St. Paul Gleanings: lectio divina

The Year of St Paul, 28 June 2008 - 29 June 2009 timed to coincide with the approximate 200th of his birth, will provide the opportunity to enter more deeply into the teaching ofthe first great theologian of Christianity whose faith and thought have so marked our whole tradition.

The Apostle of the Nations His letters were the earliest works of our New Testament, predating the Gospels by several years. They give us an insight into the challenges of the first followers of Jesus Christ. More importantly they bear witness to the faith of a man whose life was transformed by his encounter with Christ.

Paul was no paper saint: his letters, as well as the Acts of the Apostles, reveal a human being beset with difficulties and weaknesses, but one for whom Christ who will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body (Phil 3 :21) was everything.

Since the early 8th century of the Christian era, the Benedictine community of St Paul's outside the Walls in Rome has served the Basilica that enshrines the mortal remains of the Apostle. This community, living according to the Rule of St Benedict, has the practice of lectio divina as an integral part of its ancient spirituality. Lectio divina (the Latin phrase literally means "divine reading") is the prayerful pondering of the word of God in Scripture. The practice has been described under four "phases", lectio, meditatio, oratio and contemplatio (reading, pondering, praying and contemplating) and is undertaken on a daily basis by the monks.

Lectio divina may be done alone or with others. If it is a daily practice, as for the monks, it is part of the slow process of transformation of the person in Christ who is the Word incarnate. Ifa parochial or other group wishes to do it together periodically as an inspiration for their life or work, they may add a fifth phase, actio or missio, action or mission, concluding their session with the question, "What does the Lord want concretely of us now"?

The Benedictine monks of St Paul's have divided the thirteen letters attributed to St Paul into 365 short texts, ranging in length from three or four to ten verses, one text for each day of the Year, starting 29 June, solemnity of the Apostles Peter and Paul.

Click here to access a PDF file of the readings for each day.

You might also want to visit some other sites for the Pauline Year:

See the Pauline Year website

See the Papal Basilica of St;. Paul Outside-the-Walls website where St. Paul is buried.

The Vatican Splendors exhibit which opens May 31 at Western Reserve Historical Society

The Vatican Splendors exhibit includes a mosaic image of St. Paul