Article Father Antonio O. Moreno used at the Tuesday, February 23, 2016 Lenten Spiritual Journey presentation
ACCEPTING
THE EMBRACE
of GOD:
The Ancient Art of Lectio Divina
The Ancient Art of Lectio Divina
by Fr. Luke Dysinger, O.S.B., SAINT ANDREW’S ABBEY
tel.: 661
944-2178; http://www.valyermo.com ;
e-mail: monks@valyermo.com
The Process of Lectio
Divina
A very ancient art,
practiced at one time by all Christians, is the technique known as lectio divina - a slow, contemplative
praying of the Scriptures which enables the Bible, the Word of God, to become a
means of union with God. This ancient practice has been kept alive in
the Christian monastic tradition, and is one of the precious treasures of
Benedictine monastics and oblates.
Together with the Liturgy and
daily manual labor, time set aside in a special way for lectio divina enables us to discover in
our daily life an underlying spiritual rhythm.
Within this rhythm we discover an increasing ability to offer more of
ourselves and our relationships to the Father, and to accept the embrace that God is continuously extending to us in the
person of his Son Jesus Christ.
Lectio - reading/listening
The art of lectio divina begins with cultivating
the ability to listen deeply, to hear “with the ear of our
hearts” as St. Benedict encourages us in
the Prologue to the Rule. When we read
the Scriptures we should try to imitate the prophet Elijah. We should allow ourselves to become women and
men who are able to listen for the still, small voice of God (I Kings 19:12); the “faint murmuring
sound” which is God's word for us,
God's voice touching our hearts. This gentle listening is an “atunement” to
the presence of God in that special part of God's creation which is the
Scriptures.
The cry of the prophets to
ancient Israel was the joy-filled command to “Listen!” “Sh'ma Israel: Hear, O Israel!” In lectio
divina we, too, heed that command and turn to the Scriptures, knowing that
we must “hear” - listen - to the voice of God, which often speaks very
softly. In order to hear someone
speaking softly we must learn to be silent.
We must learn to love silence. If
we are constantly speaking or if we are surrounded with noise, we cannot hear
gentle sounds. The practice of lectio divina, therefore, requires that
we first quiet down in order to hear God's word to us. This is the first step of lectio divina, appropriately called lectio - reading.
The reading or listening which
is the first step in lectio divina is
very different from the speed reading which modern Christians apply to
newspapers, books and even to the Bible.
Lectio is reverential
listening; listening both in a spirit of silence and of awe. We are listening for the still, small voice
of God that will speak to us personally
- not loudly, but intimately. In lectio we read slowly, attentively,
gently listening to hear a word or phrase that is God's word for us this day
Meditatio - meditation
Once we have found
a word or a passage in the Scriptures which speaks to us in a personal way, we
must take it in and “ruminate” on it.
The image of the ruminant animal quietly chewing its cud was used in antiquity
as a symbol of the Christian pondering the Word of God. Christians have always seen a scriptural
invitation to lectio divina in the
example of the Virgin Mary “pondering in her heart” what she saw and heard of
Christ (Luke 2:19). For us today these images are a reminder that
we must take in the word - that is, memorize it - and while gently
repeating it to ourselves, allow it to interact with our thoughts, our hopes, our
memories, our desires. This is the
second step or stage in lectio divina
- meditatio. Through meditatio
we allow God's word to become His word for us, a word that touches us and affects us at our deepest
levels.
Oratio - prayer
The third step in lectio divina is oratio - prayer: prayer understood both as dialogue with God, that
is, as loving conversation with the One who has invited us into His embrace;
and as consecration, prayer as the priestly offering to God of parts of
ourselves that we have not previously
believed God wants. In this
consecration-prayer we allow the word that we have taken in and on which we are
pondering to touch and change our deepest selves. Just as a priest consecrates the elements of
bread and wine at the Eucharist, God invites us in lectio divina to hold up our most difficult and pain-filled experiences
to Him, and to gently recite over them the healing word or phrase He has given
us in our lectio and meditatio. In this oratio,
this consecration-prayer, we allow our real selves to be touched and changed by
the word of God.
Contemplatio - contemplation
Finally, we simply
rest in the presence of the One who has used His word as a means of inviting us
to accept His transforming embrace. No
one who has ever been in love needs to be reminded that there are moments in loving
relationships when words are unnecessary.
It is the same in our relationship with God. Wordless, quiet rest in the presence of the
One Who loves us has a name in the Christian tradition - contemplatio, contemplation.
Once again we practice silence, letting go of our own words; this time
simply enjoying the experience of being in the presence of God.
