Lectio and Prayer Resources

How-to & Suggested Texts

How-to
Reading as Prayer

ABOUT

Reading Scripture as prayer, was first practiced by Christian monastics, but other traditions, such as Judaic, Islamic and Eastern faiths, have similar traditions. Spiritual reading involves applying the same steps to any text that “shimmers” with meaning, including art, music, even past events. Think of both as reading with intention, slowing down feast on wisdom, first taking a bite of a passage, chewing on it, savoring its essence, and, finally, and making it a part of your body and mind.

STEPS HOW-To

 

  1. Read: Once you’ve selected a few paragraphs to read, be sure to prepare yourself to accept the gifts of the text by finding silence and a space for careful consideration. Read, but then pause for a minute or two. There is no reason to rush.
  2. Reflect: Read the text again, slowly. Do not immediately assigning meaning, but notice a phrase that stands out that day, one that “shimmers.” Make a note of it and pause.
  3. Respond: Read again, but just the smaller section—a word, a sentence, a phrase. Think about what kind of prayer it suggests to you.  Speak your thoughts directly to God, even if just gratitude, such as “Thank you, God, for drawing close to me and giving me new insights with these words.” Pause in this heart-centered, honest place.
  4. Receive: Reading the text a fourth time, prepared to make connections—to God’s answers for you, to applications in your life.  Either sit in silence or write a few thoughts in a spiritual journal. Relish this time of listening, of opening, and accepting love and peace.  Allow God’s grace to simply wash over you.
  5. Resolve: In order to carry mindfulness and meditation throughout your day, your week, your life, make a small, concrete resolution to think, act, and love differently.

SUGGESTED READING

Recommended Reading

Your journey of Spiritual Reading is uniquely your own. As you choose texts for the practice, keep in mind that a variety of media and experiences can be the starting point for meditative time—books, art, music, nature, even your own life story. The key is to recognize a prompt that has “excess meaning,” a selection that has layers that can be responded to in varied ways and ultimately can connect to concrete and unique moments of your life. In addition to resources sourced in previous chapters, see these sugges- tions for appropriate titles to try.

ABOUT SPIRITUAL READING
Christine Valters Paintner. Lectio Divina—The Sacred Art: Transforming Words and Images into Heart-Centered Prayer. Ave Maria Press, 2011. The author provides both excerpts for practice, along with guidance for using other “texts” for meditation and contemplation, such as personal life stories.

MYSTICAL MEMOIR AND ABOUT MYSTICS
Carmel Bendon, The Mystics Who Came to Dinner, 2022.

Catherine of Siena. The Dialogue, 1375.

Caryll Houselander. A Rocking Horse Catholic, 1923.

Hildegard of Bingen. Scivias, 1178.

Julian of Norwich. Revelations of Divine Love, 1393.

Margery Kempe. The Book of Margery Kempe, 1393.

Mechtild de Magdeburg (Frank Tobin translator) The Flowing Light of the Godhead, 1282

Therese of Lisquiex. Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, 1898

Teresa of Avila. The Interior Castle, 1588.

Carl McColman. The Little Book of Christian Mysticism: Essential Wisdom of Saints, Seers, and Sages, 2021.

SAINTS

Shelley Emling. Setting the World on Fire: The Brief, Astonishing Life of St. Catherine of Siena, 2016.

James Martin, SJ. My Life with the Saints, 2006.

Grace Morbitzer. The Modern Saints, 2024.

ESSAY AND EXCERPT COLLECTIONS

Esther De Waal. The White Stone: The Art of Letting Go. Liturgical Press, 2021. An internationally recognized historian and spiritual writer shares short reflections on leaving what is known and loved for new beginnings.

Carl McColman. An Invitation to Celtic Wisdom: A Little Guide to Mystery, Spirit, and Compassion. Hampton Roads, 2018. McColman explores how the spiritual traditions found in Celtic myth, folklore, poetry, and lives of Irish and Scottish saints can be applied in the modern world. English translations of prayers, sayings, and stories alongside the original Gaelic and Irish language offer fertile starting places for spiritual reading, showing how contemporary seekers can learn to walk the path of Celtic spirituality.

Thomas Merton, The Pocket Thomas Merton. Robert Inchausti, ed. New Seeds, 2005. A palm-size volume of big insights in short passages by one of the world’s most recognized spiritual teachers.

CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURAL TEXTS

Eugene Peterson. The Message: Catholic/Ecumenical Edition. ACTA Publications, NavPress, 2016. A “reading” Bible trans- lated from original Hebrew and Greek scriptures and approved by biblical scholars, God’s words in conversational English. (Note: All readings for Sundays and Holy Days in the liturgical cycle from this Bible, with commentary by Alice Camille, can be found in the three-volume This Transforming Word: Cycles A, B, C. ACTA Publications, 2023.)

New American Bible. World Bible Publishing, 1987. The offi cial translation of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for use in the lectionary readings at Mass.

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition. Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America 1989, 1993. The offi- cial translation of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bish- ops for use in the lectionary readings at Mass.

JEWISH SCRIPTURAL TEXTS

Adele Berlin and Marc Zvi Brettler, eds. The Jewish Study Bible: Featuring The Jewish Publication Society TANAKH Transla- tion. Oxford, 2003. The primary translation for all forms of English-speaking Judaism outside of Orthodox Judaism.

DEVOTIONALS

Heather King. Holy Days and Gospel Reflections. Ignatius Press, 2013. Thoughts on select Gospel readings, Feast Days, and notable women in the Bible by a frequent Magnificat devotional contributor who is a recovering co-dependent.

Jon Sweeney and Mark S. Burrows, eds. Meister Eckhart’s Book of the Heart: Meditations for the Restless Soul. Hampton Roads, 2017. Short excerpts from the 14th century mystic, Meister Eck- hart, who has influenced a wide range of spiritual teachers and mystics both inside and outside the Christian tradition, including Eckhart Tolle, Richard Rohr, and development of 20th cen- tury American Buddhism and the Theosophical tradition.

Judith Valente, et. al. The Art of Pausing: Meditations for the Overworked and Overwhelmed. ACTA Publications/Saint Mary’s Press, 2013.

POETRY

Gerard Manley Hopkins. The Gospel in Gerard Manley Hop- kins: Selections from His Poems, Letters, Journals, and Spiritual Writings. Margaret R. Ellsberg, ed. Plough House Publishing, 2017.

Mary Karr. Sinners Welcome: Poems. Harper, 2009. This collec- tion by recovered addict Karr leverages humor, but also reflects the author’s Ignation prayer practice. The book also includes an essay about how poetry, which relieved the author’s suffering in a dysfunctional family, eventually became a language of prayer.

John O’Donohue. Connamara Blues. Bantam, 2000. The one- time cleric explores his native place in Western Ireland with a feeling of wonder at the mystery of nature and our place in it. The evocative, musical nature of his language and the essential truths of his insights infuse these poems with meaning rich for repeated Spiritual Reading.