WHAT IS LECTIO DIVINA? Lectio divina is a Latin phrase that means ‘divine reading’ in English and this ancient form of prayer founded by St. Benedict of Nursia in the 6th century and has been a staple in the Church for centuries! Learn how to prayerfully meditate on the Bible using the 7 steps of lectio divina and grow in your relationship with God.
The First Part of Lectio Divina is Preparation
The first part of Lectio Divina is Statio, or preparation for your time with God
Just like warm-ups before working out, you have to prepare your mind and heart to enter into the presence of God. Understand how awesome God is and how much you need Him by beginning with adoration and humility.
Part of being humble is recognizing where we have failed God and others, so we also want to have remorse for the things we have done or failed to do. Have we failed to give honor to God or have we failed to show kindness to others? Have we lacked forgiveness? Have we destroyed something, like someone else’s property or their reputation? Have we stolen something and not made reparation? How have you contributed to evil by your own sin?
Fill your mind with the presence of God in this moment. Let yourself feel His presence to you. This is an act of faith and should your mind wander during prayer, just bring it back to God. If needed, you can use your imagination to help you focus on Jesus by remembering an image of Him, or by holding a cross or crucifix, or another sacred object you may have. You can also imagine He physically being present to you in your mind. If you are in an adoration chapel this is very easy to do; you just simply raise your eyes and gaze upon Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.
When you are aware of the presence of God and your mind has been lifted, begin your response to His presence by confessing that you know you are not worthy to appear before Him and that you are thankful for the grace of His presence to you. You ought to kneel as a way to show you are aware of your own littleness being in the presence of His greatness. This is an act of humility and respect for God who is deserving of our praise and adoration. Let your memory remind you of your sins and feel remorse for them before God.
Now you are ready to pray to Jesus, then to the Eternal Father, and finally to the Holy Spirit. See sample prayers below for the proper disposition of your prayer. You may pray these rote prayers or pray something similar from your heart. The idea behind praying a prepared prayer is very ancient. In the Bible the book of Psalms are filled with beautiful prayers of adoration, contrition, petition and thanksgiving.
Second Part of Mental Prayer: The Body
The second part of Lectio Divina is Lectio, Meditatio, and Oratio, or to Read, Meditate, and Dialogue with God
Once you have made these prayers, in the second part of mental prayer, you may begin to study the Bible or take on a spiritual reading of one of the saints to help you grow in your considerations about the things of God and your affections toward Him. If you are a beginner, your study must be complete, thorough, and orderly. View the seven steps of mental prayer below to understand the process. The biggest obstacle in the life of a Christian is ignorance. The best and most efficacious way to study the Bible is by doing the Daily Mass Readings of the Church. This will cover the Bible throughout the liturgical calendar year.
In addition, you ought to read the writings of various heroic saints who have gone before us and have left us beautiful testaments to the existence of and nature of God. This is very important because when you are starting out you more than likely do not have good spiritual friends and you also lack spiritual knowledge. By reading the lives of the saints and their spiritual writings you will learn how they prayed to God, how they overcame adversity with his help, how God provided miracles in their lives, and this will grow your understanding and faith in God.
And believe it or not, even if you are alone and without spiritual friends in this life, the saints will become your spiritual friends in heaven who actively pray for you and sometimes even help you in this life to know and love God. I would have never believed it myself if someone had told me but I have experienced it and so I know it is true.
In the body of your prayer your affections toward God will begin to grow as well. As you read about the lives of saints and stories from the Bible you will begin to see how God is also present to you in your own life.
Once you have spent time with your meditations you may begin having a conversation with God from your heart in light of what you have learned. Do this using your imagination. This is when you have a conversation with Him about your life and the problems and situations you are having. Put yourself in the presence of Jesus in your imagination.
Mental prayer is about the imagination, and it draws you from the exterior senses to your interior senses. This is necessary to have intimacy with Christ. You also need to spend this time in silence, as the voice of the Holy Spirit often comes in silence.
Once you have a firm idea of what God is saying to you, make some resolutions on how you plan to take what you have learned and come to understand in your time with God and bring it into your daily life.
