What is “Lectio Divina” and will it help my prayer life? – A Guide to Lectio Divina

Posted on April 21st, 2012 by Dan Burke

Q: Dear Dan, can you help me understand Lectio Divina and whether or not I should use it to help me improve my prayer life? I am struggling right now and feel like I need a change but I don’t know what will help.

A: Any Christian seeking to deepen their relationship with Christ will no doubt be blessed through this time tested monastic prayer method. Many of you who use The Better Part to pray will discover one of the roots of the approach to prayer that Fr. John recommends. Here’s a brief history and guide for you to explore this simple method:

Lectio Divina – A Brief History

Lectio Divina means “Divine Reading” and refers specifically to an approach to prayer and scripture reading practiced by monastics since the early Church.

The idea of praying with sacred scripture comes to the Church through ancient Jewish tradition. Christians in the early Church continued this tradition and further developed the practice of prayer and meditation using mostly the psalms as a rich source of heartfelt engagement with God. This development is evident in early Church History in the 48th chapter of the Rule of St. Benedict (A.D. 480-453).

In the 11th century, a Carthusian prior named Guigo formalized Lectio Divina, describing the practice in a letter written to a fellow religious. This letter has become known as The Ladder of Monks and describes a four-runged ladder to Heaven, each rung being one of the four steps in his method of prayerful scripture reading. These steps are provided below along with a short definition of each and brief quotes from Guigo’s letter:

Lectio (reading):  An attentive, slow, repetitious recitation of a short passage of scripture.

“looking on Holy Scripture with all one’s will and wit”

Meditatio (meditation): An effort to understand the passage and apply it to my own life.

“a studious searching with the mind to know what was before concealed”

Oratio (prayer): Engaging or talking with God about the passage.

“a devout desiring of the heart to get what is good and avoid what is evil”

Contemplatio (contemplation): Allowing oneself to be absorbed in the words of God as the Holy Spirit draws us into His presence through scripture.

“the lifting up of the heart to God tasting somewhat of the heavenly sweetness”

Lectio Divina Step by Step

As with any serious attempt to progress in the spiritual life, the practice of Lectio Divina will require deliberate patience. To be deliberate we will need to set aside at least ten minutes every day. The best way to do this is to schedule our prayer times at the beginning of each week before we schedule anything else. Trying to squeeze prayer into our schedules after they are already set almost always results in our busy-ness squeezing prayer out of our schedules.

With respect to the process of Lectio Divina, it may feel mechanical until we find a natural rhythm. This is where patience comes in. It’s important to keep things as simple as is possible. There will be no Lectio Divina police looking over our shoulders to be sure that we exercise perfection in our practice. No need to worry about the details. Simply seek the Lord in the scriptures. He is waiting for you there and will be delighted to lead you into a more profound relationship with Him. With that in mind, lets talk about how to prepare for our time with Him.

Preparation

First, we arrange a place to pray that is restful and devoid of any distractions or things that might distract us (i.e. computers, TV, etc.). This may involve lighting candles, burning incense or creating whatever atmosphere fosters calm and peace. The presence of icons and other visual aids to meditation can be of great benefit here as well. It is best if the place chosen for Lectio Divina (or any kind of prayer) is a comfortable area set aside just for this activity.

Once our environment is properly prepared, then we assume a bodily posture that is conducive to prayer and reading. As we consider our posture, we should do so with the recognition that we are entering into the presence of God. Our posture should reflect one that would be the same as if we were with Christ in the flesh or before him in Eucharistic adoration.

We then turn our hearts to God, begin to breathe slowly and deeply, focusing on the Holy Name of Jesus until we are relaxed and able to focus our attention on scripture. If our minds wander, we should avoid any frustration or self-condemnation and gently bring our attention back to our Lord and the text, breathing in and out in a purposeful and relaxed manner. It is important to note that unlike in non-Christian forms of Eastern prayer which seek to empty the mind, Christian prayer seeks to fill our minds with an attentiveness to God. This gentle but purposeful effort will yield a constant aiming and re-aiming of our hearts and minds toward Him and His Word.

Once we are as calm and peaceful as is possible, we simply acknowledge that Christ is with us and we pray in this or some similar way:

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Lord, I know you are with me. Thank you for allowing me to recognize your presence. Thank you for being here with me now.

