Church of Auros
From Wessexwiki
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| - | The Church of | + | The Church of Auros in Wessex is administered by the clergy, who are neither peasants, nobles, or freemen, but are instead men of faith who exist within their own ecclesiastical hierarchy. Wessex players interested in playing a role in the clergy must remember that entering the spiritual life involves a forswearing of all claims to personal property, land, or worldy title or financial gain. |
The social class called clerici is made up of ecclesiastics devoted to the Auran faith who have taken vows not to pursue worldly advancement and possessions, instead choosing a life of service to Auros and the faithful. | The social class called clerici is made up of ecclesiastics devoted to the Auran faith who have taken vows not to pursue worldly advancement and possessions, instead choosing a life of service to Auros and the faithful. | ||
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=== Priests === | === Priests === | ||
| - | A candidate's quality for priesthood is justified first his knowledge of the lore and capacity to act as a fixture of | + | A candidate's quality for priesthood is justified first his knowledge of the lore and capacity to act as a fixture of Auran atmosphere in game, and secondly by his ability to perform certain miraculous abilities of healing, buffing, transmutation, etc. The form of address for a priest is "Reverend Father" (or Mother, as the case may be). It's important that only those who really know the lore and are capable and desire to behave as priests in game ascend to this rank, otherwise, the position and its elite status will amount to nothing but superfluous titles. |
| - | Smaller cities and outposts have a local church headed by an individual priest, with deacons and friars that serve him. Often the second and third sons and daughters of nobles who do not become knights instead become priests or nuns, vying for promotions and benefices to elevate themselves to the rank of bishop within the Church of | + | Smaller cities and outposts have a local church headed by an individual priest, with deacons and friars that serve him. Often the second and third sons and daughters of nobles who do not become knights instead become priests or nuns, vying for promotions and benefices to elevate themselves to the rank of bishop within the Church of Auros. |
The presbyterate is one of the three ordained offices of the Holy Church of Auros. An ordained priest may be appointed to head a church or cathedral or as chaplain to a military force. | The presbyterate is one of the three ordained offices of the Holy Church of Auros. An ordained priest may be appointed to head a church or cathedral or as chaplain to a military force. | ||
Revision as of 08:11, 11 December 2008
The Church of Auros in Wessex is administered by the clergy, who are neither peasants, nobles, or freemen, but are instead men of faith who exist within their own ecclesiastical hierarchy. Wessex players interested in playing a role in the clergy must remember that entering the spiritual life involves a forswearing of all claims to personal property, land, or worldy title or financial gain.
The social class called clerici is made up of ecclesiastics devoted to the Auran faith who have taken vows not to pursue worldly advancement and possessions, instead choosing a life of service to Auros and the faithful.
Contents |
Church Hierarchy
Friars
Brothers of the clergy of Auros, who have forsworn worldly ambitions to join a mendicant or military order.
Any peasant, be they man or woman, may become a friar. Much like a peasant who escapes to town and buys a home there becomes a burgess, a serf who escapes to the clergy is no longer considered a serf. The form of address for a friar is "Brother" (or Sister).
Friars are guided by the priesthood and are arduously engaged in Darkfall's world environment through PvE and PvP, primarily as healers, herbalists and wielders of magic. During the time before a peasant is accepted as a friar, he is called a novice, but as a novice, he is not yet considered part of the clergy and is still a member of the secular structure. To progress further, a friar must undergo a serious process of theological training under the direction of his bishop and the priests of his diocese. Only on successfully grasping every aspect of Morganite theology and in game lore may a friar promote to deacon.
Deacons
The diaconate is one of the three ordained offices of the Holy Church of Auros. To become certified as a deacon, a clergyman must have completed a course of study in liturgy and lore of the Church of Auros. A deacon is a candidate for priesthood.
The children of nobles or freemen may become friars if they wish, but may simply learn theology directly from a priest to become a deacon, which will constitute their entry into the clergy at that level. The form of address is "Deacon/Deaconess" and in full correspondence as "The Reverend John" (or Susan, as the case may be).
