness can only ever be granted when the perpetrator genuinely, wholly repents for their actions. They must admit their guilt, show remorse, admonish their act, and more importantly, themselves. There must be a willingness to make amends. Do you throw the drunkard in jail because he is drunk, or because you know he will be sobered and regretful the next morning, when the Lord’s light scalds his eyes, and pounds his head? The drunkard may not be a willing penitent, for the Lord decides for him there, but your sinner must be. True forgiveness cannot be achieved without a willingness to change and seek atonement.

 

It is difficult, my sons, I am well aware, to forgive a man who may have taken so much from you. But you must gather empathy and show virtue, to serve as a stable, strong hand to lift the sinner from the depths of Ibliz. It is your duty to try utmost to understand your sinner, so long as he is your fellow man. Why would you forgive, if you thought him inhuman? Was his act driven by desperation, madness, ignorance? Misguided righteousness? Such questions you must ask of yourself, so you avoid Sin, and of the sinner, so you may understand how he fell to it and forgive

 

Forgiveness, though, does not preclude justice. Even with forgiveness, appropriate punishment must be in place to usher in and maintain the sanctity of His law and deter any future fall to Sin. His Justice, though, is not one of vengeance and castigation, but one of rehabilitation, of protecting the flock altogether. The sinner has this innate potential for redemption and virtue by their being a man. Your forgiveness, my son, is the very testament we must demonstrate towards the infinite power of the mercyflame to transform even the most hardened, cold, sin-hurt heart.

 

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ON SACRAMENT

I have noted a worrying decrease in practice of our Mother Church’s sacraments. I believe these were key aspects of fostering community, both within a flock, and between its shepherds. To gather to exult the virtue of your neighbour gives more motivation than any grand act of selflessness. You see him, he is like you, and he has neared closer and closer to the Lord. Why not be happy?

 

I see baptism as more than symbolic. I long for her return, and lament the departure of my sister Clover, for she inspired so much of my work, and action, by sheer virtue of being closer to my father than I. For, when I was but a middling orderman in the Midlands, it was Clover that I saw baptised by the grail of Saint Lucien that I so solemnly swear myself to as a brother today! She was but a child then, a vagabond, ‘street-folk’, but she had been taken in by a true man of virtue, and she had changed. And you could see she had changed. 

 

Her baptism was not only a welcoming, it was a transformation. She entered homeless, thrown to the roads, and left with the Most Almighty as father. I do not believe outlining strict regulations for priests to follow is rather conducive to good faith, nor do I have any priests to guide such, but baptism should be preceded and succeeded by this intense reflection. You should

not be welcomed into the Mother Church if you are led awry, or forced at blade’s edge to do so! Your relation with the Lord is personal, let no knight in impenetrable plate oblige you to act on it instantaneously. Baptism is cleansing. It is your mikveh, your bath in which you bathe in virtue, and shed off the innate curses Ibliz tried to desperately to hex upon the Horenite race and his brothers.

 

Similarly, I see an odd, higher-soul imposed anachronism of confessionals as private. Why should they be private? If you are truly sorry, and you feel shame, then let us show us how ashamed we are of you! You are right to feel shame, for Sin is shameful! Take accountability, examine yourself. It is not through the utterance ‘father forgive me for I have sinned’ that your father must forgive you! Do you really wish to be forgiven, or do you just wish for the consequences of your sin to be waved away at no more cost than telling a single man? No teshuvah is ever realised through merely coming and going, coming and going and talking before your priest again, and again, and again every time you sin. No! Tell your family, tell your neighbours, tell all your flock in mass you have Sinned, and let the flock, in their collective virtue and righteousness elevate you from ever falling so low again! Yes, the priest may assign you penance, yes he may hear you in private, yes he may love you, but let your flock love you even more! Inspire the same teshuvah-repentance in others that you wish your priest to assign unto you!

