46 Theses on Lectio Divina

There are many excellent books on Lectio Divina, the sacred reading of Scripture. The problem with these books is that they are books—long and easily divorced from the actual contemplative practice.

Instead, I offer a list of 46 “theses” or “chapters” on Lectio Divina. Each thesis is short, distilling thoughts and quotations into a single paragraph. And the 46 are strung together with a sequential flow. As well as being friendly to short attention spans, this form of writing also leaves the impression of a “sketch rather than a fully-fleshed-out painting,” which is eminently helpful for topics where the real meat of the matter is better “caught” than “taught.”

46 Theses

1

Abbot Gilbert of Hoyland skewers us with his rebuke, echoing across eight centuries, “You, who pray on the run but linger long with books, you who are fervent in reading and lukewarm in praying. Reading should serve prayer, dispose of the affections, and neither devour the hours nor gobble up the moments of prayer. When you read, you are taught about Christ, but when you pray, you join him in a familiar conversation. How much more enchanting is the grace of speaking with him than about him!” Lectio Divina is the art of conversing with the risen Christ through the Scriptures. The conversation begins with listening, then talking. If one answers before he hears, it is his folly and shame. 

2

Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. The Bible is real food, and we need it.

3

“Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.” The Bible is rich food; it tastes great. How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! When we are reading it rightly, it should be sweeter than honey

4

And yet we cannot attain at all to this eating, this sweetness, without God’s help. St. Augustine exhorts us, “Pray to understand the Scriptures.” St. Isaac of Nineveh adds, “Do not approach the mysterious words of the Scriptures without prayer, without asking God’s help… You must think of prayer as the key that unlocks the truth of the Scriptures.”

5

We pray to be able to read well, and having heard God speak, we then talk to him in prayer. Prayer is on both sides, as St. Jerome says, “Lectio follows prayer and prayer, Lectio.” Abba Alessandro (Barban) clarifies, “Prayer is the support and the background of Lectio, but it is also its final goal.” 

6

God makes Lectio “happen,” not ourselves. Lectio is the work of the Holy Spirit. As Abba Bernardo (Olivera) says, “The Spirit inspired the Scriptures, therefore: it is present and speaks through them. If it breathes in, it also breathes out.” 

7

This should also increase our reverence upon approach. As Abba Bernardo also says, “Pay attention: it is God who wishes to speak to you and awaits your reply!”

8

As St. Ambrose says, “As in paradise, God walks in the Holy Scriptures, seeking man.”

9

Caesarius of Arles challenges us to see the greatness and holiness of this task of sacred reading when he asks us, “Which to you seems the greater, the word of God or the body of Christ? If you want to answer correctly, you will reply that God’s word is not less than Christ’s body. Therefore, just as we take care when we receive the body of Christ so that no part of it falls to the ground, so likewise, should we ensure that the word of God which is given to us is not lost to our souls because we are speaking or thinking about something different. One who listens negligently to God’s word is just as guilty as one who, through carelessness, allows Christ’s body to fall to the ground.” 

10

Our bodies need food daily, just as our souls need the Word daily. Like eating a good meal, the Scriptures take at least 30 minutes to consume. Indeed, a meal eaten in less than 15 minutes cannot be digested well. 

11

Blessed Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: grant us that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them; that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace, and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our savior Jesus Christ. 

Book of Common Prayer

Don’t

Don’t waste any time choosing what to read. Pick from among the readings assigned in the Daily Office Lectionary. Pick one of the books (John, Romans, etc.) and follow it all the way through (Romans 1, Romans 2, etc.). In general, pick a Gospel. It is much easier to begin a meal if the food is taken out of the pantry beforehand.

13

“I rise before dawn and cry for help; I hope in your words.” By mid-morning, the mind is so full of the cares of this world that there is minimal capacity to entertain the things of heaven. It is, therefore, best to do Lectio first thing in the morning, preferably before dawn and certainly before the kids are awake. Rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus departed and went out to a desolate place where he prayed.

14

The four stages of Lectio Divina are Lectio, Meditatio, Oratio, and Contemplatio, which mean Reading, Meditation, Prayer, and Contemplation. These correspond to the four senses of Scripture: Literal, Christological, Moral, and Mystical.

• Reading—Literal
• Meditating—Christological
• Praying—Moral
• Contemplating—Mystical

15

Abba Bernardo says, “All Scripture points to the mystery of Christ: prefigured in the Old Testament and present in the New, interiorized by each Christian and consummated in glo”y.”

16

Lectio means reading aloud, softly, slowly, to yourself, reading the passage at least twice or three times. Listening to it with your ears—not just your ears, but the “ear of the heart,” as St. Benedict says.

17

The disposition of the hearer is crucial. It must be open and humble before the Scriptures. As Brother Michael (Casey) says, “We entrust ourselves to the book we are reading. We come to it defenseless and ready to be influenced… We open ourselves to the text…ready to perceive in [it] the word of God, the will of God, the action of God coming to save us…We approach our reading as a disciple comes to a master: receptive, docile, willing to be changed…We have to stop trying to control the process… The Bible is an instrument of salvation only because it challenges our habitual beliefs.”

18

We must not despair if the passage is difficult to understand. As Blessed Edward Pusey says, only shallow water is clear, and the Scriptures are very deep. Pray for understanding, and wait.

19

Abba Bernardo says, “If the text read means nothing to you, love the Word beyond the words and do not hesitate to surrender yourself without reserve. And if the text is a hard saying and you apply it to your neighbor, try re-reading it in the first person.”