Then, we might offer a prayer to the Holy Spirit like the following:

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful, and kindle in them the fire of Your love.

Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created and you shall renew the face of the earth.

O God, by the light of the Holy Spirit you have taught the hearts of your faithful. In the same Spirit, help us to know what is it truly right and always to rejoice in your consolation. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Lectio – An attentive slow repetitious recitation of a short passage of scripture

It is always advisable to meditate on the scripture from the mass of the day, particularly the Gospel passage. However, any text of scripture will do. The key is not to rush. The goal is not to finish any particular portion of scripture but to purposefully delve into the depths of any passage that will lift our hearts to God. Just before we begin reading, we trace the sign of the cross on the scriptures, kiss the cross we traced, and then begin to read slowly, vocally, and gently, coming to an understanding of the words themselves along with the related ideas and images that surface. When a particular passage or word strikes us we pause to consider it more fully. At the first pause, we will then naturally move into meditatio. If you don’t seem to progress in this way, simply stay at each phase until you do. Don’t worry if you don’t progress. The goal is not to fulfill the method, but to honor and seek God.

Meditatio – An effort to understand the passage and apply it to my own life

Now we meditate on what we have read, visualizing it and listening for His prompting or His guiding. We seek the deeper spiritual meanings of the words as we place ourselves in a gospel scene as one of the participants or simply hear God speaking directly to us as we read the words. We don’t strain or exert extreme effort here, we simply allow the words to penetrate our hearts and minds and follow where God leads us through the text. Sometimes it is helpful to slowly repeat the passage or word over and over again until the captivation and conversation with God on the passage subsides. It can also be helpful to read each word and to briefly pause before we read the next. As we do this, we allow for silence and careful listening. We break the normal frantic pace and cycle of life to be attentive to the Beloved. As we begin to respond or converse with God about our encounter with Him, we then move into oratio.

Oratio – Engaging or talking with God about the passage

As we are drawn into the passage we begin to converse with God about what we are reading. Oratio is simply the response of the heart to God. It is important here to remember that God has revealed Himself as a person. When we talk with Him, it is sometimes helpful call this to mind. Our conversation should be as natural as with someone whom we deeply love and desire to know. In whatever manner we are led, we ask for forgiveness, we thank Him, we praise Him, we ask Him to for the grace to be changed by what we have read. We ask Him to help us more fully realize what He wants us to be and to help us apply His moral, spiritual, or practical guidance to our lives. As we engage with Him, He may choose to call us deeper, to become lost in this heavenly dialogue with Him. For those who tend to be very talkative in life and prayer, it might be important here to slow down our own words and to be attentive to Him rather than to what we desire to say. We will eventually find ourselves moving into contemplatio.

Contemplatio – Allowing oneself to become absorbed in the words of God and the presence of God as he calls us into deeper prayer

Here God satisfies our ultimate thirst and needs as the Holy Spirit prays with us, in us, and through us. Sometimes we recognize this work in our hearts; sometimes it is merely a matter of faith that He is with us and imparting His life-changing grace to us. Always we can know that He is changing us because he has promised that the “word of God never returns void” and that as St. Paul says, “faith comes from hearing the word of God.” It is important here to note that this phase of prayer is not always sensual. In fact, for those who are more advanced in the interior life, it may be a time of dryness and a dark silence. Regardless, we know by faith that he is true to His word. If we seek Him, we will find Him, even if He is found in ways that are difficult, or very different than we had anticipated.

To sum up Guigo’s thoughts on the four elements; reading seeks, meditation finds, prayer asks, and contemplation tastes.

 

PS: A short but more in-depth read on Lectio Divina as it relates to the prayer of Teresa of Avila is entitled Lectio Divina and the Practice of Teresian Prayer.

PSS: If you are worried about properly understanding the scriptures, the best Catholic Study Bible available is the new Ignatius Catholic Study Bible.

How can we mature through the first few rooms of the Interior Castle?

Posted on March 27th, 2012 by Sister Carmen Laudis OCD

Q: Dear Sister Carmen, in your last post you provided a really helpful summary of the first few mansions. You mentioned that they are “rooms of humility.” I would be grateful if you could help me understand the kinds of prayer that help us mature through these first few rooms. I have been advised to practice meditation for which Fr. John’s Better Part is a wonderful resource. Is this also consistent with Carmelite spirituality in these areas?

