Lectio Divina
Read our Guide to Lectio Divina by Fr. Carlos Urrutigoity.
Read our Lectio Divina inspired homilies.
A Prayerful Pondering
Throughout history, many wishing to deepen their relationship with our Father in Heaven have dedicated some time each day to the prayerful pondering of the Bible. This ancient form of prayer is called Lectio Divina.
These words—lectio & divina—may be simply translated as divine reading but that translation doesn’t communicate their full, traditional meaning to our modern minds. Because the way we think and the way we approach life has changed quite a bit since the time the words lectio and divina were coined, we now need help to re–interpreted them.
Lectio
The word lectio is to reading as listening is to hearing. Lectio is an attentive reading, a reading with love, a reading in which the reader treats every last word and syllable as if it were the most precious, the most important thing in the world to him. Lectio means reading the Bible the way a man in love reads a letter from the woman he loves. He doesn’t just read each line, he reads between the lines. For he knows that everything in the letter depends on what is between the lines!
Divina
What about the word divina? It modifies the word lectio in two important ways. In the first way, lectio is a divine reading because we listen to the Bible with the faith that it is the inspired word of God, that God is speaking his Word to us as we read, that he is telling us right now, through the Bible, what he wants of us.
In the second way lectio is divine because it makes us more divine. By listening to the word of God and putting it into practice we become like that word. We are remade into the Word of God, which is God’s image, his Son, the second person of the Blessed Trinity.
Lectio Divina is an art. And like any art you must give it your effort and time to become good at it. But this art has the power to change your life. It can put you in touch with God at a level far above what you are used to. Lectio opens up a conversation with God, a living, breathing relationship with his holy word, and this allows him to open to you the new and wonderful vistas of his love.
A Source of Strength
And as you receive this love, you will in turn become better at loving. As you get better at Lectio Divina, then, you will find yourself becoming more like Moses “who entered the tabernacle time and again, remaining in dialogue with God, so that when he emerged he could be at the service of his people.” For, “Within [the tent] he is borne aloft through contemplation, while without he is completely engaged in helping those who suffer.” (cf. Deus Caritas Est, Pope Benedict XVI; Pastoral Rule, Saint Gregory the Great)
Read our Guide to Lectio Divina by Fr. Carlos Urrutigoity.
Read our Lectio Divina inspired homilies.
Contribution by Fr. Carlos Urrutigoity
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