The Holy Mysteries are sacred actions through which Christ gives you real grace and union with God. They’re not symbols. They’re not reminders. They’re actual encounters with divine life, performed by the Church through the power of the Holy Spirit, using visible things like water, oil, bread, and wine to communicate invisible transformation.
If you grew up Baptist or at one of the big non-denominational churches around Beaumont, you probably heard about “ordinances”, baptism and communion as acts of obedience or remembrance. That’s not what we mean. And if you’re coming from a Catholic background, you know about the seven sacraments. We’re close to that understanding, but we use different language for important reasons.
Why “Mysteries” Instead of “Sacraments”?
We prefer the word “mysteries” because it captures something the Latin word “sacrament” can miss. The Greek term is mysterion, and it appears throughout St. Paul’s letters. A mystery isn’t a puzzle to solve. It’s a reality you enter into, something you experience and know in part but can never fully explain or control. When we baptize someone, when we celebrate the Eucharist, when we anoint the sick, we’re participating in the hidden life of Christ. We’re encountering God himself.
The word keeps us humble. It reminds us that these aren’t transactions we control or formulas we manipulate. They’re gifts. The Holy Spirit does the work, and we receive what’s given.
How Many Are There?
You’ll often hear Orthodox Christians list seven principal mysteries: Baptism, Chrismation, Eucharist, Confession, Holy Unction, Marriage, and Holy Orders. That’s the common teaching, and it’s what you’ll find in most catechetical materials. But here’s something that surprises people: Orthodoxy has never dogmatically limited the mysteries to exactly seven. That number comes from later medieval theology, and while it’s useful for teaching, it’s not a hard boundary.
The Church Fathers listed different numbers at different times. Some said two, some six, some ten. Why? Because the Church’s entire life is sacramental. Everything the Church does under the Holy Spirit’s power can communicate grace. We emphasize seven because they’re the major, clearly defined mysteries that Christ instituted or the apostles practiced, but we don’t box God in.
What the Seven Principal Mysteries Are
Baptism is how you enter. You’re immersed three times in water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You die with Christ and rise with him. Your sins are washed away, and you’re born again into the Church.
Chrismation happens immediately after baptism in Orthodox practice (unlike Catholic confirmation, which comes later). The priest anoints you with chrism, holy oil blessed by the bishop, and you receive the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit. You’re now a full member of the Church, able to receive communion.
The Eucharist is the center of everything. We call it the “Mystery of Mysteries.” When we celebrate the Divine Liturgy, the bread and wine become the actual Body and Blood of Christ. Not a symbol, not a metaphor. You’re receiving Christ himself, and through that communion you’re being united to God and to every other Orthodox Christian across time and space.
Confession (we also call it the Mystery of Repentance) is how you’re healed after baptism. You confess your sins to a priest, receive counsel, and hear the words of absolution. It’s not just about forgiveness in a legal sense. It’s medicine for your soul.
Holy Unction is anointing with oil for healing. It’s not last rites (though it can be given to the dying). It’s for anyone who’s sick in body or soul, and we often celebrate it communally during Lent. The prayer asks for forgiveness of sins and healing of the whole person.
Marriage isn’t a contract you make that the Church witnesses. It’s a mystery in which God joins two people and gives them grace to live out their union as an icon of Christ and the Church.
Holy Orders is ordination to the diaconate, priesthood, or episcopate. Through it, a man receives grace to serve the Church and to celebrate the mysteries on behalf of the community.
What Makes Something a Mystery?
Not every church ritual is a mystery. What makes these different? A mystery is an action that Christ instituted (or that comes from apostolic practice), that the Church performs as the Church, that uses physical elements, that invokes the Holy Spirit, and that actually changes something or communicates grace. When the priest says the prayers over the bread and wine, when he baptizes, when he anoints, the Holy Spirit acts. Something real happens.
This is why the mysteries are tied to salvation. We don’t believe you’re saved by a one-time decision. Salvation is healing, transformation, union with God. We call it theosis, becoming by grace what God is by nature. The mysteries are how that happens. They’re the primary means by which divine life enters you, heals you, and gradually transforms you into the likeness of Christ.
Fr. Thomas Hopko used to say that the Church is a hospital and the mysteries are the medicine. That’s exactly right. You come to the Eucharist not because you’re spiritually healthy but because you need healing. You come to confession not because you’ve arrived but because you’re still sick with sin and need the cure.
The Holy Spirit is the one who makes it all work. In the Liturgy, the priest prays the epiclesis, the calling down of the Spirit, over the gifts. “Send down Your Holy Spirit upon us and upon these gifts here presented.” That’s the heart of it. The mysteries aren’t magic, and they’re not just the priest going through motions. They’re the Church asking the Spirit to do what only God can do, and the Spirit answering that prayer because Christ promised he would.
If you’re visiting St. Michael for the first time, you can’t receive communion yet. That’s hard, especially if you’re used to open communion tables. But it’s not because we don’t love you or think you’re not Christian. It’s because the Eucharist is the fullness of union with the Orthodox Church, and that union includes everything, the faith, the life, the whole tradition. When you’re received into the Church through baptism (or chrismation if you’re already baptized), you’ll be able to approach the chalice. Until then, come forward at the end for blessed bread. Come to vespers on Saturday evening. Start learning the prayers. Let the mysteries do their work slowly, the way medicine works. There’s no rush. God’s been waiting for you a long time, and he’ll wait a little longer while you learn what it means to be Orthodox.
