As I've previously mentioned on this blog, here at the hermitage we follow an ancient monastic practice toward the Bible called lectio divina. Monks engage in lectio divina individually in their cells, or rooms, here at the hermitage. We also host communal study of Scripture called collatio.
Lectio divina consists of four facets: lectio, meditatio, oratio and contemplatio. Theoretically one follows these four stages in this order.
On the face of it, lectio is reading the words of Scripture. However, when done properly, one rests upon the words so as to more likely absorb greater significance of them.
Meditatio is meditating upon the Word. During meditatio, ideally we are open to letting the Word grow in our hearts, to transform us into more than we have been.
In oratio, we pray to God. However, through oratio, we pray without words. We pray in an attempt to open ourselves to what God is saying to us.
During contemplatio, we sit silently in the presence of God. We enjoy the stillness which is conducive to embracing and feeling God's presence.
As I mentioned above, in addition to individual lectio divina in private, we also host collatio, a communal lectio divina. We invite our retreatants who stay with us overnight to join us for collatio.
As a postulant, and thus as someone in formation, being formed, shaped and molded in this monastic life, I also attend a separate, generally smaller collatio for myself and the monk in simple vows here. Monks who are our mentors organize this collatio. They, the monk in simple vows and I take turns leading this formation collatio.
Recently I led this formation collatio. I led the collatio on Proverbs 2:1-9 and on Matthew 19:27-29. The text of Proverbs 2:1-9 is
My son, if you take my words to heart
and lay up my commands in your mind,
giving your attention to wisdom
and your mind to understanding,
if you seek her out like silver
and dig for her like buried treasure,
then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and attain to the knowledge of God;
for the Lord bestows wisdom
and teaches knowledge and understanding.
Out of his store he endows the upright with ability
as a shield for those who live blameless lives;
for he guards the course of justice
and keeps watch over the way of his loyal servants.
Then you will understand what is right and just
and keep only to the good man's path[.]
The text of Matthew 19:27-29 is
Peter said, "We here have left eveything to become your followers. What will there be for us?"
Jesus replied, "I tell you this: in the world that is to be, when the Son of Man is seated on His throne in heavenly splendor, you My followers will have thrones of your own, where you will sit as judges of the twelve tribes of Israel. And anyone who has left brothers or sisters, father, mother, or children, land or houses for the sake of My name will be repaid many times over, and gain eternal life."
A couple days after I was leading this formation collatio on these two Scripture readings, these same Scripture readings were going to be read during Mass. On that particular day at Mass, we were going to be celebrating the feast of Saint Benedict. We were going to be remembering and commemorating Saint Benedict, who, as the founder of the Benedictine order of monks, is widely seen as the father of western Christian monasticism.
Once I started reviewing these Scripture readings in preparation for this formation collatio, I began to get excited. In these Scripture passages, I was hearing echoes of the Rule of Saint Benedict, his set of guidelines for abbots and priors who run monasteries and the other monks who live in monasteries. In the Prologue of the Rule of Saint Benedict, Saint Benedict writes
Listen carefully, my son,
to your master's precepts,
and incline the ear of your heart (Proverbs 4:20).
Receive willingly and carry out effectively
your loving father's advice,
that by the labor of obedience
you may return to Him
from whom you had departed by the sloth of disobedience.
To you, therefore, my words are now addressed,
whoever you may be,
who are renouncing your own will
to do battle under the Lord Christ, the true King,
and are taking up the strong, bright weapons of obedience.
And first of all,
whatever good work you begin to do,
beg of Him with most earnest prayer to perfect it,
that He who has now deigned to count us among His children
may not at any time be grieved by our evil deeds.
For we must always so serve Him
with the good things He has given us,
that He will never as an angry Father disinherit His children,
nor ever as a dread Lord, provoked by our evil actions,
deliver us to everlasting punishment
as wicked servants who would not follow Him to glory.
Both the second chapter of Proverbs and the Prologue of the Rule address the recipient as "my son." The Rule continues this relationship of parent and child, indicating that the guidance in the rule is "your loving father's advice," and advising the recipient to serve God well so that He will not disinherit us as an angry father would.
Yet Saint Benedict was analogizing when he spoke in the words of the parent-child relationship. He was not literally speaking of a father and son relationship between human beings. Indeed, in the reading from the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus calls us to love and serve God first and foremost. Jesus tells us that if, for the sake of loving God and our neighbor, we move away from our earthly families, and leave them so we can better love and serve others, we will greatly benefit. If we sacrifice more, give much more for the love of God and of our neighbor, God will reward us. If we give up what we have, we inherit from God. We become more than we have been.
Such are the types of guidance one seeks in lectio divina. We aim to still and silence ourselves so as to better listen to God. In lectio divina, we aspire to be open to what God has to say to us, how God wants to direct us, counsel us, nourish us, and help us evolve into people better than we have been. Through His Word, God seeks to strip away all which would separate us from God.
Once we have tried to listen to the Word of God, ideally we have been purified by the Word of God. Having purified hearts, we can bring such joyous contentment into our functioning throughout our day. Having listened well to God in lectio divina, we are thus prepared to listen to Him well as we progress through the rest of our day. Listening to the Lord well, we are thus also prepared, indeed, properly equipped, lovingly to listen to, and to serve, our neighbor. One should not mistake such benefits of active ministry as being more valuable than such foundational contemplative transformation. Having been thus transformed through, with and in the Holy Spirit, it becomes less important what we do: we are more importantly living in communion with Him, a relational foundation which we must have for anything and everything we do, if what we do is to have the meaning which God wills it to have.
