Should Catholics read Bible books systematically?***

A few weeks ago on Saints Will Arise I suggested a number of options on what to read by way of lectio divina, including looking at the psalms, taking the texts of the Sunday liturgical cycle, reading the Gospels systematically, and reading (the rest of) the Bible.

I've just come across a rather curious post by Father Mark over at Vultus Christi who, in a letter to Oblates of his monastery, argues that a systematic program of Bible reading, or reading the books of Scripture right through is downright uncatholic.

I have to say I find this a rather extreme position.

I'm not sure whether it was meant as a direct response to my post (or queries from his oblates generated by it); probably not.  But thought I would comment on it all the same.  Alas, wordpress won't, for some reason, allow me to post a comment on his blog, so I'm posting it over here instead.

Reading the Bible in order is Protestant?

Fr Mark points rightly to the privileged place Scripture has in the liturgy, and of Scripture as, in a certain sense, a product of the liturgy rather than something that should be viewed as entirely independent of it.  And he points out that Scripture is not a personal book, but something that can only be understood in the midst of the Church.  Thus far I agree.

But he then takes that view a step further than I think can really be sustained, arguing that as a general principle, as Catholics, we should only read the Bible in the context of the readings set at Mass and in the Office:

"Unlike Protestants who may open the Bible at random, or follow a personal reading plan, or use it to prepare a teaching or sermon, Catholic and Orthodox Christians submit to the Church’s use of the Bible in the liturgy...What should one read in lectio divina? In my long personal experience, it is best to focus on the very texts that will be chanted or read, and heard on a given day, in Holy Mass and in the Divine Office..."

He consigns the reading of Scripture in order to rare special occasions:

"There are also moments in life, notably during a retreat or on the occasion of a special anniversary, when one may want to read a particular book of the Bible continuously from start to finish..." 

St Benedict and the tradition on lectio divina

Now I'm all in favour of one option for lectio divina being to base it around the readings in the liturgy.
But to claim this is the only option we should ever adopt seems to me a step too far!

Here is why.

First, St Benedict himself in his Rule sets the precedent in favour of reading books in order, requiring his monks to read least one book a year consecutively (and this would normally have been a book of Scripture) during the season of Lent (RB 48).

Secondly the Fathers (including Benedictine monks like St Bede) and later theologians did not simply stick to the Sunday (or Sanctoral) readings, but produced many commentaries on complete books of Scripture, long viewed as essentially products of lectio divina.  Using them in anthology form obviously has value, but so too, surely, does treating them as complete works in their own right.

Thirdly, many of the Fathers adopt a 'canonical' reading of Scripture, an approach that is regaining popularity today, that interprets sections of Scripture by reference to its placement in the particular book of the Bible.  In the case of the psalms, for example, the particular number of certain psalms is regarded as significant in and of itself.  And canonical interpretation becomes supremely important in the case of obviously carefully crafted orderings of the material such as occur in St John's Gospel in particular, which is structured around 'signs' and 'days'. If we only ever read the snippets of Scripture prescribed for a particular day in the Mass we will surely miss this rich layer of meaning that comes from context.

Fourthly, others have suggested that in fact the monastic tradition is to read the books of the Bible through over a year: in fact, as Dom Christopher Lazowski, in an inspiring post from a few years back on New Liturgical Movement states that:

"There is a monastic adage that states that a monk should pray the Psalter in a week, and should read the Bible in a year...The rest of the Bible is read in a systematic way at the night Office...But the reading of Sacred Scripture is not limited to the liturgy. It is the chief matter of lectio divina, the meditative and prayerful reading, sliding in and out of prayer, that is a vital element of monastic life."

Dom Christopher notes that novices in his own monastery are given a plan for reading the Bible in a year 'which is inspired by the way the different books are read at the Office, with the addition of the books that the Office omits, but without the psalms and the Gospels'.

Finally, there are practical reasons for reading the books straight through as well, not the least of which is that if we only read what occurs in the liturgy we will remain ignorant of large chunks of Scripture (yes even the Novus Ordo lectionary omits whole psalms, chapters and verses of the Bible from its cycle).  Yet the Church has always insisted that all of Scripture is provided for our instruction.

St Matthew continues!

There is certainly a good case for taking the texts of the Mass and/or Office as the basis for our lectio for at least once cycle.  But equally, I think, there is a case for appreciating that God inspired the Sacred authors to write complete books that should be treated as such.

Accordingly, I for one will be plowing on with my systematic reading of St Matthew this quarter!

**Just to note that Fr Mark has written a subsequent post rather modifying his position, and suggesting that reading through the Gospels systematically would be acceptable as a source of lectio.

