What is the mystical?

The mystical is the active participation with God. It is nothing we can ask for but it is given to all of us...through the grace of God. We all participate in the mystical as Gods children. There is a spiritual war all around us. Few are allowed to see it first hand...but all of us participate as Christians.

The mystical is all around us. If we look at nature (mountains, rivers, streams) we have direct connection with mystical. Those are the natural beauties of God. Through nature we enter the mystical.

During mass, we participate in the mystical Union of the Holy Eucharist. That is touching and participating in the mystical. When we pray we all enter into the mystical. We are all Mystics.

Now some by the Grace of God break through and begin to see the mystical first hand. And as they grow in knowledge...they actually reach a point that all that they were allowed to see...only scratches the surface of God.

That is why when someone breaks through and enters the mystical...everything changes. Life changes completely. (In my opinion that is what happened to our Holy Father. But that is different thread,). You begin to see the world mystically and live in the mystical. In a nut shell...He who lives through me.

We are all scratching the surface of the mystical. Some break through. The lowest form mysticism would actually be seeing evil. Maybe shadows, wierd feelings when something is wrong or it might be direct contact with demons. The next stage is the preparation stage. The cleaning of the soul. This stage purifies the soul to lead you on your journey. The final stage is the mystical union with God.

Hope that helps.
Enjoy the journey.

Brother al

 

Why do you think that some people break through to that final stage and others do not. I once knew a very holy priest who was very receptive to the mystical.He was very active in Marian devotion of Fr. Gobbi and Lourdes, Fatima, ect. However when asked if he ever experienced anything mystical or supernatural he said no. When we asked why do you think that?, I can't remember his exact words but it led me to believe that he thought his faith was strong and that God must have not thought he needed it.

 

intetesting...

Maybe the question is...who is the greater Saint? He/she who believes without seeing or the Saint that sees?

I say the everyday Saint is greater. Not to say our rockstar saints haven't given up everything for the glory of God. But what makes one Saint greater then the other?

Maybe your priest had a mission. His main mission was to say a few words to one specific person. The priest lived his life in union with God for that one moment. Let's say that one person he spoke to converts and changes the world. So we go back to...who is the greater Saint.

God has a plan...we all fit into this great puzzle. A spiritually enlightened Saint would never ask for the mystical graces. They would just be interested in spiritual growth. If by the grace of God it happens...they usually try to hide it.

Being a great Saint has nothing to do with seeing or having mystical experiences. Those experiences happen for a greater good. But they are never intended for the Saint.



Note: Your priest might have broken through the final stage. But his whole journey was internal.

 

I think the word mystical , in a general sense could be that which concerns mystery.

In A Christian sense Mystical means that which pertains to the Mystery of Christ. .

Colossians 1:27


to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.


Romans 16:25


Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past,


1 Corinthians 2:7


but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory;

 

Funny you say that. I was a child of the 70's. Born catholic but never attended any religious education. My parents had me attend the necessary few classes to make the sacraments, but that was it. I had no knowledge of the faith. Until this priest came into my life just at the time my kids were ready to go to school. Fate? I often wondered if the Lord kept me from the religious education during the seventies(that was very liberal at that time) so I could learn the true faith through this holy priest. It had that ripple effect like a wave in a pond, how it spreads. Its beautiful watching my kids growing into adults full of the faith in everything they do. I am very jealous of them. (my kids)

 

This is about St Catherine Laboure:
On the eve of the Feast of Saint Vincent de Paul, July 19, the Sister Superior spoke to the novices about the virtues of their Holy Founder and gave each of them a piece of cloth from his surplice. Catherine earnestly prayed to Saint Vincent that she might see the mother of God with her own eyes.
http://www.amm.org/aboutamm/story of st catherine.aspx

 

Yes, it's never easy to speak about the spiritual. What you are describing are very personal petitions to God. It's very hard to explain everything under one umbrella. Saints have asked for spiritual marriage with God. Saints have asked for answers to petitions. But those petitions are for ones personal journey.

Buts saints do not ask for the grace of levitation, read souls or prophecy.

How can one explain the mystical in 3 paragraphs?

Like everything else, my writing is just a small interpretation of my spirituality. It's my small map of my personal spiritual journey.

In my opinion, we are all giving small glimpses of our spiritual journey. Is it all 100 percent correct. Probably not. Does it need clarification...yes probably 20 volumes of clarification.

But someone asked, so I tried to scratch the surface of the mystical.

 

Any one touched the mystical.

 

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Good Morning Dear Brother,

Author Elizabeth B. Browning once wrote, "Earth is crammed with heaven: and every common bush afire with God; But only we who sees, Takes offf his shoes, While all the rest gather blackberries."

