Lectio Divina is Latin for sacred reading. It is a practice of scripture reading, meditation and prayer intended to promote communion with God and increase the knowledge of God’s Word. Traditionally, it has four steps: read, meditate, pray, and contemplate. Our current study, Abraham, Father of All Believers, is a Bible study modeled after lectio divina. Traditional lectio divina is not mediated with commentary or questions to prompt responses. Of course, any reading we do in scripture is enriched by good commentary and I think that we will find this a satisfying study.
Here are the meanings of the five “movements” you will find in each unit of the study:
v Lectio – Reading the text with a listening ear
v Meditatio – Reflecting on the meaning and message of the text
v Oratio – Praying in response to God’s Word
v Contemplatio – Quietly resting in God
v Operatio – Faithful witness in daily life.
Additional movements can be found in other forms of the practice. Lectio is not a method that demands one follows certain steps. You may find it a bit difficult to define which step you are in at times and that is just fine. The steps can blur together. Stephen Binz acknowledges this and says that lectio has certain characteristics regardless of the steps used:
v Lectio divina is a personal encounter with God through Scripture.
v Lectio divina establishes a dialogue between the read of Scripture and God.
v Lectio divina creates a hear-to-heart intimacy with God.
v Lectio divina lead to contemplation and action.
You can read more about the five movements and the essence of lectio divina on pages xi through xvii in Abraham, Father of All Believers if you are interested in learning more.
