Praying Sacred Scripture
Lectio Divina
Lectio Divina:
The Sacred Scriptures can enrich our prayer immensely. They are the "faith record" of
God's mysterious plan--what God has done
in history and the revelation of God's plan for the world. A good way to pray is to take a
Bible, read a passage, and then talk it
over with God.
Praying with just one or two Scripture verses is a traditional and practical way to make
prayer a part of our everyday lives. We can
easily pray a short, easy to remember Scripture verse at work or relaxation.
A Life of Prayer
In our Catholic life of prayer, we often pray with words, aloud and usually with others.
This prayer with words is called vocal
prayer because we pray not only wioth our minds and hearts but with our voices as
well. The prayers we say during the liturgy are
vocal prayers, as are traditional prayers such as the Our Father and the Hail Mary.
There are many paths to God in prayer. Vocal prayer is one of them. Once two sisters
asked Saint Teresa of Avila how to find
union with God. "Say the Our Father," responded Teresa. Sometimes when we say a
familiar prayer carefully and thoughtfully, we
gain insight into the meaning of the words. Then the words slowly fade away, and we
find ourselves "just being" at peace in God.
This is the prayer of contemplation.
Meditation is the prayer in which the mind seeks to understand and to appreciate
Jesus and His teachings. It seeks to know His
will. This is the object of meditation and provides inspiration for the will to make acts of
adoration, thanksgiving, sorrow for sin,
and petition. Meditation helps to deepen our faith, promts the conversion of the heart,
and strengthens the will to follow Jesus.
Contemplation is the prayer of union with God. We might also call it the prayer of "just
being with" God. The prayer of
contemplation is simply looking at God.
Stages of Lectio Divina
Lectio - reading/listening
THE ART of lectio divina begins with cultivating the ability to listen deeply, to hear “with
the ear of our
hearts” as St. Benedict encourages us in the Prologue to the Rule. When we read the
Scriptures we should try
to imitate the prophet Elijah. We should allow ourselves to become women and men
who are able to listen for
the still, small voice of God (I Kings 19:12); the “faint murmuring sound” which is God's
word for us, God's
voice touching our hearts. This gentle listening is an “atunement” to the presence of
God in that special part of
God's creation which is the Scriptures.
THE CRY of the prophets to ancient Israel was the joy-filled command to “Listen!”
“Sh'ma Israel: Hear, O
Israel!” In lectio divina we, too, heed that command and turn to the Scriptures, knowing
that we must “hear” -
listen - to the voice of God, which often speaks very softly. In order to hear someone
speaking softly we
must learn to be silent. We must learn to love silence. If we are constantly speaking or
if we are surrounded
with noise, we cannot hear gentle sounds. The practice of lectio divina, therefore,
requires that we first quiet
down in order to hear God's word to us. This is the first step of lectio divina,
appropriately called lectio -
reading.
THE READING or listening which is the first step in lectio divina is very different from the
speed reading
which modern Christians apply to newspapers, books and even to the Bible. Lectio is
reverential listening;
listening both in a spirit of silence and of awe. We are listening for the still, small voice
of God that will speak
to us personally - not loudly, but intimately. In lectio we read slowly, attentively, gently
listening to hear a
word or phrase that is God's word for us this day.
Meditatio - meditation
ONCE WE have found a word or a passage in the Scriptures that speaks to us in a
personal way, we must
take it in and “ruminate” on it. The image of the ruminant animal quietly chewing its cud
was used in antiquity
as a symbol of the Christian pondering the Word of God. Christians have always seen
a scriptural invitation
to lectio divina in the example of the Virgin Mary “pondering in her heart” what she saw
and heard of Christ
(Luke 2:19). For us today these images are a reminder that we must take in the word -
that is, memorize it -
and while gently repeating it to ourselves, allow it to interact with our thoughts, our
hopes, our memories, our
desires. This is the second step or stage in lectio divina - meditatio. Through meditatio
we allow God's word
to become His word for us, a word that touches us and affects us at our deepest levels.
Oratio - prayer
THE THIRD step in lectio divina is oratio - prayer: prayer understood both as dialogue
with God, that is, as
loving conversation with the One who has invited us into His embrace; and as
consecration, prayer as the
priestly offering to God of parts of ourselves that we have not previously believed God
wants. In this
consecration-prayer we allow the word that we have taken in and on which we are
pondering to touch and
change our deepest selves. Just as a priest consecrates the elements of bread and
wine at the Eucharist, God
invites us in lectio divina to hold up our most difficult and pain-filled experiences to Him,
and to gently recite
over them the healing word or phrase He has given us in our lectio and meditatio. In
this oratio, this
consecration-prayer, we allow our real selves to be touched and changed by the word
of God.
Contemplatio - contemplation
FINALLY, WE simply rest in the presence of the One who has used His word as a
means of inviting us to
accept His transforming embrace. No one who has ever been in love needs to be
reminded that there are
moments in loving relationships when words are unnecessary. It is the same in our
relationship with God.
Wordless, quiet rest in the presence of the One Who loves us has a name in the
Christian tradition -
contemplatio, contemplation. Once again we practice silence, letting go of our own
words; this time simply
enjoying the experience of being in the presence of God.
