Lectio Divina Methods

I've been writing Lectio Divina meditations for almost two years now, but I've come to realize that there are LOTS of different methods for actually doing Lectio Divina. Pope Benedict has been talking about it quite frequently, telling us that it is good to practice it. But how are we supposed to actually do it?

The Catechism gives it a glib couple references, which aren't all that enlightening (CCC 1177, 2708). The Wikipedia article is pretty lame, but at least it gives the four movements of Lectio Divina. Ok, did you know that Lectio Divina had movements? What's Lectio Divina anyway? What if I don't even know what "lectio" means? Whoa, whoa, I'll attempt to give you an introduction here that will make some sense and help you actually sit down and pray with the Bible, instead of just reading it. That's the point, isn't it? The Bible is God's Word, but so often we just read it as if it were a novel or a newspaper. Lectio Divina is all about reading the Bible with the knowledge that it is God's word and not just some book.

Part 1: What is Lectio Divina anyway?
Lectio Divina means "divine reading." It is an ancient Christian practice of reading the Scriptures with prayerful attention. It is not a Bible study method, but a prayer method. This is important. With Lectio Divina we're trying to reap the spiritual fruits of the Scripture, to "squeeze the juice out" as Pope Benedict is fond of saying. We are not trying to gain archaeological information or just simple knowledge. With Lectio Divina, we are using the Scripture to draw closer to God through reading and understanding the Bible. It is a perfect example of what St. Augustine calls "credo ut intellegam, intellego ut credas." That is, "I believe in order to understand, I understand in order to believe." With Lectio Divina we do a bit of both. We start with the premise that this is the Word of God (I believe). Then we read the Bible with full attention (I understand) and faith (I believe). We think about what we've read (I understand) and then we use that new understanding to draw closer to God in prayer (I believe). I'm basically assuming here that you'll be doing Lectio Divina individually. It can be done in a group, but it's not very common.

Part 2: What are the "movements" in Lectio Divina?
Lectio Divina has four "movements." We're not talking about physical movement here, but interior, spiritual movement. So what are the movements called? Lectio, Meditatio, Oratio and Contemplatio. Ok, in case you hadn't guessed it, you can basically add an "n" to the end of every word to magically turn it from Latin into English. But if you're talking to your friends about Lectio Divina, cut off the "n", you'll sound smarter. :) So that leaves us with "Lection, Meditation, Oration, and Contemplation." Let's take each one of these apart

Movement 1: Lection
Lectio or Lection is the most basic part and the first step in the process: Read! Doesn't sound too hard, just actually read the text of the Bible on which you are going to be meditating. There are couple important pieces here. Don't pick something uber-long that you'll never get through. Pick something manageable, maybe between a verse and a chapter. You can also do your Lectio Divina in bite-size chunks, so if you want to do one verse at a time that's okay, just make sure that you're getting something like a complete thought. That is, it might be confusing and unhelpful to meditate on "sons of Magbish, one hundred and fifty-six" (Ezr 2:30 NAB). On the other hand you could probably meditate for a long time on "and the Word was God." (Jn 1:1) So pick what you read carefully and make sure it's not too long or too short.

And when you do sit down (or kneel or stand) and read it, read with full attention of your mind and heart. Read it patiently, not with the rush to finish, but enjoy it, savor it. Remember, this is GOD's word, it's not just another book. Keep that in mind, that in some way, God is actually speaking to you through what you are reading. This is very important. Read it with greater attention than you would read the line in the newspaper that shows how much your mutual fund went up or down. Read it with more attention than you would a passionate love letter from your significant other. Read it with more attention than you would that line of information on ESPN's website about how your team did last night. Read it with your mind so you understand it. But read it with your heart too, so you get it, so it sinks in, so it makes a difference.

Movement 2: Meditation
Meditation is the next step after reading. Now meditation can vary from a very simple exercise, to a very complicated one. If it is helpful to you--and only if it is helpful--you can do a bit of studying on the verse. You can look up cross references, read footnotes, read the comments I write, read the places where the Catechism uses the passage. But don't bog yourself down with too much. The point is not to indulge in information overload, but to grow spiritually. Keep that in mind while you study. But, you need not do all this. And don't do it if it doesn't help you pray.

