What are mystics?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains that:

Spiritual progress tends toward ever more intimate union with Christ. This union is called ‘mystical’ because it participates in the mystery of Christ through the sacraments — ‘the holy mysteries’ — and, in him, in the mystery of the Holy Trinity. God calls us all to this intimate union with him, even if the special graces or extraordinary signs of this mystical life are granted only to some for the sake of manifesting the gratuitous gift given to all (no. 2014).

So, in a general sense, a mystic is someone who has a very intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.

Servant of God John Hardon, S.J. distinguishes authentic Christian mysticism from the pseudo-mysticism of new age or Eastern religions. He goes on to define a mystic in more detail:

We describe a mystic in three ways. He or she may be any one or all three. For the present, we shall simply explain the quality of these persons that in the Catholic vocabulary are called mystic.

Mystics are holy persons who have reached Christian perfection. They are no longer beginners, proficients. They may, of course, still grow in virtue. But their main concern is to remain united with God.

Mystics are gifted contemplatives. We must carefully note that a person can be very holy and pleasing to God without being a gifted contemplative. On this level mystics possess what is called infused contemplation. The most authoritative description of a mystic as a gifted contemplative is given by St. Teresa of Avila in her masterful work, The Interior Castle. The description is given in the 4th to the 7th mansions of St. Teresa's description of infused contemplation.

Mystics may finally be persons who manifest charismatic phenomena. Such phenomena do not occur in the normal development of the spiritual life. They are called charisms because they are given by God for the benefit of others than the mystic. In other words, these phenomena are apostolic by nature. They may be true miracles, like private revelations, divine locutions, the stigmata, speaking in tongues, levitation, transportation through space, knowing events at a great distance of space, the gift of prophecy.

It is here, especially, that we must carefully distinguish between the mystic and these phenomena. It does not follow that because a person has these phenomenal gifts that he or she is necessarily either very holy or even gifted with infused contemplation. The single most important thing to remember about these charismatic gifts is that they are not for the benefit of the person who possesses them. If genuine, such charismata are always for the benefit of others. . . .

Courtesy of Leon Suprenant