Existentialism and Immortality

Kindred possess the ability to exist for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years. This is the promise of immortality, a promise that can taken away only by violence, neglect, or self-destruction. Yet how few of us last for more than a century or two? Certainly, there exist some who have seen a half a millennium pass. A handful who walk any given night might have crossed that mark of one millennium. Fewer yet have endured two or more.

Existentialism is a modern philosophical term, having been discussed in mortal circles only within the past two centuries. The term itself was only coined in the 1940s. Yet the questions inherent in it are ones that kindred have wrestled with since the beginning. How do we create meaning in an existence that is relatively static compared the more frenzied tempo that surrounds us? What is truth to creatures who see cultures and mores change regularly in their perspective time frame? What even is the self when we must define ourselves not by what is around us (because we come to recognize it as an ever-changing thing), but by something internal? How do we wrestle with the mutability of our own selves in the face of torpor, the fog of ages, and the limited grasp of even the most principled mind to contain the knowledge of centuries?

If we are to have an authentic self at all, it must be one refined over time through self-reflection. It must be a search inward to find what is truly in our hearts and minds. It must contain an understanding of our nature, both collectively and individually. We must see past any one time or series of people who touch our existences to some true essence.

That promise of immortality is rarely realized, despite its potential in each of us, because of the difficulty of recognizing our authentic selves and bringing it forth. All too often, kindred attempt to define themselves by the mores of their mortal lives, the values of one people in one time and place, and as that moment in mortal history is swept away, they find themselves lost with it. When defining oneself by ephemeral things, the promise of eternity can not be realized. So often despair, disillusionment, and eventual self-destruction set in.

This is not to say that in finding one's essence the promise of immortality is sure to be realized. The reality is that the world is harsh and none are truly safe who dwell within it. One's nature may, and often does, lead one into conflict with others. Yet without that grounding, one is surely lost.

The Testament of Longinus is a powerful tool for self-reflection because it is a story of the journey from mortal life to the finding of purpose for one kindred, Longinus. The beginning of the Testament is a personal answer for Longinus and an offer to share what wisdom he garnered along that path of personal discovery. However, the Testament itself is but an aid, not a map to any one person's self-realization. It does not contain step-by-step instructions, any more than the Bible does for mortals. It is a series of parables that help us explore the existential questions that arise in kindred existence.

"We know that not every one of the Damned is of equal gift or similar vocation. Just as mortal man may be a soldier, or a cowherd, or a scribe, so may a Kindred be a prince, or a philosopher, or a councilor. Though the Dark Father was a soldier and a wanderer, it does not then follow that each Kindred who follows in his path must be the same. Let then each Kindred who feels in himself a calling to greater understanding and a deeper knowledge of God's plan submit himself to a life of study and prayer. He shall be guided by two things: the teachings of the Dark Father and the prayerful spirit of his own heart." - Rule of Golgotha 11

Simon Patterson Gloveli
Inquisitor Generalis de Lacus Magni

On the Spirits of the Dead

"7 We walked between them, as they waited on their dead horses, and as we
passed each man, I saw that each had on his breastplate the thing that had
killed him: 8 this one had died of hunger, and had lain in a gutter; 9 this one
had given himself to wine and had ruined his body, and had died in his
own effluent; this one was killed in fire; 10 this one clutched his head one
day and died; this one had died of tumors in his chest." - Eschaton 12:7-10

Under the guidance of the angel, Vahishtael, Longinus walks among the spirits of the dead in a vision. The above section of the Book of Eschaton tells of witnessing the sleeping cavalry, those knights who await the final days for their resurrection. This time among the dead proves to be a mistake, as is recorded in Eschaton 12:21 "And one turned and saw me standing in their midst, and he recognized me for what I was, and as one the sleeping cavalry now awakened, reared their dead horses, and rounded on me, and began to pierce me with spears, and Vahishtael was not anywhere."

Trafficking with ghosts is a dangerous matter. Far more precarious is entering the realm of Purgatory. Commonly referred to as the Underworld, Purgatory is a vast and varied place. Some who die have their souls immediately travel on to their ultimate reward. Others linger in the realm of Purgatory for a time. Some even manage to cling inappropriately to this world for a time.

What is clear is that the longer the spirit of a person lingers, the more dangerous they become. True monsters are born of the dead who do not understand that this world is not theirs. It is but a brief stop for the living, but Creation is theirs. It belongs to no others. The proper ordering of the world requires that all understand their place in God's Creation. What place we kindred have is not among the dead, but among the living, assuring that their souls are set upon their proper course and not diverted. Time among the spirits of those who once lived is at best a distraction from our proper calling. The only dealing with a spirit of the dead should be in exorcising it from this world.

Simon Patterson Gloveli
Inquisitor Generalis de Lacus Magni

The Need for Humility

I visit the palaces and halls of my kind, and find cold welcome there. 2 My attempts to bring to my brethren the truth that I have witnessed are met with public scorn and laughter. 3 Yet I persist in my efforts. Surely this willful ignorance must be provoking to the Lord! 4 Few and far between are the Kindred who humor me with a receptive ear or a kind word, 5 and they are reviled by the Romans for this conduct. 6 Yet I persist in my efforts. 

7 I cannot couch my message in the language of the philosophers and the arguments of Senators, and my speech is unimpressive. 8 Yet I persist in my efforts. 

 - Torments 4:1-8

Each of us have our strengths and weaknesses, our abilities and our shortcomings. As is evidenced by the failings of Longinus after he has received the message of his purpose, even those with righteousness on their side do not always succeed. A thing being right and just does not mean that it will come to pass in this fallen world. Yet conviction may drive us to strive ever harder in the face of adversity.

The fact is that though Longinus bore a message from God on the purpose of the Damned in this world, he did not have the skills to convey it at first. He persisted in his attempts until at last he proclaims in Torments 6:7 "I am too lowly a servant for this task."

In frustration and despair Longinus travels for a time, He wanders aimlessly, wrestling with these emotions. He admits to doubt in himself and his ability to succeed. He calls out to God. He weeps. He debases himself. In Torments 8:8 he has reached his lowest state: "I lie in earth like a pile of dung."

Longinus receives no word from God. He receives no sign of the rightness of his course. No angel visits him to spur him onward this time. Instead, he must reach within for wisdom, acknowledging his failures, but knowing that they need not persist forever: "I have failed in my ministry, but I cannot succeed while lying in the dirt." (Torments 9:2)

Longinus turns for solutions not to himself, for he has failed, nor to God, who has not answered his prayers directly. Instead, he turns to mankind. Though Longinus slew Christ, was Damned by God, and was visited by an angel to reveal his purpose in the past, he humbled himself before men so that he might learn. "With humility and faith I approach the teacher. 2 I come to him as yet another student and I beg him to impart to me his wisdom." (Torments 12:1-2)

Many nights pass as Longinus learns and studies at the foot of his teacher, a mortal man. When at last he has learned enough that he might better fulfill his purpose, he retreats to pray. "I fast and pray and beg the Lord for an answer, but all is silence. 2 I call upon my newfound wisdom, and decide that I must trust in man’s free will and God’s holy purpose." (Torments 14:1-2)

While guided by his experience with the divine, Longinus ultimately finds that God does not give us all the answers of how we might fulfill his will. That is for us to find. We find it in recognizing our shortcomings and in reaching out to others. We find our way in listening and learning, in the bountiful knowledge of humanity, and in ultimately placing trust in others. None can go it alone in this world. It is only with humility that we can ultimately succeed.

