Benedict & Lectio Divina

St Benedict of Nursia, father of Western monasticism, wove daily “sacred reading” into the rhythm of monastic life (Rule, ch. 48): not reading for information, but a slow, listening engagement with Scripture meant to change the reader.

Centuries later the Carthusian Guigo II gave it a shape that has guided pray-ers ever since — the four-runged “ladder of monks”: lectio (read), meditatio (ponder), oratio (pray), contemplatio (rest).

“Seek in reading,” Guigo wrote, “and you will find in meditation; knock in prayer, and it will be opened to you in contemplation.” A short verse, taken slowly these four ways, becomes a meeting with God.