The Liturgical Mystery
The Oxford Handbook of Mystical Theology February 25, 2020 DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198722380.013.7
Summary
The core of Christian mysticism is inseparable from liturgical practice, especially the Eucharist. While modern usage equates mysticism with individual experience, the original Christian meaning ties it to sacraments, above all the divine liturgy. The Eucharist should be understood not as a text but as an action performed by Christ—on the cross, eternally in heaven, and in the present liturgy. Christ draws the entire cosmos into unity with himself and his self-offering to the Father, an act of reconciliation and love with ascetical, ontological, metaphysical, and cosmic implications.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key finding | Christian mysticism is fundamentally liturgical, centered on the Eucharist as Christ's ongoing action of cosmic reconciliation and love. |
Abstract
This chapter argues that the heart of the ‘mystical’ in the Christian faith is inalienably liturgical. Despite the fact that modern use of the ‘mystical’, and especially ‘mysticism’, is concerned wholly with the experience of the individual, whether in the context of the sacramental life or outside it, the root meaning of the mystical in Christian understanding is bound up with the sacraments, and pre-eminently the eucharist, the divine liturgy. It is argued further that the eucharist is to be seen less as a text than an action, or movement, and an action performed by Christ: on the cross, eternally in heaven, and now in the eucharist. He is coming to draw the whole cosmos into unity with him and his offering himself to the Father. This is an act of reconciliation and love, with entailments, ascetical, ontological, metaphysical, and cosmic.