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Liturgy and patristic catechesis as a passage from the visible to the invisible

Publication |
2022

Abstract

The aim of this article is to present the way in which two Fathers of the Church of the fourth century, Cyril of Jerusalem and Ambrose of Milan, use the mystagogical and exegetical method. We want to show how they lead the believer from the literal text, or the visible data, to the invisible gifts that are hidden in it.

In this way it can be shown how closely liturgy, biblical exegesis and the teaching of the faith itself are interwoven in patristic sacramental catechesis, which can also be a source of inspiration for the Church's task today in view of man's sensitivity to symbolic perception and sacramental life in the Church. However, the task of the Church today, in the face of new converts and the baptised, remains ultimately the same as in the early centuries of Christianity: to move from the visible to the grasp of the invisible, that is, the mystery of Christ.