Personal Prayer

We have just completed a section in the Adult education program dealing with prayer. The sessions were led by both clergy and laity talking and demonstrating a couple of forms of personal prayer. The first, Lectio Divina, ia a form of praying the scriptures, the second, Centering Prayer, is a comtemplative prayer form where the individual tries to calm the self and open themselves to God's message.

What follows is a list of resources that can be used to practice each of these forms of prayer.

Lectio Divina

Lectio Divina - A very ancient art, practiced at one time by all Christians, is a slow, contemplative praying of the Scriptures which enables the Bible, the Word of God, to become a means of union with God.

Lectio Divina is Latin for “divine reading” or "holy reading," and represents an early monastic technique of prayer which continues in practice though less widely, intended to achieve communion with God as well as providing special spiritual insights and peace from that experience. It is a way of praying with Scripture that calls one to study, ponder, listen and, finally, pray from God's Word.

The Classical Monastic Practice of Lectio Divina - The classical practice of Lectio Divina--the prayerful reading of the Bible, the book Christians believe to be divinely inspired--is being rediscovered and renewed in our time. At the same time a number of ways of practicing it have sprung up leading to a certain confusion regarding its relationship to the distinct practice of Centering Prayer.

The Process of Lectio Divina - This article written by the Sisters of St Clare in Saginaw, Michigan describes the process they use when they practice Lectio Divina. A clear pathway of the process.

Centering Prayer

Centering Prayer by Thomas Keating - This website describes the concepts and the process behind the Centering Prayer, also called Contemplative Prayer.

Kyrie - Centering Prayer - This website contains some instructions covering the how and history of centering prayer.

Some Guidelines for Contemplative Prayer

Return to Christian Education