X Pray
Lectio Divina
Pray today’s Gospel in the ancient way of the Church: read, reflect, pray, rest in God — and carry the word into your day. About fifteen minutes.
Painting by Mikael Eriksson for CathoNav
- Begin
- Read
- Reflect
- Pray
- Rest
- Live
Begin
Come, Holy Spirit
Find a quiet place. Silence your phone, make the Sign of the Cross, and ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart to the word of God.
The Gospel opens in a new tab, from the daily readings of the Catholic bishops of the United States.
I · Lectio
Read
“What does the biblical text say in itself?”
Read the Gospel slowly — then read it again. Notice who is there, what is said and done, the words that stand out. Do not hurry to apply it yet: let the text say what it says.
II · Meditatio
Reflect
“What does the biblical text say to us?”
Return to the word or phrase that touched you. Turn it over in your heart. Where does it meet your life today — a joy, a worry, a person, a choice?
III · Oratio
Pray
“What do we say to the Lord in response to his word?”
Speak to the Lord simply, in your own words: thank him, ask him, tell him what is on your heart, praise him. Prayer is the way the word changes us.
IV · Contemplatio
Rest
“What conversion of mind, heart and life is the Lord asking of us?”
Be still before God. No need for many words now — receive his way of seeing, and let him look at you with love.
V · Actio
Live
“The word becomes a gift for others”
Lectio divina is not finished until it leads to action: choose one small, concrete act of love for today that this Gospel asks of you.
Amen
Go in peace
“We find the supreme synthesis and fulfilment of this process in the Mother of God” (Verbum Domini 87). Close with the Hail Mary, and keep today’s word with you, as she kept all these things in her heart.
The prayer of the Church
Where the word becomes prayer
Lectio divina is the reading of Scripture in which “the Word of God is so read and meditated that it becomes prayer”, rooted in the liturgy of the Church (Catechism 1177). Christian meditation dwells above all on the mysteries of Christ, “as in lectio divina or the rosary”, and goes further: to knowing the love of the Lord Jesus and to union with him (Catechism 2708).
Pope Benedict XVI described its steps — reading, meditation, prayer, contemplation and action — in the apostolic exhortation Verbum Domini (2010), no. 87; the questions on this page are his. The short guidance under each step is our own.
Gospel references: Vatican News — Word of the Day, following the General Roman Calendar. The text opens on bible.usccb.org.