Summary: In order to understand this article and better see the existence, the meaning and the implications of the Prophetic Function of the Church, we highly recommend this article be read first: “The Epiphany of The Church of the Desert”. The article which follows below is a consequence of it, and shows the next step: the need for a Creed for Spiritual Formation in the Prophetic Function: the Prophetic Creed.
Catechesis and Mystagogy
As we can see in the article “The Epiphany of the Church of the Desert”, the Christian spiritual journey has two large consecutive periods of growth. Each one is triggered by a specific Call and a Conversion and each has its own creed and teaching content. The formation that belongs to the first period is called Catechesis and it precedes or accompanies Baptism – if one is baptised as a child Catechesis occurs during the years after Baptism. One of the main elements of Catechesis is the Creed: a summary of the fundamental and vital elements of Faith that enable us to be saved. This period starts with the Conversion to Christianity. The Creeds it embedded in it are the Creeds we know and use: The Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed. The Formation that follows comprises Catechesis. One can find the contents of Catechesis in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
The other period of growth is long and is less known and less defined. It starts by Jesus calling us to come and follow Him closely. Perceiving this Call is essential to this new period of Christian life. Perceiving it can be progressive, gentle, and sometimes it can be sudden and strong. The change which occurs here is often also called: “Second Conversion”(“second” in order to distinguish it from the first one mentioned above). In former times, the formation that belongs to the second period was called Mystagogy, from the Greek words meaning “to lead through the mysteries”. Sometimes it immediately followed Baptism which occurred at the Easter Vigil, and extended throughout the Easter season until the feast of Pentecost. Often real Mystagogy occurred a while afterwards. It is often triggered by the Second Conversion and the need for formation in this new period of life. Mystagogy, however, is more than just a deeper understanding of the mysteries present in the Sacraments as often presented. It is an enlivening and deepening of the life of the Faithful, a unique, personal, and immediate experience of the Risen Lord and following Him in the Power of the Holy Spirit.
St. Athanasius of Alexandria
Understanding Mystagogy Today
Today, many consider that down the centuries, even if Catechesis was practised and was revived in different periods of the history of the Church – not to mention nowadays – Mystagogy itself hasn’t survived. True, today we can still read some of the early mystagogies of the Fathers of the Church. But there is apparently nothing after this early period of the Church. Is this a fact? If Mystagogy is “to lead us through the mysteries”, or “to introduce us into the mysteries of our faith”, we can and we should say that in the early centuries, Mystagogy, this new stage of growth, developed and became even more apparent through the quest for God in the Desert: Monasticism. In fact, monastic life is fundamentally a new life with Christ, a life where we seek Union with God, where we have a deep and living relationship with Christ. The Masters of Spiritual Life who flourished in Monasticism, then and in the following centuries, are to be considered true Mystagogues. By their teaching they led many monks and lay seekers to union with God. By their practical teaching they introduced the seekers into a deeper and living relationship with Christ. Isn’t this true Mystagogy? In this sense, and if we accept this development as part of it, we can say that Mystagogy not only hasn’t disappeared but that it has flourished and developed till today. It is true that today we don’t use the word Mystagogy anymore – Spiritual Formation being the more usual term – but the reality of Mystagogy is clearly present and alive today as it has been throughout the centuries. Also, much will be gained by developing and strengthening this area of formation – which is specific to the Prophetic side of the Church. Also, the Prophetic Function of the Church would benefit immensely by having a common and organised Spiritual Doctrine for Spiritual Formation for all. What I mean by that is: as we have a Catechism of the Catholic Church – which is a common instrument of Catechesis for all the Church, inspires all local catechesis, is a guideline for them – we would benefit greatly if one day we could have a “Catechism” of Spiritual Formation, where the Church can find all the Spiritual Doctrine and Spiritual Formation capable of leading a person from the Second Conversion to the fullness of Love, i.e. holiness.
