Lectio Divina: Step One / Lectio or Reading

The Four Steps or Movements in Lectio Divina

Lectio Divina (Divine or Sacred Reading) is one of the best ways to let God speak to you as you read the Bible or any other good book having to do with spiritual formation.


Getting Ready:  The first thing to do is decide what you want to read.  I find that a short letter by St. Paul (for example, Philippians) is a good place to start.  But you can begin anywhere with any good book.  The second thing to do is find a quiet place, free from distraction (as much as possible).  I like to sit in the chair I will later use for Centering Prayer.
Sit quietly with your Bible or book, close your eyes, and place yourself in the loving presence of God.  One way of doing this is slowly to repeat the name of Jesus in your heart or quietly out loud, or use the “Jesus prayer”(“Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.”). Take on a passive stance, and allow yourself to be taken by Him. After all He loves you more than you could ever imagine, and He desires to reveal Himself to you.
Step One: Lectio or "Reading":  Open your Bible to a passage.  Read the passage attentively, reverently, slowly and quietly speaking the text so you can hear it with your ears. Whatever you do, don’t rush through it. Praying takes time, patience and perseverance.  Depending on what happens you might read the passage several times or linger on one particular phrase or even one word.


The art of lectio divina begins with cultivating the ability to listen deeply, to hear "with the ear of our hearts," as both St. Benedict and Martin Luther recommend.  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.

Lectio is reverential listening; listening both in a spirit of silence and of awe.       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.

And once we had that word or phrase (usually something short, something that we can carry around in our mind and heart for a while), we take it into the day as the small voice of God speaking quietly as we go about our day's activities.  That's step one: lectio/reading.

Lectio Divina

Before next Tuesday’s Centering Prayer practice (that’s on February 21), we’ll turn our attention to Cynthia Bourgeault’s Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening, Chapter 6, “Centering Prayer and Christian Tradition,” pages 65-68, four pages in which she introduces us to “The Benedictine Legacy.”   You’ll find this section well worth reading, making notes in the margins or to yourselves as you go.  If you’re not already acquainted with the practice of lectio divina (sacred reading), you’ll discover that lectio divina (or simply lectio, as it's often called) may be habit you’ll want to cultivate.  In my postings during the coming week, I’ll try to comment on the four movements, stages, or “stations” within lectio so that when we get together and practice such sacred reading next Tuesday you’ll feel right at home.  For now, simply take note that the four stations are lectio (reading), meditatio (meditation), oratio (prayer), and contemplatio (contemplation).  And if you wish to give lectio divina a try, open your Bible to next Sunday’s Gospel, Mark 9.2-8, do lectio daily with this text (and/or perhaps others), by following Bourgeault’s suggestions in the reading for next Tuesday.   Take your time and finish up with station four: contemplation, what we now call Centering Prayer. 

What Abba Joseph said to Abba Lot

This woodprint is from a recent issue of The Catholic Worker newspaper..

Tomorrow's handout

Some Notes on Cynthia Bourgeualt, Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening, February 14, 2012

Chapter 6, “Centering Prayer and Christian Tradition” (58-60)

Today we continue looking at the history of Centering Prayer, especially at how our Christian “tradition” has influenced our appreciation for contemplative prayer. 

Last week we spent a good deal of time envisioning Jesus in pray, and we concluded that while he prayed with images and words, he also frequently sought the solitude of desert places so that he and his Father might be one together--intimately without the filter of words and images.  We concluded that within his frequent solitary times, our Lord practiced some form of contemplative prayer.   As he recommended we do, so he himself went into a “closet" in secret to be in “oneness” with God, His Father. That “closeting,” we said, corresponds well with what we do in Centering Prayer as we follow Jesus’ example in contemplative prayer practice.   

In our “closet practice” we close our eyes and practice disentangling ourselves from role-playing, words, and images.  We open up ourselves to spaces and times when we simply “are,” as simply and honestly as our prayer provides.  The focus shifts from us to God, and we are in his silent presence, naked with our desire and intent to be with him—just like Jesus.

The early church practiced such praying, and today our best witness to ancient praying in solitary places like deserts comes from the stories and sayings of our Desert Mothers and Fathers, sometimes referred to as our Desert Ammas and Abbas.   Because their witness was so powerful and authentic, our Christian ancesters wrote down and preserved what they heard and saw when visiting these Desert Elders.  And today there is a wonderful new appreciation for their testimony to their spiritual maturity.

