Mysticism - A Quiet Movement of the Heart

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The Mystical Marriage of Saint Catherine - by MateoCerezo - from Museo del Prado, Madrid . . . . . .
Marriage Metaphors abound in the Teaching of Jesus. There are Specific Mentions of Marriage, the Bridegroom, the Bride; there are also Passages where Jesus refers to Marriage Customs of the day to illustrate His Meaning.

In Matthew 22:1-14, Jesus likens the Kingdom of Heaven to a Marriage.
In Matthew 25:1-13, Man’s Expectancy of Salvation is compared to the Wisdom or Foolishness of Virgins who wait for the Bridegroom.

 

Mysticism, according to its Etymology, implies a Relation to Mystery. As a Philosophical System, Mysticism considers as the End of Philosophy the Direct Union of the Human Soul with the Divinity through Contemplation and Love, and Attempts to Determine the Processes and the Means-of Realizing this End. This Contemplation, according to Mysticism, is not based on a merely Analogical Knowledge of the Infinite (∞), but as a Direct and Immediate Intuition of the Infinite (∞).

From the Catholic Encyclopedia

 

Mysticism - A Quiet Movement of the Heart

by Father John Murray, CssR

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Mysticism is about Oneness (1) with God or Divinization. Mystics are the Great Giants of the Spiritual Life who have a Profound Desire of Unity (1) with God. The Mystical Soul Surrenders to God, Transcending our Sensate World. They Advance-into Saint John of the Cross' Darkness, where they Experience God not by Words or Idea, but in Pure Love.

alert1.gif (7254 bytes) Bilocation, Visions, Ecstasies and Levitations are not the Heart of the Mystical Experience. One of the Great Mystics of the 19th Century, Saint Therese of Lisieux, experienced no such Extraordinary Mystical Phenomena. An Over-concern with these Spectacles may Receive the same Warning that Jesus spoke in John 4:48: "Unless you People see Signs and Wonders, you will not Believe".

Some Writers may Describe the Mystical Way of Union with God in Amazing Detail. Don't get Trapped in the Details of the Different Stages and their Technical Signs of Spiritual Development. The Mystical Way is, Above-all, a Mystery, and the Path is as different as each Individual, Uniquely made in God’s Image.

Karl Rahner, the most Important Catholic Theologian of the 20th Century, spoke of "Everyday Mysticism". We all want further Knowledge of God, but in Everyday Life we don't often Reflect-on our Experiences-of God. Then an Intense Experience of God allows us to Experience God more Clearly.

Of course, although God Calls us all to Mystical Union, most of us will never Achieve it on this Side of the Grave. Still, the Paschal Mystery is what Christian Spirituality is all about. We Die-to Self and Come-to New Life in Christ, not Once, but Continually. The End of that Process is our Mystical Union with God.

 

The Mystical Body of Christ

(The Mystical Body of Christ aka the Communion of Saints,
the Bride of Christ, the Church)

Mystici Corporis Christi

(Pope Pius XII - Mystici Corporis Christi - On the Mystical Body of Christ -
29 June 1943}

The Communion of Saints

The Priesthood of the Laity

German Mystics of the Middle Ages

(Writings of the Great German Mystics of the Thirteenth Century,
still in Publication today)