Prayer has been an essential part of Christianity since its earliest days. As the Middle Ages began, the monastic traditions of both Western and Eastern Christianity moved beyond vocal prayer to Christian meditation. These progressions resulted in two distinct and different meditative practices: Lectio Divina in the West and hesychasm in the East. Hesychasm involves the repetition of the Jesus Prayer, but Lectio Divina uses different Scripture passages at different times and although a passage may be repeated a few times, Lectio Divina is not repetitive in nature.[1][2]
The progression from Bible reading, to meditation, to loving regard for God, was first formally described by Guigo II, a Carthusian monk who died late in the 12th century.[3] Guigo II's book The Ladder of Monks is considered the first description of methodical prayer in the western mystical tradition.[4]
In Eastern Christianity, the monastic traditions of "constant prayer" that traced back to the Desert Fathers and Evagrius Pontikos established the practice of hesychasm and influenced John Climacus' book The Ladder of Divine Ascent by the 7th century.[5] These meditative prayers were promoted and supported by Saint Gregory Palamas in the 14th century.[1][6]
From the 18th century some components of meditation began to be de-emphasized in some branches of Western Christianity.[7] However, the early part of the 20th century witnessed a revival and books and articles on approaches such as Lectio divina aimed at the general public began to appear by the middle of the century.[7] In 1965 one of the principal documents of the Second Vatican Council, the dogmatic constitution Dei verbum (Latin for Word of God) emphasized the use of Lectio divina and on the 40th anniversary of Dei verbum in 2005 Pope Benedict XVI reaffirmed its importance.[8]
^ abCite error: The named reference global31 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Reading with God: Lectio Divina by David Foster 2006 ISBN 0-8264-6084-4 page 44
^Christian spirituality: themes from the tradition by Lawrence S. Cunningham, Keith J. Egan 1996 ISBN 978-0-8091-3660-5 pages 38-39
^An Anthology of Christian mysticism by Harvey D. Egan 1991 ISBN 0-8146-6012-6 pages 207-208
^Orthodox Church: Its Past and Its Role in the World Today by John Meyendorff 1981 ISBN 0-913836-81-8 page
^Cite error: The named reference The Byzantine Empire' page 238 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ abReading to live: the evolving practice of Lectio divina by Raymond Studzinski 2010 ISBN 0-87907-231-8 pages 188-195
^Vatican website Address at the 40th anniversary of DEI VERBUM, Friday, 16 September 2005
and 26 Related for: History of Christian meditation information
both Western and Eastern Christianity moved beyond vocal prayer to Christianmeditation. These progressions resulted in two distinct and different meditative...
Christianmeditation is a form of prayer in which a structured attempt is made to become aware of and reflect upon the revelations of God. The word meditation...
Meditation is practiced in numerous religious traditions. The earliest records ofmeditation (dhyana) are found in the Upanishads, and meditation plays...
The Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique is that associated with Transcendental Meditation, developed by the Indian spiritual figure Maharishi Mahesh...
Transcendental Meditation (TM) is a form of silent meditation developed by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and so named to separate it from Hinduism or any other...
intercession. Christianmeditation is a structured attempt to get in touch with and deliberately reflect upon the revelations of God. The word meditation comes...
Meditation music is music performed to aid in the practice ofmeditation. It can have a specific religious content, but also more recently has been associated...
practice within several forms of Buddhism that involve movement and periods of walking between long periods of sitting meditation. In different forms, the...
normative profession of faith. According to Roger E. Olson and Christopher Hall, through prayer, meditation, study and practice, the Christian community concluded...
been described as "a gaze of faith", "a silent love". There is no clear-cut boundary between Christianmeditation and Christian contemplation, and they...
contemplation and meditation. Dhyana is taken up in Yoga practices, and is a means to samadhi and self-knowledge. The various concepts of dhyana and its...
at the University of Minnesota before transferring to the University of California, Berkeley where he taught courses on meditation-the first in the country...
around 50.7% of the population were Christians, among them 47.4% members of the two large Christian churches. About half ofChristians in Germany are...
practice of scriptural reading, meditation and prayer intended to promote communion with God and to increase the knowledge of God's word. In the view of one...
The Saint Thomas Christians, also called Syrian Christiansof India, Marthoma Suriyani Nasrani, Malankara Nasrani, or Nasrani Mappila, are an ethno-religious...
Lord's Day. Early Christians, at first mainly Jewish, observed the seventh-day (Saturday) Sabbath with prayer and rest. At the beginning of the second century...
Buddhist meditation is the practice ofmeditation in Buddhism. The closest words for meditation in the classical languages of Buddhism are bhāvanā ("mental...
Christian apologetics (Ancient Greek: ἀπολογία, "verbal defense, speech in defense") is a branch ofChristian theology that defends Christianity. Christian...
and ethical practices such as humility, compassion, meditation, patience and prayer. Evidence of extreme asceticism in Christianity appear in second century...
issued two documents: Aspects ofChristianmeditation and "A Christian reflection on the New Age," that were mostly critical of eastern and New Age practices...
Christian Kabbalah arose during the Renaissance due to Christian scholars' interest in the mysticism of Jewish Kabbalah, which they interpreted according...
The Transcendental Meditation movement (TM) are programs and organizations that promote the Transcendental Meditation technique founded by Maharishi Mahesh...
directory of popular piety and the liturgy emphasizes the Christianmeditation/meditative aspects of the rosary, and states that the Rosary is essentially...
on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and gives special importance to the practice of physical postures and different forms ofmeditation. Nyaya and Vaisheshika...
Global Information