thesmellypocket

Likes feminism but dislikes empty headed twittering?

Just now, Aengoth said:

A missive is penned in response

 

Were I not to have witnessed your initial fit in person I would've thought this was the words of some cowardly elf profaning the words of GOD for the purposes of further degrading Man. It is indeed lamentable that You, who are but a man of little knowledge, despised rightly as a Fool and with no priestly formation, should be moved to make this point, due to pride and weakness. To further bring insult to the clergy shows the very degradation of your own position and by extension the degradation of Mans faith in GOD. This prideful degradation leads Man down the path of sin, when we choose to degrade the sole unifying institution that binds all of Mankind together it is to the effect to further weaken our own brothers. Rather, serve to bolster the foundation of Mankind, our united Church and the good Clergy who serve to bolster our faith in GOD. Continued degradation of the Church by lesser men is part of a greater sin, and this greater sin is why Man see fit to allow this new land to be baptized in the blood of Holy Men upon the holiest of grounds.

 

I urge you to choose your words more carefully and seek confession for the foundation of your being seeks to exalt yourself above both Man and the Clergy. For surely it is the sin of pride that one would seek to move the Holy Church and her Bishops and Priest as if they were but dogs at your beck and call.

 

Further seek confession for your very position is based entirely on deceit, deceit which is the weapon of Iblees. For the duel you witnessed was done amicably between two Men seeking to better strengthen themselves. Nor was it done with sword but fists as both Men sought not to maim one another. By your words you condemn men to not compete fairly with one another, to not seek adversity for the purposes of bettering oneself. Hate not those who would seek to better themselves through labor and competition while you prattle. Find solace that you live in a peaceful era that can create Weak Men who can benefit off the back of generations of Better Men who would seek to hone themselves against those who conspire against GOD. Never forget that the Exalted Sigismund gazed into the Face of GOD and saw the end of times. Strife will come, pray that we are not found wanting and do not give in to the decadence of the slothful few who would whisper honeyed words into your ears to pull you down with them.

 

-RdS

 

"What is this? I am not referring to a specific duel, but condemning the practice in general. I am condemning the practice of duelling to the death as a sin, which leads souls to the Void. You speak of weakness. It is weakness to TOLERATE sin, not to destroy it. It is weakness to kill a man out of nothing more than ones one Ego and self love, to be ruled by passions instead of God's law. You have written much, Signore, but you have said nothing. 

 

I remain your humble servant,

 

Philip."

 

P.S. I am a true child of Holy Church and willing to be corrected by her. I am merely upholding and applying her law. She despises needless killing, else why would Blessed Virosi have written of Just War?

An exhortation to the people, against duelling.

 

 

"Raise not your hand in wrath, nor in anger, nor in any kind of sin."-Virtue 5:9.

 

The catastrophe of duelling cuts down the lives of young men like so much unryed wheat every year, and casts their immortal souls straight into everlasting death in the Void. Need anything more be written? Is there cause for anything else to be said? This alone should move Holy Church and her Bishops and Priests to wholly condemn this shameful practice. It is indeed lamentable that I, who am a man of little knowledge, despised rightly as a fool and with no priestly formation, should be moved to make this point, due to the silence of the clergy. 

 

Point I. Fighting Duels is a Sin not of Manliness, but Effeminacy.

 

But alas, I am forced to expand upon this point, due to the machinations of the Father of Lies, who has persuaded the people by deceitful argument. Lest I should be accused of weakness, or pacifism, I have three answers. Firstly, I would rather be known as weak, scheming, evil, malicious, haughty, cowardly, unfit to be the food of rats, then that one of you, one of the immortal souls God has made, should go to the Void. And that is the second answer: you will not complain of weakness, nor think God "soft" if, by your foolish duelling, you be cast into the Void. Then shall the soft, the meek, and those who showed mercy in this life have mercy shown unto them, and they, receiving an inheritance with the Saints, shall not move so much as a finger at the eternal torment you shall face. Then you shall beg for softness, but softness will not be given you, simply because you never showed it to those whom God loves, and therefore have chosen to face God's justice rather than His mercy, in that you chose to sin against mercy. Cease, then, this line of questioning that calls opposition to duelling soft. No, rather, it is hard and just, as: "There can be no laxity in Faith for any reason." (Spirit 2:13.) No compromise whatever can be made with sin. Better to be light of burden and forgive injuries in this life, then having injury done you eternally in the next. For, I beseech you, how trivial shall these so-called "matters of honour" seem, when you come before the Judge? Life passes away like a wisp in the wind; your earthly life shall dissipate like smoke, like the rest of the world. At that time, the worldly honour you coveted on this earth will seem so immensely trivial to the eternal dishonour you will have reaped for yourself, when you shall be deprived of the blessedness of the just. For Saint Jude calls the Void "eternal damnation"; Scripture calls it "darkness." (Auspice 1:30) Do not think that, because the servants of the Enemy are forever destroyed, that there shall be an end to the damnation. No, indeed it shall be eternal; for you shall be eternally in a state of hatred, destruction and evil. And know that human language cannot adequately describe either the blessedness of the Skies, nor the torments of the Void. For, I enjoin you, ask yourselves: how are the slaves of Iblees, the deceivers, described as having wings of "Cold fire?" (Auspice 1:9) Do you not see that it is worse than both cold and fire? Do you not see that it shall be both darkness and everlasting fire? How can it have in it, the torment of both darkness and of fire; or cold and fire? Only in that it somehow, mystically, will be worse than both, in a way that the Flexio language cannot express. And the same truth applies to the joys of the Just in the Skies.

 

Would any man, therefore, acting on the grounds of these eternal truths, ever sin? It would be insanity. If a man has these things ever before his eyes, he would not be covetous whatsoever of worldly honour. And yet men raise their hands in sin, I mean in wrath due to an inordinate desire for revenge, they duel; I mean in pride when they are covetous of their own reputation, they duel; I mean in lust and envy when they fight over the hand of a woman, they duel; and I even mean in sloth, when men, being in idleness with neither work nor wholesome place, seek pleasure in fighting and sinning; they duel. And this is the third answer: yes, there are legitimate uses of violence. But it is to be by lawful authority established by God (Virtue 6), and for a just and virtuous cause. But observe these causes for which men fight duels. Personal honour? This is nothing but pride! Revenge? That is nothing but wrath! And over a woman? That is nothing but envy! Men fight for a just and lawful cause, to kill criminals, and to protect their country. But make no mistake: there is no such cause for duelling. It is completely unlawful violence and almost always sinful. This means that, if one or, as has happened sometimes, both men fall in the dispute, we have two men who die in these terrible sins. There is, therefore, no fate left for them but the Void, although Divine Mercy might ****** souls from that fate, we cannot fall into presuming that, which would be a mockery of God, and an outrageous blasphemy. 