As Bourgeault notes, what the Desert Elders did and said long remained hidden from most Christian eyes and ears because it was preserved in volumes called the Patrologia Latina (The Father’s Words in Latin).  As a consequence, only those adept in reading Latin were able to read about these remarkable Elders in the faith.  That all changed with the 1964 publication of Thomas Merton’s “marvelous little book” (as Bourgeualt describes it) called The Wisdom of the Desert.  Since that publication many more books have been published to help us understand and appreciate the praying wisdom of our Desert Elders.  Here are several books, among dozens recently published, that I recommend if you would like a more extended introduction to the Desert Mothers and Fathers: 

Bondi, Roberta C.  To Pray & to Love: Conversations on Prayer with the Early Church, 1991.   Drawing on the vast riches of early Christian writers, Roberta Bondi’s book on prayer is real, salty, loving, and wise.  She invites us to keep such company with early Christian sources as to illuminate a way of praying, living, and thinking about life in  mutuality with.  Amid the welter of books on prayer and Christian spirituality, this one shines like Epiphany and will empower like Pentecost.

Chryssavgis, John.  In the Heart of the Desert: The Spirituality of the Desert Fathers and Mothers, 2008.  This  book provides an accessible introduction to the sources themselves, with copious translations, a map, a time-line, and bibliography.  It also includes a translation into English of some material (for example, the Reflection of Abba Zosimas) which has not been translated before. 

The Desert Fathers.  Trans. Helen Waddell.  1998.  By the fourth century A.D., devout Christians—men and women alike—had begun to retreat from cities and villages to the deserts of North Africa and Asia Minor, where they sought liberation from their corrupting society and the confining shell of the social self.  The Desert Fathers is the perfect introduction to the stories and sayings of these heroic pioneers of the contemplative tradition.  This fine book opens a window onto early Christianity while presenting us with touchingly human models offaith, humility, and compassion.

Mayers, Gregory.  Listen to the Desert: Secrets of Spiritual Maturity from the Desert Fathers and Mothers, 1996.  The 1500-year-old spiritual philosophy known as “Desert Wiosdom” offers a compelling resource for facing contemporary challenges.  These writings, direct accounts of desert monastic life gathered and used by the monks themselves, are brief, loosely collect passages that range in length from a few sentendes a page of two.  Readers with a special interest in the evolution of spiritual consciousness, as well as those who want to look in monastic wisdom for the first time, will find much here to nourish and enlighten their way.

The Sayings  of the Desert Fathers: The Alphabetical Collection, trans. Benedicta Ward, 1975.  The fourth-century ascetic flight to the desert indelibly marked Christianity.  The faithful who did not embrace the austerity of the desert admired those who did and sought them out for counsel and consolation.  The “words” the monks gave were collected and passed around among tnhose too far away or twoo feeble to make the trek themselves—or lived generations later.  Previously available only in fragments, these Sayings of the Desert Fathers are now accessible in its entirety in English for the first time.

Williams, Rowan.  Where God Happens: Discovering Christ in One Another.  This book is a marvelous introduction to the Christian monks, the Desert Fathers, and makes their wisdom available and relevant for the twenty-first century reader; but it does more, since it is written in the same spirit as the texts from the desert, that is, as a clear window that will give direct access to God.

In my life journey I have been blessed by reading these books.  If you find yourself interested in reading one or more, don’t hesitate to buy one (they are reasonably priced) and all are all available at www.amazon.com.  

For our next Centering Prayer Practice on Tuesday, February 21, we will read and discuss “The Benedictine Legacy” in Bourgeault’s Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening (65-68).  If all goes well, I'll again post the discussion handout before we meet.

Twice a Day

Centering prayer is the keystone of a comprehensive commitment to the contemplative dimensions of the Gospel.  Two periods a day of twenty to thirty minutes -- one in the early morning and one halfway through the day or in the early evening -- maintain the reservoir of interior silence at a high level at all times. ... To find time for a second period later in the day may require special effort.  If you have to be available to your family as soon as you walk in the door, you might center during your lunch hour.  Or you might stop on the way home from work and center in a church or park.  If it is impossible to get a second period of prayer in, it is important that you lengthen the first one.

