About Monastic Prayer

St. Benedict intended holy reading (or lectio divina) to be his monks’ primary form of personal prayer.  In fact, in his day, the monastic schedule set aside up to four hours for this purpose, which also included memorization of the Psalms and other passages of the Bible.  The purpose of this intense activity was to impress the Word God on the monk’s mind and heart (RB 48).  Monks often read aloud, since the reading of Scripture was meant to engage the whole person in the act of reading so that a monk’s interior life had enough nourishment to grow and develop.

Although most people of contemporary times are not given to memorization quite like the ancients, a monk’s practice of lectio will imprint the Word of God on his mind and heart.  To practice lectio, a monk places himself in the presence of God in whatever environment seems most appropriate to him: a favorite chair, an out of the way place where he can concentrate, etc.  After a period of quieting and gathering thoughts in silence, he reads the passage, which can be short or long depending on the monk’s inclination.  Some monks will use the readings at Mass for their lectio.  Other times, monks will practice lectio with whole books of the Bible prayerfully reading it over the course of a year or longer.  At still other times, monks will focus their lectio on a particular portion of a chosen book.  In any case, the passage is read several times, usually about three to four times.  The reading can be done silently or audibly, if a monk feels comfortable doing the latter.  After reading the chosen passage a monk should ask himself what word, phrase, or image was particularly striking for him.  Sometimes a monk will memorize the word or phrase by repeating it slowly to himself.  Ruminating on this word or phrase will help the monk to enter into a prayerful dialogue with God.  Entering into the prayerful dialogue with God a monk interacts with the God who knows him and loves him.  After the prayerful encounter, a monk rests with God sometimes returning to the written word, but always thanking God for his presence.

At Saint Bede Abbey, the period after Morning Prayer and breakfast is set aside for lectio divina, but our monks are encouraged to spend other times in prayer as well.  Some of our confreres spend time in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, others pray the rosary or practice centering prayer, still others pray while relaxing in the gardens or walking in the woods.  Every monk also has people on his personal intercessory prayer list: family, friends, former students, even strangers who have written to the monastic community asking for prayers.