The Lectio Divina Trust promotes the benefits of Western mainly Christian meditation to people in the Midlands and beyond.
One of our main aims is to show the benefits of Christian meditation to those who find life stressful.
Over the last 30 years Eastern forms of meditation have become increasingly popular. It is often forgotten that Europe also has ancient traditions of meditation offering similar benefits.
For 2000 years men and women from within the Christian traditions have experimented with different forms of meditation. The Lectio Divina Trust focuses on two of these ancients traditions: Lectio Divina or ‘Sacred Reading’ and Ignatian Meditation.
LECTIO DIVINA
Some 1800 years ago men and women retreated to lonely places to escape the stresses of daily life and developed Lectio Divina or ‘Sacred Reading’, a way of meditating that people have found helpful ever since. Traditionally it involved a ‘slow reading’ of a chosen text from the Bible and allowing the words to speak in new ways. There are four parts to a Lectio Divina exercise.
Reading (lectio) - Slowly begin reading a biblical passage as if it were a long awaited love letter addressed to you. Approach it reverentially and expectantly, in a way that savors each word and phrase. Read the passage until you hear a word or phrase that touches you, resonates, attracts or even disturbs you.
Reflecting (meditatio) - Ponder this word or phrase for a few minutes. Let it sink in slowly and deeply until you are resting in it. Listen for what the word or phrase is saying to you at this moment in your life, what it may be offering to you, what it may be demanding of you.
Expressing (oratio) – If you are a praying person, when you ready ready, openly and honestly express to God the prayers that arise spontaneously within you from your experience of this word or phrase. These may be prayers of thanksgiving, petition, intercession, lament, or praise. If prayer is not part of your journey you could write down the thoughts that have come your way.
Resting (contemplatio) - Allow yourself to simply rest silently for a time in the stillness of your heart remaining open to the quiet fullness of God's love and peace. This is like the silence of communion between the mother holding her sleeping infant child or between lovers whose communication with each other passes beyond words.
These four movements of Lectio Divina may not always follow a linear progression. Allow yourself freedom. The aim is to move into the depths of silence and stillness where we can hear the Word spoken to us in love and respond to this Word with our love and our life. This is a gentle invitation into a movement from silence into the Word and back into silence, dwelling there in the presence of God.
In modern times the scope of the materials used in the exercises has been greatly widened to include the visual arts and music. In today’s understanding it can be described as ‘attentive listening or looking’ – allowing what is listened to or looked at to speak to your situation in a fresh way.
For an example see the ‘A meditation exercise' page
IGNATIAN MEDITATION
This is a form of meditation developed in the 16th century by the founder of the Jesuits, Ignatius of Loyola; Ignatian meditation makes creative use of our imagination through ‘visualization’. The practitioner is encouraged to imagine him or herself in a given situation – ‘as if you are there’. To ask yourself
What can I hear?
What can I see?
What can I smell?
What can I touch?
What can I taste?
You can use your imagination by holding a conversation with a character in the story you meditate upon thus allowing the story to directly speak to the person in fresh ways, often addressing situation of stress in daily life.
Traditionally the stories used would be from the Christian Bible but today, in the courses run by Lectio Divina poetry and paintings are also used.
For an example see: 'A meditation exercise' page
The feedback given by those who have attended courses run by the Lectio Divina Trust has emphasised the sense of rest and peace people experienced after the sessions; “I sleep better and feel more at peace with myself” is an often heard phrase.
To attend any of the sessions you do not need to adhere to religious beliefs. Meditation is for everyone.