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The fourth part of the Catechism of the Catholic Church is dedicated to prayer. It should not be surprising that the lectio divina is discussed in these pages since the "lectio" is a prayerful reading of the Scriptures. It is a conviction dating back to the Fathers that "when you read the Scriptures, God speaks to you; when you pray, you speak to God" (cf. CCC, par. 2653). Five paragraphs will serve as our basis for the discussion that follows, namely: pars. 2653, 2654, 2705, 2706 and 2708. The first two paragraphs (2653 and 2654) set forth the connection between prayer and the reading of Scriptures; the last three (2705, 2706 and 2708) deal with Scriptures as a source book for meditation.
Scriptures as a Source of Prayer. The first two paragraphs under consideration appear under the title "At the Wellsprings of Prayer." The context, therefore, strongly suggests that we are here considering Scriptures as a source of prayer. Par. 2653 is a direct quotation of Dei Verbum 25, which contains two directives:
Contact with the Word of God par excellence (Jesus Christ) through the frequent reading of Scriptures must therefore be accompanied by prayer "so that a dialogue may take place between God and man." The "dialogue" is described in terms immortalized by St. Ambrose (De officiis ministrorum 1,20,88: PL 16,20; cf. Also in St. Augustine) as a speaking-listening in an exchange already described in DV 21 as that of a father and child. Par. 2654 adds a nuance here by characterizing the attitude of the reader of Scriptures as that of a "seeker." It does this by introducing the lapidary phrase of Guy the Carthusian's Scala Claustralium, the classic work on the lectio divina:
It is clear from these two paragraphs that any reading of Scriptures must be transformed into a dialogue with the One who is revealed in the sacred page. The "dialogue" is prayer that seeks, knocks and finds (cf. Mt. 7:7) through Scriptures.
Meditation and Scriptures. "Christian prayer," states CCC, par. 2708, "tries above all to meditate on the mysteries of Christ as in lectio divina..." Meditation, which is described as a "quest" (2705) that requires the "mobilization of faculties" engaging "thought, imagination, emotion and desire" (2708) must be sustained in its activity. The Catechism gives a priority of place to "the Sacred Scriptures, particularly the Gospels" as aids to meditation (2706)."
The copyright of the article Lectio Divina in the Catechism of the Catholic Church Part IV in Scriptural Studies is owned by . Permission to republish Lectio Divina in the Catechism of the Catholic Church Part IV in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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