The Underlying Rhythm of Lectio Divina
If we are to practice lectio
divina effectively, we must travel back in time to an understanding
that today is in danger of being almost
completely lost. In the Christian past
the words action (or practice, from the Greek praktikos) and contemplation did not describe different kinds of Christians
engaging (or not engaging) in different forms of prayer and apostolates. Practice and contemplation were understood as
the two poles of our underlying, ongoing spiritual rhythm: a gentle oscillation
back and forth between spiritual “activity” with regard to God and
“receptivity.”
Practice - spiritual activity
- referred in ancient times to our active cooperation with God's grace in
rooting out vices and allowing the virtues to flourish. The direction of spiritual activity was not
outward in the sense of an apostolate, but inward
- down into the depths of the soul where the Spirit of God is constantly
transforming us, refashioning us in God's image. The active
life is thus coming to see who we truly are and allowing ourselves to be
remade into what God intends us to become.
In contemplation we cease from
interior spiritual doing and learn
simply to be, that is to rest in the
presence of our loving Father. Just as
we constantly move back and forth in our exterior lives between speaking and
listening, between questioning and reflecting, so in our spiritual lives we
must learn to enjoy the refreshment of simply being in God's presence, an experience that naturally alternates
(if we let it!) with our spiritual practice.
In ancient times contemplation
was not regarded as a goal to be achieved through some method of prayer, but
was simply accepted with gratitude as God's recurring gift. At intervals the Lord invites us to cease
from speaking so that we can simply rest in his embrace. This is the pole of our inner spiritual rhythm
called contemplation.
How different this ancient
understanding is from our modern approach!
Instead of recognizing that we all gently oscillate back and forth
between spiritual activity and receptivity, between practice and contemplation,
we today tend to set contemplation before ourselves as a goal - something we
imagine we can achieve through some spiritual technique. We must be willing to sacrifice our
“goal-oriented” approach if we are to practice lectio divina, because lectio
divina has no other goal than spending time with God through the medium of
His word. The amount of time we spend in
any aspect of lectio divina, whether
it be rumination, consecration or contemplation depends on God's Spirit, not on
us. Lectio
divina teaches us to savor and delight in all the different flavors of
God's presence, whether they be active or receptive modes of experiencing Him.
In lectio divina we offer ourselves to God; and we are people in
motion. In ancient times this inner
spiritual motion was described as a helix - an ascending spiral. Viewed in only two dimensions it appears as a
circular motion back and forth; seen with the added dimension of time it
becomes a helix, an ascending spiral by means of which we are drawn ever closer
to God. The whole of our spiritual lives
were viewed in this way, as a gentle oscillation between spiritual activity and
receptivity by means of which God unites us ever closer to Himself. In just the same way the steps or stages of lectio divina represent an oscillation
back and forth between these spiritual poles.
In lectio divina we recognize
our underlying spiritual rhythm and discover many different ways of
experiencing God's presence - many different ways of praying.
The Practice of
Lectio Divina
Private lectio divina
Choose a text of
the Scriptures that you wish to pray.
Many Christians use in their daily lectio
divina one of the readings from the Eucharistic liturgy for the day; others
prefer to slowly work through a particular book of the Bible. It makes no difference which text is chosen,
as long as one has no set goal of “covering” a certain amount of text: the
amount of text “covered” is in God's hands, not yours.
Place yourself in a comfortable
position and allow yourself to become silent.
Some Christians focus for a few moments on their breathing; other have a
beloved “prayer word” or “prayer phrase” they gently recite in order to become
interiorly silent. For some the practice
known as “centering prayer” makes a good, brief introduction to lectio divina. Use whatever method is best for you and allow
yourself to enjoy silence for a few moments.
Then turn to the text and read
it slowly, gently. Savor each portion of
the reading, constantly listening for the “still, small voice” of a word or
phrase that somehow says, “I am for you today.”
Do not expect lightening or ecstasies.
In lectio divina God is
teaching us to listen to Him, to seek Him in silence. He does not reach out and grab us; rather, He
softly, gently invites us ever more deeply into His presence.
Next take the word or phrase
into yourself. Memorize it and slowly
repeat it to yourself, allowing it to interact with your inner world of
concerns, memories and ideas. Do not be
afraid of “distractions.” Memories or
thoughts are simply parts of yourself which, when they rise up during lectio divina, are asking to be given to
God along with the rest of your inner self.
Allow this inner pondering, this rumination, to invite you into dialogue
with God.