After a deacon is deemed ready (probably by the local bishop), he receives sacerdotal orders and becomes ordained as a priest.
Priests
A candidate's quality for priesthood is justified first his knowledge of the lore and capacity to act as a fixture of Auran atmosphere in game, and secondly by his ability to perform certain miraculous abilities of healing, buffing, transmutation, etc. The form of address for a priest is "Reverend Father" (or Mother, as the case may be). It's important that only those who really know the lore and are capable and desire to behave as priests in game ascend to this rank, otherwise, the position and its elite status will amount to nothing but superfluous titles.
Smaller cities and outposts have a local church headed by an individual priest, with deacons and friars that serve him. Often the second and third sons and daughters of nobles who do not become knights instead become priests or nuns, vying for promotions and benefices to elevate themselves to the rank of bishop within the Church of Auros.
The presbyterate is one of the three ordained offices of the Holy Church of Auros. An ordained priest may be appointed to head a church or cathedral or as chaplain to a military force.
High Priests
- A vicar or archpriest is the second for a bishop and is addressed as "the Very Reverend ".
- A rector is a priest who is head of a seminary which teaches future deacons, also styled "the Very Reverend Father". (Any priest who is assigned to teach deacons in game, regardless of if there's an actual "seminary" building).
- A parson is a priest in an area that is too small to have a bishop yet. The parson operates on his own and reports directly to the archbishop. The parson is also styled "Very Reverend Father". Other priests in this area under the leadership of the parson are called "curates", and addressed as "Reverend Father". Any ordained priest who is not head priest of a parish is called a curate.
- An abbot is an ordained priest assigned to be the leader of a group of friars or sisters. His form of address is "the Right Reverend Father".
- A provost is a parish priest assigned to a very large church or cathedral. He may have deacons or curates serving under him. The style is "the Very Reverend".
- A prior is an assistant to an abbot in leading a group of friars or nuns. A branch of a large friary that is beginning in a new area may also be headed by a prior. The style is "the Very Reverend".
Prelates
Higher than a priest, of course, is the bishop, or prelate. The bishop is a lord of society and is addressed as "my Lord" or "His Excellency" and "the Right Reverend Father". The bishop leads a diocese and assigns duties and appointments to all of the priests.
There are multiple bishops throughout an archdiocese. Dioceses roughly parallel the existence of secular baronies, so that for every lord of a territory one will also find a bishop. As lords, bishops sit in Parliament and have one vote the same as any baron. Usually, when a land/population has grown so much that a new peerage must be granted, it shall follow that the archbishop appoints an additional bishop as well.
Archprelate
The archprelate, or archbishop leads all bishops in the kingdom and is styled, "The Most Reverend and Right Honorable" and "His Grace". The archbishop represents the interests of the Holy Light. As overseer of the archdiocese he is tasked with discriminating the doctrine preached to the masses, and guiding the bishops of the archdiocese to ensure they hold the line through their ranks with what is encouraged and approved of by the Auran priesthood in the Holy City of Sol Invictus.
Rex
The king is sovereign and monarch and leads the executive branch of government, known as the Crown, which is ceremonially referred to as "the fount of law". He is liege lord of all Hyperion subjects and the head of the Church and the House of Lords.
Random Sermon
"We are justified by faith, and faith is the heart of our salvation. The road to salvation, however, is long and narrow, and it must be paved with the skulls of heretics. Those of you with faith are the builders of this road -- our road -- to salvation!
As long as man could see the world and speak the words of prayer, he has worshipped Auros. Mercians arose from the wives of the Father when he bore our 144 ancestors that we trace a lineage to today. Since that creation, we have been His. Never forget that our flesh, our souls, all our works are His, and he may reclaim us whenever it suits His needs. In the dawn of our creation the Father did not coddle us because He knew our strength must rise from travail.