 

These eternal truths in mind, namely, that personal honour, worldly wealth, a woman's hand and so on, are so much straw in comparison to our eternal fate, no man unless possessed by these things would go to sin in this manner. I mean to say, those who fight duels are weak men, I mean weaker than school-girls. They know the truths which I have enjoined, and profess them: and yet they choose these inordinate desires over what is truly good. Brethren, see the effeminacy of this. We call a man, unwilling to undergo any kind of pain or hardship for a greater good, a wimp, and unmanly. Is this not a prime example? He is a slave to desire, and, losing track of what is important; unable to retrain himself, in a fit of rage, or lust, or envy, or pride, he loses his command of reason and will, and allows himself to be dominated by alien forces. This is a weak and effeminate man: this is a duelist. 

 

Point II. Renounce Idleness, and Seek Charity. 

 

 

And men ought to know that one of the chief causes is this: boredom. Yes, it may sound absurd that men duel to the death out of boredom. But idleness is the devil's workshop. In it, he makes for us a breastplate of pride, a helmet of envy; gauntlets of greed. It is only when it is too late - or now, if you are wise enough to hear - that we have also adopted him as our squire, to put upon us this heavy plate armour. And when he has outfitted us, paying little attention, we look down and see that he has put shackles upon us, and now we are the basest slaves of his. And not only that, this armour shall have so perverted our desires that we shall want the evil, and refuse the good, but inwardly shall be utterly miserable in this state of pride. 

 

It is in the free and self-forgetting air that we avoid this workshop. I mean by three things: our work, our prayer, and our play. When we give ourselves over to these activities, we become self-forgetful and lose ourselves in them. Children who play cheap ball games have not time to envy, but, humbly giving themselves up to their merriment, they cast not a glance to the evil of the gambling-house or the duel-clearing. Are they not wiser than we are? They are content with the free air: we delude ourselves that we are too old and wise to enjoy it, and therefore deprive ourselves of happiness, seeking consolation in illicit pleasures instead (Which lead to our destruction.) A man who is too self-wise to find fun in a child's game is very far from God. I say that those who cannot play like children, will have a very hard time praying like them, because "I am your Father, and the Father of all things." (Virtue 1:6) We are, therefore, His children. He who cannot play well, cannot pray well. Let us, then, be good children to the best of parents, and lose our nothingness in His infinite goodness, by enjoying the things He has made for us, firstly, by prayer, the treasure-chest of Virtue He has left planted in our hearts, (Virtue 2:5), secondly, by doing the daily the work He has allotted for us (Virtue 4:5), and finally in enjoying the true and honest pleasures He has made for us. (Virtue 4:5) Hear the admonition of God. I see so many of you walking around the public square, doing nothing. Go and play catch or something! Yes, run, jump, leap, dive, sprint, catch, shout, wave your arms, dress up like a clown, eat on the floor, sleep on the table, do your work in bed; make love to your wife, do whatever of these things and more, if only it keeps you from SIN! Take this seriously: "BE. NOT. IDLE." (Virtue 4:8) If sloth were not a deadly sin, if would not be in the Top Seven of God's commands! So give yourselves up. Do not become self-wise or self-referential, do not become covetous of honour or take yourselves too seriously, but give yourselves up to playfulness and prayerfulness, and then you will perfect all the virtues. 

 

And give yourselves up to charity. Will the good of others and strive to do it. Think that the other man has a mamma and a padre, signore, a wife, a sister; a brother. Think of the tears you will cause, and stay your hand. Can any worldly honour pay the price of that wretched sight? And then, being merciful in this life, confidently expect to receive mercy in the next. Forgive your enemies, and do not sin against charity by duelling against him, for it is an evil thing, and a way to Hades. And begin by praying for me, I am very frail and prone to sin so keep me always in your prayers.

 

Bye now, and God love you.

 

Philip Romolo Vaz.

 

Saint Julia, pray for us.

Saint Jude, pray for us.

Blessed James II and Pius, pray ye for us.

"How can one be a lover with any woman other than his wife?" Asks a scandalised young man.

A man sings mournfully: 

 

 

The storm of battle has taken us all

But to the enemy we shall not fall

Savoy must break from her shackles

That is the task of the noble Jackals

 

Savoy must break from her shackles

That is the task of the noble Jackals

 

Guy and Olivier, the noble Edgar

They were Savoy’s true protectors

Augustus Fournier, from Aldersberg Town

Never forget their renown

 

Augustus Fournier, from Aldersberg Town

Never forget their renown!

"Based." Says a man.

"Noble and learned Eminence," writes one man "what do you mean, voluntary and involuntary sin? Whence does this distinction come? For without consent, surely there can be no sin? I do not think we need complete consent of the will and intellect, but surely the assent of the will in some way is necessary? Otherwise, it would be unjust for us to be punished for them, and, moreover, we could not be forgiven them, because we have not done them."

A man waits for Jude II to write Rerum Novarum. 

Peter writes a letter to High Pontiff Jude II @GoldWolfGaming.

 

"Holy Father,

 

My family recently heard of the death of an holy Priest, Padre Javier. My children were very enthralled by his courage in the last moments, though we never met him. In the last few weeks, we have been unable to bring ourselves to pray for his soul; no, it is certain that he is with God, having the pledge of holy martyrdom, and he must needs pray for us. We have erected an image of Javier in our home and we venerate him as a holy soul. My wife, as a token of her devotion to him, has drawn this engraving, which we send to your Holiness' pleasure, that you might be strengthened by the example and prayers of this holy servant.

 

I remain your humble servant,

 

Peter the Akritian."

 

 

 

1 hour ago, altiar1011 said:

From within the sewers of Karosgrad, a horrid Raev would regard the thesis with some degree of amusement, a bemused smirk stretching its way across wolven maw.

 

"Murder is still sin most foul, ye of the Cloth... Righteous or not. You may cloak yourselves in piety and profess love of life and liberty, but all are children of GOD, and to snuff such light for petty mortal conflict is sickening..." 

 

 

""Ven. Fabian says: “In addressing the righteousness of war, we will first look to the admonition against violence in the Canticle of Patience. Here, the Lord commands that the virtuous “shall not raise a hand in wrath, nor in envy, nor in any kind of sin.” He thus indicates that violence, or the raising of the hand, is not sinful under circumstances where it is not connected to the other sins, such as wrath or avarice. The astute religious scholar will then determine that it is permissible for a Canonist state to wage war where the war’s essential goal is a virtuous one.” (Jus Bellum Justum.) Hence the fact that God prohibits violence in certain instances (in wrath, ain varice and in sin alone and not generally) by necessity implies that violence can be justified in other instances. The best guide for this is the Church, to whom alone God has committed the interpretation of the Scrolls."" A man quotes Bl. Pius of Sutica's Canonist Commentary on Sacred Scripture. "This is why people should read the Scrolls with the Commentary, they don't appreciate the original language or in light of authentic teaching, and thus fall into errors," he adds.