A: Dear Friend, thank you for your question! If we recall the words of a song made popular by Julie Andrews in Sound of Music, “Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start…”, it would seem quite obvious in the natural learning order that we move from what is simple to what is more complex. Counting leads us into the world of mathematics, the A, B, C’s into the world of reading, do, re mi into the world of music, etc. Likewise in prayer there is a growth process.

When the disciples witnessed the relationship of Jesus to His Father, they besought Him, “Teach us how to pray.” And where did He begin? He began where children usually begin. He taught them by means of a vocal prayer, what we now call the Lord’s Prayer or the Our Father.  St. Teresa says, “I tell you that it is very possible that while you are reciting the Our Father or some other vocal prayer, the Lord may raise you to perfect contemplation” (Way of Perfection, Chapter 25).  Surely Teresa understood that for this to happen there needed to be a genuine attentiveness to prayer.

Teresa also shows  us that vocal prayer can become mental prayer when we understand to whom we are speaking, listen with our hearts to His response and remain at His side. We tend to think of vocal prayer as voicing words and mental prayer as being silent. Teresa explains however in Chapter 22 of the Way of Perfection that even in vocal prayer the mind must be used and we can mentally recite prayers with our lips closed. “Realize, daughters, that the nature of mental prayer isn’t determined by whether or not the mouth is closed.”

A particular form of mental prayer is meditation in which one makes a thoughtful reflection, through thinking on some truth or imagining some scene in Our Lord’s life,  in order to draw resolutions for one’s own life. Teresa herself admits that her mind did not do well with either thinking or imagining. Rather she called her prayer a Prayer of Recollection. She used whatever means would help her become aware of God’s presence in order to enter into conversation with Him or simply be quiet before Him.  Thus Teresa strove to picture Christ within her especially in those times when He would have been alone.

Both Teresa and St. John of the Cross turned to creation through which was aroused a sense of reverence and awe leading them into a deeper love for the Creator. John was drawn particularly to flowers and often took his friars on a “nature walk”. At night he would look out his window, resting his elbows on the window sill, to gaze at the stars which sight made him ecstatic. Flowers also drew Teresa but in a more special way she was drawn to water as we see in her writings. Teresa advised her nuns to use whatever helped them to recall the presence of Christ and enable them to communicate with Him, be it the beauties of creation, a good book, an image or painting.

The first movement toward prayer always comes from God who called us into life. He who first loved us begins the process. Thus He continues to call and our response is to listen and to respond. This listening and responding shapes the form of prayer which is most adapted to our particular nature. Teresa realized that God calls us all in different ways. However, our growth and perseverance in prayer is meant to open us up to the Mystery of God. Meditation enables us to discern what is necessary to bring our wills into conformity with God’s will. Cooperation with God’s grace and determination enable us to overcome the obstacles both within ourselves and without. There will be obstacles because when we enter prayer we enter the realm of the supernatural. Growth in prayer is measured by growth in the virtues. Thus for many the period of time in which meditation becomes our main form of prayer can be a lengthy phase. Growth is often slow.

Our holy mother St. Teresa teaches us that we must become very generous in living the Gospel. This generosity, which goes beyond the commandments, is a condition for a deep prayer life. “He will see that whoever loves Him much will be able to suffer much for Him” (Way of Perfection, Chapter 32).

You asked if meditation is consistent with Carmelite spirituality. Because Carmelite Spirituality does not have a structured form of prayer than these types that I described are all ways of prayer by which we strive to deepen the intimate relationship that we desire to have with God. The more that we grow in prayer the greater will be our thirst for the “living God”. This growth in intimacy rests on the sense of God’s Presence in our lives. It is likewise a preparation for contemplation should God desire to give this gift to us.

PS from Dan: To answer your question about Fr. Bartunek’s approach to meditation Fr. Bartunek’s approach is more Ignatian than Carmelite. That said, his helpful summary of traditional meditation is not contradictory, nor would it provide any impediment to growth in prayer in the Carmelite tradition. St. Teresa and St. John of the Cross were both well aware of methods similar to those described by Fr. John (which were popular in their time) but were more concerned with progress in the way rather than specific ways of progress (methods). Simply put, meditation or mental prayer is a necessary means to growing in and through the first mansions regardless of the specific tradition one prefers. Methods like Fr. John’s are particularly helpful to those who are just beginning the practice of mental prayer or who are having difficulty progressing more deeply in prayer during the early phases of spiritual growth.

