Sacred mysteries are the areas ofsupernatural phenomena associated with adivinity or areligious belief andpraxis. Sacred mysteries may be either:
Amystagogue orhierophant is a holder and teacher of secret knowledge in the former sense above, whilemysticism may be defined as an area of philosophical or religious thought focusing on mysteries in the latter sense.
Themystery religions of antiquity were religious cults which requiredinitiation to be accepted as new member. Some had different levels of initiation, as well as doctrines which were mysteries in the sense of requiring supernatural explanation. In some, parts of the doctrine were apparently only known to priests. They included theEleusinian Mysteries,Mithraism, theCult of Isis, and theCult of Sol Invictus. Mystery traditions were popular inancient Greece and during the height of theRoman Empire,[1] and parts ofEarly Christianity used secrecy in the same way.[2]
The Greek word (μυστήριον)mysterion is used 27 times in theNew Testament. Strong's Concordance defines Greek wordmysterion (Strongs # 3466) "not as something unknowable, but rather a secret, that which can only be known through revelation, i.e. because God reveals it."[3] Its meaning is less expressed by the modern usage ofmystery (what is not understood) than by the wordmystical (beyond understanding). In thebiblical Greek, the term refers to "that which awaits disclosure or interpretation".[4]
On the other hand, most Christian traditions hold that many of the basic aspects ofChristian theology are more than just secrets - they cannot be explained or apprehended by mundane reason, including the nature of theTrinity, thevirgin birth of Jesus, and theresurrection of Jesus.
In the Catholic church, the Latin term ismysterium fidei, "mystery of faith", defined in theCatechism of the Catholic Church (1997) to mean a mystery hidden in God, which can never be known unless revealed by God.[5]
In theRoman Catholic Church theFirst Vatican Council re-affirmed the existence of mysteries as a doctrine of Catholic faith as follows: "If any one say that in Divine Revelation there are contained no mysteries properly so called (vera et proprie dicta mysteria), but that through reason rightly developed (per rationem rite excultam) all the dogmas of faith can be understood and demonstrated from natural principles: let him beanathema" (Sess. III,De fide et ratione, can. i). The position, if not the terminology, of other Christian churches is essentially the same.
In parts of theEarly Christian Church, many aspects of Christian theology, including somesacraments andsacramentals, the so-calleddisciplina arcani, were kept hidden frompagans lest they become objects of ridicule, and were also introduced gradually tocatechumens or new converts. As theAge of Persecution ended, secrecy was gradually relaxed.[6] But the term continued to be used, and the same word is used in theEastern Orthodox churches to mean both "mysteries" and "sacraments". This is not usually so in the West, although theologically many aspects of sacraments are recognized as mysteries in the main sense described above, especially (for those churches accepting it) the doctrine oftransubstantiation in theEucharist. HencePope Paul VI'spapal encyclical of 3 September 1965 on the Eucharist was titled, from its opening words,Mysterium fidei. In theRoman RiteCatholic Mass within or immediately after theformula of consecration of the wine, the celebrant says "The mystery of faith". Originally the term "Mystery" was used for the sacraments generally in both the East and the West, as shown from the "Mystagogical Homilies" of St.Cyril of Jerusalem and the work,On the Mysteries by St.Ambrose of Milan.[7]
Although all the official doctrines of Christian churches have long been fully public, the loosely defined area of Christian thought calledChristian mysticism often concerns the contemplation of sacred mysteries and may include the development of personal theories about them, undertaken in the knowledge that they can never be fully apprehended by man.
The term is used inEastern Christianity to refer to what theWestern Church currently callssacraments andsacramentals, terms which the Western Church has carefully defined incanon law. Thus, for instance, theCouncil of Trent declared there to beexactlyseven sacraments. TheEastern Churches, in contrast, have never defined the Mysteries in such precise terms. And, although the Western Church teaches that theconsecrated bread and wine of theEucharist are one sacrament, theDivine Liturgy refers to the Eucharist as theMysteries, in the plural.Orthodox Christians have always received Holy Communion in bothspecies (both thebody and theblood), and even reserve both in thetabernacle. The sacred mysteries can be defined as "those holy acts through which the Holy Spirit mysteriously and invisibly confers Grace (the saving power of God) upon man".[8]
Orthodox instructional materials may list seven sacred mysteries, the same as the Western seven sacraments (Western names in parentheses):Baptism,Chrismation (Confirmation),Confession (Penance, Reconciliation),Holy Communion (Eucharist),Marriage (Holy Matrimony),Ordination (Holy Orders), andUnction (Anointing of the Sick, formerly Extreme Unction). However, in Orthodox theology the term is not limited to these seven. As in the West, all faithful men are expected to receive six of the seven listed above, and may or may not receive either marriage or ordination, or both; women may not be received into the priesthood, but may be given monastic orders.
Christian life is centered in the mystery of theincarnation of Christ, the union of God and man. However, the redemption of man is not considered to have taken place only in the past, but continues to this day throughtheosis.[9] The Sacraments, or Sacred Mysteries are the most important means by which the faithful may obtain union with God, provided they are received withfaith afterappropriate preparation. Christians believe that God is present everywhere and fills all things by hisdivine grace, and that all of creation is, in some sense, a "sacrament". However, they believe that "He is more specifically and intensively present in [those] particular and reliable manners which He Himself has established,"[10] i.e., in the Sacred Mysteries.
Kallistos Ware stated inThe Orthodox Way:
A mystery is [...] revealed for our understanding, but which we never understand exhaustively because it leads into the depth or the darkness of God. The eyes are closed - but they are also opened.[11]