Mystagogy on a Practical Level
So, in practice, how and when did mystagogy occur in the past and how should it occur today? The process would begin when a baptised person would hear the Lord’s call to go deeper into the faith and seek perfection: “come and follow me”. He or she would actually leave the world and go into the Desert to search for Union with the Lord and live for Him only. (See the Life of St. Anthony written by St. Athanasius, who is also the author of the Nicene Creed.) He or she would then receive a spiritual formation, a guidance, and a spiritual direction in order to grow spiritually. This is to be considered as “Mystagogy”. As mentioned above, today we tend to say: “Spiritual Formation”.
If Catechesis belongs to the Priestly Function of the Church, Mystagogy or Spiritual Formation belongs to the Prophetic Function of the Church. What, then, are these Functions? If we look at the Church as a whole, we can say that she has three functions represented in three different bodies, perfectly united and interrelated: the Kingly body (Pope and Bishops), the Priestly one (Parish and Parish Priests) and the Prophetic one (Monks, all who have heard the Call to follow Jesus and the Spiritual Masters). (see the first part of this Article and for deeper understanding see this writing of John Henry Newman)
It is important to understand that within the “Universal Call to Holiness” that originates in Baptism, there is a significant distinction between “knowing that we are all called to holiness” and actually “hearing the Call and starting the journey” (see this Article). The first period of growth belongs to the Baptismal life in the Parish: living Catechesis to the full. While the second period belongs to the “call of the desert”, the “call for perfection” or simply “Jesus’ personal call to follow Him” – a deepening of Baptismal life. The Call for perfection is emblematically mentioned in the Gospel story of the rich young man (Mark 10:17-31) who asks Jesus to tell him how to reach Perfection.
“17 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” 20 And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth.” 21 And Jesus looking upon him loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 At that saying his countenance fell, and he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions.” (Mark 10:17-31; see also Matthew 19:16-22; Luke 18:18-30)
As we can see from the text, the Lord divides his answer into two stages:
- the necessity to practise Moses’ Commandments first. In Mark and Luke the Lord says: “you know the commandments”, in Matthew he says: “if you want to enter life, keep the commandments”,
- to go and sell everything, give the money to the poor and go and follow Jesus. We may consider that the first stage ensures Salvation, while the second offers Union with Christ and full realisation of the “Gift of God” (John 4:10), in other words it ensures Holiness. The first stage is led by Catechesis, and the second by Mystagogy or Spiritual Formation.
The Catechetical Creeds
The New Testament is rich in Professions of Faith, short Creeds, from the well-known one: “Who do you think I am?… You are the Christ” (Mk. 8:29) to “if your lips confess that Jesus is Lord you will be saved” (Rom. 10:9) and many others (see Acts 18:5; Eph. 1:3; 1Cor 15:3-5). In a narrative way we have this creed in Acts 2:22-36. In a Liturgical context, then too, we have the hymn/creed in Phil. 2:6-11. Sometimes the Father and the Son are confessed together as in 1 Cor. 8:6.
Throughout the centuries, challenged by many heresies, the Fathers of the Church felt the need to defend, protect and present the true Faith. One of these major moments is during the Nicene Council (325). Strangely, it is while having to face heresies and to respond to them that Creeds or articles of the Creed emerged and developed.
Note: With time, the structure itself of the Creed also became more speculative. Compare the more Christological organically developed Apostles’ Creed with the Nicene Creed (see the studies of Fr. François Marie Léthel OCD, “Connaître l’amour du Christ qui surpasse toute connaissance”, 1997).
“From the beginning, the apostolic Church expressed and handed on her faith in brief formulae normative for all.” (CCC 186) “Through the centuries many professions or symbols of faith have been articulated in response to the needs of the different eras: the creeds of the different apostolic and ancient Churches, e.g., the Quicumque, also called the Athanasian Creed; The professions of faith of certain Councils, such as Toledo, Lateran, Lyons, Trent; or the symbols of certain popes, e.g., the Fides Damasi or the Credo of the People of God of Paul VI.” (CCC 192) “None of the creeds from the different stages in the Church’s life can be considered superseded or irrelevant. They help us today to attain and deepen the faith of all times by means of the different summaries made of it.” (193) “This Creed is the spiritual seal, our heart’s meditation and an ever-present guardian; it is, unquestionably, the treasure of our soul.” (197)
We know that in the early centuries the Creed wasn’t written, it was transmitted orally as the most precious and “secret” treasure a Christian had. The Creed had to be learned by heart before Baptism. The Creed was also considered as the most beautiful hymn and prayer (a Psalm) that could be sung or prayed (see J.H. Newman studies on the creed during the Arian crisis).
