Most Rev. Leonard P. Blair, S.T.D, Archbishop of Hartford, recommends Praying
the Bible: An Introduction to Lectio Divina – by Archbishop Mariano
Magrassi.
Recently, Cathy deSimas, Class of 2004, read and reviewed this book, with an eye to whether Catholic Biblical School students and alums would be able to access the book for their own enrichment. Here's what she tells us:
There is a small group of us who have been practicing Lectio for almost eight years. So I approached this book with what I
thought was an understanding of the process and practice.
At first, I was quite distracted by the length and frequency of
the footnotes that interrupted the flow of the narrative. It seemed impossible
to glean the essence of the exercise with so many references to those who
practiced Lectio through the ages –
in fact for twelve centuries and more!
However, I persevered and came to appreciate the
comprehensive effort of the author to cite all those “ancients” who went before
us. It seems that I behaved exactly as Archbishop Magrassi described in the first two lines directed to the reader – "This can be a disturbing book. After a first
reading begun out of curiosity and with some misgivings, we end up reading it
again out of a desire to absorb its contents more fully." How true!
But in the end, I loved this book. Here's just one excerpt that I found particularly helpful and interesting:
"Obviously, diligent and constant reading creates familiarity with the world of the Bible. But this does not come from a first reading. If a quick voyage of discovery is all we want, we will be disappointed. The beauty of this fascinating world will be hidden from us; upon entering it, we will feel as though everything is foreign. We cannot enter into the Bible as tourists; we must become inhabitants of the land. We need to retrace our steps, stop and reflect at each site in order to explore it in depth. To become part of this world we must enter it, immerse ourselves in it in order to be absorbed by it. Then it will reveal to us the charm of its secret places. The same thing happens with certain pieces of classical music. Only after repeated listening do we detect the secret harmonies, discover the language, catch the dominant themes."
I am now re-reading
this book, and as I move through it again I see and “hear” so many ways that God is reaching out to each of us
every day. I keep “hearing” this biblical theme - Love God and love one
another!
This book offers many more beautiful explanations for us
to “listen” and practice Lectio Divina
, either in a group or privately, and would be a fine addition to any library.
Cathy deSimas is an alumna of the Class of 2004. She leads Lectio Divina in her parish, St. Ann in Avon, engaging prayerfully the readings from the upcoming Sunday Lectionary each week.
