Holy Days of the Silver Flame

"The Church of the Silver Flame did not come into being until after the formation of Galifar. Thus, the faith uses the standard calendar as their liturgical calendar."

The Silver Flame celebrates twelve high holy days over the course of the year, each marked by specific prayers and rites. These are the occasions on which the faithful are expected to attend services, perform major rites, and renew their commitment to the Flame's mission. In addition, the faith observes a weekly celebration — the Day of Cleansing Fire — on the first day of each week.

The Church uses the standard Khorvairian calendar rather than a liturgical calendar of its own, since it was founded after the establishment of Galifar. Despite the importance the Purified give to their faith, active worship does not consume much of daily life — the Purified honour the Flame through living virtuously, not through constant prayer. Most attend mass only once or twice a week, and only the truly zealous attend more than once a day.

The Day of Cleansing Fire (Weekly — Sul)

The first day of each week is the Purified's regular observance. For most of the faithful, the Flame is honoured by skipping a single meal in favour of prayers of devotion and repentance. For priests and especially devout followers, the entire day is one of fasting and prayer, second only to Rampartide in its austerity.

The service always begins with a recitation of the Nine Miracles of the Silver Flame, spoken in Draconic. The precise wording varies from sect to sect and church to church, but the miracles are generally understood as:

Bringing light to the world. Imprisoning demons. Offering souls an afterlife beyond Dolurrh. Granting clerical magic. Bonding with Tira Miron. Transforming Thrane into a holy nation. Victory over the lycanthropes. Victory (of a sort) in the Last War. The promise of the end of evil, and the creation of a better world to come.

The Day of Cleansing Fire is a religious holiday in the larger cities of Thrane, and many shops are closed.

The Twelve High Holy Days

Rebirth Eve — 14 Zarantyr

Themes: The new year; the turning of the longest night; vigilance

The Purified new year falls on the winter solstice, the longest and darkest night of the year. The faithful stay awake through the entire night, holding spiritual vigil and guarding against evil. When dawn comes, they spend the following day in rest or quiet celebration. The solstice is the point at which the world begins its turn back toward warmth and light, but it is also the night when darkness is at its greatest extent. Vigilance is not passive; it is a choice made repeatedly through a cold night when sleep would be easier.

Among the thirteen high holy days, Rebirth Eve is the year's reset — the moment of recommitment rather than accomplishment. Sermons tend toward renewal of purpose and acknowledgment of the year's failures rather than celebration of its victories.

Bright Souls' Day — 18 Olarune

Themes: Remembrance of the fallen; gratitude; acceptance of death

As the dark days of winter draw toward their end, the Purified celebrate the lives and sacrifice of every follower of the Flame who died fighting evil and protecting the faithful. Those who have lost someone in the past five years perform the full funeral rite on the gravesite or in a church; this is the canonical occasion for communal grief to be given its proper religious form, since the Church does not make individual funerals elaborate affairs.

On Bright Souls' Day, the Purified are forbidden to use artificial or magical light sources, except in genuine emergencies. They live through the day and accept the fall of night without silverburn candles or conjured light — as those who died experienced life and did not fear death.

Tirasday — 5 Therendor

Themes: The start of planting season; the birth of Tira Miron; gifts; marriage

This holiday celebrates both the beginning of the planting season and the birth of Tira Miron. It is a day of work but also of joyous celebration in the evenings — a time for giving gifts, and one of the most popular dates for Purified weddings. (Weddings among the Purified are always conducted during one of the high holy days rather than forming ceremonies unto themselves.)

Initiation Day — 11 Eyre

Themes: The founding of the Church as an independent faith; new clergy; construction of sacred buildings

On this day the priesthood of the Silver Flame formally declared itself an independent faith rather than an offshoot of the Sovereign Host — which is how the early Church had been understood. Construction of the first Silver Flame cathedral began on this date. Groundbreaking on new cathedrals and major churches is scheduled for Initiation Day wherever possible, and most seminary graduations are held here as well. The day belongs to beginnings: the anniversary of the faith's founding is the day each new generation of clergy enters the priesthood.

Baker's Night — 6 Dravago

Themes: Community; fellowship; mystery

On this night, families and friends gather to share magnificent pastries and similar treats, prepared by bakers and confectioners faithful to the Flame. This is one of the most popular Flame holidays, particularly among children, yet it is also the least understood. It has been a tradition since the earliest days of the Church, yet not even the Cathedral of the Flame in Flamekeep has records suggesting where it came from, when it was adopted, or what it celebrates. The practice of Baker's Night has begun to fade in some of the more puritan communities and might slowly disappear from the calendar in coming generations.