Sum Sanctus,

Simon Patterson Gloveli

Inquisitor Generalis de Lacus Magni

On External Threats

Many view the Testament of Longinus as solely a religious document, but the fact is that it contains a tremendous amount of information on the kindred condition, kindred history, kindred abilities, and the matter which will be addressed here: external supernatural threats to the Damned.

A third night, Vahishtael came to me again, and said to me, “Come, and I will show you the creatures that you must know of, and understand. 

2 You shall teach your disciples of their existence.” - Eschaton 13:1-2

Within the Book of Eschaton, we find information about several threats to kindred, their creation, their abilities, and the means to combat them. Many of these threats remain with us today, nearly two millennia after they were first recorded in the Testament.

Larvae are the mindless kindred-like husks that can arise form sloppy feeding to the point of death. Belial's Brood are kindred who have "sold themselves to their sin" yet hold more reason than a draugr, including a cunning tongue with which they seek to convince others of their course. The half-Damned are part mortals who lure kindred with the most intoxicating scent of their blood, yet those who drink find it a poison. VII are those who bear the blood of Satan, which awakens every seven generations.

The strix, or Owls, are a most grievous threat which can inhabit the bodies of the dead, even kindred bodies, and bend them to their terrible will. Consider what the Testament has to say of them:

40 On the last page, I saw an Owl made of smoke. I trembled, for I knew that the Owls were more dreadful than any of the other monsters I had seen. 41 The Owl flew towards a dead man hanging from a tree and became smoke and entered into the corpse. 42 The corpse moved, and came down from the tree. 43 The Owl was in the corpse’s eyes, and they glowed. 44 The corpse with the Owl inside it waited by the street and ambushed the living who passed, and killed them and drank their blood. 45 And each time, it stole a new body from the people it had killed, now a soldier, now a Holy man, now a young woman, now an old woman. And always, the yellow gleam was in the Owl’s eye. 46 Presently, one of the Damned came by, and the Owl beat him down and entered him, and the Damned became his slave. 47 The Owl kept the body, and wreaked havoc with it, and the Assembly of the Sanctified was in ruins, as I saw the Owl whisper and make strife among the faithful. 48 And it opened the doors of the courts of the Damned, and a flock of the Owls came, and flooded into that place, and stole our bodies and crushed our souls, 49 and made the living suffer ten or a dozen times what we had, and not for the Purpose of God, but for the pleasure of it. Vahistael said, “Fear the Owls, and always remain vigilant. 50 Drive them into the sunshine, and do not allow the ones who deal with them to have any hope of survival, or any trial, or any forgiveness. 51 The Damned who deals with the Owls is cursed, and doubly cursed, and has no right even to Hell.” - Eschaton 13:40-51

This is but a hint of the knowledge contained within the Testament. Each of the threats above has at least a paragraph of information about them and the Church of Longinus has more recorded besides. This is one of the many reasons that the Testament's study is so vital to kindred society. Within its pages we find answers to questions that many who walk tonight have not yet even thought to ask. Yet here, for nearly two millennia, that wisdom has been recorded. Know that this body of wisdom is a thing to be shared with all kindred, that they might understand more of themselves and the dangers of the world we inhabit.

Sum Sanctus,

Simon Patterson Gloveli

Inquisitor Generalis de Lacus Magni

On the Great Heresies

If any community shall be found to be in practice of heretical faith, they shall be expelled from the body of the faithful. Yet if they and their abbot shall make penance and recant all heresies, they shall be welcomed back to the community of brethren. - The Rule of Golgotha 7:19

A number of profound usurpations of the Longinian faith exist. These greatest heresies are persistent things, taking the essential truths of the Testament of Longinus and the teachings of the Lancea Sanctum and perverting them. What makes a matter heretical is that they adopt and twist aspects of the Covenant with God, rather than asserting their own separate and independent belief. While there may be spiritual errancy in a course that does not accept God or his plan for us, such matters should not raise the true ire of the faithful in the way that heresy does. Heresy is a blight that exists within the Church itself.

There are a number of great heresies, many of which commit the essential sin of taking the trappings of the Longinian faith and combining them with the practices of the more temporal covenants. These heresies are then a threat and affront to not just the Lancea Sanctum, but to the other covenant they seek to usurp and twist as well. I will present a brief overview of four great heresies and the manner in which they commit this usurpation of both covenants.

The Livian Heresy is the most familiar to many kindred. Livians combine the trappings of faith of the Lancea Sanctum with the reverence of the mother of Longinus as the Crone of the Acolytes. Livia is elevated to a state akin to Mary, but given the dark appellation of the Mother of Vampires or sometimes the Mother of Monsters. Livians seek to mingle the blood sorcery of the Circle of the Crone with the dark miracles of the Longinian faith. This mingling is clearly seen as antithetical to proper members of both covenants and has been seen as such for nearly two millennia.

The Crimson Cavalry is a much more recent heresy, born a little over half a century ago. It combines some parts of the Longinian faith, particularly its most eschatological aspects, with the most violent and anti-establishment impulses of the Carthian Movement. The Crimson Cavalry seeks to bring about the biblical end of days by overthrowing all established order in the world. Only once the world of kine and kindred alike is in a completely anarchic state, do they believe that the Second Coming of Jesus will occur. Clearly the extreme and violent nature of this heresy is an affront to the two covenants from which its ideology derives.

The formal Icarian Heresy is one which endured for a number of centuries from the late Middle Ages to the early Renaissance, with the threat of its originators dispersed. However, its general trappings are seen from time to time even unto this night. The Icarian Heresy is a blending of zeal of the Lancea Sanctum with the starkly political breeding and hierarchy of the Invictus. The heirs of Icarius created a familial dynasty, toppling rulers across broad swatches of land and replacing them with those who believed they were divinely gifted to rule over all kindred. This blending of the temporal and the spiritual is properly an affront to both the First and Second Estates, each of which should be kept distinct on focused on their own concerns.

The Masonic Heresy is another profoundly disturbing example of the inexcusable blending of covenants, one which appears alive and active in pursuing their agenda in these modern nights. The Masonic Heresy was founded by a former Cardinal of the Lancea Sanctum who named herself "The Carpenter" and began to utilize the secret practices of the Ordo Dracul in an attempt to seize God's power for her own. The Masons seek absolute dominion over kine and kindred alike through manipulation of occult forces to bind all in accordance with their will. They worship "The Carpenter" as a messianic figure. Their bastardization of the Longinian faith and the practices of the Ordo Dracul ought to make clear that they are antithetical to both.

One thing that is hopefully made clear in this discussion of four of the greatest heresies is that they present not just a threat to one covenant, but to all. Each seeks to upend the proper ordering of kindred society and assert their own misguided zealotry upon our society. While the Lancea Sanctum often engages in the most devoted efforts to identify and route out these dangers, they are a shared danger and one on which all kindred of good conscious should oppose and offer information where they possess it.

Sum Sanctus,

Simon Patterson Gloveli

Inquisitor Generalis de Lacus Magni

On Inquisition

This week's exploration is of the role of the inquisitor, its basis in the Testament, and its ultimate purpose.

Perhaps the most blessed and most admirable scholarly pursuit, however, is one that takes as its center not the study of any one thing, but rather commits itself to the refutation and repudiation of heresies and slanders. We know that such Kindred that walk in these nights have intellects vast and creative. Their Damnation may have been given them before the coming of the Dark Father and his teachings, or perhaps they are yet newly Damned by sinful and impious sires, and so they use such gifts to harass and mock the fellowship of the Sanctified. 

