Encyclopedic Dictionary of Bible and Theology

Mystical Rose A traditional title given to Our Blessed Lady, an invocation in the Litany of Loreto. The rose is considered the queen of flowers, the red rose symbolic of love, the white rose, of purity. Mary’s love for God was always perfect, while she was, and is, always the Immaculate. Mary is the mystical … Continue reading “Mystical Rose”

Mystical Pantheism SEE PANTHEISM. Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

mystical numbers The Fathers of the Church have regarded numbers in Scripture as full of mystical meaning. Three, four, and their compounds, as well as seven, eight, and forty have a special spiritual signification. Three refers to God. He is past, present, and future. He is thrice holy; three times His name is pronounced in … Continue reading “mystical numbers”

mystical marriage A permanent perception or consciousness of the presence of God in the soul, and His union with it. Taken in a wide sense it consists in a vision in which Christ tells the soul that He takes it for His bride; in a restricted sense, according to Saint Teresa and Saint John of … Continue reading “Mystical Marriage”

Mystical Interpretation otherwise termed spiritual, figurative, is either tropological or anagogical, i.e., according to it words having a distinct literal sense receive either a moral or heavenly reference. Some include the allegorical under the mystical. The mystical differs from the literal sense in this, that the meaning cannot at once be derived from the words; … Continue reading “Mystical Interpretation”

Mystical Body of the Church The analogy borne by any society of men to an organism is sufficiently manifest. In every society the constituent individuals are united, as are also the members of a body, to effect a common end; while the parts they severally play correspond to the functions of the bodily organs. They … Continue reading “Mystical Body of the Church”

Mystical Body of Christ The Church is called a mystical body having Christ as its head. Saint Paul is the foremost exponent of this doctrine (1 Corinthians 6, 12, 12-14, 20, 27; Ephesians 4, 11-13, 15-16; Colossians 1, 18, 24). It is chiefly this: Christ as the head of the Church exercises in a mystical, … Continue reading “Mystical Body of Christ”

Mystic Veils (, a folding door, because they opened in the middle) were hanging veils used in Eastern churches to conceal the chancel from the catechumens and unbelievers. They were also designed to conceal the eucharist at the time of consecration. As Christian churches were constructed after the type of the Jewish Temple, the represents … Continue reading “Mystic Veils”

mystery plays Terms designating the religious drama which developed among Christian nations at the end of the Middle Ages. The origin of the medieval drama was in religion. On solemn feasts such as Easter and Christmas , the office was interrupted and the priests represented the religious event being celebrated. At first the text was … Continue reading “mystery plays”

Mystery Of Iniquity ( ), an expression that occurs in Paul’s description of the workings of an antichristian power in his own day (1Th 2:7), and the meaning of which is not clear. The attributive genitive () does not seem to be that of the agent (Theodoret), nor that of apposition (Lunemann and Alford), but … Continue reading “Mystery Of Iniquity”