 

All Sin has a root. Of course, the root of all roots is Ibliz, but we know roots tangle, knot themselves, so one root may shoot from another. It is your duty, as it is your duty to live in virtue, to find and burn this Sin! You will find sin, you will find why you have sinned, and you will tell your father and your flock exactly how you will make sure you never make such sin again. Is this not more useful than simply going to an old man, who has passed one test, written one thesis, appealed to one bishop for appointment, and having only him hold you accountable? You are accountable for yourself. Your flock is accountable for you. Your shepherd is accountable for you. But remember what came first: you are accountable for yourself! You must not only seek forgiveness in confession, but seek transformation? What good is it if I forgive you, my son, and then you go and sin the next morning? None! No good at all.

 

On the topic of steering clear of sin, I find the sacrament of marriage quite well maintained. Yes, there were scandalous talks of bastardry and adultery among the Alstions - when have their not been - but the talk of the noble few dozen is infinitely louder than the talk of the common many, while the virtue of the many drowns out the sin of the few. I was married quite humbly to my wife, before her disappearance, with no grand ceremony or celebrations. I do not think this has to be an example. Enjoy your wedding and your wife as you will, in due moderation! But, just as I advocate so loudly for the accountability of an individual, so too do you become accountable for both the very pact you make with your spouse, but also your spouse themselves. Let my sons be married as they wish, but I would think it wiser with ketubah - with your responsibilities and commitments to each other and the tabernacle family you wish to imitate clearly outlined. Should you break them, then, let your whole flock hold you accountable as OATHBREAKER!

 

I do think the lack, furthermore, of inspired service and charity within our modern faith quite concerning. I look auspiciously upon the Balianite donation drives, and the continued missionary work of various Mont-Limontine acolytes, but it is not enough. I still see suffering. I still see starving, poverty, blasphemy, and it is your duty, as it is your duty to perform virtue, to share your chesed with the world. Give your gold to your neighbour, give your food to your urchin, and give your spirit to your apostate.

Show your commitment to the Lord, and in doing so, let Him ignite, stoke the mercyflame in your heart. You will look upon the horrid state of the world in all its plights, and you will not say ‘woe! woe! we are doomed!’, but rather, ‘Lo, sinner, I have brought you gold, I have brought you sustenance, I have brought you spirit!’

 

 

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CONCLUDING REMARKS

I would only ask of you, my son, one thing. Not to follow, not to preach, not to listen, but to hear my words. Hear them, do with them what you will, find your truth, and should you be so filled with zeal that you think mine worse, lesser, an imperfect fashion of worship, then come to Gottenthal and ask for me.

 

Or, better yet, should you be even more zealous, preach. It is our duty as devout Canonists to live in imitation of the Exalted, and through Owyn’s covenants, it is us who have taken the Lord’s prophecy. It is us who were entrusted with spreading it, so spread it. Venture forth, face persecution, have steel flaunted in your face, but preach the true faith!

 

There is no greater satisfaction to me than proselytisation. I look upon the face of a once-skeptic, once-non-believer, once-heathen, once-heretic even, and I see my son, and so I love all my sons. I hope the Lord’s love and mercy can come to warm the world ten times over, each for one of His ten faces.

 

FATHER HARRENIEL, SHEPHERD OF THE IVORI,

 CARETAKER OF THE BLESSED TEMPLE OF SAINT LUCIEN,

PRIEST OF THE LINE OF KOHEN

🙂

 

Edited December 19, 2024 by framalam

[Xarkly 17299]

 

Villorik meditated quietly before the forest shrine.

 

It had not always been this way.

Once, their Church had been mighty.

 

Under the banner of Caius Primus, the Canon Princes bowed their bickering heads and withdrew their baying armies in subjugation to nothing but his writ. The pagan lands had quaked at this coming, and surrendered concession after concession so that the Light Everlasting shone upon their lands. No Darkspawn held went unexpunged, from the those who lurked within Canondom, to those in the far and frozen north.

 

It still graced Villorik with a faint smile to think that, when he was a much younger man, that Caius was his 'enemy' - that, since they were of different Sects, they were foes.

 

Villorik considered it a miracle that he had unlearned that error so swiftly. Those differences mattered not a whit as they culled heretics and Darkspawn alike from the lands and brought the Light's proper order unto Canondom once more after the depravity of the Covenant War.

