The Sanguineous Catechism
From LanceaSanctum
diverge like forks of blood spilled into broken earth.
It is as we were told, that the sins of the sire
run in the flesh as the Curse made manifest.
Though we are not borne of each other in life
we are kin in death.
We are shown our purpose and our place
when it changes our blood.
We are shown our fathers when their faces mark our own.
We are shown the Curse is kept in blood like a serpent in the sea
but so are we shown that its offspring can bite that besides the flesh,
but the shreds of our souls.
The Sanguineous Catechism
The Sanguineous Catechism was written by the Monachus, the first embraced of Longinus, several centures after the Testament. Longinus was no longer directly guiding the Sanctified at the time it was written. As the Testament is the Word of God as passed to Longinus through Vahishtael, the Testament is considered divinely inspired, whereas the Catechism is not. Regardless, the Catechism is an important part of Sanctified belief. All of the Sanctified creeds accept the first nine canons of the Catechism to a greater or lesser extent. Only the Monochal Creed still accepts all 13. Summaries of each canon are as follows:
The First Canon: Regarding the purpose of our Damnation
In order to understand this purpose, a Sanctified Kindred must first accept the fundamental nature of the world, which exists solely as a prison to punish the descendants of Adam and Eve for the Fall. The First Mortals were expelled from Paradise for their sin; the world in which they and their descendants came to live must rightly be considered their "jail" — a place of pain and torment from which death is the only release. Vampires are raised above their fellow men to guard over them and help maintain the prison that is the world. The act of the Embrace cuts the neonate off from God's Grace entirely, for such divine intercession can only interfere with the vampire's duties: feeding on the mortals and helping to make their world into the purgatory it was always meant to be.
The Second Canon: Regarding the inalienable wisdom of the Masquerade
God placed weaknesses upon the vampires that make our discretion essential. If vampires ruled openly, then the mortals would hate and fear their vampiric overlords. Instead, God wishes the mortals to hate and fear the very world around them, a world of darkness in which faith in God is the only shield against misery. Above all else, mortals hate and fear what they do not understand. They must never truly understand the Damned. They must know only that hunters lurk in the darkness, waiting to devour.
The Third Canon: Regarding the shameful necessity of the Embrace
Having established the embrace as a necessary evil, the Third Canon places four limitations on the act:
First, no Sanctified should ever sire outside the religious strictures of the domain in which he resides.
Second, prior to the embrace, the childe must have all the relevant aspects of vampiric existence explained to her by a Sanctified Kindred. She is then given a choice: either she accepts the embrace or she will be killed.
Third, both the Sanctified who has sired and his childe must participate in such a rite before the childe will be considered a true member of the covenant.
The fourth limitation is an admonishment to not Embrace the pure.
The Fourth Canon: Regarding the abomination of the Amaranth
Diablerie is a sin because by consuming the soul of another vampire, the diablerist prevents the victim from either being judged by God or seeking absolution from the Returned Jesus Christ during the Second Coming. When one commits diablerie, he degrades his own soul, thereby inhibiting his ability to function in a moral manner. He increases the potency of his blood, but in exchange he hastens his descent into Torpor, a period of time possibly lasting for centuries during which he cannot fulfill his divine role.
The Fifth Canon: Regarding the revelation of the Testament of Longinus
The Lancea Sanctum must pursue evangelism, asserting the proper role of the vampire to all who will listen, and, where necessary, bringing Final Death to the heretics and apostates who will not. Forunately, this is rarely necessary.
The Sixth Canon: Regarding the efficaciousness of the sacred rites
The purpose of the holy sacraments is not to fulfill some talismanic repetition of ceremony to demonstrate the Sanctified's belief. Instead, the Apostolica and Ecclesia are purely symbolic opportunities for the Sanctified to join together, whether en masse, in coteries or individually to demonstrate their piety and devotion to their holy purpose.
The Seventh Canon: Regarding the miraculous arts of our Theban Brethren
This chapter discusses the theological implications of the Theban miracles and their unique connection to the grace of God.
The Eighth Canon: Regarding our congress with the Canaille
Aside from the need for the Masquerade, all Sanctified should be circumspect in their dealings with the kine, for it is not the wolf's way to lie down with the sheep. The kine are not friends, companions or lovers. Neither are they toys or puppets to be abused for the sake of entertainment or sport. They are food, and the survival of the Kindred race depends on the vitality of the herd. Concern for a Ghoul is tolerated, as such a creature represents an investment of the regnant's time and blood, but a vampire who endangers himself for the benefit of a mortal borders on aberrant and should go henceforth to his confessor. On the other hand, for the Damned to flourish, the kine must do likewise, and the wise Sanctified will seek to make his domain one in which his herd can prosper and grow, even if they will take no pleasure from doing so.
The Ninth Canon: Regarding the recognition of wisdom within our ranks
Within in any Sanctified parish, the Sanctified are bound by faith to follow the wisest of their number, "he who most perfectly manifests his Damnation." This means that within a parish, authority over the covenant is vested within the most powerful Sanctified present who can command the loyalty of his fellows.
The Tenth Canon: Regarding the transubstantiation of vitae
While observed by the Monachal Creed, this canon is no longer seen as relevant by the other Creeds. It suggests that, when drinking blood, Kindred transubstantiate blood into vital energy that fuels that Kindred.
The Eleventh Canon: Regarding the proper operation of a monastary
This canon, while important when the covenant was first founded, is largely irrelevant in the modern nights. Barring the select few vampire monastaries in Europe, and a few small communes hidden from prying eyes, the Kindred of the Lancea Sanctum no longer establish monastaries.
The Twelth Canon: Regarding Martyrdom, and the veneration of the Black Saints
This canon is observed mostly by the Monachal Creed, though some others observe portions of it. Besides explaining how to properly venerate the Black Saints, this chapter also discusses the nature of martyrdom, and the rewards of such.
The Thirteenth Canon: Regarding undeath
This canon concerns the nature of damnation and how it relates to death (and how the Kinded's unnatural "half-life" relates to the natural state of death). This canon can be very metaphysical. There are those Sanctified that believe this canon may be Apocrhyphal.
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