The Frostian Priesthood
The Keepers · the Ordained Ministry
The Frostian Priesthood is the ordained ministry of the faith, called Keepers, set apart by the Keeping of Hands (ordination) to minister the Keepings (sacraments), guard the Rime, shepherd the Drift, and stand at the The Cold Altar between the Cold and the people. The structure below describes the older rites (The Hoarfrost Communion, The Glacial Orthodoxy); the Reformed keep a simpler ministry and stress the priesthood of all the kept.
The Three Degrees
- Frostdeacons — the first order: servants of the table, the poor, and the Keeper; they read the Rime, assist at the The Cold Communion, and lead the The Works of Keeping.
- Keepers (Priests) — the second order: those who may consecrate the The Cold Communion, administer the The Frostmark, hear the The Confession of the Thaw, and give the The Final Frost. The parish Keeper is the ordinary minister of the faithful.
- Hoarbishops — the third order: overseers of a region (a Drift = diocese), guardians of doctrine, who alone ordain new Keepers (preserving the apostolic frost-succession from the The Frostborne Twelve).
The Higher Offices
- Archhoars (archbishops) — Hoarbishops of chief sees.
- Patriarchs — heads of the great ancient sees (The Glacial Orthodoxy).
- The The Rime Pontiff — in the The Hoarfrost Communion, the supreme pastor of all.
Vesture
Keepers serve in the frost-white alb and the stole and cope of the liturgical color of the season; Hoarbishops bear the crozier (the shepherd’s frost-staff) and the rime-mitre. The The Sixfold Star is worn at the breast.
Marriage and Celibacy
The rites differ: the The Glacial Orthodoxy ordains married men as Keepers (but bishops from the monks); the The Hoarfrost Communion requires celibacy of its Keepers; the Reformed permit clergy marriage freely. Some rites now ordain women; the older rites do not.
The Calling
A Keeper is called to be, above all, one who keeps — who preserves the flock from the Thaw, who gives the keeping-Cold of Connor in the sacraments, and who models the virtues. The ideal is the Cold Shepherd of Glacial of Voss 10: “the good shepherd lays down his cold for the sheep.”