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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