Literally,
mystagogy means leading those who have been initiated into a mystery
into its deeper meaning and significance for their lives..
The early church appropriated it to refer to what they did
during the great fifty days from Easter to Pentecost when
they were leading new converts
into a deeper appreciation of the sacred mysteries
they had experienced (particularly baptism and Eucharist)
as it related to how they would live their lives
and die their deaths.
mysterion in the New Testament refers to God's disclosure.
That disclosure can be expressed in earthly symbol and human event.:
The Church has found that disclosure incarnated
- in Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh who dwelt
and dwells among us, and
- in the two great witnesses to the paschal mystery::
the Word (read, sung, proclaimed and prayed) and the
Sacraments of the Baptismal Covenant and the Eucharist.
In mystagogy our goal is to love, as well as to understand,
the sacraments and God's Word in Christ which they celebrate.
Mystagogy is the process of drawing out the deep, rich,
and inexhaustible meaning in the worship of the church
--especially in the Baptismal Covenant and the celebration of the Eucharist.
We hope this website will help you do just that!
© 2006, Dwight and Linda Vogel.
(May be reproduced for teaching and learning by including this line.)