"Completed it mate," says one Canonist, sending two Epistles to ibn Mustafa.

 

 

 

"That's a wonderful choice of motto," says one man, "If ever I saw one."

 

This is same man who wrote Jude II a letter asking for his prayers in response to "Eternity with Him." He, in celebration of his prayer-friend becoming Pontiff, paints an image of the Pope with a note.

 

"Your Holiness, an inspired motto and name. Please continue to pray for me and my children and accept this portrait. We hope that it will remind you of us and so present us before God. We pray that it will be surpassed in the next life when your countenance will be enhanced by the vision of that Good God  in whom we would restore all things.

 

I remain your obedient servant,

 

-Peter." ((Btw I didn't make this lol got it off the internet))

Ven. Pius of Sutica beams with radiance and joy as he embraces his disciple in the Seven Skies. "I told you that you would be alright, my son. Didn't I tell you we of the Fraternity look after each other, in this life and the next? Now get in, it's time to look after Jude II." Pius prays for the intentions of the Pontiff.

"Pray for me your Eminence, and I for you, and we shall share together our Eternity with Him." Says a letter addressed to the good Cardinal written under the name "Peter."

"I shall spend my Heaven" prays Ven. Pius in the Skies, "doing good on earth."

Even a centuries-old son of Malin is forced to admit that the end of a century of loyal service to his Emperor represents a great passing upon the hearing of it. "These men have some constancy in them, if this soldier is to be the measure of them."

3 hours ago, Tiresiam said:

 

High Pontiff Everard II and Adrian I both shake their heads from the Seven Skies, both having been Carrions themselves. "Nobody gives a shite what branch your from son. Never been used and never will."

Father Pius of Sutica, also in the Seven Skies, understands now that people still say stupid things, even in the Skies. He looks down and blesses his old friend Father Dima Carrion-Tuvyic. Then he goes to talk to a King about whom he wrote a detailed biography, Venerable Olivier de Savoie, laughing happily as Olivier corrects all the facts he got wrong.

1 hour ago, altiar1011 said:

In the far north, a phantasmal crow would deliver such a missive to an aged Keeper of the Flame, tending to her Flamebrand in spite of the biting cold of the frigid domain she sought refuge in. Looking to it curiously, she would pen a response to such slander of the Father's name.

 

"Fictitious diction makes for poor lessons, follower of the Crossed God. Allow me to enlighten you, as a Keeper of His Flame, and one of the only individuals qualified to speak of the Faith in detail. This fabrication of the foulest sort is... humorous, in a way. 

 

Perhaps the first mistake in such publication is thus; Only the Keepers, those entrusted with the Holy Flame of His Light, would be delving deep into matters of the Faith such as this. It is something of a taboo, among those of the Flame, for non-clergymen to attempt to explain that which they do not fully understand. For a metaphor a Canonist could understand, the Keepers are the shepherds, tending to our Northern flock. The flock does not shepherd itself.

 

On your musings of the first tenet, I am left with but a scoff, as this was written by someone with no true grasp on Norlandic culture, the ideals we truly stand for, nor why we worship the Father. While this will tie into my stance on the third tenant later in this missive, I shall leave the greater details on that for further on. For now...

 

If you had bothered to pick up a Primer, which are sold plentifully and cheaply, you would know that in ancient days of yore, when Thoromir and the first of our people wandered the Frozen Wastes, it was the Allfather who, in his pity, made pact with the Herald. In return for the eternal fealty of the Norlandic people, the Allfather, in his august mercy, delivered unto us the First Flame; that which all Hearthfires and Flamebrands is descended from. This is but a single reason why we worship the Father. 

 

The second reason, that which I personally subscribe to, is much different than what you've claimed. We do not worship the Father because he is the strongest of all. Such would be outright falsehood.

 

We worship the Father because despite his weakness in the face of the encroaching darkness, that which seeks to consume all things and undo the very essence of creation, he fights on. In his eternal quest to drive back the Long Dark, he would stand alone against the odds, and fight on until it would be his own damnation. He is not all powerful, for if he were, the Void would be undone with but a minute flex of his will. But even still, even without power over all things, he continues his stand against that damnable Void which seeks our very undoing. Is such a cause then not admirable, to follow in his stead, to stand against the Long Dark?

 

Many of Norlandic stock would think so.

 

Moving on, the fact that you failed to understand the First Tenant in your falsified ramblings is truly awe-inspiring, given that such can be surmised rather easily. Worry not, my crestfallen rat, for I shall enlighten you as to its true meaning. 

 

A good number of Keepers define Unworthiness as the refusal to fight for one's own livelihood. It is not Unworthy to be weak, but it is Unworthy for one to refuse to strive to greater heights, to overcome the obstacles set before them in their crusade against a world which seeks only to break them of their will to fight. To be worthy, then, is to rage against that darkened night, and ascend beyond one's limits to become Worthy in the eyes of the Father. True weakness is not a lack of strength, but a lack of will to seek such strength. 

 

This is what we deem 'Unworthy.' True weakness, not of body, but of mind.

 

The musings given on the Third Tenet sicken me, as a woman who has fought the Long Dark and emerged from such scarred and beyond marred by my battle with it. The Long Dark, in Norlandic culture, is the end of all that is, and would be. The totality of creation, wiped out by the hungering maw of darkened jaws. Our stand against the Long Dark is to scourge the world of all that would bring about such an end, not to usher in such an end ourselves. To bring the mage, the heretic, and the darkness to heel beneath our boot, and redeem them in Holy Flame so that they may be judged by the Father... this is what the Third Tenant truly means. I would expect not of racists and weak men to understand this, hiding in your cathedrals and basilicas of polished marble and gold. 

 

Your final 'rebuttal' of Faith scripture confuses me, truly. The only publically available religious text that we offer to the world is that of the Primer, which explains in simple terms what we believe, and how we go about our lives. Is this truly too much for a feeble mind to grasp, or was this another oversight in your pedantic ramblings? Truly, if I were a busy woman, I would not have replied to such trite, slanderous words, but my fellows of the Flame would likely only ridicule and demean you for your ignorance. I would be remiss not to offer a proper rebuttal to such gross misunderstanding. 

 

To finish this missive, I must say that the gross mis-representation of Norlandic culture is appalling. Those of my former home of Haense sought to understood us, and in doing so, they published an article exquisitely detailing our culture, beliefs, legal system, so on and so forth. You insist we are but craven dogs seeking war eternal, yet the truth could not be further from such, as war only distracts us from our stand against the darkness. 

 

Seek the Flame, ye of Unworthy stock, so that ye may be saved in the Father's Embrace.

 

-Signed,

 

A Keeper of the Father's Flame."

