Holy Mysteries

From OrthodoxWiki
Revision as of 23:57, July 14, 2005 by ASDamick (talk | contribs) (added cats and template)
Jump to: navigation, search
This article forms part of the series
Orthodox Spirituality
Holy Mysteries
Baptism - Chrismation
Confession - Eucharist
Marriage - Ordination
Holy Unction
Three Stages
Catharsis/Purification
Theoria/Illumination
Theosis/Divinization
Hesychasm
Nepsis - Metanoia
Hesychia - Phronema
Mysticism - Nous
Asceticism
Chastity - Obedience
Stability - Fasting
Poverty - Monasticism
Virtues
Humility - Generosity
Chastity - Meekness
Temperance - Contentment
Diligence
Prayer
Worship - Veneration
Prayer Rule - Jesus Prayer
Relics - Sign of the Cross
Church Fathers
Apostolic Fathers
Desert Fathers
Cappadocians
The Philokalia
The Ladder of Divine Ascent
Edit this box

The holy mysteries or sacraments in the Orthodox Church are vessels of the mystical participation in divine grace of mankind. In a general sense, the Orthodox Church considers everything which is in and of the Church as sacramental or mystical. Generally, the Church recognizes and counts seven (though not only seven) mysteries:

Etymology

The term sacrament is derived from the Latin sacramentum, meaning "a consecrated thing or act," i.e. "something holy"; '"to consecrate", which itself was a Church Latin translation of the Greek mysterion, meaning "mystery".