-- Thomas Keating, Open Mind Open Heart, 123 

Amma Syncletica, let me hear you say something.

Saint Syncletica

Amma Syncletica said, "It is good not to get angry.  But it it should happen, do not allow your day to go by affected by it.  For it is said, 'Do not let the sun go down on your anger.'.  Otherwise, the rest of your life may be affected by it.  Why hate a person who hurts you, for it is that person who is unjust, but the devil.  Hate the sickness, but not the sick person."

Dearest Desert Mother, give us a little advice.

Amma Theodora said, "A teacher ought to be a stranger to love of domination, and a foreigner to vainglory, far from arrogance, neither deceived by flattery, nor blinded by gifts, nor a slave to the stomach, nor held back by anger, but rather should be patient, kind, and--as far as possible--humble.  He or she should be self-disciplined, tolerant, diligent, and a lover of souls.

On retreat for the weekend

On Friday morning I'll be away, heading for the hills, getting out of town, skedaddling north-east to the mountains.  Heading for Mikell Camp and Conference Center near Toccoa, Georgia (a stone's throw from South Carolina), I'll spend a few days at the annual Natural Spirituality Regional Gathering, and return late Sunday afternoon.  You can be sure that I'll be with you daily within Centering Prayer.  And because I'm not entirely sure if an Internet connection will be available, in a few minutes I'll post two more sayings from the Desert Mothers and Fathers--just to remind you that we'll be talking about their witness to contemplative prayer next Tuesday, February 14.  See you all then! 

Dear Desert Father, tell us a story.

Saint Marcarius

A brother asked an old man, "What is humility?"  And the old man said, "To do good to those who hurt you."  The brother said, "If you cannot go that far, what should you do?"  The old man replied, "Get away from them and keep your mouth shut."

Desert Father, give me a story.

A soldier asked Abba Mius if God accepted repentance. After the old man had taught him many things he said, 'Tell me, my dear, if your cloak is torn, do you throw it away?' He replied, 'No, I mend it and use it again.' The old man said to him, 'If you are so careful about your cloak, will not God be equally careful about His creature?'

A Saying from a Desert Father:

Sayings from the Desert Fathers,
translation and art by Yushi Nomura

Preparing for our next meeting on February 14, 2012

Before our next Centering Prayer Practice meeting on Tuesday, February 14, we will discuss "Following Jesus into the Desert" (60-63) in Chapter 6 of Cynthia Bourgeault's Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening.  As you read these four pages, don't hesitate for mark up the text, especially when you come across something that you believe needs further explanation.  When that happens, put a question mark in the margin.

In the days to come I'll post some representative sayings of the Desert Mothers and Fathers; I hope you enjoy them and come to appreciate the down-to-earth wisdom of our Desert Elders.

We have some left-over pastries from yesterday's meeting, so there's no reason for anyone to bring anything to share with coffee.

And how glad we all are to welcome Carol Tacket and Less and Bobbie Windsor to our group!  Copies of Bourgeault's book have been sent to them, and we hope they will come weekly to our practice and discussions.

Quotation for the Day: Giving Happiness Away

We are made for happiness and there is nothing wrong in reaching out for it. Unfortunately, most of us are so deprived of happiness that as soon as it comes along, we reach out for it with all our strength and try to hang on to it for dear life. That is the mistake. The best way to receive it is to give it away. If you give everything back to God, you will always be empty, and when you are empty, there is more room for God.

Thomas Keating, Open Mind, Open Heart

Quotation for the Day

In one sense we are always travelling, and travelling as if we did not know where were going.  In another sense we have already arrived.

 ~ Thomas Merton (1915-68), The Seven-Storey Mountain.

Centering Prayer Practice: Getting Ready for Tuesday, February 7

This morning I finished my notes on Bourgeault's Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening, Chapter 6, "Centering Prayer and Christian Tradition" (58-60), notes you'll receive when we meet next Tuesday.  If you have a chance, read over these three pages (maybe several times) beforehand.  Underline what you think is important. Place a question mark in the margin when something is puzzling--all so we can have our usual spirited discussion.