Such scholars of the Sanctified as have talent for it must therefore bend their minds to the unraveling of arguments and the refutation of all points in these irreverent tracts and speeches. 

  - Rule of Golgotha 11, paragraphs 5-6

The words inquisitor and inquisition derive from the Latin quaerere meaning "to seek." An inquisitor then is one who seeks for something and an inquisition is the search for it. An inquisitor is someone who makes inquiry, who inquires, after something.

Within the context of the Lancea Sanctum, the inquisitor is one who searches for heresies and slanders that they might be exposed, laid bare, and confronted. An inquisitor in the Lancea Sanctum is concerned with matters that threaten the spiritual purity of the body of the Church, striving to identify and bring to the light any darkness that lurks within.

In order that an inquisitor might be able to identify errancy when it is found, it is important that they be well grounded in theology, comfortable with parsing rhetoric, and intimately familiar with the Testament and doctrines of the Church. Passing familiarity with any of these will fail to suffice, for those who go seeking darkness often find it in this world. If an inquisitor is not prepared to properly and clearly identify it, they are libel to wind up consumed by it. Any inquisition must begin and end within one's own heart, mind, and soul. If an inquisitor is not willing or able to look within and identify the weaknesses they themselves possess, sooner or later another will and turn that weakness to their own advantage.

In exposing errancy and challenging it within both the inquisitor and within the Church, an inquisitor brings about a more perfect Church, ready and able to fulfill God's will for kindred here on earth. While purity is much desired, it is also important to remember that an inquisition does not serve the ultimate purpose of purity. Ultimate purity is impossible given the nature of both the world in which we live, as well as our own Damnation. Ultimate purity would be the destruction of this world of sin, something that is not ours to fulfill. Instead, the ultimate purpose must be to enable the Church and its members to serve well and truly God's purpose for them. An inquisition must ultimately simply root out the worst of the errors within and serves as a reminder of the proper path. It is for this reason that the duty will last for as long as the world we inhabit, but that is right and just.

Sum Sanctus,

Simon Patterson Gloveli

Inquisitor Generalis de Lacus Magni

L'Osservatore Longinian - volume 1, issue 1

L'Osservatore Longinian - volume 1, issue 1

On Kindred Rule

As kindred society finds itself in the grips of a fever with the underlying purpose being the creation of national bodies governing Clan and Covenant, my thoughts have gone to the following passages from The Rule of Golgotha 10:

We are not so innocent as mortal man, who professes that none shall be crowned except he who has striven lawfully. Man is hypocritical in his quest for a noble ruler; he will scheme and murder and bribe to gain what little earthly power he can, and then expects his comrades to hail him as a just and forthright man. The political mind is squirming and complex, twisting reason beyond recognition and pandering in all corners for the slightest advantage, both corporeal and spiritual. We need look only to the great cities of Rome to see and know that the governance of creatures of rational mind is a complex and bewildering undertaking. 

The pagan cities of Greece and of Persia and of the Far East have in their folly concocted mad stories of divine founding to justify the reign of one man over another. We know that there is only one divine city, the city of God which lies beyond death and is the eternal paradise. As sojourners in death we know that we shall not be given the death of the mortal, who may even with his last breath recognize the truth of God's presence on earth and embrace true faith. The city of God is not for us, and all mortal cities and courts are nothing more than dirt and despair. Thus, how much greater folly is it for us to say this unholy creature is more fit to rule than that unholy creature by virtue of his blood, or his sire, or his allegiances?

While this passage occurs within a particular historical context in the Testament of Longinus, the deeper question echoes across the millennia. In the fever of this new Crucible, we seem driven to seize upon some answer, whether that answer be right or wrong. I do not here wish to be sidetracked into the question of why this idea now burns within each of us, or of the fashion in which whatever answer is decided upon may mystically bind us.

Why, when, and how ought kindred rule over each other?

Kindred society is not now, nor has it ever been, a society of laws. We have found and accepted a few core Traditions that stretch back more than two millennia but, save for a few brief aberrations, there have been no empires, no far-reaching bureaucracy, no unified system of justice, and no common culture. Attempts to create each of these things have invariably led to bloodshed and violence, with kindred turning upon each other in bids either for their place at the top of the pile of corpses, or for freedom from the rule of another.

Kindred are not ruled, so much as policed within the bounds of the essential Traditions that we recognize as inviolable for our own survival. Much of the policing is and always has had to be done not by an elite few, but by each and every member of society. Certainly, titles exist, almost always local in nature, where the one who wears the title can regularly interact with those over whom they have some authority. That authority is granted and utilized by dint of ability, but also of acceptance. No one kindred is great enough to fend off all of the others within any but the smallest of groups. While variance exists, the relative parity of our powers requires a modicum of restraint. When one goes too far, they are inevitably brought low.

Some cry now that these modern nights are different. Kindred can rapidly communicate across the entire span of the globe en masse for the first time during a Crucible. Transportation likewise exists with sufficient speed to bring kindred together in the span of a few nights, no matter how great the distance between them originally. Surely, they argue, given these things, the possibility exists of real and far-reaching rule.

They forget that while transportation and communication may be possible, kindred at large remain relatively stationary beings. While some few might wander regularly a few hundred miles and attend the occasional gathering of a handful of Courts, this increased proximity is limited. Those who are present and involved with a local populace each and every night remain a true community. Distant voices may have weight, but presence rules our society. How many Princes rule for long who are only heard and seen upon special occasion? Why should we expect that it would be any different in this Crucible than in the past?

It is true that Clans and Covenants have deeper cultures and more common ties that do allow for stronger bonds across distances. It is for that reason that each typically possesses some form of regional structure. Yet, while these regional bodies may carry weight, few can be said to truly rule. The creation of far-reaching national or supranational bodies of kindred, given the disparate nature of our domains, the differing forms of our interests, and the native kindred drive to rebuke the authority of others over them, seems one doomed to be at most some fancy words on paper and a few new flourishes to an electronic signature if not well crafted with the reality of kindred existence in mind.

Whether, in our collective fever, we are able to tame the lust for power within ourselves and forge answers that are limited in scope to the reality of our condition, or if we are destined to fly too high like Icarus and burn up in the rays of the sun, remains unclear. I will pray that we have the wisdom to choose wisely and spare our society the painful cleansing by fire that has occurred in the past.

Sum Sanctus,

Simon Patterson Gloveli

Inquisitor Generalis de Lacus Magni

An Introduction to the Longinian Creeds

Every kindred structure is riven with division. This is so because we are, by our natures, aggressive and confrontational. The Beast that beats within our breasts makes it so, raising its hackles whenever we encounter another of our kind. With such a nature, it is difficult to organize ourselves on a large scale.

The Lancea Sanctum is no different in this regards. The Sanctified are divided into as many (or more) Longinian Churches as there are praxes. Historically, each diocese of the Lancea Sanctum was its own self-enclosed body. It was established thus by this way because of an understanding of our natures, and of the vulnerability of corruption, paralysis, internal strife, or external assault in a unified structure.

This practice allowed the Lancea Sanctum to flourish in many places. In the ancient days, there was no need to wait for word to travel to and from a distant senior member of the Church. All matters were local and all decisions were local. This led to both a variety of practices and expressions of faith, as well as over time to the development of various creeds, broad sects within the Lancea Sanctum based on differing interpretations of the Testament and other early documents of the faith.