The Function of the Creed
What is the function of the Creed in Catechesis? The Creed gives us a picture of the invisible world; the Creed is the eyes which help us see the real world. The Creed nourishes and builds our Faith. Without Faith we can’t really function properly, and conversely big parts of reality will remain absent or excluded from our inner world.
The Creed is the backbone of our Christian life. It keeps us upright, pilgrims in this world, capable of seeing what is in front of us. The elements of the Creed are also like silver plate covering the gold of the reality of God Himself and his work in the world.
The Creed is intimately related to the Act of Faith. In fact, we start the Creed by saying, “I believe in…”. The Creed is an Act of Faith. St. Thomas Aquinas says very clearly that the act of faith ends in the object mentioned and not with the formulae. ST II-II, Q.1, a.2. obj. 2: “The symbol mentions the things about which faith is, in so far as the act of the believer is terminated in them, as is evident from the manner of speaking about them. Now the act of the believer does not terminate in a proposition, but in a thing. For as in science, we do not form propositions, except in order to have knowledge about things through their means, so is it in faith.”
In this sense the Act of Faith communicates to us the contents of the Mysteries the words express. See St. John of the Cross, Spiritual Canticle, Stanza 12,3-4 when he comments, “Oh that on your silvered surface” saying that the silver of the words contains the gold of the mysteries. “As the faith gives and communicates to us God Himself, but hidden beneath the silver of faith, yet it reveals Him none the less.” (Spiritual Canticle, Stanza 12,4)
So, the Creed per se has a fundamental function of guidance, and accessibility. The words are windows open to new avenues in the spiritual realm, giving us access to God and to his mysteries.
A Creed for Catechesis and a Creed for Mystagogy
To say that there is a “Mystagogy Creed” means then that entering in Jesus’ friendship, and answering His Call to follow Him, we have fundamental elements we need to know that they exist, and that we need to abide by. The Mystagogy Creed is not only an important guide and a light on our spiritual path and formation, but it is also, by believing in its articles and abiding by them, a way of opening ourselves up to a new deeper world in which we are granted access to a new journey of growth which lead us, here on earth, to Union with Jesus and fullness of Love.
Without this guidance our path wouldn’t be secure.
The entire contents of the Mystagogy Creed have been known to us, throughout 20 centuries of Christianity, but it is now time to realise that we need a common ground to open more widely the way for Holiness to the People of God. In fact, at this juncture in the life of the Faithful, something new is started: a Call to follow Jesus from close up, to plumb new depths of Baptism. It is true that being baptised gives us potentially the capacity to follow Jesus! But, significantly, at a certain point in our life, hearing Jesus’ Call, is something different and vital. The new journey as of now has its own “rules” and its own “set of beliefs” or “Creed”! This “new” Creed is not opposed to the common Creed, on the contrary, it is included in it, it proceeds from it and deepens it. If we consider that the Creed as we know it is the creed of the Catechumens and the recently baptised and confirmed, we can then consider that there is another Creed that serves as a framework for this new period of growth.
The first part of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the classic first part of Catechesis in the Church, is the handling of the Creed and the explaining of it. We can say that the first part of the Spiritual Formation (Mystagogy) should also have its own Creed and this Creed should be explained extensively. This is a real need, not an option for the Church.
The Mystagogy or Prophetic Creed
The elements that constitute this Creed are twelve as in the first Creed. They are the main vital truths that command the entire vision of the new period of Spiritual Growth. In fact, the second conversion introduces us to a new world and this Creed – our new contemplative eyes – allows us to contemplate it in its entirety. Without these vital truths one would not be on the orthodox path. Thus, one should now be able to say:
“I believe in * Jesus’ Call, in time; * Jesus’ Promises; * the stages of Growth of Spiritual Life; * the different levels of the Action of the Holy Spirit in us; * Our Lady’s role in our spiritual life; * the necessity of the assimilation of the Sacraments; * the Full Development of the Virtues; * the necessity of determination, perseverance and the Pascal dimension of the Cross; * the need for appropriate Formation; * union with Christ’s Mystical Body; * a different level of Apostolate; * the Eternal Father’s Providence, Love and Mercy. Amen.”
