Christian Contemplative Practice: Centering Prayer, Lectio Divina and Meditation on Scripture

What this is

Christian contemplative practice is a group of prayer and meditation methods from within Christianity. This page covers three widely taught ones: centering prayer, lectio divina and Christian Meditation. It describes them as their communities do. It does not promise spiritual experiences or healing, and it makes no claim of authority on theology.

Origin and context

The earliest Christian writings that clearly speak of contemplative prayer include those of the 4th-century monk John Cassian, who wrote of a practice he learned from the Desert Fathers. [1] The monastic practice of lectio divina was first established in the 6th century by Benedict of Nursia and formalized as a four-step process by the Carthusian monk Guigo II in the 12th century. [2] The Carmelite writers Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross wrote about stages of contemplative prayer in the 16th century. [1] The Second Vatican Council's constitution Dei Verbum said prayer should accompany the reading of Sacred Scripture, "so that God and man may talk together." [3]

Three practices

Lectio divina ("divine reading") has four traditional steps: read, meditate, pray and contemplate. [2] In one commentator's view, it does not treat Scripture as texts to be studied but as the living word. [2] It is a form of meditation on Scripture.

Centering prayer is a method of Christian prayer developed in the 20th century by Trappist monks at St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts. [1] In one published description of the method, a person chooses a sacred word that supports their intention to be in God's presence. [1] Whenever thoughts, feelings or images arise, they simply return to that word. [1] Advocates describe it as consent to God's presence rather than a tool to quiet the mind, [1] and say it does not replace other prayer. [1] Centering prayer has also drawn controversy among some Catholics. [1]

Christian Meditation as taught by the World Community for Christian Meditation involves silently reciting a single prayer word or mantra. The community recommends the ancient prayer-word "Maranatha" and suggests meditating twice a day, morning and evening, for 20 to 30 minutes. [4] Those are the community's own recommendations, not clinical advice. This page does not suggest any timing.

Christian teaching on meditation

A 1989 letter from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to the Catholic bishops addresses Christian meditation. It defines Christian prayer as a personal, intimate and profound dialogue between a person and God, and cautions against impersonal techniques or concentrating on oneself. [5] This is a Catholic document. Other Christian traditions have their own teaching. Readers who are Christian may wish to speak with a pastor or spiritual director.

How it differs from secular mindfulness

Mindfulness-based programs such as MBSR and MBCT draw on contemplative traditions together with science, medicine, psychology and education. [6] Christian contemplative practice aims at relationship with God. Some Christians prefer to turn to their own heritage rather than Buddhist-derived programs, and one author has argued that centering prayer overlaps considerably with MBCT. [7] That is an argument, not a trial result. See also meditation and prayer, prayer, faith and health and secular and religious meditation.

What research shows

Research is limited and mostly small.

1. Centering prayer in chemotherapy

   Insufficient evidence

   A pilot study of 10 women with recurrent ovarian cancer; the authors said more research is needed. [8]

2. Online centering prayer trial

   Mixed

   In a randomized trial of 702 self-identified Christians, no group differences in well-being at one week, and all groups improved. Religious framing changed spiritual-experience scores. [9]

3. Lectio divina chaplaincy program

   Insufficient evidence

   A retrospective chart review of 19 patients at a Veterans Affairs medical center: enhanced religiosity and decreased thoughts of violence were not observed, while spiritual injury improved in those who attended more than two sessions. [10]

The online trial's "active control" and passive group improved too, which means well-being gains cannot be attributed to centering prayer itself. Such studies cannot be blinded and may be shaped by expectation. Proper evidence not found for treatment of depression, anxiety or other conditions by these practices; searches of PubMed found only these small studies and conceptual papers.