LECTIO DIVINA


INTRODUCTION
       Lectio Devina literally means ‘the divine reading’ or the method of prayerful reading of the scripture. St. Benedict of Nursia, Italy, (480-542 CE) the father of western monasticism, may be credited with the idea of Lectio Divina. The Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI says on Lectio Divina as one of the many fruits of the biblical springtime.[1]  Lectio Divina involves five stages or spiritual degrees:

i) LECTIO (READING)
       Lectio Divina begins with an attentive reading or a rereading several times of the text in which we want to hear what God says. The chosen text needs to be read over and over until it becomes familiar, almost learned by heart, emphasizing the main elements. We are supposed to reply the question in this stage: What is the real meaning of the passage I have read?

ii) MEDITATIO (MEDITATION)
        Once we discover the meaning of the biblical text we try to become involved personally by applying the meaning to our own life. The question that arises in the mind is “what is the text saying to me?  Meditation on what we have read helps us to make it our own by confronting it with ourselves. Here, another book is opened; the book of life. We pass from thought to reality. The text that we have read and understood becomes the norm of life. We find an answer to the question ‘what must I do to put it into practice or what must I do to give its meaning to my own life? [2]    

iii) ORATIO (PRAYER)
         The aspiration to know what God wants from us leads naturally to prayer. In this way a burning desire arises for what daily life should become. When we pray we don’t ask so much for what we lack but rather for what God has enabled us to see and understand. We need to ask ourselves: what do we say to the Lord in response to His word? Hence, we have to use the phrases or verses in the text to respond to God in our own words and express our burning desire to do God’s will which must be the object of our prayer.

iv) CONTEMPLATIO (CONTEMPLATION)
            The desire to do God’s will leads gradually and unconsciously to adoration, silence praise and a humble surrender to Him. We look at the person of God with the eye of our heart and wait patiently and silently for the Lord to infuse us with His love.  We desire to have a deep union with God and long for it with our whole heart. God will give it to us. Let us ask ourselves what conversion of mind, heart and life is the Lord asking of us?[3]

v) ACTIO (ACTION)
          We take a practical resolution that emanates from the text that we have considered in the Lectio Divina and let that resolution move us to make our lives gifts for others in charity.

CONCLUSION  
          St. Jerome declares that ignorance of the scripture is the ignorance of Christ. Therefore, let us take effort to nourish and thrive in holiness through the word of God by practising the Lectio Divina that serves as the cornerstone of the interpretation of the Word of God. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Egan, Keith. J. ed. Carmelite Prayer: A Tradition for the 21st Century. Mysore: Dhyanavana Publications, 2005.
Pazheparamphil, Thomas P.A. Lectio Divina: A Prayerful Reading of the Bible. Bangalore: Asian Trading Corporation, 2006.
Morello, Antony Sam. Lectio Divina  and the Practice of Therasian Prayer. Trivandrum: International Publishing House, 2004.
Benedict XVI, Verbum Domini: Post- Synodal Apostolic Exhortation. Trivandrum: Carmel Publishing House, 2011.
Document of the Pontificial Biblical Commission, The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church. Bangalore: NBCLC Publication, 1994.


[1] Pazheparamphil, Thomas P.A. Lectio Divina: A Prayerful Reading of the Bible. Bangalore: Asian Trading Corporation, 2006 p 13

[2] Morello,  Sam. Lectio Divina  and the Practice of Therasian Prayer. Trivandrum: International Publishing House, 2004 p 42

[3] Benedict XVI, Verbum Domini: Post- Synodal Apostolic Exhortation. Trivandrum: Carmel Publishing House, 2011 p 143

BRO. E.Edison Raj I Th.
ST.JOSEPH’S INTERDIOCESAN SEMINARY
MANGALORE




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