 

[!] Such a missive would be delivered by Elysian crow, such that a response might be given by those who wish to do so. The letter itself scribed in crimson ink, etched with aged quill upon tattered parchments, it would look distinctly time-worn, despite it being newly written.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A man quotes the Dialogue which says that Malgath clearly said "strong will and intellect", not merely bodily, indicating that strong will was also not a good criterion of worthiness, because many mages, undead and so forth, possess strong wills. 

MALGATH OF SUTICA: DIALOGUES.

PART THE FIRST: BJORN.

 

Fraternity Publications, Dobrov: 1804. 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR.

 

Malgath, later called Father Pius, was an High Elf convert to Canonism. These Dialogues were written before his conversion, at Sutica, probably in the mid-1700s. He had studied under an Akritian philosopher called Pythagoras (where he probably got the Dialogue genre), but left him around this time, for it is at this point he has embraced monotheism. PUBLISHER’S NOTE: The addition of the name of the character speaking (e.g. BJORN:) is an editorial addition, and was not part of the original Dialogues. The same is true of the sections.

 

BJORN.

 

The scene is probably Pius’ little house in Sutica. Bjorn is an All-Fatherist; a member of the Red Faith. This Dialogue shows why Pius rejected AllFatherism and believed in what he calls “The God of the Philosophers”; later identified with the God of Canonism. 

 

I: THE NEWS.

 

BJORN: I had to come at once, Malgath. I heard my friend had left the service of Pythagoras and was embracing monotheism. I fear it will lead you to worship the Cross-God.

 

MALGATH: I do not think you need fear that, Bjorn. I cannot foresee myself ever becoming a Canonist, and putting my trust in relics and Saints like they do. But what I do confess is the existence of the First Cause, omnipotent, omnibenevolent and omniscient, the Supreme Good; Pure Being, from whence all beings derive their being. The Canonists also worship this same: and therefore we do believe in the one and same God, as also of the Rashiduns, but I do not claim to have been vouchsafed any Revelation from Him, and that is where I differ to both.

 

II: On Belief in the All-Father.

 

BJORN: At least I can be assured of that. For I despise the Canonists. They pride in weakness, and call it humility. But I still do not understand how you can believe in the omnipotence of God. The god we worship, we call the All-Father, and he is not omnipotent, for we do not see how an omnipotent god would not destroy evil; for if he so willed (as surely he would) there would be no evil. And therefore we confess that the All-Father is the strongest being, but not supremely strong in the sense of omnipotence. You should therefore join my religion.

 

MALGATH: You say that your All-Father does not destroy evil because he is not able?

 

BJORN: Yes.

 

MALGATH: Then why do you accuse the Canonists of weakness when they acknowledge their own weakness? Because your god himself is weaker.

 

BJORN: You better explain this blasphemy before I become violent, you imprudent weakling.

 

MALGATH: You say that God cannot be all-powerful, else He would remove evil.

 

BJORN: Assuredly. 

 

MALGATH: It therefore follows that your god is not all-powerful because he cannot remove evil. 

 

BJORN: Yes, it must be so.

 

MALGATH: It therefore follows that evil is stronger than he is; darkness is stronger than light. For if he is willing to remove evil, he is deficient only in the strength to remove it. And therefore evil must be stronger than him.

 

If you would worship that which is strong, and hate that which is weak, does it not make more sense to worship evil, since evil is stronger than your god?

 

BJORN: I'd never really thought about that.

 

MALGATH: Well now you have. What do we do?

 

BJORN: We...we do the best we can. 

 

III: On the First Tenant.

 

BJORN: But he created us, and gave us his light, and told us to suffer not that which is unworthy; this is the First Tenant of our Red Faith.

 

MALGATH: Whom do you define as unworthy?

 

BJORN: I say some races, the undead, Canonist clerics, khas, the impure fornicators of mixed races and their offspring, and other manner of weakling creature. And those who, possessing reason, allow themselves to be conquered by the flesh.

 

MALGATH: You call them weaklings, is lack of strength and intellect that which renders them unworthy?

 

BJORN: Yes, I would say lack of strength and intelligence makes one unworthy.

 

MALGATH: But how can this be? You yourself were a baby once. You were weak in body, and possessed no intellectual ability of reason, but lust for food and so forth, only. Were you, therefore, unworthy of life, and ought to have been given over to death?

 

BJORN: Yet this is not so, because I could have grown to become worthy in due time. Therefore, there was the possibility of worthiness, and to kill would have been a sin against the Worthy One.

 

MALGATH: Yet many of these unworthy creatures are strong, and are possessed of strong will and intellect, and suffer not the temptations of the flesh. For example, many men of mixed breeding, and even the undead and the wicked have been known to possess strength and reason. Wherefore do you call them, unworthy?

 

BJORN: No, Elf, you have the wrong of the matter, revealing your ignorance.

 

MALGATH: I am ignorant, which is why I ask.

 

BJORN: Indeed. I would say rather that worthiness is defined by the relation to the All-Father. That which the All-Father loves, is worthy, and that which he hates, is unworthy.

 

MALGATH: Why should you follow him, when he calls this worthy and that unworthy? Why ought his commands to be followed; why are they good?

 

BJORN: Because, as the name implies, he is our Father, who created us, and gave us life. In him we live, and move, and have our being, and therefore ought we to follow him.

 

MALGATH: Do you love your mother?

 

BJORN: No, I hate that *****’s guts.

 

MALGATH: Wherefore so?

 

BJORN: Aye, because she is a drunkard and given to pursuing vile perversities. 

 

MALGATH: Would you follow her, if she commanded you to follow her in her path? 

 

BJORN: Certainly not.

 

MALGATH: Then why say you this? She gave you life, and yet you despise her commands. And so I am free to despise the commands of your All-Father. To give life, therefore, is not sufficient reason to follow commands, or to call these commands good. The commands must be good in themselves. The tenants of the All-Father must be judged according to the Good, to which he is inferior and junior. For to be judged, implies inferiority. And this Good wherewith we judge, or rather He Himself judges, we call God.

 

For it is clear that your god commands these things because they are good, not they are good because he commands them.

 

IV: On the Third Tenant. 

 

BJORN: The All-Father is the life that gives light! Wherefore are we commanded: “Stand against the long dark.” This means to live a life full of light, to stand against the encroaching darkness. One of our writers has said: “The Long Dark is that dreaded moment when the firmament fails and life on Terra is snuffed out forever.” This is the Third Tenant of our Faith.

 

MALGATH: What do you mean, full of light?

 

BJORN: I mean a life that is strong. You see, we despise peace, and love war. I rejected Canonism the moment I read an “encyclical”, or bull, or whatever manner of thing it was called, from one of their Pontiffs. For he wrote of “peace” as a good thing! But peace is no doubt an agent of darkness, for it suffers the weak to live. War culls the weak and allows the strong light-bearers to live.

