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The term sacred mysteries generally denotes the area of supernatural
Supernatural

The term supernatural or supranatural pertains to an order of existence beyond the scientifically visible universe. Religious miracles are typically supernatural claims, as are Spell and curses, divination, the belief that there is an afterlife for the dead, and innumerable others....
 phenomena associated with a divinity
Divinity

Divinity and divine are broadly applied but loosely defined terms, used variously within different faiths and belief systems ? and even by different individuals within a given faith ? to refer to some transcendent or transcendental power, or its attributes or manifestations in the world....
 or a religious ideology
Religious belief

Religious belief refers to a mental state in which faith is placed in a creed related to the supernatural, sacred, or divinity. Such a state may relate to:...
.

gious mysteries formed an important part of the worship of a number of pre-Christian
Christianity

Christianity is a Monotheistic religion #Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus as New Testament view on Jesus' life....
 religions, including the Eleusinian Mysteries
Eleusinian Mysteries

The Eleusinian Mysteries were initiation ceremony held every year for the Cult of Demeter and Persephone based at Eleusis in ancient Greece. Of all the mysteries celebrated in ancient times, these were held to be the ones of greatest importance....
, Mithraism
Mithraism

The Mithraic Mysteries or Mysteries of Mithras was a mystery cult which became popular among the military in the Roman Empire, from the 1st to 4th centuries AD....
, the Cult of Isis
ISIS

ISIS is an industry standard interface for technologies, developed by Pixel Translations in 1990 .ISIS is an open standard for scanner control and a complete image-processing framework....
, and the Cult of Sol Invictus
Sol Invictus

Sol Invictus was the Roman official religion sun god created by the emperor Aurelian in 274 and continued, overshadowing other Eastern cults in importance, until the abolition of paganism under Theodosius I....
. Dedicated devotees of the religion would be inducted into the mysteries by receiving special instruction. Due to the secrecy surrounding this special instruction, very little is now known about what was included in the mysteries.

Mystery traditions were popular in ancient Greece
Ancient Greece

The term Ancient Greece refers to the period of History of Greece lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman Republic conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth ....
 and during the height of the Roman Empire
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
, and may have influenced the introduction of sacred mysteries in Christianity.

term is used in Eastern Christianity
Eastern Christianity

Eastern Christianity refers collectively to the Christianity traditions and churches which developed in the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Asia Minor, the Middle East, Christianity in Africa and southern India over several centuries of religious antiquity....
 to refer to what the Western Church currently calls Sacraments and Sacramentals
Sacramentals

Sacramentals are material objects or things set apart or blessed by the Roman Catholicism, the Orthodox Churches and the Church of Englandes to manifest the respect due to the Sacraments, and so to excite good thoughts and to increase devotion, and through these movements of the heart to remit venial sin, according to the Council of Trent ....
.






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The term sacred mysteries generally denotes the area of supernatural
Supernatural

The term supernatural or supranatural pertains to an order of existence beyond the scientifically visible universe. Religious miracles are typically supernatural claims, as are Spell and curses, divination, the belief that there is an afterlife for the dead, and innumerable others....
 phenomena associated with a divinity
Divinity

Divinity and divine are broadly applied but loosely defined terms, used variously within different faiths and belief systems ? and even by different individuals within a given faith ? to refer to some transcendent or transcendental power, or its attributes or manifestations in the world....
 or a religious ideology
Religious belief

Religious belief refers to a mental state in which faith is placed in a creed related to the supernatural, sacred, or divinity. Such a state may relate to:...
.

Pre-Christian religious mysteries

Religious mysteries formed an important part of the worship of a number of pre-Christian
Christianity

Christianity is a Monotheistic religion #Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus as New Testament view on Jesus' life....
 religions, including the Eleusinian Mysteries
Eleusinian Mysteries

The Eleusinian Mysteries were initiation ceremony held every year for the Cult of Demeter and Persephone based at Eleusis in ancient Greece. Of all the mysteries celebrated in ancient times, these were held to be the ones of greatest importance....
, Mithraism
Mithraism

The Mithraic Mysteries or Mysteries of Mithras was a mystery cult which became popular among the military in the Roman Empire, from the 1st to 4th centuries AD....
, the Cult of Isis
ISIS

ISIS is an industry standard interface for technologies, developed by Pixel Translations in 1990 .ISIS is an open standard for scanner control and a complete image-processing framework....
, and the Cult of Sol Invictus
Sol Invictus

Sol Invictus was the Roman official religion sun god created by the emperor Aurelian in 274 and continued, overshadowing other Eastern cults in importance, until the abolition of paganism under Theodosius I....
. Dedicated devotees of the religion would be inducted into the mysteries by receiving special instruction. Due to the secrecy surrounding this special instruction, very little is now known about what was included in the mysteries.