Broadly speaking, there are three major creeds within the Lancea Sanctum, a half dozen minor creeds, and myriad more diocese that operate without an espoused creed at all. In the modern nights in particular, as ease of travel has increased and the mixing of previously distinct cultures and races have risen cities around the world, many dioceses have Sanctified who adhere to differing creeds. This all makes for a very curious local Church where some worship using rituals that are clearly drawn from Catholicism, while others handle snakes and leap over bonfires in ecstatic displays of faith.

The most traditional and prominent within the Lancea Sanctum is the Monachal Creed, which yet makes up half of Sanctified around the world. The percentage may be lower in the United States, though no full census has ever been taken. The Monachal Creed draws its name from the Monachus, the first childe of Longinus, and draws heavily from the writings of the Monachus contained in The Sanguineous Catechism. Its rituals, as the oldest and most traditional of the Creeds, are drawn in structure from Catholicism.

The second of the major Creeds is the Westminster Creed. It is perhaps surprisingly modern, having only been penned and formalized in the 18th century as a delayed response to the Protestant Reformation that swept Europe two centuries prior. The Westminster Creed, while wishing to adhere to much of the traditional texts of the Lancea Sanctum, sought to shake free of many of the most ancient practices. It eschews the traditional rituals of the faith, crafted new and simpler ceremonies, as well as altered the names of various traditional offices within the Lancea Sanctum. It did so and blossomed in areas of the mortal world where Catholicism had never been or was no longer welcome.

The third of the major Creeds began here in the United States. The Tollison Creed was drafted in the 1920s by a former Pentecostal minister. In a similar fashion to Pentecostalism, where there is a belief that the Holy Spirit might move through any person at any time and direction from God is personal, so members of the Tollison Creed open themselves up to direct and personal experience with God, angels, or similar spirits. Theirs is a passionate and ecstatic faith, marked by extreme displays and personal revelations.

Some of the larger minor creeds include: the Iblic Creed, the Dammitic Creed, and Exotheists. The Iblic Creed, which was drafted in 1420 to reconcile the Islamic theology with the traditions of the Lancea Sanctum. The Dammitic Creed was founded in the 18th century to similarly reconcile Jewish traditions with the Lancea Sanctum. The Exotheists are the most modern of the minor creeds, following the publication of the Exotheist Manifesto in 1924, which eschews religious structures entirely while allowing that the Testament of Longinus might yet be an important philosophical treatise on kindred nature and how we might structure our requiems.

All of these creeds, and more, live under one very large roof within the Lancea Sanctum. The diversity occurred, at least in part, because of our earliest teachings and structure. We largely manage to reconcile ourselves in these modern nights, working together because despite our differences in our understanding of it, we do believe that there is an essential ordering to the world, and a place in it for us in accordance with God's plan.

Much more has and is required for a deep understanding of the Lancea Sanctum, and each of its many creeds, and the individual variations within them. However, I hope that this has at least presented some grounding for the diversity that exists and thrives under the auspices of this one covenant.

Sum Sanctus,

Simon Patterson Gloveli
Inquisitor Generalis de Lacus Magni

On Covenants

It is from the Lancea Sanctum that the kindred meaning of the word covenant arises. Kindred are, of course, prone to endless variations in the structuring of their requiems, in their practices, in their faiths, and in their cultures. In the truly ancient world, blood ruled. The line from which one came was everything. Further, kindred were few and far between due to the generally lower population of kine, leaving what would come to be known as praxis small, general distinct populations, each with their own traditions.

The Lancea Sanctum changed that. The earliest members shared the words of Longinus to other kindred without regard for lineage, without regards for ethnicity as mortal, without regards for the temporary and shifting borders of kingdoms on the map, without regards to whether one had been born male, female, or something more complicated. The Lancea Sanctum offered a Covenant with God. They offered to any who would hear a logical ordering to all things, a purpose and place that transcended anything save commitment. Kindred who were male, female, slave, noble, of any clan or bloodline, all were welcome and all were equal.

It is in response to the Lancea Sanctum that other covenants, in the modern kindred understanding of the word, were formed. The Invictus came to be an understanding of the temporal structure and power of kindred society. The Circle of the Crone came to be a covenant, rather than isolated practitioners and worshipers, in response to the Lancea Sanctum's activities. In more recent centuries, first the Ordo Dracul and more recently the Carthian Movement rose, challenging the assumptions of the natures of each individual and our society respectively. Yet we know each and every one by the common word of covenant, a word that originated in the kindred world with the Lancea Sanctum.

Having said all of this, I will now say that the Lancea Sanctum is more than a covenant in the modern kindred understanding of the word. It is more than a clearly defined and delineated group of kindred, that has no overlap with any other such ordering of kindred. The Lancea Sanctum properly harkens back to the origin of the word. Its members hold a Covenant with God, which is more than a covenant with other kindred. In this distinction, I will use Sanctified to mean part of the Covenant with God and Lancea Sanctum to mean part of the temporal Church of Longinus.

What does it mean to be Sanctified?

There are many answers, but the most common can be found in the five lines that comprise the Monachal Creed, the most traditional understanding of this Covenant with God, and the one to which at least half of the Lancea Sanctum around the world yet adhere to.

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of Heaven and Earth. 

To be Sanctified is to believe in the God who forged and ordered the whole of Creation.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary to redeem Man from Sin through his death and resurrection.

To be Sanctified is to believe in the reality of the Christ, the virgin birth, and that through his sacrifice, mankind was offered redemption.

I believe that Longinus, by piercing the Savior’s side as he hung from the Cross, did reveal the divinity of Christ through fulfillment of the prophecies and that, while Longinus was rightly Damned for his blasphemy, his damnation was itself part of God’s Holy Plan.

To be Sanctified is to believe that the events described in the Testament of Longinus are true; that the spear bearer described in the Holy Bible pierced the side of Jesus Christ with the Spear of Destiny. This act was the culmination of God's Holy Plan for the mortal life of His Son and the deed was both an offering of redemption for mankind and damnation for Longinus.

I believe that for my sins I am damned to Hell and yet through damnation I may find my purpose in God’s Holy Plan.

The Beast beats in our breasts. Hunger threatens to overshadow our intellect. The Sun and the light of God are anathema to us. Each night we rise, we sin in our hearts, in our minds, and in the acts of predation that are necessary for us to survive. To be Sanctified is to know and accept this, that our damnation is eternal. Yet, through our Covenant with God, we have been shown a mercy; that we might continue to play a part in His Holy Plan and steer the living to the eternal salvation offered them by God.

Any who accept these five things can be Sanctified, whether they are a member of the temporal Church of Longinus, the Lancea Sanctum, or not. One need not be a member of the clergy to enter into a Covenant with God. Like Jesus's offering of salvation to all mankind, God offers a place in His Plan to all kindred who would enter into a Covenant with Him. How to do so can be found more fully within the Testament of Longinus, His Prophet sent to reveal this path to kindred society.

Sum Sanctus (I am Sanctified),

Simon Patterson Gloveli

Inquisitor Generalis de Lacus Magni

How Shall We Feed?

Feeding is one of the most basic functions of kindred. It is an essential thing from which none can escape, any more than a mortal man can survive without water. Some can endure a week or two at a time between feeding, yet ultimately each of us must feed.

