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"Ignorance of
Scripture is ignorance of Christ." -- St. Jerome, A.D. 340-420
"To get the full flavor of an herb, it must be pressed between the fingers,
so it is the same with the Scriptures; the more familiar they become, the
more they reveal their hidden treasures and yield their indescribable riches."--
St. John Chrysostom, A.D. 347-407
"The New Testament lies hidden in the Old and the Old Testament is unveiled
in the New" -- St. Augustine, A.D. 354-430
"All troubles of the Church, all the evils in the world, flow from this source:
that men do not by clear and sound knowledge and serious consideration penetrate
into the truths of Sacred Scripture." -- St. Theresa of Avila, A.D.
1515-1582
Lectio Divina (pronounced "Lec-tsee-oh Di-vee-nah") means "Divine Reading"
and refers specifically to a method of Scripture reading practiced by monastics
since the beginning of the Church.
The early centrality of reading of Sacred Scripture, and then meditating
and praying over its meaning, is evident in the
48th chapter of the Rule of St. Benedict
(A.D. 480-453), a book written by the Great Saint to guide monastic life.
But it was an 11th c. Carthusian prior named Guigo
1 who formalized Lectio Divina, describing
the method in a letter written to a fellow religious.
This letter, which has become known as Scala Paradisi -- the Stairway
to Heaven -- describes a 4-runged ladder to Heaven, each rung being one of
the four steps in his method of Bible reading. Those steps, and Guigo's brief
descriptions of them, are:
-
lectio (reading):
"looking on Holy Scripture with all one's will and wit"
-
meditatio
(meditation): "a studious insearching with the mind to know what was before
concealed through desiring proper skill"
-
oratio (prayer):
"a devout desiring of the heart to get what is good and avoid what is evil"
-
contemplatio
(contemplation): "the lifting up of the heart to God tasting somewhat of
the heavenly sweetness and savour"
Through the practice
of Lectio Divina by monastics in group settings, three other steps are sometimes
added to the four above such that the steps become:
The Steps in Detail
Statio
First, we arrange a place so it is restful, warm, and non-distracting. This
may involve the lighting of candles, the burning of incense, the shutting
of doors and drawing of curtains -- whatever makes one feel calm and at peace.
Then we assume a bodily posture that is conducive to prayer and reading.
We breathe slowly, focusing on the Holy Name of Jesus and nothing else, until
we are relaxed and able to focus our attention solely on Scripture. If
our minds wander, we gently bring our attention back to the
Holy Name of Our Lord, breathing in and out
rhythmically. Note that, unlike in Eastern prayer which seeks to empty oneself
to be open to some great "Nothing", we are ever mindful of the One Almighty
Triune and Transcendent God, and are trying to calm ourselves so that what
He might reveal to us through His Word may more easily be perceived.
It is good if the place chosen for Lectio Divina is a comfortable area chosen
just for this and other prayerful activities. The presence of relevant icons
and other visual aids to meditation can be of great benefit. Now pray a prayer
to the Holy Ghost, such as this one:
A Prayer Before
the Reading of Any Part of the Holy Scripture
Come Holy Ghost, fill the hearts and minds of the faithful servants, and
inflame them with the fire of Thy divine love.
Let us pray: O God, who by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, didst instruct
the hearts of thy faithful servants; grant us in the same Spirit, to discern
what is right, and enjoy His comfort forever, through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Who liveth and reigneth, one God, with Thee and the same Spirit, world without
end. Amen.
Lectio
When we are relaxed and in a contemplative mode, we trace the
Sign of the Cross on the book of Scripture, kiss
the Cross we traced, and then open it to read. Some may want to focus on
Scripture from that day's Propers. Others may want to read the Bible straight
through, starting with Genesis. Others may want to focus only on the New
Testament or the Psalms. We aren't trying to "accomplish a goal" of reading
X amount; we read what is easily digested at that time. Whichever selection
we choose, we read it with our minds, slowly, gently, coming to an
understanding of the words themselves.
Having a solid orthodox Catholic commentary (pre-Vatican II commentary with
Imprimatur or the rare, well-chosen post-Vatican
II commentary), a nice Concordance, etc., in order to get a good grasp of
the meaning of the actual words -- their historical cultural context, their
etymologies, the Fathers' thoughts on the relevant Scripture, etc. -- is
imperative. We should always approach Scripture with the mind of the Church,
in the spirit of the Ethopian eunuch who asked Philip to guide him:
Acts 8:30-31
And Philip running thither, heard him reading the prophet Isaias. And he
said: Thinkest thou that thou understandest what thou readest? Who said:
And how can I, unless some man shew me? And he desired Philip that he would
come up and sit with him.
We should always
keep in mind Peter's admonition that "no prophecy of scripture is made by
private interpretation" (2 Peter 1:20) and that Scripture can be difficult
to understand, something "which the unlearned and unstable wrest...to their
own destruction" (2 Peter 3:16).