Mystery traditions were popular in ancient Greece
Ancient Greece

The term Ancient Greece refers to the period of History of Greece lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman Republic conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth ....
 and during the height of the Roman Empire
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
, and may have influenced the introduction of sacred mysteries in Christianity.

Christian Mysteries

The term is used in Eastern Christianity
Eastern Christianity

Eastern Christianity refers collectively to the Christianity traditions and churches which developed in the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Asia Minor, the Middle East, Christianity in Africa and southern India over several centuries of religious antiquity....
 to refer to what the Western Church currently calls Sacraments and Sacramentals
Sacramentals

Sacramentals are material objects or things set apart or blessed by the Roman Catholicism, the Orthodox Churches and the Church of Englandes to manifest the respect due to the Sacraments, and so to excite good thoughts and to increase devotion, and through these movements of the heart to remit venial sin, according to the Council of Trent ....
. In the Early Church they were kept hidden from the pagans
Pagans

Pagans may mean:* Paganism, a group of religions* Order of the Vine, a druidic faction in the "Thief" video game series* Pagans MC, a motorcycle club...
 — the so-called Disciplina arcani
Disciplina arcani

Disciplina Arcani or Discipline of the Secret or Discipline of the Arcane, is a theological term used to describe the custom which prevailed in Early Christianity, where knowledge of the more intimate mysteries of the Christian religion was carefully kept from non Christians and even from those who were undergoing instruction in the...
 — lest they become objects of ridicule. As the Age of Persecution
Age of Persecution

Although there have been many Persecution of Christians, The Age of Persecution began in A. D. 64 with the persecution of Christians in Rome by Nero and ended in A....
 ended, the secrecy was gradually relaxed. But the term continued to be used. Originally the term "Mystery" was used in both the East and the West, as shown from the "Mystagogical
Mystagogue

A mystagogue is a person who initiates others into mysticism beliefs, an educator or person who has knowledge of the Sacred Mysteries or magick....
 Homilies" of St. Cyril of Jerusalem
Cyril of Jerusalem

Saint Cyril of Jerusalem was a distinguished theologian of the early Church . He is venerated as a saint by both the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, as well as in the Anglican Communion....
 and the work, "On the Mysteries" by St. Ambrose of Milan.

The terms Sacrament and Sacramental are terms which the Western Church has carefully defined in Canon Law
Canon law

Canon law is internal ecclesiastical law governing the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church churches, and the Anglicanism of churches....
. Thus, for instance, the Council of Trent
Council of Trent

The Council of Trent was the 16th century Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. Considered one of the Church's most important councils, it convened in Trento between December 13, 1545, and December 4, 1563 in twenty-five sessions for three periods....
 declared there to be exactly seven sacraments. The Eastern Churches, in contrast, have never defined the Mysteries in such precise terms. And, though the Western Church teaches that the consecrated bread and wine of the Eucharist
Eucharist

The Eucharist, also called Holy Communion or Lord's Supper and other names, is a Christianity sacrament commemorating, by consecrating bread and wine, the Last Supper, the final meal that Jesus Christ shared with his disciples before his arrest, and eventual crucifixion, when he gave them bread saying, "This is my body", and wine...
 are one Sacrament, the Divine Liturgy
Divine Liturgy

The Divine Liturgy is the common term for the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine church tradition of Christian liturgy. As such, it is used in the Eastern Orthodoxy and Eastern Catholic Churches....
 refers to the Eucharist as the Mysteries, in the plural. Orthodox Christians have always received Holy Communion in both species (both the Body
Body of Christ

Body of Christ is a term of Christian theology, implicitly traceable to Jesus's statement at the Last Supper that "This is my body" in , and explicitly used by the Apostle Paul of Tarsus in ....
 and the Blood
Blood of Christ

The Blood of Christ in Christian theology refers to the physical blood actually shed by Jesus Christ on the Christian Cross, and the salvation which Christianity teaches was accomplished thereby; and the Eucharistic blood used at Holy Communion, under species of wine....
), and even reserve both in the tabernacle
Church tabernacle

A Tabernacle is the fixed, locked box in which, in some Christian churches, the Eucharist is "reserved" . It is to be distinguished from a less obvious container, set into the wall, called an aumbry....
.