It should not be surprising that the Testament of Longinus has much to say on the subject of feeding. Many things are forbidden. "You shall not feed on children" (Golgotha 3:6). "You shall not feed on the simple or the mad" (Golgotha 3:7). "It is anathema to feed among the pure and righteous" (Golgotha 6:6). While we are predators, we are not demons. Whatever acts of evil we might perform, one is to spare those who are blameless. The child, the mad, and the pure alike are to be protected from predation.

We feed to live, we do not live to feed. "You shall feed only enough to satisfy your hunger" (Golgotha 3:10). Indeed, those who can feed upon the blood of animals are called to do so in that fashion rather than upon man. "For those that can be nourished by beasts, let them be fed" (Golgotha 7:4).

Why is this so? It is because our predation, in feeding and in all other things, must serve a purpose greater than our own selves. We do not do these things for ourselves, but to enable us to pursue a purpose beyond our own individual requiems. All that we do must be for the salvation of man. "Where we walk, evil is destroyed" (Golgotha 1:4). Let us all take heed of this call for humility and service. Let us order our requiems, from feeding to that with which we fill our nights, that it might be in service to something greater than ourselves.

Sum Sanctus,

Simon Patterson Gloveli

Inquisitor Generalis de Lacus Magni

Kindred Society

Those who show the sin of hubris and do not keep an unoffending facade when in the company of mortals shall surely bring doom upon themselves. For man is clever and when he finds an enemy he will find a way to destroy it. It is not the wolf's way to lie down with the sheep. Better it is that man should fear the night, the unknown and the predators therein. Punishment shall be great for he who brings the wrath of man down upon himself and his brethren. Be not prideful, lest your betters – be they Kindred or God – feel the need to correct you. - Rule of Golgotha 5:3

The Testament of Longinus contains some of the earliest recordings of what have come to be the major Traditions of kindred society. The above is clearly an admonishment that kindred should maintain what we now know as the masquerade. For all that the Testament is ultimately focused upon that which is beyond the temporal, it also provides insight into how kindred are to act, both with mortals and with each other.

In the two millennia since the Testament came into being, kindred society still operates by the same constraints. The wisdom within the words above are as relevant today as they were all that time ago, and will hold weight long centuries from now as well. This is so because while kindred and mortal alike may come and go, while locations and details may change, there is nonetheless a great underlying order to this world and its operations. While the realization of essential truths may be new to those who are themselves new, the truths predate us all. They are part of an essential ordering to the universe.

The Damned shall suffer yet more should they slay a fellow to take his soul from him. Your own soul shall become yet blacker in the eyes of God, for he shall not look kindly on one who would take a soul from the judgment of heaven. The call of Kindred Vitae is an insidious and enticing one. To take into one's own body the strengths of another, whether body, mind or soul, is a temptation to all but the most pious. To take a soul must therefore be nearly irresistible. To make oneself more potent, more brilliant, more charismatic, with no effort from yourself seems heavenly in its effortlessness. Know, however, that such things can be seen by eye of God and other Kindred, who will surely turn their hatred upon your sloth and pride. - Rule of Golgotha 5:7

Is this admonishment, this warning, not as true tonight as it was two millennia ago? Do we not immediately recognize its wisdom now, just as kindred did then? The modern Traditions, which every kindred of worth upholds, find their origin in organization and understanding in the words of Longinus. Other words may be used, often less flowery in order to appeal to a broader array of kindred, and yet we recognize that beneath it all, there is a common message.

Kindred society has existed since antiquity. We have had our struggles, our turmoil, our clashes, and our times of peace, far longer than any yet awake can recall. Modern turmoil is but part of a lengthy tradition, existing in a perpetual chain. It is nothing new, though we do engage with it in some vigor during a Crucible. To believe that there is anything new in this is to not understand ourselves or the world in which we live.

Throughout these long millennia, we have never required mystical bonds being placed upon all of kindred society to regulate us. Indeed, every broad attempt at bondage has provoked greater backlash and bloodshed in the long term. Stability bought through slavery rather than through factual understanding of our nature and the essential truths of the world and its ordering, is false. Let us then work as best we might to each understand that which is eternal, including even the struggle between ourselves. In doing so we can achieve a far more stable society than any that can or would be imposed upon us.

Sum Sanctus,

Simon Patterson Gloveli

Augustus Inquisitor de Lacus Magni

That which is eternal

Man is like unto the angels with his faculties and compassion. As we were
once men, we have these qualities at hand in every undertaking. We can
show the rich their poverty, we can show the powerful their weakness, we
can show the healthy their decay, and we can show the pious their hypocrisy.
To all men we can show the misery and depredation of the physical
world, so that their souls may yearn more intensely for the kingdom that
may be theirs, through the grace of God. (Rule 3:4)

You will hear me often speak of purpose, of duty. I do so because it is these things that can give order to an otherwise entirely ephemeral existence. While we are shown the promise of immortality, the truth is that even we do not endure. Through short decades or long centuries, all things in this mortal world falter, fail, and ultimately end. From the greatest mountain to the fruit fly, all things in this world pass. We are no exception.

Even when these physical shells we wear endure long centuries, the mind within us does not. Torpor robs each and every one of us of the past, of our self, and our history. That which is written ages and turns to dust. That which is shared with others by words becomes twisted into myth and legend. Few are the ancients among us, not simply because of the threats posed by others of our kind, or by mysteries beyond, but because in time the false promise of eternity turns, like wine, bitter. When we live for this world alone, all things eventually succumb.

All that is truly eternal is beyond this world. In the truth of eternity, even centuries of existence in this mortal world are less than the span of a fruitfly to the age of the oldest mountain. Mankind is gifted a piece of that which is truly eternal, the soul within. This is the piece of the divine that lives within this world and will endure forever after. How precious is such a thing, especially in a world as base as our own?

When I speak of purpose, of duty, I speak of the protection of that mortal soul. I do so because it is all that is eternal in this world and so all that ultimately matters in the span of eternity. By the nature of our Embrace, we are damned, destined to perhaps centuries here on this earth, but only to damnation in the eternity that follows. Mortal man and woman alike however, are given the true promise of eternal salvation, of truly immortal life in the kingdom of God, something that we are but a mockery of.

The greatest duty then is the protection of the mortal soul that it might achieve that eternal salvation. We are, each of us, tasked with this by God. In his infinite mercy he has allowed even those of us who are eternally damned, the opportunity to play a part in the salvation of others. Though it will not save us, it gives purpose to our otherwise ultimately ephemeral existences. It allows us to find a measure of fulfillment that can endure the centuries which face us.

Though we are gifted with the false promise of immortality, we must not use this for ourselves. It is in service to others, those who yet have the opportunity of eternal salvation, that we can find ourselves and our true purpose. All else is chaff.

The greatest tool that we have for steering mortal man to their eternal salvation is a reminder of the ephemeral nature of this world. The mighty, who are drunk on the many pleasures possible within this world, are to be reminded that this is life is but short on the ultimate scale. Those who are pure are to be protected fiercely, while those who have gone astray are to be lead back by whatever method is necessary. As our own damnation is assured, no tool that leads one who can be saved back to the path of salvation is forbidden to us, save that which would damn another.

This is the nature of our purpose and the greatest and most sure duty that exists in this mortal world. Let us rejoice in having been shown the mercy of having a place in the greater plan. Let us faithfully fulfill our obligations to others, for this is the only true legacy we can leave in the hereafter.