If you come to a verse you don't understand, or that you understand in a
way that is contrary to Catholic teaching, seek traditional Catholic commentary
on it. Any apparent contradiction between Scripture and Catholic teaching
is just that: apparent, and not real. As an example, even a simple
verse such as one that refers to Mary's "firstborn" will be misunderstood
if one is ignorant of Jewish law, as are many Protestants who believe that
reference to a "firstborn" means there must be a "secondborn," and who then
go on to deny Mary's virginity. Seek a Catholic commentary which would refer
you, in this case, to the Old Testament law of the "firstborn" and will teach
you what that word really means (see Exodus 13:2, Exodus 13:14-15, Numbers
18:15 and research the term "pidyon ha-ben").
At any rate, in Lectio, we are reading for the literal sense of the words,
trying to understand the reality the writer of the text intended to
convey.
 Meditatio
Now we meditate on what we have read, perhaps even reading it again, visualizing
it and listening for the aspect of it that reveals the Divine Mysteries.
We want the deeper, spiritual meanings of the words now, and read
for its anagogocal (or "eschatalogical") sense and its typical (or "allegorical")
sense -- i.e., we consider types and anti-types,
shadows and symbolism in order to understand the deeper reality the
Holy Ghost intends to convey by arranging nature and history as He did, thereby
inspiring the writer of the text to write as he did.
Oratio
We ask God to for the grace to be changed by what we have read, to come more
fully into being what He wants us to be, and to help us apply the tropological
(or "moral") sense of the Scripture to our lives.
Contemplatio
We rest in gratitude for God and His Word.
Collatio
If we are engaging in Lectio Divina with others, we discuss what we've
learned.
Actio
We live what we have learned.
Consider engaging
in Lectio Divina with your family, perhaps on the
Lord's Day each week (if not daily). Discuss
Scripture together, encouraging even the littlest ones of your family to
participate (the very small can draw pictures of the stories you are reading).
Make the Bible a familar and integral part of their lives.
Bibles and Commentary
Finally, please,
please, use a solid translation of Scripture! The Douay-Rheims version
is the traditional Catholic standard in the English language; the Latin Vulgate,
translated from the Greek and Hebrew by St. Jerome (A.D. 340-420 ), is the
"official" Scripture of the Church. I strongly encourage you to get
a copy of the one of these you are able to best understand, and use it
exclusively for Lectio Divina, family devotions, etc. Though the Vulgate
and Douay are not perfect translations, they are vastly superior to most
modern translations, even so-called "Catholic" ones, which can be quite
modernized -- not only with obvious things such as "inclusive language,"
but with subtle changes that can profoundly affect one's understanding of
God's Truth. As an example: I Corinthians 9:5 reads:
Have we not power
to carry about a woman, a sister, as well as the rest of the apostles, and
the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?
But in the 1991
New American Bible, a translation approved by American Catholic Bishops,
the same verse reads:
Do we not have
the right to take along a Christian wife, as do the rest of the apostles,
and the brothers of the Lord, and Kephas?
And which is the
right translation? The words translated as "a woman, a sister" in the Douay,
and as "Christian wife" in the NAB, are "adelphên gunaika" in the Greek.
"Gunaika" means both "woman" and "wife," just as "femme" does in French;
"adelphên" means "sister." St. Paul used "adelphên" to modify
"gunaika" in order to make clear that he was not referring to "wives," Christian
or not, but to female disciples such as those that always followed Jesus
-- women who are referred to as "gunaika" in Matthew 27:55-56, Luke 8:1-3,
etc. The new "Catholic" translation is one written by "Catholics" who want
to attack celibacy. And so it goes. For more on the out and out heresies
of the New American Bible -- the Bible used as the basis for American Novus
Ordo lectionaries -- see this article (off-site, will open in new browser
window):
New American Bible: Is It Good for Catholics?
As said, the best all around English-language Bible to have is the Douay-Rheims,
but if you can get the version of the Douay-Rheims that includes commentary
by Fr. George Leo Haydock, all the better. Printed originally in 1812, this
complete Bible comes in two volumes and includes not only Fr. Haydock's
commentary, but the commentary of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church
throughout. It
can be purchased here (link will open in new browser
window).
For a nice but less complete Bible commentary for the average layman, see
A Practical Commentary on Holy Scripture by Bishop Frederick
Justus Knecht, D.D. (844 pp. Link will open in new browser window).
Here are a few online tools to help you (will open in new browser
windows):
Douay-Rheims Bible
The Vulgate
The Unbound
Bible
Douay
Concordance
Bible Citations in the
Summa
Odds and Ends
A partial
indulgence is granted to the faithful, who,
under the usual conditions and with the veneration due the divine word, make
a spiritual reading from Sacred Scripture. A plenary indulgence is granted
under the usual conditions if this reading is continued for at least one
half an hour.
To read more about how to read the Bible, see
"Providentissimus Deus," by Pope
Leo XIII, and "Spiritus Paraclitus,"
by Benedict XV. Serious scholars see
"Divino Afflante Spiritu," by Pope
Pius XII.
See also the eighth way of prayer listed in The
Nine Ways of Prayer of St. Dominic, an account of the Saint's modes of
prayer as recalled by his spiritual children.
...and finally, how about reading a short, charming account of an 8th or
9th c. Irish monk's study of Scripture -- with his kitty-cat? Read this account
here, off the "Catholics
and the Animal World" page.
Footnote
1 Guigo lived A.D. 1083/4 - 27 July 1136/8. He
was also known as "Guigues du Chastel" or "Guigo de Castro" or "Guigo II"
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