PS 2: To learn more about the Carmelite Sisters visit our web site: www.carmelitesistersocd.com and for more information please contact the sisters at contact@carmelitesistersocd.com, or 626-289-1353 Ext. 246, 920 East Alhambra Road, Alhambra, California 91801.

What is going on with my prayer life? Should I really just be sitting in silence?

Posted on March 12th, 2012 by Father John Bartunek

Q: I am struggling with my prayer life. I go to my 30-minute prayer time and nothing happens. But I stick it out anyway, as best I can. It seems like sheer willpower (and invisible grace) against everything else. “Well, I have nothing better to do for the next 47 years, Lord. I’ll wait it out like this, if that’s what you want.” I am frustrated.

A: This is a great question, but it’s hard to answer without a bit more context. Let me give some short answers pointed towards some hypothetical contexts.

Let’s say you are a normal lay person, or even a young religious, who has recently discovered the reality of God’s love for you, maybe through a retreat or a parish Bible study that set your heart on fire. You now desire to develop a deeper prayer life. You start by setting aside time on a daily basis to spend just with God – your daily God-time. But when you go there, you find it hard to concentrate. It’s not so easy as when you were on retreat, for some reason. And even when you do concentrate, you don’t seem to hear God speaking to you – nothing seems to happen. What’s the deal?

The Liberation of Structure

In this case, the best thing you can do is to give structure to your daily God-time. Structure, in general, actually frees us for more meaningful activity, contrary to much of popular opinion. We can only be free to play a Mozart sonata once we have disciplined ourselves regarding certain structures of music. In personal prayer, having a structure frees you to allow the Holy Spirit to work in your soul however he wishes. You are not just looking and waiting for dramatic manifestations of the Spirit, which you may have had on retreat or at the parish activities. Rather, you use your mind, heart, and imagination to search for a deeper knowledge and experience of God. And Jesus made a promise regarding that: “Search, and you shall find…” (Matthew 7:7).

What structure should you use? Here no hard and fast rules apply. You can make up your own, get ideas from someone you respect or from your spiritual director, use structures, materials, and recommendations from other sources… The important thing is always to remember that no structure is perfect, and no structure will actually do your prayer for you. But by having a structure, you take the pressure off yourself, and free yourself to be open to whatever God may want from you. I highly recommend the structure explained and embodied in The Better Part: A Christ-Centered Resource for Personal Prayer. But other structures abound. The important thing is to start using one. You can adjust as you go. In any event, a key element for mental prayer, even for religious, is having some material that you can use to spark your reflection and conversation with Christ. I often recommend simply taking a good, solid, spiritual book (like This Tremendous Lover or I Believe in Love) and using the following structure for your daily God-time:

1. Recall that you are in God’s presence and ask him to bless your time together.
2. Read a short passage from the book.
3. Reflect on the passage: What does this really mean? What does it mean for me?
4. Respond to the ideas that struck you by speaking to God in your own words: thanking him, praising him, questioning him, asking him for grace…
5. Reflect on another passage…
6. Respond again…
7. Resolve, at the end of your daily God-time, to live out in during the day to come the insights that the Holy Spirit gave to your mind and heart during the prayer. Thank God for his blessings, and launch into the activities of the day.

If you begin following a structure in your daily God-time, and you still experience that “nothing happens,” then you need simply to persevere, and maybe experiment with other structures. Clearly, your soul needs to be disciplined and purified by ascesis (our own spiritual effort) in order for you to hear what God is saying to you. This ascesis may also necessitate some alterations in the habits of your daily life – use of mass media, rooting out of sinful habits, building in periods of silence… In such a situation, a spiritual director is of invaluable help.