Sum Sanctus,

Simon Patterson Gloveli

Augustus Inquisitor de Lacus Magni

An Ordained Hierarchy

It is known to you that an ordained hierarchy exists. As man is above beasts, so are the Damned above men. Our numbers are fewer so that our purpose is better effected. - Rule 4

The title of this week's homily comes from the opening line of The Rule of Golgotha 4. The Rule of Golgotha is the third book of the Testament of Longinus. It is here in the text that we transition from the story of the early life and requiem of Longinus to his teachings on how we ought to order our own requiem. Rule 4 concerns the ordering of all things in this world, from beast to man to kindred, as well as within kindred society, as well as the hierarchy of Sanctified.

We recognize also a hierarchy of the Damned. From the lowest of those who cannot see the truth of our Sanctification or the barest neonate, his sire's Vitae still fresh upon his lips, to the most perfect predator and the greatest student of the Dark Prophet, we too have a hierarchy that is part of God's plan. - Rule 4

Our nature, as predators, demands hierarchy. The beasts within us, while they must not rule us, may not be denied either. It is not without reason that when meeting another kindred for the first time, we sense their strength and must master our instinct to fight or flee. Kindred society is built upon an understanding of these facts of our nature, an attempt to impose reason, civilization upon that which would otherwise be simply instinct and chaos. In this there is great wisdom.

Yet how shall we select our leaders, how shall we know them, and what shall we demand of them?

Those who shall serve you as abbot shall be held to the highest standard, for they must show the faithful the proper conduct. Each abbot is merely a servant; he serves the community, the mission of the Dark Prophet, and the purpose of God. Let no Kindred be crowned as a king of the faithful; such things are better left to the patriarchs and emperors of the secular concern. each abbot, like each brother, serves God’s purpose in his own way, and shall be garnered respect as first among equals, as he has earned through the perfection of his predation. There is none more worthy above you, excepting God. - Rule 4

Rule 4 answers this question for the Lancea Sanctum. Those who lead must be held to the highest standard. They must be exemplary, embodying the values of the community and replete in purpose. They must be servants of a higher calling, rather than absolute rulers. Indeed, in comparison to their community they "shall be raised above them only in duty."

While Rule 4 does not give answers to the ordering of the rest of kindred society, there are lessons herein from which many can draw value.

Thus do we acknowledge the first among us, and trust in our brethren in diverse communities to choose leaders wise and worshipful. Let us also aspire to that more perfect predation, and let those who have been chosen to be first among equals be magnanimous in their strictures, be forgiving in their dealings with other Damned, and let them be wise in their law-giving. - Rule 4

Sum Sanctus,

Simon Patterson

Augustus Inquisitor de Lacus Magni

The Holy Spear

This week's reading comes from the Malediction of Longinus. This reading concerns the history of the Holy Spear which slew Christ, that which gives our covenant its name: Lancea Sanctum, the Sanctuary of the Lance.

1 The Spearhead was the weapon that God had destined to strike Christ in the side. It had been made long ago in the days before the Deluge by Tubal-Cain the Smith, the son of Zillah, the second wife of Lamech, the son of Enoch. 2 Tubal-Cain’s son had struck his grandfather Lamech’s face, and Lamech had slain him. Tubal-Cain sought revenge, and prayed to God that his son be avenged. 3 On the night that Tubal-Cain prayed, a stone fell from the sky, and it was hard, and it was black, and Tubal-Cain saw that God had answered his prayer, and from the metal in the stone he fashioned a Spearhead, that he might kill Lamech.

4 But Tubal-Cain failed, for Lamech was a mighty warrior, and Lamech laid his foot on Tubal-Cain’s neck and seized the Spear, and impaled Tubal-Cain through the heart, and Tubal-Cain died. 5 And Lamech took the Spear for his own, and it became a sign for all who would see that Lamech was a mighty warrior before the LORD, and he slew all of his enemies and was made king, 6 and went forth on a war of conquest, and was victorious against every man he faced, until the LORD saw fit to strike down humanity in the flood, and Lamech was drowned, and the Spear was lost.

7 But the Spear was not marred by time, and its head did not rust or decay, and it remained as sharp and as hard as the day it was forged, when a ship captain from Tyre found it lying on a beach in the sand, and traded it to the merchant Phaecus, who gave it to Pontius Pilate that he might not be imprisoned or killed, 8 who gave it to Longinus, that he might strike Christ in the side and incur the curse of God, and become a sign to the Damned of God’s perfect will for them. - Mal. 9:1-8

There is a great deal to consider in these lines. A straightforward reading is that the Holy Spear was destined by God for great things, each of which it fulfilled in turn. Yet there is much more to look at here.

Tubal-Cain sought personal vengeance when he prayed to God. Given to him was a powerful gift. He forged that gift into a weapon. Yet even armed with this weapon, he was struck down. One could read this as a warning that even the righteous can fall, yet I have always read it as a failure in Tubal-Cain's heart. Here he sought to use a gift from God for personal vengeance rather than in service to God. Lamech, on the other hand was a warrior "before the LORD" and was only afterwards rewarded with kingship. Service to others brings the rewards of this world, while personal service using that which God has graced us with brings all low.

The Holy Spear has not yet had its final story told. The Lancea Sanctum keeps it to this night and when the time is right it will come forth again. On that night, like Lamech, we shall stride forth and slay all of our enemies. We must always make certain that what we do is in service to God's plan though, lest we share the fate of Tubal-Cain.

Sum Sanctus,

Simon Patterson

Augustus Inquisitor de Lacus Magni

The Feast of Saint Domitius

On June 1st of each year, the Church of Longinus celebrates the Feast of Saint Domitius.

Many kindred are familiar with the story of Palladius of Ireland. In the waning nights of the Roman Empire, Palladius, a member of the Invictus, set out to Ireland, a place that even Rome had never conquered or civilized. Over the course of a century, with the help of the Lancea Sanctum, the native kindred, who took the form of snakes during the day and worked other strange magics, were defeated to the last. Palladius become Duke of Ireland and ruled as Prince over the entirety of the island.

Less well known is Domitius, a member of the Lancea Sanctum who heeded Palladius' call for allies in the taming of Ireland. Domitius worked tirelessly to bring the Testament to the native kindred of Ireland, to offer a purpose and place in God's Plan for those who would accept it and to destroy those who would not. Domitius converted several of the native kindred, including the prized childe of one of their mightiest warriors. This convert took the name Proserpina and went on to become a great Paladin for the Church. In response to this conversion, a price was put upon the head of Domitius. While several attacks were defeated and the would-be killers destroyed, one eventually succeeded. Domitius was slain for his service to God. Domitius' killer was in turn destroyed by Proserpina, who also went on to destroy her Sire.

On the Feast of Saint Domitius we recall that though any one of us might fall, the Church will carry on. The good works that we do each night prepares others to carry on in the same ways in the nights ahead. The Church of Longinus is not a disconnected group of kindred, but a body, whole and strong; it is a process whereby those whom we tutor and mentor will carry on for us when we are unable, for whatever reason. The Feast of Saint Domitius is also a reminder of the importance of bringing the Testament to those who have not heard or accepted it. We pray that even as Ireland was conquered and civilized, so too will all other places which refute and reject the proper place of kindred in God's Plan.

Sum Sanctus,

Simon Patterson

Inquisitor Generalis de Lacus Magni

The Greatest Mercy

The reading for this week comes from the Malediction of Longinus. At this time Longinus has slain Jesus and been eternally Damned for his acts, but has not yet visited the tomb of Christ and received the word of his purpose from the angel Vahishtael.

1. In the city of Jerusalem, I met others who were Damned as I, but they did not truly understand it, and mocked me, as I had mocked Christ. And they tried to drive me away, for they considered the sheep on whom I had fed to be their herd. And I cursed them:
2. “Woe to you, you elders! for you hoard the Blood to yourselves, and yet you do not understand it.” And for a time, they left me, and considered my words.
3. I no longer lusted after women; I no longer desired wine; I no longer hungered after fine foods. I had no wish for wealth, for I did not need treasures on earth, when I had treasures in hell.
4. But I did not know what I should do, and would have lost my mind, if I had not decided that God wished more of me.
5. And I held the others in contempt: for though I could see that they slept and hunted and fed in the streets of the city, they were like the beasts of the wild.
6. They were Damned, and they stalked inside the walls, and they snarled, and they behaved like wolves or lions, but they did not have the thoughts of men.
7. They were thirsty, to no purpose. I hoped that I might find my Damned Kindred among them, but how could I know what to tell them, until I had heard myself the things I should tell?
(Mal. 13:1-7)

This is the state of kindred existence if we do not have a greater purpose. We feed, we fight, we kill, and we die, but to no ultimate end. Truly existence without cause or reason is the worst form of Damnation. We, who have received a glimpse of eternity, must seek purpose or we do not endure. It is the nature of this physical world to be transitory. In time even the mightiest of us falls. Whether to the predation of another, ennui, or repeated slumber, we are shown that even our longevity endures only so long. That which is truly eternal is not of this world.

The promise of eternal existence without purpose is the state in which all kindred begin. Some find the truth of Longinus' word quickly from their Sire or others who take them in. Others hear of it only years, decades, or centuries later. This truth is not salvation, for salvation is not a hope for the eternally Damned. Yet purpose, having an ordering to our existence, becoming servants of that which is truly eternal, is a powerful blessing. Let us rejoice in it, for it is the greatest mercy that we shall ever know. And let us share that hope of mercy with all other kindred, that they might know it as well.

Easter Mass

Midnight is the appointed hour; a time when one day is transformed into another. The day that is now born in Easter in the year of our Lord 2014.

Introductory Rites

The ceremonial leader enters the room in which the ceremony is being held wearing religious vestments appropriate to his station. The leader bears a worn testament in one hand and a processional cross in the other. While entering, the leader begins the entrance chant. The leader makes their way slowly to the altar at the head of the room. To the right they set the processional cross. Upon the altar they sets the testament.

Leader: "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit."

All: "Amen"

Leader: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all."

All: "And also with you."

The leader brings forth a small aspersorium, holding blood, and an aspergillum.

Leader: "Damned, this blood will be used to remind us of our baptism. Let us ask God to bless it, and to keep us faithful to the Spirit he has given us."

"Lord God almighty, hear the prayers of your predators: we celebrate our creation and damnation. Hear our prayers and bless this blood which give strength to the Damned, and life to man. You chose blood to show Christ's divinity to Longinus and to Damn him eternally. Blood was the symbol used by the angels to foretell your covenant with us. You made the blood of baptism holy through Christ: by it you give us a new birth and grace us, the eternally Damned, with a place in your plan. May this blood remind us of our Embrace, and let us be reminded of our purpose.

"We ask this through Christ our Lord."

The leader dips the aspergillum in the blood. They then step away from the altar and comes before those gathered. They shakes the aspergillum in the air, sending drops of freshly blessed blood across the gathered congregation. Once each has felt the blessed vitae upon their bodies and clothes, the leader returns to the altar and sets aside the aspergillum and aspersorium. 

"May almighty God remind us of our sins, and through the eucharist we celebrate make us worthy to serve His purpose in this world, though we are forever Damned."

"Amen," is the traditional response.

Leader: "Let us now praise God,"

All: Sing Gloria in excelsis Deo.

Leader: "Bow your heads and pray for God's blessing,"

All bow their heads and observes fifteen seconds of silence before the Opening Prayer.

Leader: "May almighty God bless you on this solemn Easter, and may he make all your sins have purpose."

All: "Amen."

Leader: "Through the resurrection of his Son, God has granted us purpose. May he fulfill his promises, and bless you with a place in this world."

All: "Amen."

Leader: "You have mourned for Christ's sufferings; now you celebrate the joy of his resurrection. May you come with joy to the feast which lasts until the day of judgment."

All: "Amen."

Leader: "May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit."

All: "Amen."

Liturgy of the Word

Leader: "A reading from the Book of Eschaton, Chapter 1, Verses 7 through 13:" 

7 This is the vision imparted to me by the angel Amoniel of the Dominions and the archangel Vahishtael.
8 To all you who read this prophecy, you share in my curse; hear these words, and take them and make them your own, and you are Sanctified.
9 Woe to you, Jerusalem! For you crucified the Savior of the Living, and placed upon the shoulders of the Soldier the burden of carrying the word of the Damned. The curses that await Jerusalem are terrible.
10 War shall take you, war upon war, and the Damned shall rise up from beneath your city and feast upon the blood that shall run through the streets like a river, the blood of the young man, his body impaled on sword and javelin and arrow; and they shall feast upon the blood of the child, his head smashed against the stone walls of the city; and they shall feast upon the woman, violated and dismembered.
10 Woe upon you, seventy woes and seventy times seven, you Damned who reject the true purpose of God,
11 who crucify the dead and face them to the sunrise that they might be consumed!
12 I shall return to you, Jerusalem, and I shall repeat my prophecy of judgment upon you,
13 and I and the progeny of the Sanctified shall lap up your blood, and the blood your wives and your children, and I shall watch them, and I shall laugh.

Leader: "The Word of Longinus."

All: "Thanks be to God!"

All: Responsorial Psalm from Psalm 118:21-24, 28-29.

Leader: "A reading from the Book of Eschaton, Chapter 14:"

1 I did not see Vahishtael or Amoniel again. 

2 And so, know that this last vision is my own, and I ask you who read this and are Damned to heed it. 

3 Listen! My word is the word of one who holds the Spear, the Spear that pierced the side of the Jesus the Living Christ, who lived, and was dead, and rose again and ascended to Heaven, where we cannot go. 

4 He will come back and judge the living and the dead, but he will not judge the Damned, for the Damned were judged on Calvary when Jesus looked down upon the Soldier and gave His blood.
5 No judgment awaits you, for you have already been judged! 

6 And this is my vision: 

7 The Sanctified shall always survive, and this book shall endure, and as long as judgment has been served on us, the Damned shall have the word of this book to stand by.
8 The cities of the living shall become high and wide, and full of blood and sin, and we shall be the vessel through which God shall cast his judgment upon the world, 

9 but no more shall judgment fall upon us, for we were Damned at the beginning.

10 If you heed the word of the Soldier, if you take heart in the Spear, you shall have nothing to fear. 

11 Your Damnation is secure, and cannot be changed. 

12 Know that you are Damned, and rejoice!

Leader: "The Word of Longinus."

All: "Thanks be to God!"

Leader: "Alleluia!"

All: "Alleluia!"

Leader: "Alleluia!"

All: "Alleluia!"

Leader: "The Lord be with you."

All: "And also with you."

Leader: "A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke."

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. 5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” 8 And they remembered his words, 9 and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, 11 but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. 12 But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened. - Luke 24

All: "Glory to you, Lord!"

Leader: "The Gospel of the Lord."

All: "Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ!"

Homily

Leader: "My fellow Sanctified, we have gathered to celebrate the resurrection of Christ and to give thanks to God for his mercy in giving us a place in his plan for Creation, though we are eternally Damned. To do so, we must understand some of that plan. We must understand what has gone before and what is to come. We must understand our place in that plan if we are to fulfill God's will for us."