Possible lectio programs reading the Gospel of St Matthew

Lindisfarne Gospel

Doing at least some lectio divina each day should surely be a key part of our daily spiritual regime.

But what should we take as our text?  Let me suggest a few options for consideration.

Option 1: Study the psalms

For followers of St Benedict, knowing the psalms is surely the first priority.  St Benedict enjoins the study of the psalms twice in his Rule - once as a use for the gap between Matins and Lauds, and a second time in his discussion of the daily horarium.

Why?

The psalms are of course the backbone of his Office, their repetition each each week so crucial that the lessons are to be dropped if necessary, rather than the psalms be omitted or Lauds started late!  Yet the saint never actually explains why they are so important; rather  he just assumes we know that the psalms are the most quoted book of the Old Testament in the New, and long considered to contain the entire Bible in summary, poetic form.

My blog Psallam Domino is devoted to notes to assist those wishing to use the psalms for lectio divina, or to pray them with greater intensity, particularly in the context of the Benedictine form of the Divine Office.

Option 2: The texts of the Sunday cycle

One obvious option is to use the lectionary and propers used at the Mass.  If you normally attend the 1970 Missal Mass, there is so much material provided in the lectionary that you will have to select what to look at  - one obvious option being the epistles for each day.

In the traditional Mass the obvious option is to look at all the proper texts for the Sunday (and perhaps the texts of the other major feasts and seasons) - that is the Introit, Gradual, Alleluia, Epistle, Gospel, Offertory and Communio - over a week.  The Church has, for centuries, selected out these texts as crucial to our instruction, repeating them year after year so that we can have them practically memorised, so exploring them in more depth for ourselves makes a great deal of sense.

The Sunday Gospels of course can easily take up two or three days in this regime, if one studies them with the aid of patristic sources such as using the excellent Sunday Sermons of the Fathers volumes.  And if the psalm verses or other text in the propers are too sparse or repetitive, it is no great problem to consider the whole psalm or chapter from which the text is taken.

Option 3: Systematic reading of the Gospels

A second option is to spread the reading of the Gospels over a year, taking one for each quarter.  The Gospels are obviously the most important books of the bible for a Catholic to be familiar with, so well worth the effort.  And there are any number of commentaries available to assist this task.  A good starting point is the Catena Aurea of St Thomas, providing an anthology of patristic commentaries for our consideration.

This is the approach I plan to take here, looking at St Matthew's Gospel this quarter on this blog.

Option 4: (Rest of the) Bible in a year

Another option worth considering is systematically reading the rest of the Bible.

If you are feeling ambitious, a while back, a monk posted a suggested two possible reading plans for the Bible in a year over at New Liturgical Movement.  But if you are not a monk with several hours a day to devote to the task, you could devise a plan to spread your reading over two  or three years!

All the same, I will post in a sidebar the books suggested by reading plan 1, which broadly mirrors the Matins readings.

How to do (real) lectio divina

One of Pope Benedict XVI's important contributions to the rehabilitation of Scripture in the lives of Catholics is his instruction on how to do lectio divina. 

Lectio divina, or holy reading, has been popularised in recent years by assorted monks and others. 

Unfortunately, much of the guidance around amounts to nothing much more than, read the text aloud a few times, seize on whatever part of it gives you a good vibe, and tell everyone about your emotional response to it.

It's the kind of approach that might work well if you are a trained theologian with a good knowledge of the whole of Scripture. But which is extremely dangerous for the typical under-catechized cafeteria Catholic whose acquaintance with Scripture is at best superficial.  Contrast that with the Pope's instructions on how to do real lectio divina, which reflect the real monastic tradition, not the pop version often propagated today under its name.

The stages of lectio divina

Pope Benedict XVI suggests, in his Post-Synodal Exhortation Verbum Domini, that there are five stages to the process:

1. Lectio (a terms that literally means reading, but in late antiquity and medieval usage also encompassed translating, thinking about and studying the text): The Pope suggests that the fundamental question to be answered at this stage is, 'what does the text mean'?

2. Meditatio (meditation): 'what does the biblical text say to us'?

3. Oratio (prayer): 'what do we say to the Lord in response to his word'?

4. Contemplatio (contemplation): 'what conversion of mind, heart and life is the Lord asking of us'?

5. Actio (action; sometimes the term 'work' is used for this stage in medieval schemas for lectio): Putting it into practice.

Using all of the tools at our disposal to get at meaning

It is at the 'lectio' stage that the Pope proposes the integration of the tools offered by exegesis and theology into the process.

He makes the point that Scriptural interpretation is not just a purely individual matter: we must read it in the light of the faith, and in accordance with the principles the Church as set out.

