| 2. Lectio Divina | ||||
Lectio divina is a reading, on an individual or communal level, of a more or less lengthy passage of Scripture, received as the word of God and leading, at the prompting of the Spirit, to meditation, prayer and contemplation. | ||||
Concern for regular, even daily reading of Scripture reflects early church custom. As a group practice, it is attested in the third century, at the time of Origen; he used to give homilies based on a text of Scripture read continuously throughout a week. At that time there were daily gatherings devoted to the reading and explanation of Scripture. But the practice did not always meet with great success among Christians (Origen, Hom. Gen., X.1) and was eventually abandoned. | ||||
Lectio divina, especially on the part of the individual, is attested in the monastic life in its golden age. In modern times, an instruction of the biblical commission, approved by Pope Pius XII, recommended this lectio to all clerics, secular and religious (De Scriptura Sacra, 1950: Ench. Bibl., 592). Insistence on lectio divina in both its forms, individual and communal, has therefore become a reality once more. The end in view is to create and nourish "an efficacious and constant love" of sacred Scripture, source of the interior life and of apostolic fruitfulness (Ench. Bibl., 591 and 567), also to promote a better understanding of the liturgy and to assure the Bible a more important place in theological studies and in prayer. | ||||
The conciliar constitution Dei Verbum (No. 25) is equally insistent on an assiduous reading of Scripture for priests and religious. Moreover�and this is something new�it also invites,"all the faithful of Christ" to acquire "through frequent reading of the divine Scripture 'the surpassing knowledge of Christ Jesus' (Phil. 3:8)." Different methods are proposed. Alongside private reading, there is the suggestion of reading in a group. The conciliar text stresses that prayer should accompany the reading of Scripture, for prayer is the response to the word of God encountered in Scripture under the inspiration of the Spirit. | ||||
Many initiatives for communal reading have been launched among Christians, and one can only encourage this desire to derive from Scripture a better knowledge of God and of his plan of salvation in Jesus Christ. | ||||