Lectio Divina: The Sacred Art of Reading the World

Lectio Divina E-Course Banner

 

This class is now available for on-demand registration.  You can sign up and begin at any time and will have immediate access to the course materials when you pay online.

Suggested* Program Fee $50 – Add to Cart

*Click to add the class to your cart and you can adjust the price to reflect your ability to pay. Need some inspiration but have limited funds? I want this material to be accessible to anyone who longs for more contemplative presence in their lives.*

Course description

They can be like a sun, words.
They can do for the heart
what light can
for a field.

-St. John of the Cross, Love Poems from God (translated by Daniel Ladinsky)

In ancient times, wise men and women fled out into the desert to find a place where they could be fully present to God and to their own inner struggles at work within them.  They sought out radical silence, solitude, and continuous prayer. Many people followed these ammas and abbas, seeking their wisdom and guidance for a meaningful life.   One tradition was to ask for a word – this word or phrase would be something on which to chew, ponder, meditate, and engage with in holy curiosity for many days, weeks, months, or sometimes a whole lifetime.  This practice is one of the roots of lectio divina, where we approach the sacred texts with the same request: "Give me a word" we ask the scriptures – something to nourish me, challenge me, a word I can wrestle with and grow into – something to transform my heart.

Words can illuminate our hearts; they contain seeds of invitation to cross a new threshold.  Words ripen within us.  We can receive a word and not realize its full impact for our lives for a long while until one day we suddenly see things differently.  Lectio divina is an ancient practice of listening deeply to the voice of God shimmering in sacred texts. Lectio cultivates in us the ability to be fully present to the holy call which emerges from words.

Lectio divina is a practice of being present to each moment in a heart-centered way.  We are often taught in churches to think through our prayers – reciting words and formulas which are valuable elements of our shared traditions, but only one window into God’s presence. In lectio we invite God to speak to us in an unmediated way.  Our memories, images, and feelings become an important context for experiencing God’s voice active in us and we discover it when we pray in a heart-centered way. Those words moving through us break open God’s invitation to us in this moment of our lives and calls us to respond in some way.

Are you longing for a transformative journey to deeper intimacy with God through an ancient practice?  Would you like to cultivate a contemplative way of being with scripture and the world? Would you like to have a guide for these next six weeks supporting you through daily emails and weekly guided meditation practices?

How the course works

What’s included

Class Overview

Registration, cost, and payment

You can pay by credit card either through Paypal or Google Checkouts using the link below. Once your payment is processed you will receive an automatic email confirmation with the link to the class materials.

Suggested* Program Fee $50 – Add to Cart

*Click to add the class to your cart and you can adjust the price to reflect your ability to pay. Need some inspiration but have limited funds? I want this material to be accessible to anyone who longs for more contemplative presence in their lives. *

Policies and FAQs

Please read the Class Policies and FAQ page before registering

Your guide for the class

Visit the "About Christine" page for more information.

Feel free to email me at Christine@AbbeyoftheArts.com with any questions or concerns.

Praise for the class

(From students in Christine’s previous Lenten E-Course on Benedictine Spiritual Practices)

I’m participating in Christine’s online Lenten course at my home in Britain, 5000 miles away from Christine in Seattle, but each day I feel that she is by my side, gently guiding me. The course is completely exceeding my expectations, the course materials are beautifully produced with love and care, and I recommend Christine’s work unreservedly. –Christopher Stokes, United Kingdom

Christine’s wise, loving and generous spirit spills out in each installment of her Lenten E-Course. Prior to taking it, my spiritual practices were like dry and parched land, and like a deer panting for living Water, she nourishes my thirst for the Holy One. She is a vessel of God’s grace in my life. –Martha Louise

Christine’s course has illuminated the deepest recesses of my soul. While my “inner monk” turned out to be my “inner nun”, she is present with me throughout the day as I am learning to see through her eyes. The readings have been perfect and have led me to reconcile with an old friend. -Chris Flynn

For years I have craved more in my Easter basket than hollow chocolate bunnies and yellow marshmallow Peeps! Christine’s 7 week Lenten e-course is true nourishment; each delicious offering is worthy of slow savoring! -Melissa Layer

I am so very happy the Spirit led me to join Christine’s Lenten E-Retreat. The only way I can explain it is by saying that I find the daily amazement, surprise, joy and gratitude that I encountered when I walked to Santiago de Compostela from Le Puy, France in 2005. Every day offers a discovery and a gift, a new encounter with Godde or Christ.  It is very much as if it were my first Lent ever — and it may well be. I do feel accompanied by the Communion of Saints, the cloud of witnesses, and the prayers of many many people I do not know, along with fellow bloggers who seem to be on a similar extraordinary journey.  Frankly, it is a unique experience, which feels very much like a preparation for something else. A death and resurrection, maybe?  -Claire Bangasser, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Christine wet our appetites prior to Ash Wednesday by offering all of the opportunity to experience the Lenten scriptures in a very intimate way. Many tools were offered so that our hearts could be awakened and transformed in stillness, reading, silence and solitude. What I loved most about this course was the daily focus on scripture;, the variety of meditation in art, poetry and audio visual; and the relaxed format as to allow the absorption of spirituality. Well done! -Jo-El McLaughlin