Lectio Divina: Meditation on Scripture
“This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night.” - Josh. 1:8
"The Church ‘forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful to learn ‘the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ,’ by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures. ‘Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.’" - Catechism of the Catholic Church" - The Catechism of the Catholic Church
The foundation of Catholic Communities of Prayer’s mission of establishing perpetual adoration is Scripture meditation. Getting a person to love meditating on the Word of God is absolutely essential in establishing Perpetual Adoration. Prayerful meditation on Sacred Scripture, also known as Lectio Divina, is absolutely crucial in growing in deep intimate prayer with the Lord. CCOP is all about promoting and teaching this wonderful tradition of the Church.
Meditation on the Word of God:
"Lectio Divina is Latin for divine reading, spiritual reading, or "holy reading," and represents a traditional Christian practice of prayer and scriptural reading intended to promote communion with God and to increase in the knowledge of God's Word. It is a way of praying with Scripture that calls one to study, ponder, listen and, finally, pray and even sing and rejoice from God's Word, within the soul."
Countless passages in the Bible also show the inestimable value of Sacred Scriptures. The following are just three of these passages:
- “This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night.” (Josh. 1:8)
- “But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.” (Ps. 1:2)
- Psalms 119 is the great hymn of praise for the Torah, the law of God. In this single chapter there are 176 verses of praise for the Word of God!