 

MALGATH: But you have already said that certain creatures that are strong, are unworthy; therefore strength and survivability is not the measure of light.

 

BJORN: But it is written into the Law of Nature that the strong survive, and the weak die. Therefore it is the will of our creator that this be so. Moreover, the end of life we are called to stand against, and therefore the prolongation of life is our purpose.

 

MALGATH: What is the animal that is very long-lived and survivable?

 

BJORN: I am told by many men of learning, that turtles live seldom less than two centuries.

 

MALGATH: Should you not therefore worship and revere turtles? 

 

BJORN: What manner of nonsense do you speak, Malgath?

 

MALGATH: Hear what I say, Bjorn. For they live longer and survive all the storms of the world. If the “Long Dark” is to destroy all men, then turtles shall have done a better job than men in standing against it. Men drop like flies. Ought you not then, to revere turtles and to discard men? Why do you raise men as paragons instead of turtles?

 

BJORN: The life of men is higher than the life of turtles.

 

MALGATH: Why?

 

BJORN: Men are possessed of reason.

 

MALGATH: So what of an “unworthy” creature possessed of a greater intellect, who is also strong and survivable? Is he not more full of light than you? And moreover, are not Elves possessed of long life and great intellect? Wherefore, are Elves not superior to men according to your view? They “stand against the darkness” far better than you, and therefore you ought to serve and grovel before the Elves. I do not hold to this position, to be sure.

 

BJORN: I trust that you never never did!

 

MALGATH: You are rather my equal, being made by God as a rational creature with gifts of your own, mine being long-life, but it seems to me men being possessed with greater wisdom, because I actually believe your short lives make you live better and seek philosophy more than the Elves who delude themselves too often and go either prideful or insane. And surely, if “quality” of light is more important than “quantity”, what is it that makes rational life higher than irrational? 

 

V: Bjorn Counters.

 

BJORN: But this is all superfluous, Elf, for you have not addressed the cause of our disbelief in your God. For you define God as all-good and all-powerful, and yet evil exists. But if evil exists, and He has both will and power to destroy it, why does it exist? And how can Supreme Goodness begat evil? If evil therefore exists, there can be no Supremacy of the Good. 

 

MALGATH: What is evil?

 

BJORN: Evil, we call the “Long Dark.” 

 

MALGATH: Is “darkness” the absence of light?

 

BJORN: Certainly.

 

MALGATH: So darkness has no positive existence, but is a lack of light. And so evil, which you define as darkness, is an absence of the Good.

 

BJORN:  What do you mean? 

 

MALGATH: Take food. Food is a good thing. It sustains life, and brings delight. But a lack of food is starvation; an abuse of good is gluttony. 

 

BJORN: And how does this alter our position?

 

MALGATH: It means that, right as you are to say that God cannot create evil, so true it remains. God permits evil, in that He permits those good things He has made to be deprived or perverted by the will of creatures.

 

BJORN: What is your implication whence following? Why would God suffer evil in the first place?

 

MALGATH: I would answer that: what is better, to live a horrid, inconvenient truth, or a comfortable lie?

 

BJORN: I would say the truth is better than a lie, however comfortable it be.

 

MALGATH: Have you not then made a differentiation, highlighting an hierarchy of goods? That truth being better than comfort, when you say it is better to live honourably and harshly than deceitfully and comfortably, and with great suffering?

 

BJORN: Illustrate with an example.

 

MALGATH: Would you say that “Courage”, is a virtue and good?

 

BJORN: Indeed, it is the highest.

 

MALGATH: Whence does the necessity of courage spring?

 

BJORN: I would say, adversity.

 

MALGATH: What mean you, by “adversity?” Would you agree that adversity presupposes an overcoming of suffering? And that suffering is evil?

 

BJORN: Yes.

 

MALGATH: Is not therefore the higher good of courage dependent upon the lower evil of suffering? Can God not therefore suffer this privation, which we call evil, so that the higher good of courage might exist?

 

I cannot justify to you why each and every evil exists in such terms, but I can demonstrate that evil permitted can lead to higher goods. And therefore, evil and God are not contradictory, for He, being, as you say, "the One in whom we live, and move, and have our being," knows our greatest good better than we ourselves do, and that infinitely so, and therefore any evil in the world is not incompatible with this belief. 

 

VI: Malgath Argues Against the Fatherist Scriptures.

 

BJORN: But verily, Malgath, our scriptures are far superior and evidently divine.

 

MALGATH: On the contrary. I said that evil has no positive existence, but is a plague on the Good. In the same way, your alleged Revelation is a plague on that other alleged Revelation, Canonism. Your scriptures are moreover, cryptic and barely to be understood, whereas the Canonist Scriptures instruct men plainly in virtue. 

 

BJORN: I will thrust this dagger through you and pull out your lungs if you continue in the manner of my fathers, you naughty fellow.

 

MALGATH: Then do so, for the unexamined life is not worth living. I would rather die in pursuit of truth than kill in a fit of rage. 

 

BJORN: These are your last words; so make of them a prayer!

 

MALGATH: You say call your god the All-Father. But do you not know that this originates in Canonism? For it is written in their Scriptures, in the Book of Virtue: “I am your Father, and the Father of all things.” In Flexio, the resemblance between the two terms is closer. For I met one of their Priests who had the original Flexio Scrolls, and, being a student of that language, read in Virtue “PATER RERVM OMNIVM.” And this title has been used by Canonists for centuries. 

 

BJORN: Sheer coincidence!

 

MALGATH: Is it so? And moreover, you can see the author you cited spoke of the earth as Terra. Terra is Flexio for the earth, and the first recorded use is the Scroll of Virtue. So both the name of your deity and your name for the world, were first Canonist, and then Norlandic. So it is clear that the Norlanders took things from the Canonists, rather than the other way around. So it follows that the Red Faith is a corruption of the original religion of Man, Canonism. 

 

BJORN: This rather speaks in our favour, and for this cause we call Canonism “outdated!”

 

MALGATH: What do you mean, by that? Does something becoming new make it good, and something old, bad? We may have had good times of plenty replaced by plague, but novelty does not suffice for us to choose plague over plenty. And does not religion make eternal claims? How does, for example, the doctrine of omnipotence, a belief outside of time, become more or less true based on the year that we live in (little more than a number)? Right is right even if everyone hates it; wrong is wrong even if everyone loves it. If a polytheistic religion were to be created tomorrow, could they not call your belief on monotheism “outdated” by measure of yours being the older?

 

BJORN: I shall suffer you no longer.

 

EVARIR: Hail, Malgath. Son of man, Bjorn, why do you brandish a sword about you?

 

BJORN: I was merely showing off my new sword, trust in that! I shall presently depart!

 

MALGATH: May God lead us closer to the truth!

