Reclaiming the Mystics of the Church

In the past fifty years, much scholarship dealing with the Mystics of the Church has been done, in a popular way, by feminists and proponents of New Age philosophies. The contribution of Mystics to Christian theology has been hijacked, to validate the agendas of such groups.

The Church herself has made little use of their contribution, preferring to focus on the adaptation of business practices, technology and popular music. We have not reaped the fruit of their mystical labours. We have left those fruits to be gleaned by strangers who throw their rotted fruits at the Church.

The Saints and mystics of old were not icons. They were people who were so filled with the goodness of God that it overflowed the limits of this world and spilled them into the realm of Heaven. They brought back stories and descriptions of incredible things, things almost too wonderful to believe. They had revelations of the goodness and wonders of God which are as profound as they are personal. We must not waste their legacy because we are too timid to hear what the Lord is saying to us through them.

The Church needs to renew her efforts to hear them. We must decide that their message is precious and necessary for such a time as this. Once we have decided, then the effort to wade through the layers of ancient language, scholarly jargon and regional traditions, will not seem too great to undertake. Under all those layers of old paint, masterpieces of revelation are waiting to be discovered.

They have been called saints for a reason. They have been evaluated by the Church and found truthful. They are not heretics in the employ of the enemy, even if he seems to be the only one taking advantage of their contribution. The mystics of the Church are prophetic. They have been given the gift of speaking God’s words after they hear Him speak. They paint for us pictures of the visions God gifted them with.

Peter, James and John saw Jesus transformed by indescribable light at the Transfiguration. There are myriad ways of understanding the theology of such an event but if the disciples had never shared their vision, we would not know where to start.

There are treasures new and old in the storehouse of the Church. The mystics have left treasures for us to open, which will bring light to our dark times. We must not neglect their gifts to us. We need to seek out those gifts, unwrap them from the layers of misunderstanding and put them on a pedestal to enlighten our times.