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Dear Father Angelo,

could you explain the meaning of “mystagogical” to me, also using some practical examples?

Thank you very much.

Kind regards.

Lorenzo

Priest’s answer

Dear Lorenzo,

1. mystagogy is a Greek word that means introduction to hidden realities.

Mystery actually means hidden reality.

The mystagogue is the one who is responsible for introducing into hidden realities.

Mystagogy was a preparation that was done by those who had to be introduced to the cult: it was a behavior of life and teaching carried out to understand the meaning of the various rites.

2. The need was soon felt to implement an initiation and therefore a mystagogy for catechumens, neophytes, and those who were at the beginning of Christian life to prepare them for baptism and the various sacraments, which were called mysteries, so that they would be aware of what they were about to do.

3. In our case, the hidden realities to be revealed consisted in the meaning of the various rites that the faithful performed.

The meaning was contained in the events of salvation accomplished in the Old Testament, which were a symbol of the future reality.

The letter to the Hebrews clearly refers to these events when it says that the high priests “They worship in a copy and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary, as Moses was warned when he was about to erect the tabernacle. For he says, “See that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” (Heb 8:5).

4. The homilies of the Holy Fathers were mystagogical homilies that illustrated what happens in the sacraments, mainly in those of baptism and the Eucharist.

Great mystagogues were Saint John Chrysostom, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Saint Ambrose, Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, Saint Augustine, Saint Maximus of Turin.

5. Here, for example, are some excerpts from the first of the mystagogical catecheses of Saint Cyril of Jerusalem on baptism:

“Reflecting on baptism

1. I have long desired, oh true and beloved children of the Church, to speak to you of these spiritual and celestial mysteries. But knowing well that the eye has more credibility than the ear, I have awaited the present circumstance. (…). Therefore, it is now necessary to set the table of the teachings of perfection. We will give them to you with great care so that you can perceive what has happened for you on this evening of baptism.

Renounce Satan, the Pharaoh

2. You first came to the outer part where baptism is administered and, facing west, you listened and were ordered to stretch out your hand, renouncing Satan as if he were present. It is necessary for you to know that this was a figure in ancient history. When the Pharaoh, a harsh and cruel tyrant, oppressed the free and generous people of the Jews, God sent Moses to bring them out of this harsh slavery of the Egyptians. The doors were anointed with the blood of the lamb, so that the exterminator would spare the houses that had the sign of the blood, and the people of the Jews were unexpectedly freed. While he was pursuing them, after they had freed themselves, he saw that the sea was opening up in an extraordinary way before them. However, he went forward, treading footprint after footprint and suddenly he was submerged and swallowed up in the middle of the Red Sea.

Moses and Christ

3. Move with me now from old to new, from symbol to reality. There was Moses, sent by God into Egypt, here Christ sent by the Father into the world. There to bring the oppressed people out of Egypt, here so that Christ might free those in the world who are oppressed by sin. There the blood of the lamb was the detour of the exterminator, here the blood of the immaculate Lamb Jesus Christ is the refuge against demons. The tyrant pursued the ancient people to the sea, and the daring, vile and prince of evil demon pursued you to the very sources of salvation. The former was submerged in the sea, the latter disappeared in the water of salvation.


Renouncing Satan

4. You are then ordered to stretch out your hand and say as if to someone who is present: “I renounce you, Satan.” I also want to explain to you why you turned to the west. It is appropriate. The west is the place of visible darkness, a darkness that, being dark, has power over darkness. For this reason, symbolically, by looking toward the west, you have renounced that dark and gloomy prince. What, standing in that position, do each of you say? “I renounce you, Satan, evil and cruel tyrant and I no longer fear your power. Christ has destroyed it, sharing with me in blood and flesh. He has abolished death through death through suffering so that I am no longer subject to slavery. I renounce you, deceitful serpent and capable of everything. I renounce you who are insidious and feigning friendship have accomplished every wickedness. You inspired our first parents to apostasy. I renounce you, Satan, author and accomplice of all wickedness.”

The works of Satan

5. In the second part of the formula you then learn to say: “And to your works”. The works of Satan are all sins, from which one must stay away, as one who flees forever from the tyrant also throws away his weapons. Every kind of sin includes you in the works of the devil. Furthermore, know that what you say especially in that terrible moment is written letter by letter in the invisible books of God. Therefore, if you do something that is contrary, you will be judged as a perjurer. Therefore, renounce the works of Satan, I say; every work and thought that is contrary to the promised word. ….

6. The Church, even today, feels the need for a new mystagogy to form Christians aware of their calling and of what they celebrate in the holy mysteries, that is, in the sacraments.

I bless you, I wish you all the best and I remember you in prayer.

Father Angelo