+Reading the responses to this thread subject, I was reminded yet again this morning of the deep sweet . . . *ever flowing *. . . life giving river of grace of . . .
Benedictine Spirituality . . . of which the Trappists are a part . . . which holy way of life . . .
for centuries . . . has practiced deep
heart-and-mind communion with our . . .
Wonderful Holy God . . . through constant meditation upon
Sacred Scripture . . .
For some souls . . . **
Sacred :bible1: Scripture ** . . . and the reading of other materials re Christianity and Catholicism . . . are approached from a very
human mind-oriented/mental-intellectual approach and mindset . . . however . . .
quite frankly . . . for my very simple soul in the
Lord . . .
graciously blest and immersed by our Lord in both Franciscan and Benedictine Catholic spiritualities . . .
contemplative pray
er and Lectio Divina (divine reading) . . . have always been my primary approach to growing in the sweet profound depths of the . . .
Grace of God . . . and in Catholicism . . . day by day . . .
In these Catholic spiritualities . . .
prayer . . . is essentially the **heart
** of one’s soul
“talking” to its
God . . . on the other hand . . .
meditation is taught in
Sacred :bible1: Scripture and by our Holy Mother Catholic Church as essentially being the
heart of one’s soul
“listening” to its
God . . . the ultimate goal of these actions of the soul being that at the center . . .
of the deep interior quiet within the heart of the soul . . . the soul enters into . . . *constant holy . . . two way conversation and communion with its
God *. . .
Lectio Divina (divine reading) . . . is perhaps the clearest most well lit holy pathway I know of for the soul to
“listen” to its
God . . . essentially it is encountering
God in the reading of a literary level of holy writings in Christendom believed to be especially blessed and anointed of
God . . . first order and always primary of which is
God’s . . . **Holy :bible1: Word **. . .
Sacred Scripture . . . and which group of writings can also include . . . The Holy Rule of St. Benedict . . . The Catechism of the Catholic Church . . . The Baltimore Catechism . . . the Creeds . . . writings of the Fathers and Saints of the Church, etc., . . . and as such . . . when **prayerfully ** read and
meditated upon the . . . **Holy Spirit **. . .
Wonderful Counselor of Our God . . . is abundantly available to help regarding the reading, meditating and experiencing the understanding of same . . .
The holy Benedictine monk
Archabbot Douglas R. Nowicki , O.S.B. of the Saint Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania here in the United States . . . recommends that we . . .
slow down radically . . . when reflecting on inspired material . . . so as to . . . *
open up freely *. . . to the
treasury of insights contained therein . . . he goes on further to share with beautiful simplicity:
Lectio Divina (divine reading)
Archabbot Douglas R. Nowicki , O.S.B. (Order of St. Benedict)
“It is the **monastic insight **that reading, if it be authentic, cannot be undertaken simply with the eyes and the mind. Rather it must involve the whole person: mind, heart, body and spirit. It is reading not so much for information as for formation, that is, for encounter with the living God in this moment in such a way that one’s heart catches fire and one’s life is transformed … In St. Benedict’s day reading a sacred or spiritual text was practiced not so much for the sake of ‘information,’ but rather in order to be ‘formed’: that is, to be inwardly changed or shaped. …
Thus the aim of lectio divina (divine reading), i.e., pondering the material in a slow, prayerful way, is to dispose ourselves to welcome God’s ever-present grace and His efforts to conquer our hearts and transform us more and more into a holy people . . . ”
. . . all for Jesus+
. . . thank You Dear Blessed Lord+
. . . praise God from Whom all blessings flow+
:harp:
