The Church of the Saints Ascendant
Founded on the worship of the Five Ascended Saints, the Church of the Saints Ascendant is the dominant faith across the Unified Republic.
The Church of the Saints Ascendant, commonly called simply the Church, venerates the Five Saints whom the Church says sacrificed themselves during the Pyroclastic Ruin so that the rest of the Enlightened could survive to settle Veraqez. The Church holds that the Saints were each from one of the Enlightened Races, an exemplar to be looked up to but also a unifying element because each of the Enlightened sacrificed their most holy mind so that people of all ancestries could survive and flourish in their new homeland. Hope lies, however, in the fact that the Saints did not simply die in the Ruin but Ascended in spite of it, transcending this reality to a realm of pure thought and consciousness, which they call Empyrean, the Vault of Thought, the Realm of Ecstasy. It is this holy fact which is the bases for the entire faith: if one of the Enlightened dedicates themselves mind, body, and soul to the study of the Saints and prays to them for guidance, one will find their way to Empyrean when they pass as well. The Saints have shown the way to Paradise.
Structure
Based on a scholarly structure, the church operates more like a university or scholastic brotherhood. Deacons take their ministries to towns and cities where they feel called by their specialty and guidance from the Saints. Above Deacons are the Ignis, or Torchbearer, a priest scholar that oversees a region and usually has a complimentary specialty to those under their supervision. Next are the Luminares who are elected from the ranks of the Ignises to work as the major governing body of the Church. There are twenty five Luminares at any given time and they
While they minister to the masses, much of the deacons' sermons are taken from research and discovery within the field of study. Each year, deacons submit research papers and proposals for future research to their Mother or Father Ignis.
Quyd illustrum teh salutis (Through Knowledge, Salvation)
Founding Date
23 A.S.
Type
Religious, Organised Religion
Capital
Alternative Names
The Church of the Five, The Church of the Enlightened, the Church of the Star, the Veneraium, the Church of the Five Saints
Demonym
Venerists, Veners
Leader Title
Divines
Related Ranks & Titles
Controlled Territories
Notable Members
Related Ethnicities
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