Holy Reading

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Holy Reading

• Lectio Divina

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Implicit in the Idea of Scripture

• One of the key ideas behind Scripture is that the
  text conveys Gods message.

• This makes every word in the text important.

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Midrash

• Jewish traditions of close reading began with the
  early rabbis who sought to find in the Torah and
  the Prophets practical guidance for Israel
• Often this interpretation was connected with the
  translation of the text or its presentation in
  the synagogue which was early seen as a school.

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Christian Scriptures

• The most numerous texts to have survived from
  antiquity are copies of Christian scriptures.
• To make the Bible more available, the codex form
  was used.
• The text could be written on both sides of the
  material.

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Origen I

• The Early Christian Passion for the Scriptures
  caused some problems. Despite Pauls assurance
  that all Scripture is useful, II Tim 316, it
  did do prove so.
• Some Scriptures seemed to ancient people to be
  improbable or even immoral.

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Origen II

• Divided all reality into the physical and the
  spiritual.
• Saw the Bible as having both spiritual and
  literal meanings.
• A good Platonist, Origen believed that the two
  spiritual senses, the moral and the allegorical,
  were more real than the literal sense.

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Origen III

• Much of the later theory and practice of holy
  reading will go back to Origen, implicitly or
  explicitly.
• One of the goals of Holy Reading is to penetrate
  the Bibles outer message to get to the heart or
  kernel of its spiritual truths.

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Monks

• The earliest monks followed the Biblical advise
  to meditate on the Bible.
• The Psalms, which were used in church, became the
  basis of monastic common life from the earliest
  days in the desert.

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Benedict

• Author of a famous rule that set forth the
  standard form of monasticism in the west.
• Believed that the religious life should balance
  prayer, work, and study
• Called the monastery a school.

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The Provision in the Rule

• Idleness is the enemy of the soul. And therefore,
  at fixed times, the brothers ought to be occupied
  in manual labour and again, at fixed times, in
  sacred reading. ... there shall certainly be
  appointed one or two elders, who shall go round
  the monastery at the hours in which the brothers
  are engaged in reading, and see to it that no
  troublesome brother chance to be found who is
  open to idleness and trifling, and is not intent
  on his reading being not only of no use to
  himself, but also stirring up others.
  http//www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/rul-benedict
  .html

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Earliest Sacred Reading

• May have been noisy.
• Monks, like many others, read primarily aloud.
• The text was often recited with a view to memory.
  Few copies which had a high cost.
• Many Monks knew the Psalter by heart.

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The Chant

• Chanting may have helped the monks learn the
  Bible.
• A chant is basically a single one line of music
  in which the length of the notes is determined by
  the length of the syllables or vowels.

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Example of Plainsong
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Silent Reading

• Evolved slowly.
• Produced a different type of lectio
• Forced the process more inside of the person.

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Guigo IIThe Ladder of Monastics

• Used a basically monastic schema for lectio.
• Reading
• Meditation
• Prayer
• Contemplation

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Guigo

• One day I was engaged in physical work with my
  hands and I began to think about the spiritual
  tasks that we humans have. While I was thinking,
  four spritual steps came to mind, namely,
  reading, meditation, prayer, and contemplation.
  This is the ladder. . .by which we are lifted up
  from earth into heaven. . . .The lower part is
  fixed on the earth and its top passes through the
  clouds to lay bare the secrets of heaven.

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Reading

• While much lectio is continuous or connected to
  the liturgical round, the object is not to get a
  certain amount done.
• One should work with a passage long enough to
  understand it and be able to put it into action.
• Practitioners often return to the previous days
  work.

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Meditation

• A simple concept
• To meditate is simply to think about
• The text should be questioned. For example if
  the text were John 1515 I have called you
  friends. One might meditate on what it means to
  be called friend by Christ.
• Free and easy association helps such
  interpretation.

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Prayer

• The meditation becomes the basis of the mental or
  physical prayer that accompanies the lectio.
• Holy One
• I give thanks to you that I am your friends and
  not only your servant. As your friend, I enjoy
  your companionship and your help. And I wish to
  help and be with my friend in service to others.

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Contemplation

• Difficult word to define.
• In this context, contemplation means
  concentration so that the text sinks into the
  soul.
• Insight
• Always a gift.

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Holy Reading And Modern Exegesis

• Origens problem revised.
• What if the text is one that does not appear to
  be life enhancing?
• What if the text is one that moves away from
  present-day values?
• Does Scripture still have a spiritual sense?