Ok, so after you've done your studying or not, meditate! Well, ok, but what does that mean? It means to think deeply about the passage at hand. Ruminate, digest, absorb, remember. Think about what the passage means--to you, to God, to the world. Think about how it affects everything: behavior, politics, religion. Think about how it makes a difference, about the fact that it is something that God is saying. Think prayerfully--this is where "meditation" is a little different than just "thinking." Go back and re-read it if you need too, but focus on meditating, the kind of deep spiritual thinking that you do when you learn something that profoundly changes your life, when you encounter God in a new way, when you begin to pray. Once the meditation is in full gear, you're ready to move to the next movement: Oration.

Movement 3: Oration
Oration is a fancy word for "prayer." This is the point where you transition from meditative thinking into the realm of prayer. Oration is a conversation with God--that's what all prayer is, right? So go from meditating on the passage to actually talking with God. Ask him questions, tell him things you would only tell your closest friend (or maybe not even). And listen to him.

This kind of prayer requires that your heart not be flailing around in the turbid waters of regular life. This is NOT the time to think about the grocery list or the car payment or the kids' lunches or clipping your toenails. This is God-time. It is His and He gets it. It is about having a real conversation with God, a real back-and-forth, a real question and answer time, a real meeting of the minds. Pray. Pray about what you learned, pray about what you read, ask God to reveal it to you more. Ask God to reveal himself to you more. Pray out loud or pray quietly, but pray. Seek God through His Word. This is the time to really benefit spiritually from the Word. Open your heart to Him and let Him transform you.

Movement 4: Contemplation
Contemplation is the final stage of Lectio Divina. You've gotten past the reading and thinking, the meditating and even the prayer conversation. Now you've come to the wordless prayer of Contemplation. Now, it is important to remember that Contemplation is not a technique. It is not like a push-up or a sit-up. It is a relationship. Think of it in the same way you think of those quiet moments with your significant other when the love-experience is so intense that words have stopped and you're just looking into one another's eyes and knowing one another in way that is too deep for words. That's what contemplation is like. You find yourself caught up in God's love, His life, His being. All of the details and fine points of life fade into the background as you just soak in the Father's presence, as you stare into the eyes of Jesus. Contemplation of this kind is an experience of love, a foretaste of heaven, a window into eternity.

Don't become overly concerned if this last stage is difficult to get to or doesn't really feel like anything. The spiritual doctors of the Church have written a lot about contemplation and if you want a good understanding of it go read some St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Francis De Sales or St. Therese of Liseux.

Now that you've completed one Lectio Divina, you can either be done or you can go on to the next verse and keep going. Just keep this rhythm of the four movements in mind. Lectio Divina is life-transforming because it is a way to connect to the life of Jesus and the realities of His Word.

Pope Benedict on Exegesis

One thing which I believe is a cause of "concern" — in the positive sense of the word — to all of us, is the fact that future priests and other teachers and preachers of the faith must receive a good theological training; we therefore need good theological faculties, good major seminaries and qualified theology teachers who not only impart knowledge but inculcate in students an intelligent faith so that faith becomes intelligence and intelligence, faith.

In this regard, I have a very specific wish.

Our exegesis has progressed by leaps and bounds. We truly know a great deal about the development of texts, the subdivision of sources, etc., we know what words would have meant at that time.... But we are increasingly seeing that if historical and critical exegesis remains solely historical and critical, it refers the Word to the past, it makes it a Word of those times, a Word which basically says nothing to us at all; and we see that the Word is fragmented, precisely because it is broken up into a multitude of different sources.

With Dei Verbum, the Council told us that the historical-critical method is an essential dimension of exegesis because, since it is a factum historicum, it is part of the nature of faith. We do not merely believe in an idea; Christianity is not a philosophy but an event that God brought about in this world, a story that he pieced together in a real way and forms with us as history.

For this reason, in our reading of the Bible, the serious historical aspect with its requirements must be truly present: we must effectively recognize the event and, precisely in his action, this "making of history" on God's part.

Dei Verbum adds, however, that Scripture, which must consequently be interpreted according to historical methods, should also be read in its unity and must be read within the living community of the Church. These two dimensions are absent in large areas of exegesis.

The oneness of Scripture is not a purely historical and critical factor but indeed in its entirety, also from the historical viewpoint, it is an inner process of the Word which, read and understood in an ever new way in the course of subsequent relectures, continues to develop.