In particular he points to the importance of:  

• the way the New Testament definitively interprets the Old;
• the witness of tradition: we must read "in communion with the Church, that is, with all the great witnesses to this word, beginning with the earliest Fathers up to the saints of our own day, up to the present-day magisterium";
• drawing on the tools of exegesis;
• with attention to both the literal and spiritual senses of the text (noting that the spiritual is subdivided into three senses which deal with the contents of the faith, with the moral life and with our eschatological aspirations).

The lectio stage, in other words, is not just a matter of reading the text through a few times, but requires serious study.

Meditation through to action

And this intellectual orientation carries through into the other stages of the process. At the meditation stage, for example, he suggests that "we must open ourselves to what God wants to say to us, ‘overcoming our deafness to those words that do not fit our own opinions or prejudices’. The theological implications of the text, in other words, should inform and be the subject of our meditations, prayers and consideration for action.

 It is not, of course, all a matter of intellect. The Pope stresses that lectio divina must be a dialogue with God, involving prayer, as petition, intercession, thanksgiving and praise, so that "the word transforms us".

Dialogue though, involves listening, and listening not just to what we feel personally here and now, but also to what God has said to us through his Church down the ages. Sound advice indeed.

**Reposted from Australia Incognita and Psallam Domino

Recommitting to Lectio divina - start today!

As it is once again the beginning of a new year, I thought this might be a good time to suggest a renewed focus on lectio divina.

You could even add doing fifteen to thirty minutes lectio (depending on how much time you can put aside for this purpose) one of your new year's resolutions.

In praise of lectio divina

Lectio Divina is one of the three key elements of Benedictine life, along with the liturgy and work.

St Benedict's Rule, you will recall, specifies that the monk devote two or three hours (depending on the season) each day to lectio divina and/or learning/meditating on the psalms.

And of course the monk also encountered sacred reading in the Office, at meals, and in the works read at the evening conferences.

Reflecting this, the traditional view was that monks should say all of the psalms each week, and read the entire Bible each year.

For most laypeople that is probably far too ambitious a reading program -  it means reading one of the Gospels each quarter, saying around 22 psalms a day, and reading around two to three other chapters of the Bible each day.  Most people simply won't have time to do that much.

Nonetheless, at least some time devoted to the meditative reading of Scripture each day should be the part of the life of every Christian, and particularly of every Benedictine Oblate, and setting aside fifteen minutes to half an hour each day is enough to make a difference to your spiritual life.

What to read?

There are several options you can consider for your lectio, including:

• work on really learning the psalms.  For the medieval monk, the Book of Psalms was regarded as a summary of the whole of Scripture, and thus the essential foundation.  My Psallam Domino blog provides notes on many of the psalms, generally interpreted in the context of the Benedictine Office, to aid you in this;
• use the readings and Mass propers from Sunday Mass.  If you are using the EF calendar, the Sunday cycle provides a rich source of texts that help interpret each other, so you could devote a day each to the Sunday Gospel and Epistle, then for the rest of the week work through the Introit, Gradual, Alleluia or Tract, Offertory and Communio.  Dom Gueranger's Liturgical Year provides useful supporting notes for this purpose; supplement it by listening to the Propers on the CC Watershed website and reading Dom Saulner's wonderful notes on the chants;
• read one of the Gospels each quarter with the aid of a good commentary.  I have previously provided some notes to aid you on this;
• use the Matins readings provided on this blog (and for the summer months when there are none in the Benedictine Office, use the Roman ones, which can be found on the Divinum Officium website).

The problem with all the options above, though, good though they each are, is that they won't expose you to the entire Bible, and I think that is problematic: all of Scripture is provided for our instruction, not just some of it.

Accordingly, I think that at least every few years we should set about reading the entire Bible, maybe spread over two or three years.  And to do this, one useful reference point is the Matins lectionary as it stood back in the eighth century.

Lectio continua and the Matins lectionary

The Matins readings, at least in their modern form do not, of course, cover the entire Bible.

The Gospels appear only in the form of the sections used at Mass on Sundays and major feasts.

Some books of the Bible are omitted entirely.

Only tasters are provided for most of the books that are read at Matins.

And for some seasons, such as Lent, Patristic readings entirely displace the Scriptural sequence.

Originally, though, the Matins lectionary was based on a continuous reading of the books of the Bible, starting with the Heptateuch (Genesis to   ) in the lead up to Easter.

The Matins lectionary as it has come down to us though, was originally based on a continuous reading of all of the books of the Old and new Testaments, excluding the Gospels, and so it is worth, I think looking at the outline it provides for the liturgical year, and shaping our own reading around that.