I agree that Swallow should have offered some sort of explanation for the presence of a commandery convent on Sanctuary 101, but in the absence of a given reason, I think any explanation we come up with should be the simplest rather than the most complex. True, a presence there might have been established due to it being the site of former hostilities, but there is nothing in the book to suggest this, only that there had been an ancient and unrecognised Necron presence. I don't think a pilgrimage is a suitable explanation either, because all the mentions of pilgrimages in the fluff appear to show pilgrimages moving from one shrine site to another and concluding at a major shrine. Therefore they wouldn't FIRST visit Sanctuary 101 on a pilgrimage - that could only occur if something important had already happened there before which resulted in a shrine being established, and again, there is no mention of any human activity on the planet prior to the establishment of the commandery convent.
It wasn't there to protect the relic either. The Hammer and Anvil had only been brought there as part of its tour around all of the houses of the Order of Our Martyred Lady. Therefore the convent must have been there prior to the arrival of the relic, which only arrived there because there was already an established house and was not intended to stay there for long.
Therefore, in the absence of any other explanation, the easiest explanation, which would still seem to be in line with the fluff, would simply be that the Ecclesiarch said something along the lines of: "There's a planet out there that no-one's worshipping the Emperor on. Send some sisters out there immediately to rectify that unacceptable situation. Make sure they are battle sisters because their faith is without question". Sure - it's not the only possible explanation, but it is the simplest.
I agree with you that comparison with modern religious practice is not without issues, but perhaps a better comparison might be with some types of mediaeval monasticism. Plenty of orders existed purely to worship and had no role in preaching outside their own houses, while certain specific orders, notably the Knights Templar, who probably provide the best historical parallel for battle sisters, were there primarily to pray for travellers but also to see to their protection, by force if necessary. Places like Castle Acre were fortified monasteries primarily intended to accommodate prayer and offer hospitality but which could also be defended and whose monks were trained and equipped to fight if necessarily. Obviously it is a little misguided to try to match the sisters precisely to any historical model but it is quite possible to be both a committed and professional warrior and a contemplative worshipper.
As for writing an explanation myself, it might be that I already have sent them one or two pieces ;) . Writing an explanation for something in his book though, is something I wouldn't do, as it would be straying onto his territory and might even get in the way of something he was intending to do more work on. This is why you rarely see one Black Library author making any mention of the characters from another author's book in his own. Doing so unfairly takes ownership of someone else's creation.
--- In battle-sisters@yahoogroups.com, "cyberakuma@..." <cyberakuma@...> wrote:
>
> Lets not forget that james swallow is a bad writer and that there is a clear difference between nuns and sisters although they can be classified as one and the same by many a nun is as you describe but a modern day sister serves others through their religion. So a nun would be more contemplative where as a sister is active a convent obviously is a place of worship but more important than.the nun/sisters role is that a convent is just a name for a community as is a priory and going back over the fluff it is also used to describe a force of sisters for mobilisation
>
> obviously you can apply some comparisons to modern day religion as that is what many other authors have done similarly in the 40k mythos but it leaves problems with no clear definition and misconceptions although sisters may not have been preaching to others on sanctuary 101 they were active there likely originally on a pilgramage and in possibly required a longer stay when they encountered hostility on the planet necessitating a building to house the army of sisters during their stay once the battle had been won many would continue on their original pilgrimage to wherever it was going to take them but others would stay behind.some out of injury some from respect to fallen comrades and others to protect their newly claimed land in the name of the emporer and thus the community or convent stays on sanctuary 101
>
> Maybe if the planet had been closer to terra or along a star route to aplanet of great resources it would have seen imperial citizens to preach and aide but more likely it was retained as a consolidation.point for sisters venturing further out into unknown space really it's up to you as james swallow didn't have the sense to explain why it was there so you'll just have to.make one up yourself and if you do please send it to the black.libary so they can stop paying that useless twonk to keep writing absolute crap
>
> --- In battle-sisters@yahoogroups.com, "pcrispvs" <pgeddes@> wrote:
> >
> > Remember that the sisters are really nuns, even if they are militant ones with guns. Worship is more important to them than preaching. There are preachers and missionaries who can do that.
> >
> > Everything the sisters do is ultimately either in praise of the Emperor or as punishment for failing to worship him. They are militant nuns after all.
> >
> > What we are seeing in the example of Sanctuary 101 demonstrates an important difference between worship and preaching. It does not matter to the Ecclesiarchy that there is no population on the planet other than the inhabitants of the convent to preach to. What matters is that the Emperor is being worshipped. Therefore it can be legitimately claimed that the Emperor is being worshipped even in the remotest parts of the galaxy.
> > Preaching is about spreading the teachings of the faith. By contrast, worship is about praise and building a spiritual relationship.
> >
> > In setting the scene this way, James Swallow (the author) is tapping into a normal aspect of present day religious observance. It is very common to find churches conducting worship services at times in the morning when most of the population is still in bed and where no-one other than the priest or minister is present. What is held to matter is that God is being worshipped in an appropriate way, not whether or not anyone else is there to see it. You might preach for the benefit of other people, but you worship for the benefit of your own soul and your relationship with God.
> >
> > Does that answer the question?
> >
> >
> > --- In battle-sisters@yahoogroups.com, "johnlay95" <john_lay@> wrote:
> > >
> > > So why would the Sister build a Sanctuary on a planet with no one to preach to? After reading the book I still do not remember any talk about there being anything else on the planet but the Sanctuary and the Necrons ruins.
> > >
> > > Thanks for the feedback.
> > >
> > > John
> > >
> >
>
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