Fantasy novel. A priest with powers goes into a desert, though it is taboo to use his powers outside of official church uses. They find a community of people in the desert, with similar but “heretical” beliefs in the same god as him.

[Mitch]

I am trying to find the title of a fantasy novel. It was about a priest with transmutation powers who was told to join an expedition into the desert, though it is taboo to use his powers outside of official church uses. The expedition was hit by a freak storm in the desert that destroyed their supplies. The priest had to use his powers to keep them alive, which caused him a lot of emotional and spiritual turmoil throughout the story. They eventually found a community of people in the desert, with similar but “heretical” beliefs in the same god as him. Some of the people also have transmutation powers, without the taboo against using their power. The desert community also has “dreamers” who see messages from their god in their dreams. There are crystals that are supposedly drops of their god’s blood that are pretty important to the story. The desert community believes in the same god as the main priest but they believe that the events in their religion are cyclical and that god has risen and slept over and over again after many great battles with their great evil. I can’t remember what their deity’s name was but I think it was Eratos or Aratos, or something like that. The priest falls in love with one of the dreamer girls and tries to escape back across the desert. I purchased it around 2008 or 2009 (though I don’t know the publishing date). The novel didn’t seem that old. I purchased the book at Barnes and Noble but I lost it years ago and haven’t been able to recall the title.

[Bee]

I'm not sure if either of these books are the ones you are looking for but parts of your post make me think of The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho and The Killing Moon by N. K. Jemison.

[Ayshe]

It sounds like the book that is searched for here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Bee]

Also sounds sort of similar to Canticle for Leibowitz