the holy mysteries:

The Holy Mysteries are physical signs, established by Christ, which communicate the grace which they signify. The Holy Mysteries were given by Christ to the Church to purify us from sin, raise us up to new life, and sanctify us throughout our earthly sojourn so that we may be happy with him in the Kingdom forever. St. John Chrysostom explained, “It is called mystery, because what we believe is not the same as what we see; one thing we see and another we believe. For such is the nature of mysteries” (Homily on I Corinthians 7:2).

“The Mysteries (Sacraments) are not only the channels of divine grace, but they also are perceptible signs (symbols) of the invisible grace of God, which they confer through the performance of the sacred rites” (Holy Mysteries: The Sacraments in the Tradition of the Byzantine Rite).

baptism:

The first of the Holy Mysteries established by Christ is baptism. It is first because it is essential for salvation. “Baptism, [. . .] which now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (I Peter 3:21). Though it appears that in baptism water washes only the body, it is a true washing of the soul by which we die to sin and are raised to new life in Christ (Romans 6:3-4). The Apostle Paul tells us, “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27).

The washing of Baptism is the means by which Christ effects our rebirth into new life, fills us with grace, and grafts us into his body (I Corinthians 12:27). Christ told his disciple Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5) Just before his ascension into heaven, Christ commanded his apostles, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Matthew 28:19 and Mark 16:16). Baptism also infuses in the soul the gift of faith (CCC 153), without which it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). This faith is not just belief in Christ and what he taught, but a sincere trust in his goodness and his power to save us if we persevere to the end.

chrismation:

Christ also promised at the Last Supper, “the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things” (John 14:16). After his resurrection, when appeared to his apostles, “he breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’” (John 20:22).

This promise was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, fifty days after Our Lord’s resurrection from the dead, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles and the Virgin Mary.

“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit . . .” (Acts 2:1-4).

The Holy Mystery of Chrismation is the means by which Christ bestows this same grace upon all the baptized. Chrismation is the seal and the gift of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13) which completes the grace given to us in Baptism (CCC 1285).

The apostles, in their ministry to the world after the coming of the Holy Spirit, also made sure to bestow this great gift upon all the newly baptized they encountered. “Peter and John [. . .] came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit; for the Spirit had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized” (Acts 8:14-16). “On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them” (Acts 19:5-6).

The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness, teaches us to pray, and dwells within us, working within us for our salvation and sanctification (Romans 8). Today, the gift of the Holy Spirit is transmitted by an anointing with fragrant chrism (oil) just after Baptism, completing the new Christian’s enlightenment.

holy communion:

Jesus Christ came to unite himself to us and share his life with us. Christ comes to us most intimately and completely in the communion of his most holy body and precious blood, shed for the life of the world (Anaphora of St. Basil the Great). “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you,” said Jesus to his followers. “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me. This is the bread which came from from heaven, [. . .] he who eats this bread will live for ever” (John 6:52-58).

At the Last Supper, before he suffered his passion, Jesus “took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, ‘This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way also the chalice, after supper, saying, ‘This chalice is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink, in remembrance of me’” (I Corinthians 11:23-25).

In obedience to Christ’s command, we celebrate this same feast Christ’s body and blood every Sunday and holy day. The Church calls the bread and wine which have mystically become his body and blood, the Eucharist (meaning thanksgiving), and she calls the prayers by which this most sublime change is effected the Divine Liturgy. At each Divine Liturgy, as at the Last Supper, Christ nourishes his people with the Eucharist, his true body, blood, soul, and divinity (CCC 1413). And this awesome mystery is not metaphorical or symbolic only, but a true transformation of the elements so that it is really Christ whom we receive into our bodies, veins, hearts, and bones (Prayer of St. Simeon Metaphrastes). In this Holy Communion, Christ becomes intimately near to us and unites himself to us, just as he willed in the beginning.

St. Aphrahat the Persian writes, “He ate of his own body and drank of his own blood, while he was pondering on the dead. With his own hands the Lord presented his own body to be eaten, and before he was crucified he gave his blood as drink” (Treatises 12:6).

This same Eucharistic is offered now by Christ in the Church at the hands of the priests, who “continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God” (Hebrews 13:14). The sacrifice of the Eucharist is the same as Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross, offered by Christ to the Holy Trinity “for our sins and for the people’s failings” (Divine Liturgy). God’s great gift to us, Christ, is offered back to God as a perfect sacrifice for sin – “your own from your own, always and everywhere” (Divine Liturgy). Truly, the Eucharist is the source and summit of the entire Christian life (Lumen Gentium 11).