The Sacred Scriptures can enrich our prayer immensely. They are the "faith record" of
God's mysterious plan--what God has done
in history and the revelation of God's plan for the world. A good way to pray is to take a
Bible, read a passage, and then talk it
over with God.
Praying with just one or two Scripture verses is a traditional and practical way to make
prayer a part of our everyday lives. We can
easily pray a short, easy to remember Scripture verse at work or relaxation.
A Life of Prayer
In our Catholic life of prayer, we often pray with words, aloud and usually with others.
This prayer with words is called vocal
prayer because we pray not only wioth our minds and hearts but with our voices as
well. The prayers we say during the liturgy are
vocal prayers, as are traditional prayers such as the Our Father and the Hail Mary.
There are many paths to God in prayer. Vocal prayer is one of them. Once two sisters
asked Saint Teresa of Avila how to find
union with God. "Say the Our Father," responded Teresa. Sometimes when we say a
familiar prayer carefully and thoughtfully, we
gain insight into the meaning of the words. Then the words slowly fade away, and we
find ourselves "just being" at peace in God.
This is the prayer of contemplation.
Meditation is the prayer in which the mind seeks to understand and to appreciate
Jesus and His teachings. It seeks to know His
will. This is the object of meditation and provides inspiration for the will to make acts of
adoration, thanksgiving, sorrow for sin,
and petition. Meditation helps to deepen our faith, promts the conversion of the heart,
and strengthens the will to follow Jesus.
Contemplation is the prayer of union with God. We might also call it the prayer of "just
being with" God. The prayer of
contemplation is simply looking at God.
Stages of Lectio Divina
Lectio - reading/listening
THE ART of lectio divina begins with cultivating the ability to listen deeply, to hear “with
the ear of our
hearts” as St. Benedict encourages us in the Prologue to the Rule. When we read the
Scriptures we should try
to imitate the prophet Elijah. We should allow ourselves to become women and men
who are able to listen for
the still, small voice of God (I Kings 19:12); the “faint murmuring sound” which is God's
word for us, God's
voice touching our hearts. This gentle listening is an “atunement” to the presence of
God in that special part of
God's creation which is the Scriptures.
THE CRY of the prophets to ancient Israel was the joy-filled command to “Listen!”
“Sh'ma Israel: Hear, O
Israel!” In lectio divina we, too, heed that command and turn to the Scriptures, knowing
that we must “hear” -
listen - to the voice of God, which often speaks very softly. In order to hear someone
speaking softly we
must learn to be silent. We must learn to love silence. If we are constantly speaking or
if we are surrounded
with noise, we cannot hear gentle sounds. The practice of lectio divina, therefore,
requires that we first quiet
down in order to hear God's word to us. This is the first step of lectio divina,
appropriately called lectio -
reading.
THE READING or listening which is the first step in lectio divina is very different from the
speed reading
which modern Christians apply to newspapers, books and even to the Bible. Lectio is
reverential listening;
listening both in a spirit of silence and of awe. We are listening for the still, small voice
of God that will speak
to us personally - not loudly, but intimately. In lectio we read slowly, attentively, gently
listening to hear a
word or phrase that is God's word for us this day.
Meditatio - meditation
ONCE WE have found a word or a passage in the Scriptures that speaks to us in a
personal way, we must
take it in and “ruminate” on it. The image of the ruminant animal quietly chewing its cud
was used in antiquity
as a symbol of the Christian pondering the Word of God. Christians have always seen
a scriptural invitation
to lectio divina in the example of the Virgin Mary “pondering in her heart” what she saw
and heard of Christ
(Luke 2:19). For us today these images are a reminder that we must take in the word -
that is, memorize it -
and while gently repeating it to ourselves, allow it to interact with our thoughts, our
hopes, our memories, our
desires. This is the second step or stage in lectio divina - meditatio. Through meditatio
we allow God's word
to become His word for us, a word that touches us and affects us at our deepest levels.
Oratio - prayer
THE THIRD step in lectio divina is oratio - prayer: prayer understood both as dialogue
with God, that is, as
loving conversation with the One who has invited us into His embrace; and as
consecration, prayer as the
priestly offering to God of parts of ourselves that we have not previously believed God
wants. In this
consecration-prayer we allow the word that we have taken in and on which we are
pondering to touch and
change our deepest selves. Just as a priest consecrates the elements of bread and
wine at the Eucharist, God
invites us in lectio divina to hold up our most difficult and pain-filled experiences to Him,
and to gently recite
over them the healing word or phrase He has given us in our lectio and meditatio. In
this oratio, this
consecration-prayer, we allow our real selves to be touched and changed by the word
of God.
Contemplatio - contemplation
FINALLY, WE simply rest in the presence of the One who has used His word as a
means of inviting us to
accept His transforming embrace. No one who has ever been in love needs to be
reminded that there are
moments in loving relationships when words are unnecessary. It is the same in our
relationship with God.
Wordless, quiet rest in the presence of the One Who loves us has a name in the
Christian tradition -
contemplatio, contemplation. Once again we practice silence, letting go of our own
words; this time simply
enjoying the experience of being in the presence of God.
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