The excellence of this thesis rises up as incense to the Skies. Fr. Pius savours its delightful savour, saying to his father, Malin: "A man can have no regrets when he is in the Skies, gazing into the infinite goodness of Almighty God. But if I could, I would say that now I thought the Tractarian Movement over. But now I see that in the excellent Cardinal Manfried, it has a spiritual heir who represents its true impulse better than ere we could. God always provides." Fr. Pius with the rest of the citizens of the Skies, blesses the good Cardinal and intercedes for him.

Pius of Sutica happily receives his brother into the Seven Skies. He turns to Blessed Seraphim and Goren, saying: "Now we just need to make sure that Griffith finds his way here, and we shall be all complete, we sons of Jude and Kristoff. And I shall look after Dima and Publius, too, though astray they have gone from the principles of our Fraternity..." 

On 1/7/2021 at 1:52 AM, thesmellypocket said:

Fr. Pius writes a reply.

 

"I regret,citizen, that I cannot write at the moment. I am bedridden and I know my time to depart from this world is coming soon. I am suffering from great physical pain. But my good friend Fr. Dima has kindly agreed to write down my response, in as many words as I am able to say.

 

First of all, as has already been pointed out, I am not a citizen of Oren. Nor do I hold up Oren as some standard which is to be imitated. I am a blessed son of Malin, like yourself, and have lived my life in divers countries.  Those who know me best know that I am very critical of immoralities in Oren. I have written an essay on patriotism - perhaps you will be so good as to read it - in which I published in the same journal last month. Love for one's country ought to be like love for one's family: just as it is our duty to love our family, so it is our duty to love our race and country, and I would say the greatest patriot is the greatest critic. For a man who loves his mother, if she became a drunkard, would not indulge that evil in her, but attempt to help her overcome it. In the same way, know that I wrote my journal article not out of hate, but out of love, a love for my own mother, and a love as dear and true as any who are fortunate enough to call themselves Mali'aheral. And as I confessed in that essay, the nation is truly right and good and moral when she tries to strive for purity, but she goes about it in the wrong way, pretending that it can be achieved by ourselves. It is not a very sound philosophy of life for the reasons I gave.

 

You write of my "inferior mind." Doubtless you are correct in this. But here is another problem with you and our countrymen: they do not see the difference between wisdom and knowledge. No doubt, your mind has a superior capacity for scientific and historical knowledge than mine. No doubt, you have lived longer and have learnt from more experiences than I have. And no doubt, you can process all this knowledge with greater clarity than I can. But a little bit of humility might go a long way for our people. First of all, because we did not earn our own intellects, they were given to us, and you, who were given a greater intellect than I am, ought to use this freely-given and unearned gift without holding yourself above others. Secondly, because the more we know, the more we realise we don't know. The more scientific knowledge we have, the less we realise we do have. Therefore, a man who accumulates more and more knowledge ought to realise he knows less and less. For I wish I knew one thousandeth of what I thought I knew when I was a young student in Haelon'ur! But God has given me the grace to know but a little more natural knowledge since then, and, in knowing it, I realise how little I did know, how little I do know. It seems to me, that two classes of men have wisdom. The first, is those who know they know nothing. The second, is those that know they don't know everything. Never the man who is self-wise and thinks that he knows. Your life will become most more joyful and virtuous when you embrace this philosophy. For I have observed that the truest joy is gratitude: if I were to hold myself and compare myself to others for being born into the race that I was, I should be miserable. Rather I recognise that I did not earn it and thank the good God for the gifts that I do have, fewer though they be in comparison to yours. 

 

Point I. The Author Writes That What the Orenians did was Evil, for He Writes that Women were "Made Concubines, OR WORSE." But This is Irrational Apart from Belief in a Transcendent Moral Standard.

 

But knowing this, I don't see the relevance of your recounting of the historical atrocities of Oren, as if they belonged to me, or as if I had any purpose as claiming them for my own. My point was that purity, and truth, and goodness, are not rooted in any nation, or empire, for nations and races, being imperfect things, act imperfectly, and sometimes with utter malice and evil, as you yourself have well proven here. And that nation could be the Orenian nation, the Dwarves, and so on, and so forth, but the same truth holds true.

 

You claim that transcendent morality rooted in the Good is a lie made to sustain society and to appease men who fear their imminent deaths.  Well, if morality has no real existence, and if transcendent moral truth is a lie of convenience, wherefore are you so woeful? They just did what was necessary to expand their Empire and society, using the bendable principles of morality. You can no more blame them than a tiger who eats a gazelle, according to your view. What they did cannot be called right or wrong; there is only the interest of the state, and, in doing what was in the interest of the state, they, in fact, acted rightly, since according to your principle, the state and society begat morals, instead of right morals begetting a society, thereby the state having just cause to bend morals to its own need, as they did here. Your reaction, therefore, is itself only an irrational and emotional reaction, for this, according to your own principle, is the only way in which morality really exists: feelings. You must therefore concede to one of two points: either a)this transcendent standard of goodness does not exist, and was invented for the utility of the state, and therefore the Orenians were perfectly right and justified in slaughtering our babies, and therefore your stance is entirely irrational and has no basis, and in fact, you ought not to blame the Orenians for using morality in its right place, but rather to praise them, or b)you have already intrinsically accepted the idea that there is a transcendent moral good by which these actions can be objectively measured, which exists outside of space and time. For to assert the objective existence of positive evil does not disprove positive good, but rather it proves that it exists, for we knew about Good before we knew about evil; we cannot call it evil objectively unless we know what is good objectively. Nihilists, as the name implies, have nothing to be outraged about; that is contrary to reason. Your relatives were, by your own reckoning, "droplets," what matter if they are killed? You should be happy and praise the Orenians for acting in accordance with your philosophy! There is no better or worse - there is only expediency!

 

Point II. The Author Proves my Point About Progress: Either a)Progress is a Lie and the High Elves aren't Progressing Toward Anything, or b)There is some Intrinsic Standard of Good to Which one can Progress to or from. This is Exactly the Point I Made in my Journal Essay. The Author of this Response is a Truly Despicable Person.