Then, speak to God. Whether you use words or ideas or images or
all three is not important. Interact
with God as you would with one who you know loves and accepts you. And give to Him what you have discovered in
yourself during your experience of meditatio. Experience yourself as the priest that you
are. Experience God using the word or
phrase that He has given you as a means of blessing, of transforming the ideas
and memories, which your pondering on His word has awakened. Give to God what you have found within your
heart.
Finally, simply rest in God's
embrace. And when He invites you to
return to your pondering of His word or to your inner dialogue with Him, do
so. Learn to use words when words are
helpful, and to let go of words when they no
longer are necessary. Rejoice in
the knowledge that God is with you in both words and silence, in spiritual
activity and inner receptivity.
Sometimes in lectio divina one will return several
times to the printed text, either to savor the literary context of the word or
phrase that God has given, or to seek a new word or phrase to ponder. At other times only a single word or phrase will
fill the whole time set aside for lectio
divina. It is not necessary to
anxiously assess the quality of one's lectio
divina as if one were “performing” or seeking some goal: lectio divina has no goal other than
that of being in the presence of God by praying the Scriptures.
Lectio
Divina
as a group exercise
In the churches of
the Third World where books are rare, a form of corporate lectio divina is becoming common in which a text from the
Scriptures is pondered by Christians praying together in a group.[1]
This form of lectio divina works best in a group of
between four and eight people. A group
leader coordinates the process and facilitates sharing. The same text from the Scriptures is read out
three times, followed each time by a period of silence and an opportunity for
each member of the group to share the fruit of her or his lectio.
The first reading (the text is
actually read twice on this occasion) is for the purpose of hearing a word or
passage that touches the heart. When the
word or phrase is found, it is silently taken in, and gently recited and
pondered during the silence which follows.
After the silence each person shares which word or phrase has touched
his or her heart.
The second reading (by a member
of the opposite sex from the first reader) is for the purpose of “hearing” or
“seeing” Christ in the text. Each
ponders the word that has touched the heart and asks where the word or phrase touches his or her life
that day. In other words, how is Christ
the Word touching his own experience, his own life? How are the various members of the group
seeing or hearing Christ reach out to them through the text? Then, after the silence, each member of the group shares what he or
she has “heard” or “seen.”
The third and final reading is
for the purpose of experiencing Christ “calling us forth” into doing or being. Members ask
themselves what Christ in the text is calling them to do or to become today or
this week. After the silence, each
shares for the last time; and the exercise concludes with each person praying
for the person on the right.
Those who regularly practice
this method of praying and sharing the Scriptures regularly find it to be an
excellent way of developing trust within a group; it also is an excellent way of consecrating
projects and hopes to Christ before more formal group meetings. A single-sheet summary of this method for
group lectio divina is appended at
the end of this article.
Lectio
Divina
on life
In the ancient
tradition lectio divina was
understood as being one of the most important ways in which Christians
experience God in creation.[2] After all, the Scriptures are part of
creation! If one is daily growing in the
art of finding Christ in the pages of the Bible, one naturally begins to
discover Him more clearly in aspects of the other things He has made. This includes, of course, our own personal
history.
Our own lives are fit matter for
lectio divina. Very often our concerns, our relationships,
our hopes and aspirations naturally intertwine with our pondering on the
Scriptures, as has been described above.
But sometimes it is fitting to simply sit down and “read” the
experiences of the last few days or weeks in our hearts, much as we might
slowly read and savor the words of Scripture in lectio divina. We can attend
“with the ear of our hearts” to our own memories, listening for God's gentle
presence in the events of our lives. We
thus allow ourselves the joy of experiencing Christ reaching out to us through
our own memories. Our own personal story
becomes “salvation history.”
For those who are new to the
practice of lectio divina a group
experience of “lectio on life” can
provide a helpful introduction. An
approach that has been used at workshops at St. Andrew's Abbey is detailed at
the end of this article. Like the
experience of lectio divina shared in
community, this group experience of lectio
on life can foster relationships in community and enable personal
experiences to be consecrated - offered to Christ - in a concrete way.
However, unlike scriptural lectio divina shared in community, this
group lectio on life contains more
silence than sharing. The role of group facilitators or leaders is important,
since they will be guiding the group through several periods of silence and reflection
without the “interruption” of individual sharing until the end of the
exercise. Since the experiences we
choose to “read” or “listen to” may be intensely personal, it is important in
this group exercise to safeguard privacy by making sharing completely optional.
In brief, one begins with
restful silence, then gently reviews the events of a given period of time. One seeks an event, a memory, which touches
the heart just as a word or phrase in scriptural lectio divina does. One then
recalls the setting, the circumstances; one seeks to discover how God seemed to
be present or absent from the experience.
