Why are they called "mysteries"?

[14er]

Not all of the mysteries of the rosary seem all that mysterious to me. For instance, the presentation in the temple, the scourging, the crowning with thorns, the proclamation of the kingdom. These are appropriate things to meditate upon, but not so mysterious. I looked up “mystery” in the dictionary, but it didn’t give any definition other than the obvious one.

 

[grandfather]

Not all of the mysteries of the rosary seem all that mysterious to me. For instance, the presentation in the temple, the scourging, the crowning with thorns, the proclamation of the kingdom. These are appropriate things to meditate upon, but not so mysterious. I looked up “mystery” in the dictionary, but it didn’t give any definition other than the obvious one.

They are mysteries, because as you meditate on them day after day, year after year, you continue to discover more understanding and wisdom. Your awareness of beauty and truth increases, meaning you never have complete understanding of all the spiritual meaning behind these historical events.

 

[bmullins]

They are called mysteries because the depth of them is so vast that you can contemplate them forever and your mind will never completely plumb the bottom of that truth. God is so far above and beyond where we are, so vastly more powerful and intelligent that while we might get a general idea, or even a decent understanding, we still view him through a veil and our human minds are just not capable of truly understanding him or his ways.

 

[MarkThompson]

Not all of the mysteries of the rosary seem all that mysterious to me. For instance, the presentation in the temple, the scourging, the crowning with thorns, the proclamation of the kingdom. These are appropriate things to meditate upon, but not so mysterious. I looked up “mystery” in the dictionary, but it didn’t give any definition other than the obvious one.

Really? Definitions 2 and 4 in my dictionary said this:
2. A religious truth known only from divine revelation; usually (cf. sense 5), a doctrine of the faith involving difficulties which human reason is incapable of solving.

4. An incident in the life of our Lord or of the Saints regarded as an object of commemoration in the Christian church or as having a mystical significance. Hence, each of the fifteen divisions of the rosary corresponding to the ‘mysteries of redemption’.
The Greek root of this word does not really have the modern meaning “baffling, confusing, hard to figure out”; it means “hidden, secret,” and so the sense in Christian texts is of a religious truth once hidden but now revealed to us through Christ Jesus.

 

[YearningforGod]

Just wanted to comment on the answers given…well said! Right, we cannot even begin to wrap our minds around the greatness of God’s mysteries. But we have the beautiful gift of FAITH and we believe wholeheartedly. We trust in God and we pray to know Him more and more.

 

[promethius]

Not all of the mysteries of the rosary seem all that mysterious to me. For instance, the presentation in the temple, the scourging, the crowning with thorns, the proclamation of the kingdom. These are appropriate things to meditate upon, but not so mysterious. I looked up “mystery” in the dictionary, but it didn’t give any definition other than the obvious one.

From the Catholic Encyclopedia:

“This term signifies in general that which is unknowable, or valuable knowledge that is kept secret… In the language of the early Christians the mysteries were those religious teachings that were carefully guarded from the knowledge of the profane”

A mystery is something which is incomprehensible in nature… WHAT is the significance of Christ’s presentation in the temple… the only story we have of Christ’s childhood… WHY did Christ need to be scourged? WHY a crown of THORNS? WHAT exactly is the nature of the proclaimed Kingdom? Books are written about these questions!

They may SEEM simple, but I assure you that there is plenty to ponder on these subjects!

 

[Joe_Kelley]

I once went into a volcanic tube in Oregon. This is a very black tunnel that is left when lava solidifies in a pipe and the liquid inside runs our. It is absolutely black absorbing almost all light that hits it. With a strong electric torch one can light up a small portion at a time, but there is always much more unseen.

A mystery seems the same to me. I can explore this or that facet, but there is always much more to find.

 

[PacoG]

I remember in high school (back in the mid-1980s), when we studied English Literature, we were told about the three types of plays that were the staple of Medieval times—the miracle, mystery and morality plays.

• Miracle plays were about the saints.
• Mystery plays were taken from the Bible, primarily the life of Our Lord.
• Morality plays were aimed at helping people get to heaven.

Mystery plays and the Mysteries of the Rosary are not mysteries in the same way as the writings of Agatha Christie or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

They are Mysteries in that they are supernatural and beyond regular understanding. It is totally beyond our comprehension that God Incarnate and His mother who was preserved from original needed to undergo purification rituals (i.e. the Presentation) or that the Almighty God of the universe would allow Himself to be scourged at the pillar and executed like a common criminal. It is a mystery how the Second Person of the Trinity could allow Himself and would subject Himself to suffer like His creation does.

The new English language introduction to the Penitential Act of the Mass refers to the “sacred mysteries.” The meaning of the word in the religious sense seems pretty clear. You don’t see the priest showing up with a Sherlock Holmes hat and pipe.