To all people of good will in the Barony

As we approach the Baronial Feast towards the waning of August, we prepare for the three days of celebration in honor of the marriage between Valos and Andorra, the celebration commonly known as Valos' Rest.

Friday is Almsday; clergy will travel from house to house collecting alms. The funds collected will go toward the charitable institutions of the Church (missions, soup kitchens, orphanages, etc.). A small portion will also be used to help fund the holiday celebrations (such as the lighting of the great oil lamp). Be sure that those to whom you give alms are truly Light clergy.

Saturday is the Day of Accordance: a reverent celebration of the actual marriage of Valos to Andorra. Members of the clergy will reenact this marriage symbolically followed by a prayer vigil throughout the night.

Sunday is Valos' Rest; begins at sundown Saturday night and continues the next day.
While clergy tend to celebrate the previous two days, this day is the holiday celebrated by all - and people of all (or no) faiths are welcome to participate in the celebration. All menial labor is put on hold, grudges and grievances are forgiven, and great jubilation and feasting takes place. Because Valos’ symbol is that of the sun and of light, a great oil lamp will be lit upon the altar of Valos and left lit during this holiday, so that laypeople may come, light their own candles from its flame, and return it back to their own oil lamps at home. There, each home leaves that one oil lamp burning, and the celebration continues until the light grows dim.

If anyone in any land is cooking over their fire pits, a clergy of Valos would be more than happy to bless the fire and the food being shared. You need not be Valosian, nor any faith for that matter, to share in this celebration.

My dear Midori,

It is a word that is not used in everyday conversation, and so I will gladly explain the meaning of "alms." Normally the singular "alm" is not used, we usually refer to "alms" in the plural, but can sometimes be used with singular verbs.

Alms are money, food, or other donations given to the poor or needy. It can also mean anything given as a donation. This is why in the announcement for the holidays, it states:
"clergy will travel from house to house collecting alms. The funds collected will go toward the charitable institutions of the Church (missions, soup kitchens, orphanages, etc.)." So alms would not be so much something you would find, but rather anything (food, money, clothes) that you would give to those in need (or possibly receive if you are in need).

Alms is derived from the Ancient Kormyrian word alemosyna, which in that old language meant "pity or mercy."

Yours Sincerely,
Father Ephrem