St. Benedict’s Abbey
Atchison, Kansas
Fr om th e A bb ot
T h e Wo r d o f t h e L o r d
How do we encounter our Lord? Of course there are a variety of ways, but perhaps the best way to better know our Lord is through his own Word – Sacred Scripture. In his Holy Rule, St. Benedict exhorts us to immerse ourselves in the Word of the Lord, that we might come to know and understand how he is speaking to each of us. It is our hope that in these few pages, you might better learn how to grow in your relationship with God through the practice of Lectio Divina or sacred reading. It can be easy to get caught up in the day-to-day hustle and bustle and forget to make time to spend with the Word of God. Indeed, even here at the Abbey we were inspired to schedule time twice daily for this practice. We know that not everyone’s circumstances allow them to go to Mass daily, or even pray as much as they might like; in lectio divina, you can spend just a few short minutes with the Lord. I suggest starting with just a verse or two each day; you may be surprised to hear what the Lord says to you. We are grateful for your friendship. If you find the content in these few pages helpful, I encourage you to visit the Abbey for a retreat so that you might seek to grow more deeply into our Benedictine Spirituality. Please know that you are in our prayers. In Christ, Abbot James R. Albers, OSB
Lectio Divina
praying with scripture
“G o d c alls man f irst . Man may forge t his Cre ator or hide f ar f rom his f ace; he may r un af ter idols or accus e the deity of hav ing abandone d him; ye t the liv ing and tr ue G o d tirele ssly c alls e ach p ers on to that myster ious encounter k now n a s prayer. In prayer, the f aithf ul G o d’s initiative of love alw ays come s f irst ; our ow n f irst ste p is alw ays a re sp ons e. A s G o d g radually re ve als hims elf and re ve als man to hims elf, prayer app e ars a s a re c ipro c al c all, a covenant drama . Through words and actions , this drama engage s the he ar t . It unfolds through the whole histor y of salv ation.” —C ate chism of the C atholic Church #2567
“ The w r itten word is the me ans by which G o d’s liv ing Word re ache s me, the div ine act by which he addre ss e s me, que stions my whole existence and save s me. I must g ra sp the f ull dramatic v alue of the Word a s a Pers on who re ve als hims elf to my op enne ss , challeng ing me to commit mys elf to him.” —Archbishop Mar iano Mag ra ssi, Pray ing the Bible
W h at i s l e c t i o d i v in a ? Le ctio D iv ina is an anc ient for m of Chr istian prayer that involve s a clo s e and prayer f ul re ading of Sac re d S c r ipture. It is a w ay of encounter ing the L ord through the words of the Bible, le ading to a p ower f ul, endur ing s ens e of the L ord’s pre s ence in one’s daily life. S ele cting a S c r ipture pa ssage: your dire ctor may sugge st a pa ssage to pray w ith, or you may s ele ct a daily/Sunday Ma ss pa ssage. S ome p e ople pray through an entire G o sp el or one of the other b o ok s of the Bible, t ak ing shor t s e ctions one at a time. St ar t by putting yours elf in the pre s ence of G o d and by say ing a prayer to the Holy Spir it to help you to op en your he ar t to whate ver the L ord w ishe s to g ive you in the S c r ipture pa ssage. Now you are re ady to enter into le ctio div ina.
The steps of lectio divina: step one: read First , re ad the pa ssage ( le ctio) more than once— thre e time s is re commende d— ver y slowly, pausing at words that touch you in s ome w ay and le tting them linger in your mind. S ome time s re ading the pa ssage out loud c an help.
s t e p t w o : m e d i tat e S e cond, me dit ate on the pa ssage (me dit atio). A sk que stions of the text . Imag ine yours elf in the stor y or a s one of the characters (if the pa ssage lends it s elf to the imag ination). B e aw are of words or phra s e s that app e ar me aning f ul or myster ious . Find conne ctions w ith e vent s in one’s ow n life or w ith other par t s of S c r ipture.
step three: pray Third, pray over the pa ssage (oratio). L e t the pre v ious two ste p s le ad you to comp o s e a prayer to the L ord, to sp e ak to Him ab out the S c r ipture pa ssage and your life. You may b e move d to g ratitude, adoration, p e tition, supplic ation, contr ition, e tc . Sp e ak to the L ord ab out what is going on in your life a s it conne ct s to the pa ssage.
s t e p f o u r : c on t e m p l at e Four th, le t the Holy Spir it work (contempl atio). At this p oint , G o d t ake s over and re sp onds . We must b e re ce ptive to all the dif ferent w ays the L ord sp e ak s to us . Sit in quie t g ratitude for His lov ing Pre s ence in your life and listen.