"The Resurrection of Christ was a great sign of the possibility of eternal life in heaven for all mankind. Yet that Resurrection could not occur without the death of Christ. For all who live to have the possibility of salvation, it was necessary that Christ would die at the hands of a man. Christ survived the crucifixion, the terrible wounds, the thirst, and the suffering. It was the Spear, borne by Longinus, that at last slew him. It was Longinus that claimed the life of Christ, that he might have Resurrection and that all mankind might have the gates to heaven opened for them."

"Longinus bore as great a burden as any who once lived and we now share it with him. Though we are Damned, we have the possibility, the responsibility, of saving the living. This world, though we have dominion over it, will one day come to an end. Christ will return and we, the Sanctified, will be there to see it. The Testament of Longinus will endure to that night. Only then, after the last man dies and is judged by Christ will we be free of our duty. We will not enter heaven with those who we have saved, but it is by our hand that heaven will be filled, just as it was by the hand of Longinus that the way to heaven was opened at all."

"Remember this and carry it with you this night and every night."

A minute of reflection follows.

Leader: "Let us together recite the Monachal Creed."

All:

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of Heaven and Earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary to redeem Man from Sin through his death and resurrection.
I believe that Longinus, by piercing the Savior’s side as he hung from the Cross, did reveal the divinity of Christ through fulfillment of the prophecies and that, while Longinus was rightly Damned for his blasphemy, his damnation was itself part of God’s Holy Plan.
I believe that those so Damned are the agents of God’s will, chosen to receive the Embrace that we may test the faithful and reveal the divinity within each of them.
I believe that for my sins I am damned to Hell and yet through damnation I may find my purpose in God’s Holy Plan.

Leader: "By raising Jesus, God changed sin and death to grace and life. Confidently we raise our prayers to the Holy One. Risen Christ, Hear our Prayer." 

"For the Church: that we will continue to be instruments of wrath for all who have lived in darkness, of torment for all who inflict pain and suffering, and of redemption for all who can yet be saved."

All: "Lord, hear our prayer."

Leader: "Risen Christ, hear our prayer for kindred society: that the Risen Lord will inspire all leaders to find their purpose in his plan."

All: "Lord, hear our prayer."

Leader: "Risen Christ, hear our prayer for all the newly Embraced: that they may faithfully follow the Testament of Longinus and keep the light of Christ burning in their requiem."

All: "Lord, hear our prayer."

Leader: "Risen Christ, hear our prayer for all who are away from home this Easter, particularly missionaries: that God will protect them, guide them in their service and bring them home safely."

All: "Lord, hear our prayer."

Leader: "Risen Christ, hear our prayer for those gathered here today: that renewed through word and sacrament, we may be strong in faith, confident in hope."

All: "Lord, hear our prayer."

Leader: "God of glory and power, we thank you for the resurrection of your Son. Hear the concerns we offer you through the same Christ our Lord."

Liturgy of the Eucharist

Leader: "Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation. Through your goodness we have this blood to offer, fruit of the human vine taken from a sinful man. It will become our spiritual drink."

All: "Blessed be God for ever."

Leader: "Pray, my brothers and sisters, that our sacrifice may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father."

All: "May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands, for the praise and glory of his name, for our good, and the good of all his Church."

Leader: "God, our sustainer, accept all we offer you this day, and feed us continually with the blood that satisfied all hunger, your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ."

All: "Amen."

Leader: "The Lord be with you."

All: "And also with you."

Leader: "Lift up your hearts."

All: "We lift them up to the Lord."

Leader: "Let us give thanks to the Lord, our God."

All: "It is right to give him thanks and praise."

Leader: "Father in heaven, it is right that we should give you thanks and glory: you are the one God, living and true. Through all eternity you live in unapproachable light.

"Source of life and goodness, you have created all things, to fill your creatures with every blessing and lead all men to the joyful vision of your light. Countless hosts of angels stand before you to do your will; they look upon your splendor and praise you, night and day.

"As the wolves of your creation, meant to steer the wayward back to your flock, we too praise your glory as we say:

All: "Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,

Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest."

Leader: "Father, you are holy indeed, and all creation rightly gives you praise. All life, all holiness comes from you through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, by the working of the Holy Spirit. We ask you to make this blood holy by the power of your Spirit, that they may become the body and blood of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, as we celebrate this eucharist."

"He always loved those who were his own in the world. When the time came for him to be glorified by you, his heavenly Father, he showed the depth of his love. His life was taken by Longinus and his blood transformed Longinus into one of the Damned."

"We take up the chalice today, filled with the blood of Christ, to recall that we too are Damned, yet our Damnation serves Your will."

"Take this, all of you, and drink from it: this is the cup of Christ's blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed to sustain you and for all so that sins may be forgiven. Do this in memory of Christ and of Longinus.

"Let us proclaim the mystery of faith:"

All: "Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again."

Leader: "Father, calling to mind the death your Son endured for human salvation, his glorious resurrection and ascension into heaven, and ready to greet him when he comes again, we offer you in thanksgiving this holy and living sacrifice, the blood of man, that it might be made the blood of Christ."

"Look with favor on your Church's offering, and see the Victim whose blood has reconciled us to yourself. Grant that we, who are nourished by his body and blood, may be filled with his Holy Spirit, and become vessels of the will of Christ."

"May he make us an everlasting gift to you and enable us to fulfill the holy duty you have set before us."

"Lord, may this sacrifice, which has made our peace with you, advance the peace and salvation of all the world. Strengthen in faith and love your pilgrim Church on earth; your servant, [leader's name], [names of local clergy], and all the bishops, with the clergy and the entire Damned your Son has gained for you. Father, hear the prayers of the faithful you have gathered here before you. In mercy and love unite all your Damned in common purpose, wherever they may be."

All:  "Amen.

Communion Rite

Leader: " Let us pray for the coming of the kingdom as the Dark Prophet taught us."

All: "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily blood;
and make our trespasses part of Your plan;
and lead us not into temptation, but give our evil purpose."

Leader: "Deliver us, Lord, from existence without purpose, and grant us dominion over the night. In your mercy fill our sins with meaning and protect us from all that might lead us astray as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of humanity's Savior, Jesus Christ."

All: "For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever."

Leader: "Lord Jesus Christ, you said to your apostles: I leave you peace, my peace I give you. Let the Damned offer to those who follow you peace and to those who do not signs to steer them to your peace."

All:  "Amen."

Leader: "The Damnation of Longinus is with you always."

All: "And also with you."

Leader: "Let us offer each other a sign of Damnation."

Each gathered kindred displays the strength of their beast, so that all might know of their Damnation.

All: "Lamb of God, though we were Damned by your death: have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, though we were Damned by your death: have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, though we were Damned by your death: grant us purpose."

All who would receive communion file forward.

Leader: "This is the Lamb of God who Longinus slew. Damned are those who are called to his blood."

All: "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed."

To each who has kneels, the leader offers up the chalice of blood that each might drink of the blood of Christ.

To each they intone: "The blood of Christ."

After drinking, each responds: "Amen."

This continues until all have had communion and returned to their seats.

Leader: "Let us pray."

All bow their head and pray in silence.

Concluding Rite

Leader: "The Lord be with you."

All: "And also with you."

Leader: "May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit."

All: "Amen."

Leader: "Go in Damnation and Purpose intermingled."

All: "Thanks be to God!"