[Part I · Part II · Part III · Part IV]

“These Sacred Mysteries”
Part II: The Mystery of Christ in the Liturgy of the Church

The sacred mysteries can perhaps be best understood as the life of Christ, and the prayers from the Roman Missal that provide us with the prayers with which we pray at each Mass can help us to recognize that. In Advent, we pray that we may press forward all the more eagerly to the worthy celebration of the mystery of Christ’s Nativity. Then on Christmas day, we pray that our offerings may be worthy of the mysteries of the Nativity so that, just as Christ was born a man and also shone forth as God, so our earthly gifts may confer on us what is divine. On the feast of the Epiphany of the Lord, we ask that the Lord go before us with heavenly light that we may perceive with clear sight and revere with true affection the mystery in which he willed us to participate. On Ash Wednesday, we pray that we may be worthy to come with minds made pure to celebrate the Paschal Mystery of Christ in his passion, death, and resurrection. Then during the octave of Easter, we ask the Lord that we may always find delight in the paschal mysteries, so that the renewal constantly at work within us may be the cause of our unending joy. Finally, the first Preface given for Sundays in Ordinary Time praises God because through his Paschal Mystery, Christ accomplished the marvelous deed, by which he has freed us from the yoke of sin and death, summoning us to the glory of being now called a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, to proclaim everywhere his mighty works, for he has called us out of darkness into his own wonderful light. For Christians, therefore, the mysteries are the powerful events of the Incarnation, Passion and Death, and Resurrection of Christ which we celebrate throughout the Church year.

(to be continued next week)

Source: Rev. Kurt Belsole, OSB, Saint Vincent Archabbey, Latrobe, PA
www.liftupyourhearts.church

[Part I · Part II · Part III · Part IV]

“These Sacred Mysteries”
Part I: The Question

Now and then during Mass, we hear the celebrant referring to the “mysteries” or the “sacred mysteries.” Towards the beginning of Mass, at the start of the Penitential Act we hear “the sacred mysteries” referred to, then after the consecration, we hear the priest say: “The mystery of faith.” Then in hundreds of other places in the prayers of the Mass in the course of the year, we hear about the mysteries and sacred mysteries.

So, when the priest begins the Penitential Act by saying: “Brethren (brothers and sisters), let us acknowledge our sins, and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.” What does that mean? What are these mysteries? Again, after the consecration he says: “The mystery of faith.” What does that mean? We often, perhaps most of the time, think of a mystery as something that is not known or understood, or a work of fiction, or a mystery novel. But that is not what “mystery” means in the Mass. So what are the sacred mysteries?

(to be continued next week)

Source: Rev. Kurt Belsole, OSB, Saint Vincent Archabbey, Latrobe, PA
www.liftupyourhearts.church