Third Part of Mental Prayer: Conclusion
The final part of Lectio Divina is Contemplatio and Actio, or to Contemplate God’s response to prayer and take Action
In contemplation you open yourself to receive grace from God. At this time you are no longer reading, working through meaning, or dialoging with God. Rather you are just looking at Him and letting yourself feel him gazing at you. Allow yourself to rest in the embrace of His loving presence. You will likely enter into this phase naturally. It’s a grace you receive and not something you can create through your own efforts. It’s a moment of pure adoration and He is forming you to have the mind of Christ in contemplation. You may receive so much grace that you will physically FEEL it.
When is when you thank God and ask Him for His pardon and for the grace to help you with your resolutions. Remember, the goal is to grow in virtue and amend your life. It’s important that you not only make resolutions but that you pray for the grace to carry them out successfully. And through mental prayer, you will make resolutions with a deep love of God and confidence in His divine providence. Remember, love is not a feeling. It is an act of the will. Move forward every day with an act of the will to show God love, regardless of how you feel. Be consistent. Persevere. God is with you. I promise you, He loves you and you will come to know Him through your perseverance.
For a detailed explanation of each of the 7 steps of Lectio Divina prayer, view below:
What is Lectio Divina? It's Divine Reading!
7 Steps of Lectio Divina for Beginners
Step 1: Statio
The first step is called Statio which involves slowing down, pausing to become aware of the Lord’s presence, asking for the help of the Holy Ghost. It’s the conscious effort to make a holy pause to listen for the breath of God to speak to us. In Statio we pause everything we are doing and turn toward the living presence of God and simply become aware of His presence. We pray the prayers to Jesus, the Eternal Father, and the Holy Spirit before we enter into our meditation. When we ask for the help of the Holy Spirit we do so by confessing that we know we are not worthy to appear before God and that we are thankful for the grace of His presence to us.
Step 2: Lectio
The second step is called Lectio. In this step we exercise our minds. We take time to prayerfully pour over a biblical text. We read it and re-read it, ruminating on it, listening for God’s voice in the midst of our study.
Step 3: Meditatio
The third step is called Meditatio. In this step you pause in a meaningful way over a passage or two that speaks to you. As you quietly listen while in the presence of God, you begin to hear what He is calling attention to. When you prayerfully read with an open heart and with patience, you become able to listen to what God is saying to you in your own life. The divine action of God often takes place in this hidden way. Sometimes you are not even aware of it in the moment.
Step 4: Oratio
The fourth step is called Oratio. In this step we dialogue with God, by asking Him questions and listening for His response to them. While prayerfully reading scripture, there are many kinds of questions you may want to ask the Lord. You may ask Him how He wants you to respond in a situation, or ways you could please Him more in your daily life.
Step 5: Contemplatio
The fifth step is called Contemplatio. This is the time of receiving a divine hug from God. You simply stop all reading, working through meaning, and and dialoging with God. In Contemplatio you just look and Him and He looks at you and you rest in the embrace of His loving presence. This is the moment of adoration. You usually enter into this phase in an imperceptibly natural way. This is because your prayer up until this point has worked your soul up to the point of receiving the grace. In the moment of pure adoration you are opening your heart to God and He is forming you to have the mind of Christ. You are receiving so much grace that you physically FEEL the tangible peace of His presence and it surrounds you, filling your heart and mind with great joy. This moment does not come from your own action or doing, it comes because you have disposed yourself properly to RECEIVE the grace God so freely wants to give.
Step 6: Actio
The sixth step is Actio. In Actio, we put our faith into action, making our lives a gift of charity for others. After asking God, what do you want me to do during Oratio, here in Actio we put what He reveals to us into obedient action.
Step 7: Gratias
The final step is Deo Gratias, or Thanking God. In this step you show tremendous gratitude to God for His amazing grace, for the beautiful gift of His presence, and for the love He gives you while in meditative prayer and throughout the day. This thankfulness is a step that can be carried out continually throughout the day, even several hours after you have had your holy hour of prayer. When you find yourself recalling that wonderful moment of awe, thank Him again. When you are again moved by His response to you in adoration, repeat again your gratitude for His loving presence in your life.