The word mysterion (µ?st?????) is used 27 times in the New Testament
New Testament

The New Testament is the name given to the second major division of the Christianity Bible, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
. It denotes not so much the meaning of the modern English term mystery, but rather something that is mystical. In the biblical Greek, the term refers to "that which, being outside the unassisted natural apprehension, can be made known only by divine revelation."

For the Eastern Orthodox, Christian life is centered in the Mystery of the Incarnation of Christ
Incarnation (Christianity)

The Incarnation is the belief in Christianity that Jesus Christ is God in human body. The word Incarnate derives from Latin meaning "in the flesh." The incarnation is a fundamental theological teaching of Nicene Creed, based on its understanding of the New Testament....
, 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 through theosis
Theosis

In Christianity theology, particularly in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and Eastern Catholic Churches theology, theosis is the process of a believer in emulating the life example of Jesus Christ and of following the gospel of Christ in one's daily life; the process of seeking to become more holy....
. The Sacraments, or Sacred Mysteries are the most important means by which the faithful may obtain union with God, provided they are received with faith
Faith

Faith is the confident belief in the truth of or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing. It is also used for a belief, characteristically without proof....
 after appropriate preparation
Eucharistic discipline

Eucharistic discipline is the term applied to the regulations and practices associated with an individual preparing for the reception of the Eucharist....
. Orthodox Christians believe that God is present everywhere and fills all things by his Divine grace
Divine grace

In theology, grace may be described as 'enabling power sufficient for progression'. In Christianity, grace divine is an "unmerited favour" of God, indispensable gift from God for development, improvement, and character expansion, and without God's grace, there are certain limitations, weaknesses, flaws, impurities, and faults mankind cannot...
, 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," i.e., in the Sacred Mysteries.

Though Orthodox instructional materials may list seven Sacred Mysteries (Baptism
Baptism

In Christianity, baptism is the ritual act, with the use of water, by which one is admitted as a full member of the Christian Church and, in the view of some, as a member of the particular Church in which the baptism is administered....
, Chrismation
Chrismation

'Chrismation' is the name given in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and Eastern Catholic Churches churches, as well as in the Assyrian Church of the East, Anglicanism, and in Lutheranism initiation rites, to the Sacrament or Sacred Mysteries more commonly known in the West as confirmation , although Italian language normally uses cresima...
, Confession
Confession

The confession of one's sins is a religious practice important to many faiths, e.g., Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy....
, Holy Communion, Marriage
Marriage

Marriage is a social, spirituality, or law union of individuals. This union may also be called matrimony, while the ceremony that marks its beginning is usually called a wedding and the married status created is sometimes called wedlock....
, Ordination
Ordination

In general religious use, ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration, that is, set apart as clergy to perform various religious rites and ceremonies....
, and Unction), it must be understood that the term is not limited to these seven. 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."

See also

  • Mystagogue
    Mystagogue

    A mystagogue is a person who initiates others into mysticism beliefs, an educator or person who has knowledge of the Sacred Mysteries or magick....
  • Mystery cult
  • Sacrament
    Sacrament

    A sacrament, as defined in Hexam's Concise Dictionary of Religion is "a rite in which God is uniquely active." Augustine of Hippo defined a Christian sacrament as "a visible sign of an invisible reality." The Anglican Book of Common Prayer speaks of them as "an outward and visible sign of an inward and invisible Grace." Examples of sacram...


External links

article in Catholic Encyclopedia
Catholic Encyclopedia

The Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to today as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English language encyclopedia published by The Encyclopedia Press....
 by St. Ambrose of Milan St. Cyril of Jerusalem