The Case of Passive Purgation

A different case is someone who has been engaged in structured, daily mental prayer for many years, and how has no habits of sin or sinful attachments. This may be a lay person or a religious, and they have been traveling along the journey to spiritual maturity for many years, receiving plenty of guidance from competent spiritual directors. If someone in this situation goes to their daily period of mental prayer and “nothing happens,” it is most like a spiritual trial being sent by God. This trial requires the soul to throw itself into God’s arms, abandon the hopes of sensible consolation, and persevere in humble acts of faith, hope, and love, in spite of the seeming lack of reward. These trials are a preparation of the soul for greater intimacy with God, what’s called a “passive purification.” The Divine Doctor is operating on your soul while you are experiencing a kind of spiritual anesthesia. Take comfort from the example of the saints, keep doing your part, and trust that God knows what he’s up to – “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God” (Romans 8:28).

In any case, we all can use the reminder our Lord gave to his followers many centuries ago: “Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up…” (Luke 18:1).

How to deepen your relationship with Christ this Lenten season

Posted on February 12th, 2012 by Dan Burke

Prayer can be a great consolation to us. It is often the means of God’s grace to strengthen, encourage, and guide us. It is also hard work and requires a strong commitment to persevere. This doesn’t mean that it should be a straining exercise. Still, when we choose to pray we are thereby rejecting other things that might be pleasurable to us. For instance, I know one very busy business man who, though he is a “night person” by disposition, gets up at 3:30 AM every morning to pray. He is driven by a deep passion to know and live his life for Christ. Still, he doesn’t enjoy the challenges related to getting up this early.

St. John of the cross is often criticized for his negative emphasis on denying self. However, this is a matter of perspective. The man I am speaking of does deny his own desire to sleep more, to sometimes have more energy and acuity during the day. But, as he denies himself he is also choosing something very good. Because of the graces God has provided in response, he experiences a great deal of joy and peace in the midst of challenging physical and work related circumstances. His wife would also give testimony to the significant changes that have come in his life because of his commitment to Christ and Christ’s generous response.

What I am getting at here is to propose an initiation or a deepening of your daily prayer life for lent (and beyond). This will involve sacrifice, but it will also bring great graces. If you are up for the challenge our readers have already weighed in on the best resources for this in their responses to our post Tattered Titles. I would like to highlight two of those resources:

The first is Fr. John Bartunek’s The Better Part – A Christ Centered Resource for Personal Prayer. This really is an exceptional work. If you have yet to develop a substantive prayer life, this is the place to start. If you are stuck, his insights and daily meditations will help you past these challenges. This particular approach to prayer will deepen your love for and relationship with Christ and help you to make significant strides in your spiritual life. For a sample of the daily units check out the Wednesday posts on this site.

The second is, Divine Intimacy – Meditations on the Interior Life for Every Day of the Liturgical Year by Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D. This work provides profound insights into the life of God that can greatly deepen our understanding of our Lord and the life we live under His wings. While Fr. John’s book focuses on an encounter with Christ in the Gospels, Fr. Gabriel provides regular insights into the spiritual life based on the insights of great spiritual masters of the Carmelite tradition.

If you wanted to double up in your efforts to dig deeper in lent, use The Better Part to deepen your morning prayer, and Divine Intimacy to fulfill a new or existing commitment of daily spiritual reading and reflection. Both of these books are a bit on the costly side. However, you can also see this as a sacrifice (Fr. John’s book would cost you about the same as 10 visits to Starbucks, and Fr. Gabriel’s about 15).

Both of these works provide for daily insights, perspective, and conversation with Christ – which is the goal of all authentic meditation and spiritual reading. Christ has great treasures waiting for you this Lenten season. Why not give up some time and treasure, and give more to God? It will and should be a challenge but you won’t regret the decision.

PS: For those of you who are fans of these works, it would be great to hear from you about how they have helped you in your spiritual growth. Oh, one more thing – please share this post on Facebook and Twitter so you can bless your friends with this idea – particularly those of you who already know the great treasures that lie in store for those who take up the challenge!

How to give delight to the devil…

Posted on February 9th, 2012 by Dan Burke

“Let us remember that the devil labors hard to disturb us at the time of meditation, in order to make us abandon it. Let him, then, who omits mental prayer on account of distractions be persuaded that he gives delight to the devil… let us, then, never give up meditation however great our distractions may be. St. Francis de Sales says that if, in mental prayer, we should do nothing else than continually banish distractions and temptations, the meditation would be very well made. Before him, St. Thomas taught that involuntary distractions do not take away the fruit of mental prayer.”

St. Alphonsus, The Great Means of Salvation and Perfection