Promisetide — 28 Dravago

Themes: The promise of paradise; honouring the Sovereign Host; the Flame's eschatological vision

As nature's bounty reaches its height in late spring, the Purified honour the Silver Flame for the promise of paradise to come. They also honour — but do not worship — the Sovereign Host for creating the world that the Flame would later complete, "and for graciously stepping down to allow the Flame its rightful place as the last god of Eberron." Not surprisingly, many people who do not worship the Flame find this holiday profoundly offensive.

First Dawn — 21 Nymm

Themes: The theocracy; secular governance; King Thalin's memory

On this day in 914 YK, the Church of the Silver Flame officially assumed control of Thrane's government. The Purified give thanks that at least one nation is firmly in the hands of the just, pray that the Diet of Cardinals and the nation's secular leaders will receive the Flame's guidance, and honour the memory of King Thalin, whose passing paved the way for the Church to take over. Outside Thrane, this holiday is observed with considerably less enthusiasm.

Victory Day — 9 Barrakas

Themes: The end of the Lycanthropic Purge; triumph and its cost

Victory Day commemorates the conclusion of the Silver Crusade. Children act out great tales of the final battles with toy swords, while adults attend sermons on the lessons of the triumphs, the defeats, and the sometimes questionable methods used by the templars during the Purge. The observance has grown more reflective in recent decades; many modern sermons explicitly acknowledge the harm done to innocent shifters alongside genuine lycanthropes.

The Ascension — 1 Sypheros

Themes: Tira Miron's sacrifice; recommitment; community service

On this day, worshippers remember the sacrifice of Tira Miron, who became the Voice of the Flame. They gather to reaffirm their faith and to thank Tira, attending great blessing ceremonies in the cathedrals. On this day, the faithful seek ways to contribute to the community — acts of service, charity, and generosity. The Ascension is the most outward-facing of the holy days, emphasising what the faithful do for others rather than what they ask of the Flame.

Saint Valtros's Day — 25 Sypheros

Themes: The first paladin of the Silver Flame

This day commemorates the birth of Saint Valtros, the first paladin called specifically to serve the Silver Flame — as distinguished from those who had served other gods until they heard the Voice. Important but perhaps the least of the high holy days; it is marked primarily by brief prayers and church services.

Rampartide — 24 Aryth

Themes: Atonement; resistance against the evil within; spiritual fortification

As the world turns toward winter and longer nights, the Purified steel themselves against evil, both without and within. The scriptures state: "Make thyself a bastion, a rampart against wickedness." This is a day of fasting and repentance — the most austere holy day on the calendar, second only to the weekly Day of Cleansing Fire in its demands on the faithful. Rampartide is a time to atone for the evil within. Children, the sick, and the elderly are not required to fast, merely to give up their favourite foods for the day.

Khybersef — 27 Vult

Themes: The start of winter; spiritual vigilance; the thinning of the bonds

A shortening of the original name "Khyber's Eve," this is the start of winter, when light and goodness are at their weakest and worship of the Shadow is strongest. Scripture states that the bonds holding the demon lords in Khyber are at their thinnest between this night and the solstice. The Purified spend the night in intense prayer and spiritual vigilance. Many quests and crusades begin on Khybersef — it is the traditional date for launching holy missions into the long darkness.

Life Events and Minor Rites

Births are the only major rite unaffiliated with a particular holiday. The priest must say certain prayers and light silverburn candles in a particular pattern, but the remainder of the ritual — hymns, dances, sermons — is up to the parents. The symbolism is clear: not even the greatest priest can foretell what will happen in life, so it is not the Church's place to determine how a newborn enters the world.

Weddings are always conducted during one of the thirteen high holy days — most commonly Tirasday (5 Therendor).

Funerals are minor rites: brief prayers, silverburn candles, silver dust sprinkled over the body. Bright Souls' Day serves as the annual communal observance for the recently bereaved.

Evil Injury — a Purified injured by an evil being is required to sprinkle silver into the wound and cauterise it with a silverburn flame (if magical healing is unavailable), symbolising the will to resist evil and petitioning the Flame to prevent corruption.

Illness — lighting silverburn candles around a sick person while praying is said to attract the Flame's attention. If it is time for the soul to join the Flame, no amount of supplication will prevent it; if not, the ceremony hopes to purge the illness.