What is Lectio Divina?
How do we read Scripture? What happens when we sit down with our Bibles and begin to pore over the wisdom God has given us through its ancient authors? In our rationalistic world, we often find it easy to study the Bible but not as easy to meditate upon and absorb it. We’re tempted to keep its actual transforming power at a safe distance. The early Christian monastics knew this temptation well and gave us a method of prayerfully reading through Scripture called Lectio Divina.
Reading with the Spirit
Many of us are tempted to approach the Bible much like a textbook: it is something to study, pick apart, and analyze. We want to develop a nice, clean theological framework and precise exegesis, but we keep the words at arm’s length from our hearts.
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Don’t get me wrong: biblical scholarship and theological understanding are essential to our Christian existence. However, the philosopher and theologian Søren Kierkegaard recognized the potential pitfalls when that is the only way we approach Scripture:
Herein lies the real place of Christian scholarship. Christian scholarship is the Church’s prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming too close. Oh, priceless scholarship, what would we do without you?
Soren Kierkegaard, For Self-Examination
The Bible is not just a head text. It is a heart text. It intends to cut to the core of our very being. This is why, very early in the Church’s history, Christians began to meditate upon the text prayerfully, seeking the Spirit’s guidance in the reading. They began to develop methods of engaging with Scripture deeply in a posture open to the Lord.
What is Lectio Divina?
Lectio Divina (Latin for “Divine Reading”) is an interaction with God through prayer as we read Scripture. While originating in early Benedictine communities, it has been widely adopted across Christian denominations. This includes the Anglican tradition, whose many ties to Benedictine spirituality shine through in no less than our everyday prayer through the Daily Office.
Lectio Divina involves a slow, contemplative reading of Scripture, allowing for a more profound encounter with God through his Word. It emphasizes listening to God’s voice, which speaks personally and intimately to us through Scripture.
A Walk Through Lectio Divina
Before You Begin
Before beginning a Lectio Divina meditation, here are a few suggestions to help you prepare.
- Set aside a space where you can be still and silent. Go to a part of your house where you won’t be distracted by your family, computer, TV, or anything else that can quickly grab your attention. Silence your phone. If you can, set up a “sacred space”—light a candle or candles, set up a table cross, take a prayerful posture—make the area into a home chapel, even if only for the moment.
- Pick one of your Daily Office readings. A psalm or a story-based passage such as the Gospel reading will be easiest to engage, especially while you’re getting used to the rhythm of Lectio Divina.
- Of those, choose the passage that is least familiar to you, especially when beginning. The more unencumbered we come to a passage, the more open we may be to what it has for us at the moment. If you’ve read and studied Psalm 23 until it is rote in your mind, it may be hard to break out of that. If you need to meditate on a familiar passage, try using a different translation than you’re accustomed to.
- Relax. Go into this without expectations. Don’t try to conjure a personal epiphany. Don’t strain your mind searching for meaning in the passage. Read the passage deeply. Wait patiently. Be with God. Even if consciously being with him is all that comes out of this encounter, it’s worth it.
The Four Steps of Lectio Divina
Lectio Divina typically follows four steps, often referred to by their Latin names: Lectio, Meditatio, Oratio, and Contemplatio. Each has a distinct characteristic, yet all are stations on the journey of reading Scripture as we intentionally notice the presence of God. After setting your space, open your Bible to your chosen passage, take a few deep, slow breaths, and then dive in.
Lectio (Reading)
Begin with a slow, deliberate reading of your passage of Scripture. Don’t rush. We’re getting a good feel of the surface here. Notice each word and phrase. If it’s a story, who are the characters? If it’s poetry, what word pictures is the poet painting? As you read, pay attention to anything that stands out or draws your attention—this may be something God is illuminating. Take a few minutes to sit with the passage, immersing yourself in it.
Meditatio (Meditation)
Now, begin to reflect on the text, pondering its meaning and personal significance. Ask God what he wants to reveal to you through this passage. What words or phrases stand out to you as you read? Do you resonate with a character, a situation, or a particular line or phrase? What emotions are those things bringing up within you? Is there an invitation to bring something—joy, sorrow, guilt—before the Lord? You may feel led to repent of a sin or to mend a relationship. You may feel unburdened of a weight you’ve placed on yourself or emboldened to take action for Christ’s kingdom. Take some moments to be with these.
Oratio (Prayer)
Respond to God, prompted by the insights gained during meditation. For example, you might pray, “Dear Lord, I feel your Spirit drawing me toward this aspect of the Scriptures before me:______________. Thank you for teaching me ___________. Grant me the wisdom to discern your will and the grace to walk in your ways.” You may need to bring repentance before him now. You may need to ask him for courage for the things you feel him calling you towards. Come to him with open hands.
Contemplatio (Contemplation)
As you finish your prayer, take some time to be still and silent. Allow your soul to rest with what God has revealed and to be open to his grace. It’s a time of surrender, where you allow your awareness of presence to deepen. This is often seen as the culmination of Lectio Divina, where our souls rest in God’s fatherly embrace.
Conclusion
Regularly practiced, Lectio Divina nurtures an intimate relationship with God by engaging with his Word in a posture of openness and receptivity. These four steps together create a dynamic flow from reading and reflecting on Scripture to personal prayer and resting in God’s presence. May we come to the waters of his Word and drink deeply, letting his truth, illuminated by his Spirit, renew us again and again.
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