You are so right when you say above that God is all around us, recognizing Him in the bush, while entirely His prerogative, seems to follow a pattern.

St. Thomas Aquinas wrote in his first Treatise that when God told Moses and the Israelites His name, it was the greatest revelation of Himself that He could give until the coming of His Son Jesus Christ. St. Thomas recognized AM as the first person singular of "to be" and theorized that God's nature is to be.

In his second Treatise, St. Thomas expanded upon St. Augustine's earlier work on the Holy Trinity and the Cappadocian Fathers notion of Relatio, to theorize that God is by nature to be related.

The Trinity is in itself The Relationship and the main purpose for God creating humanity from the beginning was so that we could come to share our part within that divine relationship.

After the Fall, that relationship between God and humanity was crippled, but the wedding covenant between Adam and Eve was left intact (the only gift from God unchanged by the fall or the flood) to foreshadow the Sacrament of Christ and His Church and. Our renewed relation ship with the Father though the paschal mystery and the Holy Spirit.

It's all about building a relationship with us, like He has within Himself, so that we too can be a part of His Love (Holy Spirit) in the Mystical Body of Jesus (His Church).

All this we believe, but what does it have to do with seeing the burning bush. Everything.

Before "I AM" told Moses His name, Moses had to respond to a sight that He wasn't quiet sure of. God always initiates, it's up to us to give (or not give) a faith filled response, and then God completes 'what is good'.

How do we give to God our 'faith filled response' so that we too may come to know and see Him in the bush?

Today's readings for St. Peter Claver give us a clue.
Communion Antiphon

Cf. Mt 16: 24

Whoever wishes to come after me,

must deny himself, take up his cross,

and follow me, says the Lord.

Or, for those who served in public office:

Seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness,

and all these things will be given you besides, says the Lord.

But what exactly is 'taking up our cross' entail so that 'all these things will be given you besides'?

Show me a woman or man who exhibits silent suffering in their daily offering to God, and they are very likely a Saint in the making who touches the mystical through everyday experiences.

Mary is the champion and prime example of how silent suffering drew the Holy Spirit's gifts to her like no other woman. She reflects God's will perfectly without complaint and I would suggest that Her (alleged) Sept. 2nd message in Medjugorje be read. It's all about coming to know Her Son through silent suffering.

Silent suffering does not mean being silent about God's will for us and our mission to spread Christ's message, it does mean that we accept our own crosses as blessings and unite them to Jesus'.

The next encounter with the mystical is as close as the next moment of our life and the nature of that encounter is to a great deal dependent on the response that we have already given to Him. We can choose to remove our shoes and join our gracious, co-present God as He comes to us through human experience, and look with wonder at the bushes that we have set ablaze together, or, we can gather the blackberry vines that adorn His precious head. Let us all seek to set the world on fire.

Peace,
Ed
+

 

My Spiritual Director was a very holy man indeed, I looked so much up to him his entire life. .Nor was it only I I who had such respect for him he directed many other priests. One time I went to him and he told me he could no longer direct me because the kind of prayer I was having was something he had only read about in books. I talked him into carrying on because who else would I go to?

But down the years I have always wondered about this. Could it have been he was somewhere very, very deep in prayer an in his own humility did not know it/ I do not know.

But priests say that sometimes older people come to them in confession and saying they cannot pray. When the priests ask them why they comment that when they try to say a , 'Hail Mary', they get lost in prayer to such a degree they can no loner pray. whereas in actual fact they have entered into contemplative prayer without even knowing it.
St Teresa of Avila said that there are three grace sin prayer.

The grace of the prayer itself.

The grace of understanding prayer .

...and the grace of explaining prayer to others.

The fact that we cannot understand it or explain it to others does not mean that the prayer is not these. A blind person can walk to heaven as well as a sighted one.

There are so many mysteries.

 

M parents I think are a good example of this. They raised 10 children and were married for over 50 years. They would not have known a mystical from a bicycle but still I think were holy. It is love that makes people holy. Understanding that love, seeing it work on the icing of the cake. But whether we know if it is going on or not, it still goes on.

 

20th Century California Mystic,
On The Road To Sainthood
Servant of God
Cora Evans
By: Jonathan Mack, PhD RN NP.

A contemporary mystic, on her way as "Servant of God", whom I have recently discovered and find to be fascinating and most incredibly touching for our times that are preparing us for the Era of Living in the Divine Will is Cora Evans. Her books, "Selected Writings" which I would suggest to read first which contains as well portions from her main one for the present, "Refugee From Heaven", are like nothing I've read previously. Very moving, giving a whole new understanding of Jesus' life on earth and the many mystical "pearls" that were intertwined.

