Meaning: Mystagogy

[lauralh4]

So, I’m a bit of a nerd and I came accross this word while reading one book (can’t recall which, because I’m currently alternating between three!) I’ve been making a glossary since I started reading Jesus of Nazareth Pt. II (awesome book for Lent) just to make sure I’m fully grasping everything I’m reading. However, google hasn’t been that helpful regarding this word. All I’ve been able to find is that Mystagogy is the 50 day period between Easter Sunday and Pentecost Sunday. Could someone explain to me a bit further the importance/meaning of this period? Thanks so much in advance!

 

[Splagchnizomai]

All I’ve been able to find is that Mystagogy is the 50 day period between Easter Sunday and Pentecost Sunday.

Yes, that’s the traditional way of using it. It is a period to get deeper into the mysteries that we have been meditating through Lent and Easter.

I’d highly recommend reading Living The Mysteries: The Guide to the Unfinished Christian.

Until we get to heaven, we’re all unfinished Christians.

There are no “self-made” success stories in the spiritual life. No do-it-yourself kits for aspiring saints. That’s why Living the Mysteries is ideal for a family member, friend, or fellow parishioner who was recently in the RCIA program and received the sacraments of initiation – baptism, confirmation, and the Eucharist – at the Easter Vigil. That’s why it’s perfect for a lifelong Catholic, too.

The early Church had a process in which a teacher guided seekers through stages of inquiry and purification, culminating in a final phase called “mystagogy” — MIST-a-go-gee — “the revelation of the mysteries.”

The instruction the early Christians needed is what we all need, no matter when we were baptized, no matter how much theology we’ve studied. That’s because God’s mysteries are inexhaustible and, until we get to heaven, we’re all unfinished Christians.

Spirit-Led Mystagogy from the Ancient Masters

Now eight of the early Church’s greatest teachers can be your guides as Living the Mysteries presents the wisdom and insights of:
St. Ambrose
St. Augustine
St. Basil
St. Clement of Alexandria
St. Cyril of Jerusalem
St. Gregory of Nyssa
St. John Chrysostom
St. Leo the Great

Designed as a devotional – and more – for the fifty days between Easter and Pentecost, Living the Mysteries is a rich spiritual resource valuable any time of the year. Each day features:

• A passage from the Church’s great teachers that focuses on a relevant point of the mystical or moral life

• A plan with practical applications for letting that reading inspire your prayer and actions throughout the day

You will treasure these timeless lessons on gaining eternal life.

About the authors Scott Hahn and Mike Aquilina are the founders and trustees of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology and have co-hosted several series on the Eternal Word Television Network. Each has written extensively on Catholic doctrine, history, and devotion.

Good to read at any time, but the suggestion as a daily devotional during the time of Easter-Pentecost is spot on.

 

[PJM]

=lauralh4;9035390]So, I’m a bit of a nerd and I came accross this word while reading one book (can’t recall which, because I’m currently alternating between three!) I’ve been making a glossary since I started reading Jesus of Nazareth Pt. II (awesome book for Lent) just to make sure I’m fully grasping everything I’m reading. However, google hasn’t been that helpful regarding this word. All I’ve been able to find is that Mystagogy is the 50 day period between Easter Sunday and Pentecost Sunday. Could someone explain to me a bit further the importance/meaning of this period? Thanks so much in advance!

It is “advanced continuing Catholic religiois Education” that follows RCIA and indunction into the CC

 

[lauralh4]

Thanks so much for both replies! I’d love to get that book, but being outside of the US it’s a bit tricker to get it from Amazon. I’ll see what I can do! In the meantime, my Christian-nerdy side is happy to understand a bit better the meaning of mystagogy Thanks so much again! God bless!

 

[fide]

…All I’ve been able to find is that Mystagogy is the 50 day period between Easter Sunday and Pentecost Sunday. Could someone explain to me a bit further the importance/meaning of this period? Thanks so much in advance!

Hello Laura,

The “Mysteries” referred to in Mystagogy are the Sacraments - the two words, Mysteries and Sacraments, are the two ways of describing the same thing from the Eastern and the Western sides of the Church. And since the Sacraments have not been received in RCIA until Easter, it is necessary that the catechumens wait until after Easter, when they they can meaningfully receive and understand the “Mysteries” or “Sacraments”. Before Easter, they have not had the supernatural grace to empower them to understand the supernatural realities of sacramental life - but now, after Easter, they have received the necessary grace.

Mystagogia typically stops at Pentecost, in my humble judgment, for no good reason beyond the fatigue and perhaps impatience of the newly baptized (and/or that of the RCIA team!). In truth, mystagogia is a life-long process for a Catholic, of ever growing in the infinitely deep mysteries of life in the Spirit.