 

"I should not have outlived you," Villorik muttered in soft prayer to his old lord. "It should not have been so."

 

For what had been won in unity had been squandered in division.

 

The Cardinals that had created the might of Lemon Hill, driven off and sequestered. A Crusade, exported to Orcs, Elves, and Norns. Vassals within the very Holy See itself, raiding and plundering. Marauders enfortified, and even Darkspawn Mystics enlisted within the ranks of the Church itself. Though he begrudged his own longevity, Villorik thought it was a small mercy that his brothers-in-arms had not lived to see it so.

 

Perhaps the rehashing of these old debates, old misconceptions and old traded beliefs, was a manner to distract from the enormity of follies that mounted before them, from the garden of sin that spanned beneath their feet.

 

All he could conclude was that he would pray for this author - newborn though he was, he was irretrievably mired in the thorns of the past.

 

For barren soil grew no fruit.

[HeyitsNano 1582]

Atticus Keen crumpled before the altar of the Temple of St. Lucien in Gottenthal, trembling before the great Rhodesian that affixed its greater walls. Harreniel’s words, like molten iron, seared into his very marrow. Tears etched furrows into his weathered cheeks, of anguish and repentance, while his visage—lined and haggard at the sight of the beautiful flame—revealed frailty only known to a man stripped to his bones.
 

Bowed yet low, Atticus cried out in constant repetition. His hands, barely recognizably attached by the sheer nature of his fearful tremor, rose to the sky.
 

"I am a sinner. I have killed in vain and conducted myself in frivolity! Forgive me, O Lord!"

 

 

[PCSwift 1422]

9 hours ago, Xarkly said:

 

Villorik meditated quietly before the forest shrine.

 

It had not always been this way.

Once, their Church had been mighty.

 

Under the banner of Caius Primus, the Canon Princes bowed their bickering heads and withdrew their baying armies in subjugation to nothing but his writ. The pagan lands had quaked at this coming, and surrendered concession after concession so that the Light Everlasting shone upon their lands. No Darkspawn held went unexpunged, from the those who lurked within Canondom, to those in the far and frozen north.

 

It still graced Villorik with a faint smile to think that, when he was a much younger man, that Caius was his 'enemy' - that, since they were of different Sects, they were foes.

 

Villorik considered it a miracle that he had unlearned that error so swiftly. Those differences mattered not a whit as they culled heretics and Darkspawn alike from the lands and brought the Light's proper order unto Canondom once more after the depravity of the Covenant War.

 

"I should not have outlived you," Villorik muttered in soft prayer to his old lord. "It should not have been so."

 

For what had been won in unity had been squandered in division.

 

The Cardinals that had created the might of Lemon Hill, driven off and sequestered. A Crusade, exported to Orcs, Elves, and Norns. Vassals within the very Holy See itself, raiding and plundering. Marauders enfortified, and even Darkspawn Mystics enlisted within the ranks of the Church itself. Though he begrudged his own longevity, Villorik thought it was a small mercy that his brothers-in-arms had not lived to see it so.

 

Perhaps the rehashing of these old debates, old misconceptions and old traded beliefs, was a manner to distract from the enormity of follies that mounted before them, from the garden of sin that spanned beneath their feet.

 

All he could conclude was that he would pray for this author - newborn though he was, he was irretrievably mired in the thorns of the past.

 

For barren soil grew no fruit.

Spoiler

PCSWIFT MENTIONED 

 

[Wavey 2568]

Whilst upon his weekly venture to maintain the shrines of the southern lands, Ivan found the Lucienist thesis plastered upon one of them. He raised a brow as he read the work. However, as he did so, the Cardinal let out a grunt of disappointment. 
 

“He acknowledges that our faith is our history, it has been defined by the people from generation to generation. Then, he advocates for our faith to adapt to our society. Yet, in the same breath he fervently seeks to recreate the past, rejecting the present in the process.”

 

He saw a paradoxical conundrum in this work. A fallacy of sorts. 
 

“So, what does he seek? To relive the past? Or rewrite the past and usher a new present? Both lead to the very dangers of shirk this author himself warns against.”  
 

Such is the dilemma for the Lucienist author and his adherents.