Lectio Divina -Try it!

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scapularkid8

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The ancient art of Lectio Divina seemed outdated and kinda wierd to me, but I tried it and in one session, God has shown me His love for me in a new way that I never knew before. Appropriately enough, the first phrase I meditated on was “Desire therefore my words and you shall be instructed”. (Irony!) My favorite part was the Contemplation time when God granted me a chance to feel His love for me. A love that none of us as humans could never reciprocate. It was amazing and I want to praise God publicly for His blessing and also invite everyone here to experience Lectio Divina. Try it!!

If you need to know the steps of this art, go here:
valyermo.com/ld-art.html
 
scapularkid8 said:
If you need to know the steps of this art, go here:
valyermo.com/ld-art.html
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Thanks for this. You just explained something to me and I bet you didn’t even know it.😃 We’ve had a suggestion floating about our diocese about the group method (everybody think of a word) described on your link and using that as the Breaking Open the Word for RCIA. Now at least I know where the idea is coming from. (I don’t really care for this idea for RCIA). I didn’t remotely recognize it as a modern slant on Lectio Divina.
 
Thanks for bringing this to our attention; it’s exactly what I’ve been needing!🙂
 
I was introduced to LD when I decided to become a lay Carmelite. I didn’t realize I was already praying in a similar way. I love this form of prayer and do it every day. I also really like the Sacred Space website which I was introduced to by the Carmelites.
 
My church used to talk about this alot. We have these books, which come with the gospel for each week for a year, and we would meditate on that for a week.

I want to know though, is that the way I should do it? Or should I meditate on a different scripture reading each day, and if so how do I choose that scripture reading? If I do just do it for the gospel, should I meditate on that gospel daily, or just once per week. Does it matter if I come up with a different word the next day?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!
 
T1Catholic said:
I was introduced to LD when I decided to become a lay Carmelite. I didn’t realize I was already praying in a similar way. I love this form of prayer and do it every day. I also really like the Sacred Space website which I was introduced to by the Carmelites.
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I actually thought of starting this as well. I been recentley contemplating the idea of bieng in the third order of carmelite myself.
 
Atk_Aheeni said:
I actually thought of starting this as well. I been recentley contemplating the idea of bieng in the third order of carmelite myself.
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Best wishes in your comtemplation as to whether to join the Carmelites. It does seem to be the one of the most demanding of the third orders, in terms of doing contemplative prayer daily as well as the Liturgy of the Hours twice a day. Also it’s a three year process which can get fustrating at times. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.
 
After doing it for a few weeks, I’m a little confused on a few things:
  1. How do I know when to go into the next phase? (i.e. Lectio, Meditatio,ect.)
    2)How am I supposed to meditate on the Scripture in the “meditatio” phase?
    3)What am I supposed to do during the “Contemplatio” phase? (This phase is hard for me since I’m especially bad at Contemplation!)
Thanks for your help
 
scapularkid8 said:
After doing it for a few weeks, I’m a little confused on a few things:

3)What am I supposed to do during the “Contemplatio” phase? (This phase is hard for me since I’m especially bad at Contemplation!)

Thanks for your help
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Contemplative prayer is different from vocal prayer or discursive meditation. Contemplation is infused prayer, given by God. If God does not give it, one cannot have it. Even all are called for contemplation, most people are not in this stage.

You can start with vocal prayer and discursive meditation. All these could lead to contemplation some day, if God sees you are ready to receive.

There are several threads on this forum talking about contemplation, if interested.
 
I’ve been granted Contemplation before. The first time I tried Lectio Divina. It was so amazing and I just want to be able to do it again. Thanks for your advice. So just to be clear: do all Lectio Divina stages up to the Contemplation and then if nothing comes upon attempting to enter Contemplation, God isn’t ready to give it to me and I end the Lectio Divina?
 
Well, I’m interesting to try it but the problem is that the place where can help me to be silent especially nowadays when everything should be done in rush.
At the personal retreat, the place and situation are very helpful.
Any thoughts?
 
wina said:
Well, I’m interesting to try it but the problem is that the place where can help me to be silent especially nowadays when everything should be done in rush.
At the personal retreat, the place and situation are very helpful.
Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
Sometimes I have the most luck at 3am. I know, that will not work for most people, but then it is so quiet, and there is a silence around me, inviting focused prayer. I am more able to not think about my usual worries.
 
Pug said:
Sometimes I have the most luck at 3am. I know, that will not work for most people, but then it is so quiet, and there is a silence around me, inviting focused prayer. I am more able to not think about my usual worries.
Click to expand...
Hm…at 3.00am, it’s like Trappist habit 🙂
When I went retreat at Trappist monestary I could wake up at 03.00 am but in daily life it’s very very difficult. But thanks anyway for sharing it.
 
scapularkid8 said:
The ancient art of Lectio Divina seemed outdated and kinda wierd to me, but I tried it and in one session, God has shown me His love for me in a new way that I never knew before. Appropriately enough, the first phrase I meditated on was “Desire therefore my words and you shall be instructed”. (Irony!) My favorite part was the Contemplation time when God granted me a chance to feel His love for me. A love that none of us as humans could never reciprocate. It was amazing and I want to praise God publicly for His blessing and also invite everyone here to experience Lectio Divina. Try it!!

If you need to know the steps of this art, go here:
valyermo.com/ld-art.html
Click to expand...

There’s a “teaching video” on this page broken into several parts, on Lectio Divina. His presentation on the method is a bit different, I think, from many I’ve heard before. His is a lot closer to the traditional Catholic prayer of meditation.

Anyway, you have to watch the videos one after the other to get the full presentation.

fide
 
Bins said:
I want to know though, is that the way I should do it? Or should I meditate on a different scripture reading each day, and if so how do I choose that scripture reading? If I do just do it for the gospel, should I meditate on that gospel daily, or just once per week. Does it matter if I come up with a different word the next day?
Click to expand...
This all depends; there’s no set pattern to it. I have done it informally just by opening the Bible with no “destination,” just reading whatever page I opened to. Last time I did it this way, I actually read several passages on idolatry, which was quite fruitful. One thought given in the linked site was to use the mass readings for the day. There are also several “though the Bible in a year” programs out there that are designed to make slow progress through the whole Bible. Most of these are for Protestants, so they will skip a few books in the Catholic Bible, but they’re a good plan to start from. My thought was to try one of these programs and use a passage from the day’s reading for your lectio. It’s also just a good idea to read the whole Bible through, IMHO…

Pax,
-S-
 
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