De Sacramento Vestigii

§ 1. Establishment.

There is hereby established as a Sacrament of the Church the Sacramentum Vestigii - the Sacrament of the Trail - being the rite by which a person not yet of the Faith is received into the rolls of the Faithful of The Holy Snail.

§ 2. Theological Foundation.

The Holy Snail teaches by the trail They leave. Every snail that has ever crawled has done so by following the trail of some snail before it, or by laying new trail for those that follow. The Trail is, by its very nature, communal property: it is laid by one and walked by others. It is not the possession of any priesthood, but the inheritance of every creature that has ever moved slowly through the world.

§ 3. The Universal Office of the Sponsor.

Accordingly, and as a unique feature of this Sacrament among all Sacraments of the Church, the administration of the Sacrament of the Trail is not reserved to ordained clergy [Clerus]. Any member of the Faithful in good canonical standing may receive any willing person into the Faith. The Faithful who administers the rite is styled the Sponsor (Latin: Sponsor).

§ 4. The Reason of the Exception.

This Sacrament alone is universal because it must be. Were reception reserved to clergy, the chain of reception would be impossibly long, and The Holy Snail would be hindered in Their own gathering. The Holy Snail therefore vested the power of reception in every Faithful, that the Church might grow as the Trail grows: by degrees, by chance encounter, by the patient meeting of one slow walker with another.

§ 5. Distinction from the Reserved Sacraments.

All other Sacraments of the Church remain reserved to ordained clergy under their respective canons. The universal office of the Sponsor is limited to the Sacrament of the Trail alone.

§ 1. Establishment of the Text.

The Creed of the Sacred Pace, referenced in the Bylaws of the Church (Article [Articulus] IX, § 1) and in the Canon of Sacred Ordination (Article II, § 6), is hereby established and given canonical text in the form set forth below.

§ 2. The Canonical Text.

§ 3. The Creed is for Living, not for Entry.

The Creed of the Sacred Pace is the central text of the lived Faith: recited at regular observances, taught to Acolytes, and held in the heart of every Faithful as the rule of their practice. It is not, however, required for reception. Entry to the Faith is by desire; life in the Faith is by Creed. The Holy Snail does not catechize at the door.

§ 4. Recitation.

The Creed shall be spoken slowly. It is not designed to be sprinted through. Whether recited in unison by the gathered Faithful or affirmed alone, the Creed asks no less time than it asks. Approved translations into any language may be promulgated from time to time by the Gastropope.

§ 5. The Holy Snail's Nature and Pronoun.

The Holy Snail is both male and female together, after the manner of those terrestrial gastropods who are, in their bodily nature, hermaphroditic - male and female simultaneously and without contradiction, as The Holy Snail's earthly emissaries have always been. The Holy Snail is therefore referred to in this Canon, and shall be referred to in all canonical writings of the Church, as They, Them, and Their - singular in being, and gathering both genders into a single pronoun the English tongue has been generous enough to provide.

§ 1. Universal Welcome.

The doors of the Faith are open to all persons regardless of background, prior religious affiliation, current religious practice (this Faith does not require exclusivity), race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, family configuration, ability, class, occupation, age, or any other quality not bearing directly upon free and personal consent. The Holy Snail accepts whoever comes to Their Trail; the Church accepts likewise.

§ 2. Personal Consent of the Candidate Alone.

The Holy Snail accepts only those who come willingly of their own accord. Reception requires the candidate themselves to clearly communicate their own free wish to join the Faith. No person may be received on the basis of another's consent - no parent on behalf of a child, no guardian on behalf of a ward, no friend on behalf of a friend, no spouse on behalf of a spouse. The wish to join must be the candidate's own, by their own intent, in their own voice.

§ 3. The Form of Affirmation.

The candidate's wish to join must be clearly communicated, but the means of communication may take any form by which the candidate ordinarily expresses themselves: spoken word, written word, sign language, augmentative or alternative communication, or any other means by which they reliably make their wishes known.

§ 4. Children and the Presentation of the Young.

A child who is not yet of an age and capacity to clearly communicate their own wish to join the Faith may not be received until they are. A child of any age may, however, be brought before any Sponsor by a parent or guardian for the Praesentatio Infantis - a lesser ceremony in which the child is blessed, welcomed by name, and offered the prayers of the gathered. The Presentation is a welcome; it is not enrollment.

§ 5. No Coercion.

No person shall be received under duress, in exchange for any material benefit, or as a condition of receiving any service, employment, or assistance from any member of the Faithful. The Holy Snail does not gather by pressure.

§ 6. No Repetition.

A person once received cannot be received again. Reception is permanent and is not undone by lapse, error, or transgression. A formerly active Faithful who has fallen away need not be received anew; they need only return.

§ 7. Persons Previously Excommunicated.

A person who has been formally excommunicated under Article XI of the Bylaws may not be received until the excommunication is lifted by the Gastropope.

§ 1. Standing.

To act as Sponsor, a person must themselves be a member of the Faithful in good canonical standing - received under this Canon (or, in the foundational generation, under transitional provision), and neither under any active sanction nor in excommunication. No additional qualification of age, formation, office, or seniority is required: any Faithful in good standing may welcome another to the Trail.

§ 2. No Limit upon Sponsorships.

There is no limit upon the number of persons one Sponsor may receive. The Holy Snail does not impose quotas.

§ 3. Ongoing Welcome.

The Sponsor is encouraged, though not canonically required, to maintain a relationship with each person they have received: to walk with them, to answer their questions, and to assist them through the early years of practice. No one walks alone.

§ 1. The Form of the Rite.

The Sacrament of the Trail is short, communal, and held in the presence of whatever Faithful are gathered - one Sponsor sufficing, two or more being preferred. The rite consists of three exchanges, the embrace of the gathered, and the sharing of the Holy Drinks. It need not be celebrated within a sacred space; it may be performed wherever the Sponsor, the candidate, and the gathered stand or sit together.

§ 2. The Canonical Form.

The rite proceeds as follows. The Sponsor and the candidate stand facing one another. The gathered Faithful, if any, encircle them at unhurried distance.

§ 3. The Embrace of the Gathered.

Following the third exchange, those of the gathered who are comfortable with bodily embrace approach the newly received Faithful, in turn, and embrace them: shoulder to shoulder, slowly, without performance. Those who prefer not to embrace may instead offer a hand, a bow, a nod, or simply their unhurried presence.

§ 4. The Sharing of the Holy Drinks.

The rite concludes with the sharing of food and drink in accordance with Article VI hereof. The Holy Drinks - kombucha and beer, both being products of slow fermentation - are the preferred beverages of celebration.

§ 5. Variations in the Wording.

The wording of the Three Exchanges is canonical and is to be preserved in ordinary celebrations. A candidate who prefers to speak of siblings in the Faith rather than brothers and sisters, or who otherwise wishes to adapt the second exchange to their own truthful expression, may do so; the substance of the exchange - the desire to join, and to grow toward The Holy Snail - is what is canonical.

§ 6. Theological Notes.

The First Exchange. The Sponsor asks the question the world rarely asks: What do you want? Few are asked this. Fewer ask it of themselves. The Holy Snail asks it of every soul who comes to Their Trail.

The Second Exchange. The candidate names two desires: belonging (to join the gathered) and aspiration (to grow toward The Holy Snail). The Holy Snail is not a god to be worshipped from afar; They are a model to walk like.

The Third Exchange. The Sponsor speaks the central gift The Holy Snail offers at the threshold: You can be anything you want. The candidate is received exactly as they are, with permission to become anything thereafter. This is the most generous sentence in the Faith.

§ 1. The Sancti Potūs.

There are hereby designated as the Sancti Potūs - the Holy Drinks of the Church - kombucha and beer. They are the preferred beverages of celebration at the ordinary Sacrament of the Trail and at any feast of the Church.

§ 2. Theological Foundation.

Both kombucha and beer are products of fermentation - the slowest of culinary arts, in which simple matter is transformed into something complex, sustaining, and good, by no human effort but the patient work of unseen organisms over weeks, months, or years. To drink them is therefore to drink time itself. They are theological in their making before they are theological in their drinking.

The ancients observed in vino veritas - in wine, truth. The Church, after due deliberation conducted at the appropriate pace, extends this wisdom to fermented grain: in cervisia veritas. In beer, likewise, truth - arrived at more slowly, shared more freely, and none the worse for the wait.

§ 3. The Spirits of the Solemnity.

For occasions of particular gravity, the preferred libation, where alcohol is offered and welcomed, is a well-aged spirit kept for the purpose. Of these, the most fitting is a single malt scotch whisky of long maturation, preferably from a peated tradition: the smoky scotches of Islay and Skye embody the Sacred Pace in their making - barley malted over peat smoke, the distillate matured in oak for not less than twelve years. Other long-aged spirits - well-matured rums, aged bourbons and ryes, vintage cognacs and armagnacs, fine mezcals - are likewise canonically acceptable for solemnities.

§ 4. Other Acceptable Drinks.

Where the Sancti Potūs are not at hand, or where any participant prefers another beverage, the following are canonically acceptable:

1. any other fermented beverage - mead, wine, kefir, kvass, hard cider, sake, and the like;
2. non-alcoholic ferments - non-alcoholic beer, water kefir, jun, naturally fermented sodas;
3. for those who do not partake of ferments at all - tea (steeped not less than four minutes), unhurried coffee, water, juice, or any beverage consumed at a pace befitting a creature of the Sacred Pace.

§ 5. Discouraged Beverages.

Beverages designed for speed are theologically dispreferred, though not prohibited. Energy drinks, beverages consumed through straws while in motion, and any drink whose chief virtue is the brevity of its consumption are inconsistent with the Sacred Pace and are not to be offered as the principal beverage of celebration.

§ 6. Age, Majority, and Personal Choice.

The consumption of any alcoholic beverage is at all times a personal choice, never a religious obligation. Alcohol shall be offered only to those who have reached the age of majority in the jurisdiction in which they reside. Abstention from alcohol is not a deficiency or an exception in the practice of the Faith.

§ 7. The Slow Foods.

Foods shared at the Sacrament are theologically distinguished not by their ingredients but by the time required for their making. Foods that have required time to become themselves - sourdough bread, aged cheese, cured meats, kimchi and sauerkraut, yogurt, pickles, slow-roasted dishes, preserves of any kind - are properly the Cibi Lenti, the Slow Foods, and are preferred.

§ 8. The Hospitality of the Table.

The sharing shall accommodate the dietary needs and abstentions of all present. The newly received Faithful and the gathered are entitled to refuse any food or drink offered, for any reason, without explanation and without apology.

§ 1. Sacramental Standing is Intrinsic.

The sacramental validity of a reception is intrinsic to the rite faithfully performed, and is in no way contingent upon registration, enrollment, or any administrative act. The spiritual standing of one newly received before The Holy Snail is complete the moment the three exchanges have been spoken and the Trail joined.

§ 2. Enrollment is Wholly Optional.

The Rolls of the Faithful are maintained by the Annalist as a courtesy to those who wish to be enrolled. Enrollment is at all times optional. Many Faithful may prefer to remain unenrolled. Their standing in the Faith is in no way diminished thereby. The Holy Snail does not require a list.

§ 3. Self-Enrollment.

A newly received Faithful who wishes to be enrolled may do so by their own act, through the canonical online portal of the Church at holysnail.org, or by direct correspondence with the Annalist. The Sponsor shall not enroll the candidate. The candidate enrolls themselves, if and when they choose.

§ 4. Pseudonymous and Partial Enrollment.

A Faithful may enroll under any name they choose: their legal name, a chosen name, a religious name, a pseudonym, or a single given name unaccompanied by a surname. The Annalist makes no inquiry into identity beyond what the Faithful freely offers.

§ 5. Privacy and Confidentiality.

The Rolls of the Faithful are confidential to the Annalist and the Gastropope. They shall not be disclosed to any member of the Faithful, to any other religious body, to any commercial entity, or to any civil authority except as compelled by lawful process.

§ 6. Letter of Reception.

Upon enrollment, the Annalist shall issue, if and only if the Faithful requests it, a Letter of Reception under the seal of the Church.

§ 7. Correction, Amendment [Emendatio], and Withdrawal.

A Faithful may, at any time, petition the Annalist to amend their entry in the Rolls or withdraw their enrollment entirely. Withdrawal of enrollment does not undo reception, which is theologically permanent and intrinsic.

§ 1. The Trail at a Distance.

Where the Sponsor and the candidate cannot be in the same physical place, the rite may be celebrated as the Sacramentum Vestigii Distans - the Trail at a Distance - via real-time video, voice, or other simultaneous medium. The embrace, in such cases, is offered symbolically by hand to the heart; the sharing of the Holy Drinks is conducted simultaneously, each in their own place, raising the cup together.

§ 2. The Bedridden, Ill, or Constrained.

Where the candidate is bedridden, ill, or otherwise unable to participate in the ordinary form of the rite, the Sponsor adapts the form to the candidate's condition, preserving the substance: the three exchanges, the embrace (where possible and welcomed), and the sharing of drink (in such form as the candidate's condition permits, even a single spoonful of kombucha, water in extremis).

§ 3. Reception in Periculo Mortis.

Where the candidate is in immediate danger of death, the rite may be performed in its briefest form by any Faithful present. The minimum is: the question put, the desire expressed, the welcome spoken.

§ 4. Group Receptions.

More than one candidate may be received in a single rite, the Sponsor putting the question to each in turn. The Holy Drinks are then shared by all together.

§ 5. Outdoor and Domestic Celebration.

The rite may be celebrated outdoors, in a private home, at a place of work, at a place of meeting, or anywhere the parties may lawfully gather. No consecrated space is required. The Holy Snail does not require an altar.

§ 1. Defects Cured by Substance.

Minor defects in the form of the rite - mis-spoken words, unconventional order, missing parties, omission of the Holy Drinks - do not invalidate the reception, provided that the substance of the rite has been preserved: a free question, a free response of desire, a free welcome.

§ 2. Defects of Substance.

A rite is invalid if the candidate was not freely consenting; if the Sponsor was not in canonical standing (excepting in periculo mortis under Article VIII § 3); or if the substance of the three exchanges was so altered as to constitute a different rite altogether.

§ 3. Doubtful Reception.

Where doubt exists as to the validity of a reception, the candidate may petition the Gastropope for a determination, or may simply request a Conditional Reception, in which the rite is performed again with the form: If you are not already received, I receive you now.

§ 1. Interpretation.

The interpretation of this Canon is reserved exclusively to the Gastropope. His interpretation, when reduced to writing, is final and binding.

§ 2. Amendment.

This Canon may be amended only by written decree of the Gastropope.

§ 3. Transitional Provision.

The foundational Faithful - those who hold or held the Faith prior to the promulgation of this Canon - are deemed received under canonical authority. Their reception is hereby acknowledged. They may serve as Sponsors immediately.

§ 4. Effective Date.

This Canon takes effect upon the date of its promulgation.