SECRET CHRISTIANS
by Owen St. Victor The teachings of the mystics can be clearly stated. Prayer is a secret activity of the spiritual life. This is in accord with the words of Jesus himself as he taught His disciples. They were to pray to their Father ‘which is in secret’, he said, by entering their ‘inner chambers’. So begins the mystics’ way to the Vision of God. The mystics also teach that another secret activity of the spiritual life is the development of conscience and recollectedness, leading to virtue. Virtue is a spiritual empowerment to act. This is the key that opens the door of the mystics’ path towards the experience of the Presence of God. Secret prayer and virtue, according to the witnesses of the mystic tradition, cause a distillation of essence in the heart. It is oil for the lamp of the soul. Herein, as John’s Gospel says, is the light and the life of men. The cultivation of prayer and virtue, attention and will, lead to Wisdom which is the enlightening of the mind. In this book, ‘Secret Christians, the Teachings of the Mystics,’ the author wishes to embrace with equal warmth and fellowship those readers who are spiritual receivers, seekers who do not claim any special knowledge or status, as well as those who are spiritual donors, that is, teachers and writers and those with religious vocation or conviction who are able to transmit by word or by example some rays of light reflected from the Source. Seekers or teachers, all must necessarily fall short of the goal – authentic personal mystical experience of the fully-realized type. Therefore the same fellowship is open to all.
All are invited to the table, for there ultimately is only one food for all to feed on. Some call it Lord, some call it Truth. Others call it Bread, others, like St. Paul, call it Meat. By whatever name, this food, this single meal, is taken in common. So then, the table is set; for the family of Christ, and for the secret friends of God. |
Series: The Christian Mysteries Louvain/Mechelen 1991 Published in English, this series begins with three books by mystic and scholar Owen St. Victor, who explores a path in the philosophies of ancient theosophia and hermetics, naming and describing the sources of many almost unknown teachings which disclose the way of inner development in its higher aspects. These investigations of our Christianised spiritual heritage uncover much that was long-ago lost, or has been relegated to inaccessible books, specialist knowledge, and traditions reserved for initiates of the esoteric. The covers of the first three volumes in this series are illustrated by symbolic images: ‘Secret Christians’ cover shows the unique circular rose window of the Cathedral of Strasbourg admired by Goethe and by the ancient and modern Friends of God. ‘The Masked Madonna’ is illustrated by the celebrated figure of ‘Seated Wisdom’. ‘Epiphany’s cover is a symbolic representation of St. John, the Jordan prophet. All three images are represented at the back of this book. |
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