This oneness itself, however, is ultimately a theological fact: these writings form one Scripture which can only be properly understood if they are read in the analogia fidei as a oneness in which there is progress towards Christ, and inversely, in which Christ draws all history to himself; and if, moreover, all this is brought to life in the Church's faith.

In other words, I would very much like to see theologians learn to interpret and love Scripture as the Council desired, in accordance with Dei Verbum: may they experience the inner unity of Scripture — something that today is helped by "canonical exegesis" (still to be found, of course, in its timid first stages) — and then make a spiritual interpretation of it that is not externally edifying but rather an inner immersion in the presence of the Word.

It seems to me a very important task to do something in this regard, to contribute to providing an introduction to living Scripture as an up-to-date Word of God beside, with and in historical-critical exegesis. I do not know how this should be done in practice, but I think that in the academic context and at seminaries, as well as in an introductory course, it will be possible to find capable teachers to ensure that this timely encounter with Scripture in the faith of the Church — an encounter on whose basis proclamation subsequently becomes possible — can take place.

-Pope Benedict XVI, "Audience with the Bishops of Switzerland," 7 November 2006.
Complete text available from EWTN.

John Paul II on How to do Exegesis

As the Council well reminded us: "In the sacred books the Father who is in heaven comes lovingly to meet his children, and talks with them. And such is the force and power of the word of God that it can serve the Church as her support and vigour, and th children of the Church as strength for their faith, food for the soul, and a pure and lasting source of spiritual life." (Dei Verbum, no. 21)...Without this support [a vigorous spiritual life], exegetical research remains incomplete; it loses sight of its main purpose and is confined to secondary tasks. It can even become a sort of escape. Scientific study of the merely human aspects of the texts can make him forget that the word of God invites each person to come out of himself to live in faith and love....

While engaged in the very work of interpretation, one must remain in the presence of God as much as possible...they will avoid becoming lost in the complexities of abstract scientific research which distances them from the true meaning of the Scriptures. Indeed, this meaning is inseparable from their goal, which is to put believers into a personal relationship with God.

-Pope John Paul II, "Bible Experts Must Be Guided by the Spirit," L'Osservatore Romano (English ed.), 28 April 1993, pp.3-4, quoted in Ralph Martin, The Catholic Church at the End of an Age: What is the Spirit Saying?, (San Francisco: Ignatius, 1994), pp.151-152.

Amazing Catholic Bible Resource!

Thanks to a commentor on this blog, I found this sweet repository of Catholic resources on the Bible. It is a collection of electronic texts to be used with e-Sword (the best free Bible software in the world). You can find this collection of Catholic Bible resources here. It truly is an amazing amount of material: the old Catholic Encyclopedia, the Vulgate, the Summa, the Early Church Fathers, the Catechism, The Peshitta, the Baltimore Catechism, the New Jerusalem Bible, early liturgical texts, Haydock's Bible, a Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture, a Greek-English interlinear and a Hebrew-English interlinear. The list goes on and on! So go download e-Sword here and then download all these Catholic e-Sword goodies here.

New Link: Aleppo Codex

If you want to dig into the oldest and most important manuscripts we have of the biblical text, look no further than the Catholic Bible Student sidebar. I just added a link to a facsimile edition of the Aleppo Codex, one of the most ancient and authoritative Hebrew manuscripts of the Old Testament. The website has very sleek functionality and high-resolution zoom. Unfortunately, the other most important Hebrew manuscript, the Leningrad Codex, is not available online yet. At least, not in facsimile form. But you can find a link to its text at this amazing website from Tyndale House. They've done a wonderful job pulling together the best Bible resources on the web and are making them freely available. You can find links to the most important manuscripts, papyri and critical editions, tons of English versions, help with original languages. It's a gold mine!

Pope Paul VI on how to be an exegete

"Your work is not limited...to explaining old texts, reporting facts in a critical way or going back to the early and original form of a text or sacred page. It is the prime duty of the exegete to present to the people of God the message of salvation, to set forth the meaning of the word of God in itself and in relation to men today."

Pope Paul VI, Address to the Pontifical Biblical Commission
March 14, 1974

"With sin's entry into the world, the gift begins to vanish into corruption. Knowledge ironically produces not further revelation, but hiddenness and isolation (Gen 3:8-9)."

-Telford Work in Living and Active, p. 38.