Saying this Creed often, strengthens the belief in the elements of the commitment to answer Jesus’ Call.
Here follows short indications regarding each article of the Prophetic Creed. It goes without saying that each one of these deserves a long explanation and presentation.
| 1- Jesus’ Call, in Time |
Second Conversion. Entering into a personal relationship with Jesus. Hearing the Call. Following Him closely. Jesus is the Groom. Jesus is The Everything. |
| 2- Jesus’ Promises | Jesus Promised us:1- Union with Him / Acquisition of the Holy Spirit.2- Fullness of Love.
Life is: becoming one with the Son, being embraced by the Father, breathing the Holy Spirit. |
| 3- The Stages of Growth of Spiritual Life |
Union of will. Deep purification. Betrothal. Spiritual Marriage. Flares of the Holy Spirit. To love God as we are loved by Him. Participation in the Lord’s Passion. Dying out of Love. |
| 4- The Different Levels of the Action of the Holy Spirit in us |
Inner Master of the sanctification. Personal and direct action in us. General vs. Particular Help of the Grace of God. How to be in Synergy with the Holy Spirit. Human vs. Divine Modality. Necessity for Transformation. The Transformative line of our journey. A deeper understanding of the Scriptures. |
| 5- Our Lady’s Role in our Spiritual Life |
It is under her care and maternity that the journey is achieved. Necessity for a total and constant entrustment to Her. Her Faith is transmitted to us. |
| 6- The Necessity of the Assimilation of the Sacraments |
There is a necessity to assimilate the Sacraments: the sacramentality of the Word of God (Lectio Divina) and the Eucharist (Prayer of the Heart). Living in the presence of God. |
| 7- The Full Development of the Virtues |
Virtues (Faith, Hope, Love), the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit need to grow in us. Two types of Contemplation (Lectio Divina, Prayer of the Heart). Participation in the Lord’s Passion. Humility – Detachment – Love, practised heroically. |
| 8- The Necessity of Determination, Perseverance and the Pascal Dimension of the Cross |
How narrow is the door and the Path! Necessity of courage, endurance and resilience. Meaning of suffering. Learning to unite it to the Cross. Temptation. The different types of ‘nights’. |
| 9- The Need for Appropriate Formation |
Necessity of: Formation – Spiritual Direction – Spiritual Friendship. |
| 10- Union With Christ’s Mystical Body |
The Whole Christ is Head and Body (the Church). We can’t divide up Christ. We need to be united to both. |
| 11- A Different Level of Apostolate |
New Modalities of Apostolate develop throughout the journey of growth. Being united with Jesus’ Mystical Body engenders a new dimension of apostolic zeal. Transformed by the Holy Spirit into a living flame, our spirit, together with Him, sends out flares toward others, giving them the Holy Spirit in turn. |
| 12- The Eternal Father’s Providence, Love and Mercy | Everything works for the good of whomever commits to this path. God’s Providence embraces us: the help of the Angels, the Communion of Saints, St. Joseph’s vigilant help. |
Note: The Prophetic Creed could be also called “Mary’s Creed” because Mary, Jesus’ Mother, presides in a specific and direct way over the Prophetic branch and its function in the Church.
Conclusion
Saying that there is another Creed doesn’t mean at all that there is something new as such, or that we are changing the Creed itself or neglecting it. As mentioned above, the “Mystagogy Creed” blossoms from the “Catechesis Creed” and is a deepening of it. On the other hand, failing to recognise the existence of a “Mystagogy Creed”, or a Creed for Spiritual Formation, is equivalent to failing to recognise Jesus’ Call to follow Him up close, and all that is needed for this new phase of life. When the Vatican Council talked about the Religious life – consecrated life – the Council said that it is not adding anything new, and that the consecrated life is essentially a deepening of Baptism. We need to say the same thing here: the Mystagogy Creed is nothing new or added, it is the true development and deepening of the “Catechesis Creed”. It helps make it come alive.
See also: