Letters from Waldemer: The State of the Faith

[MRCHENN 4741]

High Pontiff Daniel VI presiding over the Diet of Varoche

 

10th of Sigismund’s End, 2036

My dear brothers and sisters in faith,
 

I am a humble servant of the Lord,  more shepherd than scholar, dwelling in modest quarters within the walls of Drusco. What comfort I find in prayer and service, I offer freely to those who seek the divine light, for I have been blessed to receive an education in theology and scripture, and have made my calling as a minister to the faithful. I am grateful to the Lord for this sacred position, but I fear that many do not have the same reverence for the unity of our Holy Mission as I do. 

Since my ordination, I have been a devotee not simply of ritual and ceremony, but of the Divine Purpose that binds us all as one body beneath God. The only circumstance in which this can be achieved is through a Church that both shepherds the souls of its flock while also requiring them to, in part, defer their own interests to that of the collective Faith and the Divine Will. Discipleship in service of salvation is the purpose of our Holy Canonist Church.

What is our Church? In truth, it is simply the body of all believers united under the Divine Mission. To be Canonist can be explained as simply as to serve the Lord and His flock. This is an incontrovertible, undeniable calling that cannot be muddied by sectarian dispute or ecclesiastical confusion: ergo, those serving the Almighty, serve alongside all who share this Sacred Duty. There can be nothing less divisive or factional.

There are those unfortunate souls who persist to undermine this, to shift the definition of something that by nature is fixed for short-sighted theological purposes. They will speak of Sigismundists and Owynists, as if these are separate churches and not branches of the same divine tree from which our Faith has grown.

There are those who wonder why we should concern ourselves with unity when they very easily could retreat to their own interpretations and do nothing so as to save themselves the trouble of reconciliation.

This is the most curious and misguided fiction that I have heard propagated. A wound to one part of the body is a wound to us all. It is the responsibility of the Church to shepherd all its children, just as it is the responsibility of the faithful to contribute to the greater good and defer to the instruction of the Lord.

There exists a multitude of laws between the shepherd and the flock, and our Faith is one comprised of these laws. Make no mistake, this is not some collection of competing sects that can be simply torn apart by theological disputes, where the parties involved pick and choose which doctrines they shall follow and which they shall find more convenient to ignore. We are one Church, one Faith, under one God, with one divine mission and the blessing of one eternal truth.

Yet how can we speak of unity when the very foundation of our ecclesiastical order has been trampled underfoot? The sacred tradition of apostolic succession, which flows from blessed Everaistus through Holy Clement to all rightful successors, has been perverted by temporal ambition. When earthly Kings dare to claim the mantle of Clement's succession as “High Priest” without election by the sacred College of Cardinals, we witness not divine appointment but the gravest of blasphemies. This is caesaropapism of the most abhorrent kind - the subjugation of our Church to the whims of temporal authority.

From the earliest apostles to the blessed martyrs to the holy prophets, all believed in the brotherhood of Faith over all. Since the dissolution of proper Canon Law, this dream has degraded, and so too has our spiritual vitality. We are divided, confused, our dioceses empty and more destitute of guidance. We are bitter, torn up between sectarian disputes and theological rivalries, having lost sight of our common calling. The halls of our churches and seminaries are, combined, only shadows of what they once were by all accounts.

We have become obsessed with titles, hierarchies, pride and systems of deference to earthly authority. That is not what to serve the Lord ought to be about. It is about ordinary faithful, working together as a congregation does, under the Vicar of God who establishes our direction. Without the faithful working together, there is schism and collapse. Without proper spiritual guidance, the flock is aimless and listless as it wanders in the wilderness of confusion.

We must depart, at last, from conflict between competing interpretations and feuding theological schools. Many may read this letter and think of writing back to me with an excuse, justifying what is tantamount to spiritual treason through rhetoric or canonical fiction. To say “the Sigismundists follow a false prophet, therefore we must cast out his name” is no argument at all. That is sectarianism of the greatest form.

There are some who have become so caught up in doctrinal disputes that they believe to be theologically correct is to be inherently right. There has never been a more dangerous fiction in our ecclesiastical history. Without proper guidance and Divine righteousness, to take up theological arms and divide the faithful is nothing more than spiritual warfare. If we do not conduct ourselves with true faith, pastoral integrity and devotion to our divine mission above all, we are lost souls who shall wander for all eternity.

 

I believe in the Church of the Canon, and the salvation of all faithful above all.

 

Yours in service to the Divine Mission,
 

Father Drusco

 

[Ramon 5186]

"The words Father Drusco speak make sense."

Mused Rudolf, who, though he was barely literate, was still a zealot, and so had a retainer tell him of what the priestly missive said.

"One day the Church shall return to proper order. When the heresies that have seen it trampled underfoot are dealt with."
 

[Vikenz 1162]

"To name a king as High Priest is not only a breach of holy order; it is blasphemy draped in golden robes. The Crown may govern the flesh of men, but only the cloth may shepherd their souls. Numendil errs gravely in this union of altar and throne, and I fear it leads the faithful down a path lit not by divine fire, but by pride and heresy." Spoke Lord Roger de Rouen.

[Crevel 7557]

"Our thoughts are the same... mostly..." Father Martin remarked to himself as he reviewed the letter, comparing its core message to his own held beliefs of the current shortcomings.

 

He places the letter in a binding for safe-keeping, that he may look to it from time to time in his musings on whether to establish and pursue a restorational movement within the Church. "Perhaps I'll need to visit this Reverend some time." 

[dmitris 391]

Father Helbrecht received the missive, reading its contents with great interest. He nodded as he read along, seemingly being in agreement to Father Drusco's words.

 

"True unity and order must be achieved." He uttered simply.

[Javert 9615]

"If there is one thing that I and my newly dubbed liege-lords agree upon, it is that a secular ruler should never hold a position as a religious leader - especially not as leader of the faith." Spoke Lord Meili Altwegg, who had only now began to cope with his new Druscan overlords - At least he knew they had similar ideologies.

[alienescence 1415]

Bishop Josefina sends the Father Bert Drusco a big smiley face in the mail.

[Boom_steel 538]

The Druscan knight Renaud applauds his fellow’s words

[Navigator 4260]

"Isn't this what we told them about Anorhil during and before the War?" 

spoke Owyn to himself, in his delusion of death.

"Are they achieving class consciousness?"

[amyselia 2962]

"Our Father is a soothing voice of good bringing sense into a world gone away with madness. You should be honored to host him within your walls." The Lady Drusco spoke to her children over their regular instruction, pouring the news of the world into their young ears.

[sam33497 7356]

The martial man, Sir Sirius Mareno, politely read Father Drusco's letter and attempted to interpret it. Eventually, though of little repute in theology but for a brief stint in his youthfulness, recalling guiding the Holy Flock with the to-be Supreme Pontiff to the then mountains of Vortice, the Grand Knight is forced to disagree.

 

"How can we reject the doctrine that led to the birth of our righteous Empire? How can I look poorly upon Tar-Anorhil Harren, who has shed great blood for Empire, has won us great merit through humility, and has fought solemnly beside me in war for decades?"

 

He keeps these thoughts close to his heart, but does not write to condemn the letter.

[nunlover 579]

Lucien de Brionnes peered at the missive, "What the good father says is true," he'd murmur to himself, folding it, stashing it in his pocket.

[Laeonathan 5889]

"The man asks the wrong questions. For those will likely be unanswered." Father Montfort sighed.

 

"The right one is: WHERE BY THE LORD IS THE CHURCH LEADERSHIP?"

[siglms_ 932]

"We are truly living in the worst timeline."

 

Quipped Beaumont, a lone traveling monk reading the missive. He sighs.

 

 

[Nooblius 7965]

"A well written letter, deserving of a proper answer."

"I shall seek out this Father Drusco- I sense a fire in his Spirit."
An old, disheveled shell of Anorhil departs Lemon Hill.