 

Also, as I wrote before, Haelon'ur speaks of "progress." Progress cannot exist without a goal, for progress must exist toward something. There must be a point at which perfect goodness in your society is reached. For a man who was building a house, could be said to "progress" when he lays the foundations, to have done still further once he has acquired mortar, and so on, and so forth. But if the man had no plan or goal, but was just lumping arbitrarily building material unto building material, and told you he was making "progress", we would call him mad, because he has no goal. Moreover, if a society is progressing toward something, then goodness cannot be vested in that society, but something higher than it. For you claim that the conception of transcendent goodness is something that comes from society, but if society is progressing, then that implies a prior understanding of what goodness is before the existence of the society.  Indeed, the yardstick we use to measure progress must be outside of time, because progress is within time. Progress, implies goal, goal implies perfectibility, perfectibility implies perfection. Progress cannot therefore exist without a prior idea of what a positive movement toward the Good would be, and therefore you must either concede that a)There is no transcendent standard of good, by which progress can be measured, therefore our society's idea of progress is an arbitrary lie, and we are not progressing, just arbitrarily moving, or b)There is one, and we can progress toward or go away from what is good. If law in Haelun'or were to fade, and all men were to become murderers, you would no doubt say this is "against progress"; if they were to lose all the virtues of purity, temperance, justice, liberality, and so forth, no doubt you would grieve, because these virtues are good.  It would not be "progress" if the whole society agreed on infanticide; therefore a society can only progress if there is some ideal of goodness that precedes it. Therefore, you DO agree that progress is a lie, that your society is built on falsehood, and you consent to the point of my essay. So you haven't actually disagreed with what I said. I wrote, that you must either believe in a transcendent standard of goodness, or progress is a lie. You have chosen the latter option: you utterly despicable man, truly evil and cowardly, you look down on Mankind for believing so-called fictions, but you indulge what you believe to be lies knowingly for the purposes of expediency. If there is no Good, progress is a lie, and if you believe there is no Good, you are therefore a liar.

 

Point III. The Myth that the Mali'aheral are Governed by Reason.

 

I may be "weak" and therefore find life and goodness and truth and wisdom outside of my own self-absorbed, nihilistic and disdainful-of-those-"beneath"-me philosophy, but you are "egotistical" and therefore refuse to see any life or truth outside of yourself and your own subjective sense experience. The idea that the Elves are purely rational creatures is a myth springing from pride and self-importance. The existence of impurity proves that purity is violated, which shows your reason does not rule you, but that you are the slave of passions and emotions. If the Mali'aheral acted on reason any more than any other race, there would be no need for laws, for their actions would be in accordance with right reason.  

 

Mali accept dogmas just as much as men do, except men are more honest and call them just that, dogmas. No one can live more than 24 hours sanely without accepting premises that can't be proven, and can only be accepted, which we call dogmas. Mankind is therefore much more sane, happier and clear thinking than us. For despite our long life-spans, we are barely more technologically advanced than Man. In matters like science, mathematics and astronomy they seem to have as great a capacity for advancement as we do, in terms of art, architecture, cultural achievement and so forth, in terms of martial advancement - how is it we do not simply out-develop their armies despite our greater intellect and long years? How is it men were able to slaughter our ancestors if we were so much better than they? One reason at least is Man's capacity for clear-thinking. Man does not delude himself, he is precise and knows what dogmas he accepts. Man absorbs less knowledge in a shorter life-span, but he integrates that knowledge into a view of the world that is sane and wise. The sons of Malin, most especially our race, tend to have our minds muddled by a contemptible pretended scepticism we mistake for "reason", when, in fact it is riddled with an unconscious dogmatism, which is the worst dogmatism of them all.

 

Even the concept of "expediency", accepts certain dogmas. You say, there is no standard of good, only what is expedient, and virtues therefore must have no real value. But by acting to do what is expedient, doesn't that already imply that you have interests which are good and bad? For example, if you, out of this principle of expediency, were to cite morality (in your view, lie) to justify self-defence, and, were to kill a man in that defence, have you not already accepted that it is better to live than to die? If you have placed value on self-preservation, and you consider it good that you and others should preserve their own lives, and that this is expedient for them, you have already accepted that it is inherently better for them to live than to die. There is no proof that it is better to live than to die, so why do you consider it expedient that you should live? If expedient is defined as acting in the interest of that thing, does not that show that you have already accepted that there are certain things that are good and bad for a person prior to this principle? If the Mali launched an attack on the Orenian grain supply, and used the concept of "progress" to justify what was truly an attack of expediency, have they not accepted the dogma that to eat and live is better than to starve and die?

 

Point IV. Seeking Immaterial Truths in what is Material is to Make a Category Error.

 

Two plus two equals four. Two plus two would equal four if all of material creation ceased to exist. Some truths, then, are immaterial, being known by logic in reason, irrespective of material truth. Nor do these truths exist in the mind alone, for if we ceased to exist to think about it, even if all rational minds ceased to exist, two plus two would still equal four. Mathematical truths, therefore, exist immaterially, not materially. You cannot see the number "2 centillion." Where can you show 2 centillion of anything? In your holdings? What about in your citizens? What about the mathematical concept of Infinity? Nowhere can it be found in Orenian or any other holdings. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist, but rather mathematical truths are immaterial truths known by reason, and not by scientific examination. They are truths that exist outside of and irrespective of space and time. To seek them within space and time is foolish. But they do prove that things outside of space and time can be known, if not comprehended.

 

If you expect me to go and point to you to some empirical proof of this goodness, you are as a man blindfolded. I can't prove the existence of God by pointing to a cloud and saying "look, there is God", or an Empire, or anything that is contingent and empirical. But I can know His existence by the natural light of reason. 

 

A Canonist is simply this: it is someone who has plucked up the wild yet thrilling conclusion that there is something in this world wiser than himself. I am sorry you cannot see or know my joy at this time.  The truly thrilling joy of life is in humility and gratitude, in putting yourself at the service of others and losing yourself, I mean really forgetting yourself. Then your life is as light as a feather, whereas snobbery - yes, that is what the men of my race are, snobs in the main, for all their virtues - makes you heavy as lead, and prevents you from reaping the harvest because you never sowed the seed. I am now experiencing the full harvest of my hope. That is why I shall say no more. My time is nearly up, and I shall presently write my last testimony. Nevertheless my last prayers shall be for you.

 

May the blessing of Almighty God, fall down upon you and remain with you forever and ever. Amen. (+)"

((sorry, this was unintentional. Please delete this second post.

Pius of Sutica facepalms from the Skies as sedevacantism has been ruled to be basically licit.

Pius of Sutica, born Malgath, (1610-1803) was a Priest and High Elf convert to Canonism who authored a great many spiritual and theological works. His Holiness James II called Pius: “An example of humility whom I wish to emulate and a teacher to whom I submit.” Along with Bl. Seraphim of Leora and Fr. Griffith of Gwynon, he formed a spiritual movement called the ‘Tractarians’, a name which comes from the ‘Tracts for the Times.’ Pius believed that true spiritual reform did not start with high politics and cardinal’s hats, but with the humble parish Priest stirring the hearts of men, and to that end rejected any form of rank besides Priest. 

 

Pius believed that his death heralded only the beginning of his work. “On the wings of confidence and of love”, he experienced a serene and happy death, and told the Church he would be with them always: “I am your brother and your friend. I will never cease watching over you,” he said to his friends. “I shall spend my heaven doing good on earth.”