Cora prayed that she would be given the same gift as Saint Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower, spending her heaven on earth doing good, and promised to pray for all who asked for her intercession.

I personally feel that she does that. Her mission was to introduce and teach about the "Mystical Humanity of God", a devotion, which is a Eucharistic spirituality about the Indwelling of Jesus,.......

On December 24, 1946, Jesus revealed the mission entrusted to Cora. She learned that she was to promulgate the Mystical Humanity of Christ, a way of prayer that encourages people to live with a heightened awareness of the indwelling presence of Jesus in their daily lives. It is Eucharistic spirituality, and Jesus promised to foster the devotion. Father Frank served as the spiritual guide of Cora's soul for the rest of her life. His written account of events is testimony to Cora's heroic virtues and her reputation of sanctity.

[I know that in the Era of the Divine Will we are told that Jesus will live in each one from one Communion reception to the next! Why it is to be a Eucharistic reign of Jesus.]

The purpose of her life, the suffering she endured, and her writings inspire us to live with awareness of the presence of Jesus. When you practice this way of prayer, known as the Mystical Humanity of Christ, you take Jesus with you wherever you go (Cora Evans.com).

Cora's gifts of mysticism included suffering the wounds of Christ, known as the stigmata; the phenomena of bi-location associated with deep insight, the fragrance of roses associated with her presence, known as the odor of sanctity; visionary experiences, known as ecstasy; and profound writings far beyond her education level are not in and of themselves sufficient grounds for the declaration of sainthood. It is the story of her life with the proof of heroic virtues that places everything else in context
(excerpt from the Cora Evans website). Cora’s writings amount to volumes of books. She was said to type rapidly and in order to keep up, rolls of paper were attached to the type writer allowing her to type unhindered by having to stop to change paper.


Photograph of Cora Evans taken during ecstasy by Mary Parrish McDevitt
(sister of Father Frank Parrish, S.J.) with hand-held box camera using a
time exposure so as to not disturb the mystic. The stigmata are
visible on left hand facing camera.
(Image from Cora Evans.com)

http://www.mysticsofthechurch.com/2016/01/cora-evans-servant-of-god.html

 

Interesting interview:
A close friend remembers Servant of God Cora Evans
Former child star Darryl Hickman (Dobie Gillis!) considered Evans his “spiritual mother.”

Darryl Hickman, 86, was a successful child actor in the 1930s and 40s, working alongside many prominent actors in the Golden Age of Hollywood. He went on to become a successful television executive, producer, writer, and acting coach, and still works in the industry.

He is also a practicing Catholic. He briefly quit Hollywood in 1951, and tried his vocation as a Passionist monk. He lasted in the monastery for 32 days before deciding a religious vocation was not for him.

For many years Hickman was close friends with Servant of God Cora Evans (1904-1957), whose cause for canonization is currently being promoted by the Diocese of Monterey, California. Evans was a convert from Mormonism who claimed to have had mystical experiences throughout her life.

The Mystical Humanity of Christ, an organization that promotes the life and writings of Cora Evans, has recently released Gems, a collection of her writings. Visit www.coraevans.com to purchase the book or for additional information on the life of Evans.

Hickman recently spoke to CWR about his friendship with Cora Evans, whom he calls his “spiritual mother,” and about her life.

CWR: How did you meet Cora Evans and what impact did she have on you?

Darryl Hickman: I attended Cathedral High School in Los Angeles in the 1940s. It was operated by the Christian Brothers. One of the brothers, Brother Edward, took special care of me. I was about age 15, and the other kids in the school knew I was a child actor, so they’d try to beat me up. Brother Edward would protect me. He also knew I had a special interest in religion; in my teens, for example, I was reading St. John of the Cross.

Brother Edward introduced me to Cora. She was living in Burbank at the time. Cora had a son who died young; if he had lived, he would have been about my age. We bonded, and she became a spiritual mother to me. I knew her almost 10 years, and she had a profound influence on my life.

I joined the US Army, and was stationed at Ft. Ord in Northern California. It was near Boulder Creek [in the Diocese of Monterey], where she moved for the last years of her life. I’d spend my weekends with her, staying in the family guest house. It was a beautiful area, with mountains, a forest, and a stream nearby. She treated me like a son. She possessed great wisdom, and really taught me about doing God’s will.

CWR: She was said to have had the stigmata [wounds of Christ]. Did you ever see it?

Hickman: Yes, I saw it on more than one occasion. One weekend when I was visiting, for example, she was building a grotto to St. Francis of Assisi. She was placing rocks at the statue’s feet, using a trowel and wet cement. I sat and talked with her, and as I did, I noticed an open, gaping wound on her left hand. It was an inch-and-a-half long and a half-inch wide, but it was not bleeding.