One then offers the event to God and rests for a time in silence.
Conclusion
Lectio divina is an ancient spiritual art that is being
rediscovered in our day. It is a way of
allowing the Scriptures to become again what God intended that they should be -
a means of uniting us to Himself. In lectio divina we discover our own
underlying spiritual rhythm. We
experience God in a gentle oscillation back and forth between spiritual
activity and receptivity, in the movement from practice into contemplation and
back again into spiritual practice.
Lectio divina teaches us about the God who truly loves us. In
lectio divina we dare to believe that our loving Father continues to extend
His embrace to us today. And His embrace
is real. In His word we experience
ourselves as personally loved by God; as the recipients of a word which He
gives uniquely to each of us whenever we turn to Him in the Scriptures.
Finally, lectio divina teaches us about ourselves. In lectio
divina we discover that there is no place in our hearts, no interior corner
or closet that cannot be opened and offered to God. God teaches us in lectio divina what it means to be members of His royal priesthood -
a people called to consecrate all of our memories, our hopes and our dreams to
Christ.
APPENDIX:
Two Approaches to Group Lectio Divina
Two Approaches to Group Lectio Divina
1) LECTIO DIVINA
Shared
in Community
Listening
for the Gentle Touch of Christ the Word
(The Literal Sense)
(The Literal Sense)
1.
One person reads aloud (twice) the passage
of scripture, as others are attentive to some segment that is especially
meaningful to them.
2.
Silence for 1-2 minutes. Each hears and silently repeats a word or phrase that attracts.
3.
Sharing aloud: [A word or phrase that has attracted each person]. A simple statement of one or a few
words. No elaboration.
How
Christ the Word speaks to ME
(The Allegorical Sense)
(The Allegorical Sense)
4.
Second reading of same passage by another person.
5.
Silence for 2-3 minutes. Reflect on “Where does the content of this
reading touch my life today?”
6.
Sharing aloud: Briefly: “I hear, I see...”
What
Christ the Word Invites me to DO
(The Moral Sense)
(The Moral Sense)
7.
Third reading by still another person.
8.
Silence for 2-3 minutes. Reflect on “I believe that God wants me to .
. . . . . today/this week.”
9.
Sharing aloud: at somewhat greater
length the results of each one's reflection.
[Be especially aware of what is shared by the person to your right.]
10. After full sharing, pray for the person to
your right.
Note: Anyone may “pass” at any time. If instead of sharing with the group you
prefer to pray silently , simply state this aloud and conclude your silent
prayer with Amen.
2) LECTIO ON
LIFE: Applying Lectio Divina to my personal Salvation History
Purpose: to apply a method of prayerful reflection to
a life/work incident (instead of to a
scripture passage).
Listening
- Gently Remembering
(Lectio - Reading)
(Lectio - Reading)
1.
Each person quiets the body and mind:
relax, sit comfortably but alert, close eyes, attune to breathing...
2.
Each person gently reviews events, situations, sights, encounters that have happened
since the beginning of the retreat/or during the last month at work.
Gently
Ruminating, Reflecting
(Meditatio - Meditation)
(Meditatio - Meditation)
3.
Each person allows the self to focus on one such offering.
a)
Recollect the setting, sensory details, sequence of events, etc.
b)
Notice where the greatest energy seemed to be evoked. Was there a turning point
or shift?
c)
In what ways did God seem to be present?
To what extent was I aware then?
Now?
Prayerful
Consecration, Blessing
(Oratio - Prayer)
(Oratio - Prayer)
4.
Use a word or phrase from the Scriptures to inwardly consecrate - to offer up
to God in prayer - the incident and interior reflections. Allow God to accept and bless them as your
gift
Accepting
Christ's Embrace; Silent Presence to the Lord
(Contemplatio - Contemplation)
(Contemplatio - Contemplation)
5.
Remain in silence for some period.
Sharing
our Lectio Experience with Each Other
(Operatio - Action; works)
(Operatio - Action; works)
6.
Leader calls the group back into “community.”
7.
All share briefly (or remain in continuing silence).
[1]This
approach to group lectio divina was
introduced at St. Andrew’s Abbey by Doug and Norvene Vest. It is used as part of the Benedictine
Spirituality for Laity workshop conducted at the Abbey each summer.
[2]Christian
life was understood as a gentle oscillation between the poles of practice and contemplation, as described above; however, contemplation was
understood in two ways. First was theoria physike, the contemplation of
God in creation - God in “the many:” second was theologia, the contemplation of God in Himself without images or
words - God as “The One.” Lectio divina was understood as an
important part of the contemplation of God in His creation.