Lectio divina

Lectio divina (Latin, literally " divine reading " ) is a method of prayerful meditation on Bible texts.

Even the desert fathers practiced this kind of writing prayer. A systematic exposition of the method of lectio divina is the font Scala claustralium ( before 1150 ) of the Kartäusermönchs Guigos II It refers to the lectio divina as head of the monks to God. Ask Based on the Bible verse, " shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you " (Mt 7,7 EU), it explains the four stages:

These four stages are reminiscent of the doctrine of the fourfold sense of Scripture.

Since the time of the Desert Fathers lectio divina has been practiced for centuries primarily in monasticism. The Protestant theologian August Hermann Francke (1663-1727) laid the method of meditating Scripture prayer in his book Short lessons on how to read the Holy Scriptures to his true edification dar. In the Catholic Church discovered only recently and Christians outside the monasteries this way prayer for themselves. A major contribution to the dissemination of lectio divina has made the Second Vatican Council, which has stressed the word of God in the spiritual life, the meaning of the Bible. Pope Benedict XVI. recommended this method and expressed his hope whose application could " in the church to bring about a new spiritual springtime ."