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{{EcclesiarchyPortal}}The '''Lectitio Divinitatus''' (also Lectio Divinitatus) was a book written by the [[Primarch]] [[Lorgar]]^{{Fn|1 }} during the [[Great Crusade]], before his fall to [[Chaos]]. It postulated the worship of the [[Emperor of Mankind]] as a divine being. The following of the Lectitio Divinitatus became an underground cult, believed to be the precursor of the [[Temple of the Saviour Emperor]] and the [[Imperial Cult]], the basis of the modern [[Adeptus Ministorum]]. During the Great Crusade such cults were frowned upon by the Emperor and the [[Council of Terra]], and most especially by the [[Astartes]] and those serving them.{{Fn|2}} The Emperor downplayed his power but those who believed in the Emperor's godhood were of the opinion - as [[Titus Cassar]] once put it - that "only the truly divine deny their divinity".{{Cite This}}  In the [[63rd Expeditionary Fleet]], commanded by [[Warmaster]] [[Horus]] himself, the cult was most prevalent. Horus took steps to try to extinguish the cult, as he perceived it as a threat to his power. The [[remembrancer]] [[Euphrati Keeler]] - who was attached to the 63rd - became a major figure, venerated as a [[living saint]] and prophet of the Emperor. As a result, she was the target of Horus' assassins at some point before she escaped from the ''[[Vengeful Spirit]]''.{{Cite This}}

The following of the Lectitio Divinitatus became an underground cult, believed to be the precursor of the [[Temple of the Saviour Emperor]] and the [[Imperial Cult]], the basis of the modern [[Ecclesiarchy]]. During the Great Crusade such cults were frowned upon by the Emperor and the [[Council of Terra]], and most especially by the [[Astartes]] and those serving them. The Emperor downplayed his divinity, but those who believed in the Emperor's godhood were of the opinion - as [[Titus Cassar]] once put it - that "only the truly divine deny their divinity". In the [[63rd Expeditionary Fleet]], commanded by [[Warmaster]] [[Horus]] himself, the cult was most prevalent. Horus took steps to try to extinguish the cult, as he perceived it as a threat to his power. The [[remembrancer]] [[Euphrati Keeler]] - who was attached to the 63rd - became a major figure, venerated as a prophet and living saint of the Emperor. As a result, she was the target of Horus' assassins at some point before she escaped from the ''[[Vengeful Spirit]]''. Even some Astartes - such as [[Nathaniel Garro]], the [[Death Guard]] loyalist who led the ''[[Eisenstein]]'' escape - became part of the cult at one point.{{Fn|3}}

At some point after the Emperor was interred in the [[Golden Throne]], worshippers emerged from all across the Imperium, unifying the people until it became the official religion of the Imperium.{{Cite This}}

*^{{Endn|1}}: ''[[Scions of the Storm (Short Story)]]'' by [[Anthony Reynolds]]*{{Endn|2}}: [[Horus Heresy SeriesRising (Novel)]] by [[Dan Abnett]], Part One, Chapter Three, pgs. 58-59*{{Endn|3}}: [[The Flight of the Eisenstein (Novel)]] by [[James Swallow]], Chapter Fourteen, pgs. 344-345