 

THE CANONIST COMMENTARY ON SACRED SCRIPTURE:

 

The Scrolls of Virtue and Spirit in their original Flexio text, presented with a detailed commentary both from Pius’ own knowledge of the text and language, and drawn from other sources.

 

The Scroll of Virtue.

The Scroll of Spirit.

 

THE EPISTLES: Written to the Church about a specific need. 

 

An Open Letter to Confused Canonists. James II called it “surely the seminal work on the nature of holy obedience.”

 

Second Epistle to the Church. On Trusting in God in Hard Times.

 

Apologia Pro Epistula Sua.  Response to Boniface’s Thesis on Obedience.

 

Floodgate of Mercy: On the Nature of the Sacred Priesthood. This represents the Tractarian view of What a Priest should be. A letter to Acolytes.

 

Epistle to Helena. On Living Out the Virtues in our Daily Lives.

 

On the Rights of the Worker, Written to Political Parties about Workers’ Rights. Supports trades unions. TRACT III.

 

THE FINAL EPISTLE. Pius dies happily and promises to intercede for the Church.

 

THE TRACTS: Written at first anonymously, primarily by Pius, but with the help of the other two writers. From whence the movement gained its name.

 

TRACT I: RELIGION OF THE DAY. Old religion had the deficiencies of fierceness and emphasised too much fear of damnation, but that modern religion is falling into an opposite and more dangerous extreme. 

TRACT II: THE CHURCH IS THE SWORD OF OWYN.  The Church has a duty to anathematise heretics and has the power to do so.

TRACT III: See On the Rights of the Worker.

TRACT IV: FIDES ET RATIO. Response to James II’s The Age of Reason. Supports the use of reason in seeking religious truth. James II reacted very positively, their dialogue is also here attached.
TRACT V: A DEFENCE OF THE SACRAMENTAL NATURE OF CONFESSION. Confession is not merely a devotion, but has a sacramental power. A passionate Defence of his life-work.

 

THE THESES AND HOMILIES:

 

Thesis on Divine Slavery. A commentary on and vindication of the use of the terms of slavery in the Scrolls, and by Ven. Humbert.

 

Two Homilies on Gospel 2:36-39. Commentary On Horen’s Baptism.

 

Essay on Patriotism.

 

Pius’ Entries in the Proceedings of the Council of Providence. Pius defends the integrity of the Sacred Priesthood passionately.

 

Response to Father Alfred’s “Thesis on Love.” In which he argues about the definition of love.

 

Letters with Cardinal Goren on Free Will.

 

HISTORY: 

 

THE LIFE OF VEN. OLIVIER. Biography of the holy Savoyard king. Well-sourced throughout.

HISTORY OF JUDITE CHANT.

 

LITURGICAL and DEVOTIONAL:

 

THE SOLDIER’S PRAYER-BOOK. A Prayer book for soldiers. Published and distributed by Cardinal Goren.

LITURGICAL CALENDAR OF THE FSSCT. Proscribes the liturgical seasons to be kept by the Fraternity. Based on the Judite Rite.

RULE OF THE FSSCT. The rule of life Pius wrote for himself and his fellow priests.

THE LITTLE OFFICE OF THE FSSCT. A prayer rule with readings from the doctors and Virtue.

THE DANCE OF DEATH. A poem warning about the inevitability of death.

 

THE APOLOGIES:

 

THE FIRST APOLOGY: AGAINST THE SCHISM OF BONIFACE. Pius Refutes the Schism of Boniface. 

 

THE SECOND APOLOGY: TO THE HIGH ELVES. Pius writes and responds to his own race in his final year.

One: A Response to “Uprooting Liberalism.”

Two: A Response to “Man’s Discourse.”

 

WHY I BELIEVE IN GOD. Written by Pius before he became a Canonist, in Sutica. (TBD)

Response to the Prophet Melchizedeck.

Fr. Pius of Sutica was blessed by God with a serene death. At length, the knowledge came to him that he must die. His eyes were strewn with tears as he had just received the visit and heard the Confession of his dearest brother, Father Griffith. And now, he smiled, an angelic smile as he could only say profoundly: "God has been too good to me." 

 

"My good friends,

 

I wanted to say how much I love you. I do not wish my love for you to cease upon the earth. I have spent these decades serving you as best I can, by consoling, teaching and admonishing where necessary. All this I have done through faith in God - yes, that, and nothing else. It's all been He who has deigned to enlighten my intellect. But in my last Epistle, for, as the Angelic Doctor, St. Jude, says, a man ought to leave his last mark in a positive way, I want to tell you now that I believe my service for you has just begun. Yes, you have all showered tenderness and love upon me, even when I have been as hard as stone. Even my heart of bedrock could only melt at that sustained assault of concentrated charity. You have received my rather imperfect works and ministry with kindness. But this is the least of the services you have given me: above all, you have given me your most availing prayers, for now I see that more is wrought by prayer than the world realises.

 

For most of my Canonist life, I never experienced a single feeling of consolation during prayer or any good deed. I felt entirely dry. I prayed all of the Saints to help me, and, through their intercessions, tried to do my work with the firm and sole resolution of pleasing God out of love for Him, rather than getting any nice feelings out of what I do. Now, a feeling of angelic peace comes over me. I now see that all that time, though I felt it not, I was surrounded and protected by all the heavenly army. When you ask a Saint to pray for you, you might not feel they are there. But they are. And now I realise that, since the day of my Baptism, God has kept the heavenly army encamped all around me. And not just my Baptism. Through a special grace, it has been revealed to me that the Saints took an interest in me before ere I took an interest in they. No, it is not I that have a devotion to the Saints, but they that have a devotion to me. (St. Jude took a fatherly interest in me long before I became a Judite.)

 

So that is where my new service to you comes in. I always suspected that I could never repay you all for you good turns you have done me this side of heaven. And now I realise it is true. For as the Saints have done for me, their little brother, I shall do for you. Yes, I am your brother and your friend. I won't cease watching over you. I'll pray for you, I'll do good for you. Yes, I'll spend my heaven doing good on earth! Yes, let any man who wills find refuge in my prayers; that will be my hymn of thanks to God. Now I fly to Him, carried on the wings of confidence and love. I go to join the Holy Father, James II, whose obituary I have just read, and Blessed Seraphim too; oh, and I wonder what details I got wrong in Ven. Olivier's life? I supposed I had best ask him, that will be amusing. But better than all this, will be the sight of the Good God Himself, oh, He alone will be my heaven! If only sinners knew how awesome His mercy is. For I declare and profess ex animo that, even if I had committed every sin it were possible for me to commit, I would still fling myself into His merciful arms. Your prayers for me would soon break me into contrition, and then I would flee unto my God, even the God of Horen, and of Owyn, and yes, of Malin too...

 

I am your brother and your friend. I won't ever cease watching over you.

 

Fr. Pius of Sutica, FSSCT."