Encountering God: ARRR B e g in by plac ing yours elf in the pre s ence of G o d. Take s ome de e p bre aths . Rememb er, you are f ac ing a G o d who love s you and de sire s a relationship w ith you.
A: Acknowledge Ack nowle dge: Dig de e p and re co g ni ze your de e p e st fe eling s and emotions . Br ing the s e into prayer, e sp e c ially any ne gative emotions you may have. A sk que stions of yours elf : where am I to day? Am I tire d, lonely, ang r y, j oy f ul, conf us e d, not w anting to pray, e tc .?
R : R e l at e Relate: Sp e ak to the L ord f rom the place of the s e emotions . Talk to H im a s you would sp e ak to a clo s e f r iend. In expre ssing yours elf, you are le tting go an d mak ing space for a s elf-g iv ing G o d.
R: Receive Re ceive: L isten to the L ord f rom a p o sture of re ceiv ing what He w ishe s to g ive you. The practice of Le ctio D iv ina f it s in well here, op ening you up to the word He w ishe s to g ive you in le ctio.
R: Respond Re sp ond: Make a re s olution on how to live that word throughout the day. This ha s b e en c alle d the “Fif th Ste p” of Le ctio D iv ina.
The Fifth Step of Lectio Divina step five: resolution Take one some element from your time of lectio, for example, Jesus sitting at the well awaiting the Samaritan woman, walking on the road to Emmaus, or the father of the prodigal son embracing him, and focus exclusively on that. Imagine the scene and enter into it. Use that to ponder the meaning of the scene: Jesus thirsts for me, Jesus accompanies me through my life, the Father embraces me when I sin. Stay with the deeper reality for an extended period of time, about 20-30 minutes. Sit comfortably, breathe at a regular pace, recall the initial scene when you are distracted, and stay there. Be at peace. If your Scripture passage doesn’t lend itself to images, what word can you hold on to from the prayer? Stay with that word, repeating it softly, returning to it often. Let this prayer word or the image be an anchor for you throughout the day.
Handling distractions in prayer Us e that word or image (the anchor) to re tur n back , aw ay f rom the distractions . Of ten if you f ight distractions , the y tend to ge t a life of their ow n. G ently re tur n back to your prayer. Hav ing an image, holy c ard or picture, c r uc if i x , e tc ., is helpf ul to o. S ome time s it is helpf ul to j ot dow n the distraction on a slip of pap er and push it aw ay f rom you. If the distraction still re tur ns , p erhap s the L ord w ant s you to pray w ith it . It may b e s ome thing you ne e d to f ace. In any c a s e, tre at distractions more like g nat s bu z z ing around your he ad, and alw ays refo cus on the matter of your prayer. Distractions are “unavoidable … and should not b e a disturbance or af f liction for you … Pay no attention to the s e thought s … and le t ’s not blame the s oul for what a we ak imag ination, human nature, and the de v il c aus e” (St . Tere sa of Av ila , Inter ior C a stle, I V.1.13-14). “I consider [distractions] an incurable dis e a s e” ( L e tters , O ctob er 9, 1581). Allow prayer to b e come a daily habit . Cre ate space for it , physic ally and temp orally. A s you pray in the w ay I have de s c r ib e d, you may f ind yours elf re tur ning to that place of encounter throughout the day. S ome p e ople w r ite dow n their image or word on their hand or on a pie ce of pap er and put it in their p o cke t . This is a g re at w ay to practice the pre s ence of G o d all day long . O ver time, you may f ind a theme or a train of thought emerg ing f rom your daily prayer. This c an b e an aid to dis cer ning the w ill of G o d for your life.
NOTES
Suggested Scripture for Lectio Divina Jeremiah 29:11-14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I k now the plans I have for you Psalm 23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The L ord is my she pherd Psalm 139 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . You k now me to the core Matthe w 8:23-27 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Je sus a sle e p in the b oat Matthe w 14:22-33 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pe ter w alk s on w ater Mark 10:46-52 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Je sus he als blind B ar timae us John 2:1-11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The we dding fe a st of C ana Luke 5:1-11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The c atch of f ish and Pe ter ’s c all Matthe w 14:13-21 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The fe e ding of the 5000 Luke 9:23-26 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Take up your c ro ss daily Matthe w 8:1-4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Je sus he als the le p er Luke 17:11-19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The ten le p ers John 4:5-42 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The woman at the well Luke 18:8-14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The t a x col le ctor and the Phar is e e Romans 8:18-27 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Spir it g roans on our b ehalf Romans 8:31-39 . . . . . . . . . . . What w ill s e parate us f rom G o d’s love? John 20:19-29 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thoma s at the Re sur re ction Matthe w 6:2-34 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D o not wor r y ab out your life Isaiah 43:1-7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . You are pre c ious to me Luke 15:11-32. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The pro digal s on
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