I asked her, “Is that what I think it is?” She had a great sense of humor, and made light of it. She put some of the wet cement over top of it, and told me it was no big deal.

I recall another time when she was washing the dishes, and again had a big gash in her hand. I asked her, “Doesn’t that hurt?” She just shrugged and replied, “I have to wash the dishes.”

CWR: Did you ever see Cora in ecstasy?

Hickman: Yes. Cora’s spiritual director, Father Frank Parrish, SJ, allowed me to come to one of her major ecstasies, and it changed my life. She was totally unconscious, with her eyes closed, and was sunk into the bed like she weighed 300 lbs. It went on for an hour and a half. She spoke in a language I didn’t understand, and I was later told it was Aramaic, the language of Jesus.

As she started to come out of it, I was told that she had mystically received Holy Communion. She opened her mouth, and there on her tongue was a host.

MORE:
http://www.catholicworldreport.com/2017/07/27/a-close-friend-remembers-servant-of-god-cora-evans/

 

Wow!! Thanks for posting!!

 

I'm dating myself but I remember Darryl Hickman in Dobie Gillis!!!

 

Dating myself too, but Darryl is Dwayne{Dobie Gillis} Hickman's brother

 

Yes you're right, thanks for the clarification .....jumped at the name "Hickman". Boy, do they look alike! Says Darryl played "Dobie's" brother on a few episodes of that show. Wonder if Dwayne also kept the faith....

 

I think a great many people do very Saintly things every day and are not aware of it or the mystical surrounding them. Like you said, there is a spiritual war raging around us each and every day. I imagine that a great reward they must have in God's kingdom awaiting them. Maybe in some way this is best. Because one doesn't have the ego or pride to battle so much this way. It is also a great testament to their humility for those who do witness to the mystical in this world.

I also think a small group do very evil things and are well aware of their deeds. Many of them want the world to take part in these mysteries but without their full knowledge and a great many do take part even in their ignorance. This is why these groups are shrouded in a kind of secrecy. They will always reveal themselves at some point however, because they delight in their debauchery. We must seek to learn how to see them and their signs however.

Seeing the mystical I think is somewhat of a misnomer. Faith is believing in what we can not see. Can we trust our eyes to see things correctly? Father Rippinger says in one of his talks that he believes that demons can deceive us in this way, making us think we see things which are not real. He gives an example of a boy suffering possession who crawled up a wall and was witnessed by 3-4 people in a Doctors office. So, I think that we must rely on what Saint Paul teaches us in that we must test the spirits to know their fruits. Of course, we also must seek to understand what is pleasing to God or we could forever be confused by wickedness parading as Godliness.

 

Today in the Magnificat US edition they have this meditation from St John of the Cross, known as the Mystical Doctor - he is considered by many writers one of the greatest poets of all time. Apparently he wrote most of his poetry in a prison room of 10 x 6 feet punished by the court of Carmelite friars because they opposed his reforms of the Carmel even though they had been approved by the papal nuncio. His incredibly unjust punishment included a weekly public lashing, for nine months! I guess the devil was really desperate to stop this man of God. This is what Magnificat posted:


MEDITATIONOF THE DAY

“The Kingdom of heaven suffers violence”

Rejoice habitually in God, who is your salvation, and reflect that it is good to suffer in any way for him who is good.

Let them reflect how necessary it is to be enemies of self and to walk to perfection by the path of holy rigor, and let them understand that every word spoken without the order of obedience is laid to their account by God.

Have an intimate desire that his Majesty grant you what he knows you lack for his honor.

Crucified inwardly and outwardly with Christ, you will live in this life with fullness and satisfaction of soul, and possess your soul in patience.

Preserve a loving attentiveness to God with no desire to feel or understand any particular thing concerning him….

Be hostile to admitting into your soul things that of themselves have no spiritual substance, lest they make you lose your liking for devotion and recollection.

Let Christ crucified be enough for you, and with him suffer and take your rest, and hence annihilate yourself in all inward and outward things.

Endeavor always that things be not for you, nor you for them, but forgetful of all, abide in recollection with your Spouse.

Have great love for trials and think of them as but a small way of pleasing your Spouse, who did not hesitate to die for you.

Bear fortitude in your heart against all things that move you to that which is not God, and be a friend of the Passion of Christ.

Saint John of the Cross

Saint John of the Cross († 1591) is called the Mystical Doctor.

 

I think anything that we can not perceive with our natural senses must be mystical. Or is that not understanding it correctly.