Today, Auros' covenants ensure we lead our lives in obedience to His priests who themselves remain obedient to the Laws of Truth. We offer daily prayer in recognition of our Father so that He will never be forgotten, lest we lose all and surrender our rightful dominance over beast and wilderness. This was the birth of the Sacred Flame within the Diocese of Wessex, a single never ending fire that burns in every church, uniting them as one, and maintains our promises. Villages arose and some that survived became the cities of today.
You may think I dwell too long on ancient times, but heed me well. You must feel in your bones and sinew that we are part of a sacred covenant with our Father from the dawn of mankind. The ills of this world arise from those who have forgotten or shamelessly abandoned the first and most important promise. Auros was and is our Father, and He gave us everything we required to foster civilization and thrive. He left us here on Agon but left His priest in His place. Time passed.
Men are akin to children -- so easily do they go astray. Yes, even a priest may lose his path if scrutators, like Father Merrin, do not remain firm and willing to provide discipline. Man fall to worshiping false idols and looking to lesser gods rather than Auros. Some enter a deeper betrayal by giving offerings to Malaut, enemy of the Shaper of Mercia. Lesser gods arose, allowed to exist only on the sufferance of Auros while those they led astray forget from whom mankind had sprung.
The hardships we bear in these days are small matters, for we are being tested. The devout suffer in His name only, and when the time comes it was Auros' will that the Duchy of Wessex was forged into the land of Mercia. Without Auros' favor, our bones would lie in the earth, or we would be adrift in a void of lawlessness. He is the giver of all things, and by serving Him without question we may be spared His righteous wrath.
After the Morak orcs quit our lands years after they had first come, we re-built our church and our walls and erected monuments to His glory. We helped the people of Mercia re-build while spreading His word. There were those who listened, and there were those who accepted our aid but would later forsake the faith. Some of Auros' children chose to abide by the teachings of other devotions, either forgetting the true way or turning their backs deliberately on the Father. All face his ultimate judgment when they pass through His hands again. Our missionaries adamantly taught that all lesser faiths must know their place, particularly our allies; elves whom worship immortalized heroes, trees and old traditions, while even a dwarven king questions the mastersmith Ymir's teachings. We tolerate them only as long as they acknowledge Auros as supreme to all lesser powers, for it is Him from which they were created. We cannot be too indulgent to allow them to accept their errors and rejoin the true faith, or too eager to send them back to the cleansing light of Auros.
We are a people who thrive on strong leadership. We find our way when the entire Church can look to one ruler who commands absolute obedience in matters of faith. Sadly not all leaders of the faith have the same uncompromising strength of character. Archbishop is a title that must be earned and is not idly imparted. The founding of Church of Auros saw this from the earliest days when there were those who refused to take the title. For they knew their own limits and recognized that they were not the same caliber of man as those before them. The death of each hierarch has always brought a time of turmoil and transition as the Church struggles to adjust and find its new voice.
Sometimes there is contention among the priests, and this strife is natural since we must ensure Auros' will above the petty aspirations of individuals. A number of petty sovereigns, visgoths, and senior priests sought to elevate themselves throughout the years, and from the records it seems many forgot their first duty was to their god.
Duke Manus of Wessex has brought our nation to its greatest strength since its inception. It was he who was taught by Father Hadrian Accardo to adapt to the challenges of the battles ahead without losing sight of our divine purpose. Our gaze has turned within once more, the perfidy of the Malauts has been made clear even to the commoners, Mercia is surrounded by enemies, and we will be the righteous flame that seizes our enemies lands and returns them to the true faith. Tempers flare on other borders, and the corruption from below is about to erupt in a war that will decide the fate of humanity.
We shall finish what began so many generations before. We will convert or conquer the lesser faiths beginning with Malaut the demon prince of greed. Every faithful member of the congregation, now is the time to answer the call and come together with such a great purpose. Duke Manus will lead us to greater glory. He is Auros' hand, and we are the weapon He wields. Auros be praised. " - Theodoric, Bishop of Wessex