20

Seek first the literal meaning. As Abba Bernardo says, “The literal meaning of the text is always the point of departure: the letter reveals the deeds and presents the persons; history is the foundation.”

21

In seeking the literal meaning, we must consider what the human author intended. As Dr. Garwood Anderson says, authorial intent takes on a new dimension when we remember that the authors—St. Paul, St. John, St. Luke—are all still alive, with Christ, and through him united to us. Their intention is very present to us.

22

This is not the same as bible-study, but it is its cousin. There is no place for Study-Bible and footnotes in Lectio. As Abba Bernardo says, “The gratuity of Lectio Divina is different from the utility of study. Study endeavors to master the word, Lectio Divina surrenders and yields before it.”

23

We must be patient before the text, unpresuming. As Abba Bernardo also says, “The fool falls into the temptation of saying: I already know this text! The wise man knows that it is one thing to know the chemical formula of water and another to savor it by a spring on summer’s day.”

24

The poet Rilke rightly describes the right kind of reader well, “He does not always remain bent over his pages; he often leans back and closes his eyes over a line he has been reading again, and its meaning spreads through his blood.”

25

Brother Michael uses a different metaphor: “Lectio Divina is like painting a wall with a brush. We have to apply the paint very evenly, going backwards and forwards and only advancing beyond what is already done. We stop to listen for the echoes in our hearts—the mysterious conjunction of the words we are reading and the unspoken and unexpressed movements of our soul.” 

26

While reading, follow your nose, or what St. Francis de Sales called attraits. What allures you? What draws the interest of your heart? What tastes savory? Land on that text the way a bee lands on a flower. Madame Guyon once said, “In coming to the Lord by means of praying the Scripture, you do not read quickly; you read very slowly. You do not move from one passage to another, not until you have sensed the very heart of what you have read… if you read quickly, it will benefit you little. You will be like a bee that merely skims the surface of a flower. Instead, in this new way of reading with prayer, you become as the bee who penetrates into the depths of the flower. You plunge deeply within to remove its deepest nectar.” Now we come to Meditation.

27

Abba Alessandro says, “Lectio Divina is not only a reading but also an assimilation that, together with reading, requires a rumination upon God’s word… Rumination consists in keeping the word alive within us by its repetition. So we begin to know God and abide God’s love. This kind of knowledge is a comprehension of participation, union, and love. In other words, Lectio Divina is not only a method of reading but also an experience of God.” 

28

Rumination, chewing over, and meditation can take place in different “stomachs” of the mind. They can be more visual and imaginative or more verbal and conceptual. 

29

A phrase may linger as a phrase and profitably be turned over and over again in the mind, perhaps even written down with a pen.

30

A phrase may be a part of a larger “scene” (especially when reading the Gospels), and with the visual imagination, the scene may be developed and “pictured” in your mind’s eye, into which you may step and encounter it first-hand, so to speak.

31

Keep listening. What does this Scripture tell you about Christ Jesus? Since the whole of Scripture is about him and testifies to him?

32

Keep listening. What is the Lord Jesus saying to you this day? What might you do differently today because of this word? 

33

The one who regularly hears the Word both in the Daily Office and expounded in sermons on Sunday and who regularly recites the creed does not need to worry greatly about accidentally falling into some erroneous and idiosyncratic interpretation in Lectio. Besides, the Spirit himself will bring gentle correction if it is needed. 

34

Now we come to Prayer. We speak to the God who has spoken to us. We love because he first loved us. Speak to him from your heart. Speak to your friend. I have called you friends.

35

Speak of your desires, aspirations, intentions, and hopes for your life and for that one day. Keep listening.

36

Now, we come to contemplation. Abba Bernardo says,  “To contemplate is to encounter the Word beyond words.”

37

Abba Alessandro says, “The ultimate goal of Lectio is praise that culminates in silent adoration before Sacred Mystery.”

38

What contemplation is like can only be known by experience. He heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter

39

Hurry is the first great temptation in Lectio. It must be fervently resisted. Abba Bernardo says, “If you read to read and not to have read, then your Lectio is serene, restful, and disinterested.” As Brother Wang Mingdao also says, “To walk with God, you must go at a walking pace.”

40

Distraction is a perpetual nuisance during Lectio. Abba Bernardo says, “There is no meditation without distraction. Return, then, to the reading. Concentrate on the keywords.”

41

Lectio Divina requires perseverance. As Abba Bernardo also says, “Lectio Divina is not, as a rule, immediately gratifying. It is an active and passive process that lasts a long time. One does not reap the day following the sowing! The worm is not instantly transformed into a butterfly!” 

42

And so Abba Bernado exhorts, “When we are ‘nailed’ to the Book through our perseverance and assiduity in Lectio, then we will comprehend the folly of the good God.”

43

Having finished a meal, we then take the food with us, in our bellies, and perhaps with a Tupperware of leftovers. Just so with the word. William of St. Thierry says, “Some part of your daily reading should also each day be committed to memory.” Therefore, you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

44

St. Francis de Sales expands on this thought with a different metaphor: “As when we walk about a beautiful garden, we desire to carry away a few flowers and enjoy their perfume, so we should gather one or two points from our meditation in which we have found most relish.”

45

Abba Bernard says, “He who has progressed in Lectio Divina experiences the need for fewer words and more of the Word.”

46

St. Mary is the archetype for all Sacred Reading, as she treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart.

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These Theses were first published in the St. Bernard Breviary‘s “46 Chapters on Lectio Divina.”

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