Source Criticism

I've been reading a lot of commentaries on the Minor Prophets. Most of them focus rather myopically on source critical questions. While I think source/redaction criticism is generally valid and can be useful in certain situations, its fundamental philosophical basis is flawed. (Source criticism is the process of determining the sources, editions, redactions or layers of a particular biblical book.)

First, source criticism of the Bible, especially the Old Testament, relies entirely upon internal evidence. Now internal evidence is not invalid, it just cannot be substantiated by hard data like manuscripts, archaeology, etc. I suppose some source-criticism bases itself on interpretations of archaeology, but rarely.

Second, what is the purpose of source-criticism? Does it really help you read a book better when you know who the supposed editors were and how they differed from the "original" author? Sometimes it seems comparable to reading the Constitution by trying figure which lines were proposed or rejected by various members of the Constitutional Convention. And while flipping through the early drafts of the Constitution may be interesting from a historical perspective, it doesn't really shed that much light on what the Constitution actually says. Why? Because the Constitution was a compromise document. So the important part is the consensus, the written page, not the intentions, motivations or even the individuals involved.

So when it comes to the Bible and getting the general reader interested in picking up the Good Book, it seems source-criticism really isn't going to give them that much. The general reader needs to pay attention to the "consensus" or the "compromise document." What do I mean by that? The regular reader should not be concerned with the redaction history of Amos or Zechariah, but should focus on what the text says as it stands, what it means in its present context, what God is saying through the Sacred Word. Picking apart the various layers of development has a limited usefulness even for the expert. Because what matters is not the development, but the end-product. Likewise, the end-product of the Constitutional Convention is what matters. It is the law of the land, not the notes and scribbles of Jefferson or Madison or whomever. So with the Bible, the canon is what counts, not the theories and re-workings of the scholarly class.

A Famous Debate

On January 28, 1948 Bertrand Russell, the famous Welsh logician and Fr. Frederick Copleston, a Jesuit priest-philosopher held a debate on the existence of God on BBC Radio. Apparently, the original debate was widely listened to in England and stirred up a considerable amount of excitement. I took a particular interest in this debate because I have great respect for Fr. Copleston, having read much of his History of Philosophy. I also have much respect for Bertrand Russell's intellect and his important essay, "Why I am not a Christian." Additionally, Ravi Zacharias is fond of quoting this debate because of the dramatic clash of worldviews it put on display long before many other philosophical fissures developed in our general Western society. Even if you don't enjoy the meat of the debate, their accents are really worth hearing!

I put up the audio on Internet Archive myself today:
Audio: Debate on the Existence of God, Bertrand Russell and Fr. Frederick Copleston SJ

You can also get the text of the debate here.

Zechariah and Evangelization

"Thus says the LORD of hosts: In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, 'Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.'" Zech 8:23 ESV

As I read this passage, I was struck by the image. I mean, can you imagine ten men of the nations clinging to the robe of every Christian saying "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you"? And yet, this is how evangelization is supposed to work. Our lives should so resemble the life of Christ, be so filled with the Holy Spirit and the existential reality of faith that everyone around us should have same phrase on their lips because they notice that "God is with us." So often, our experience fails to measure up to what Watchman Nee liked to call the Normal Christian Life. But I do think that if we truly walk in the Holy Spirit, in the fullness of the Gospel, our lives will be noticeably different. And the difference won't only be that we don't accept society's hedonistic mores or don't use contraception--the difference will be shown by our comportment, our joy, our hope, our Christ-like-ness. Then people will notice that God is with us and they will ask to "go with us" to his kingdom.

Pope Day in Washington


Excitement filled the air at Nationals Park on Thursday as 46,000 people turned out to see Pope Benedict XVI celebrate Mass. The cardinals, dozens of bishops, hundreds of priests and VIPs filled the field while the grandstands were packed with exuberant Catholics from all across the United States. The weather was perfectly warm and sunny as Benedict emerged from the tunnel in the Pope-mobile. And as the procession for Mass made its way through the crowd, you could pick out the pontiff by the sun’s glint off his pastoral staff.

Like most of the participants, I woke up at 4:15 in the morning to get on the metro train and get to my seat. But what amazed me the most was not the massive turnout or the swarm of reporters, the music or the decorations—it was the atmosphere of faith that filled the stadium. Though the smell of hot dogs wafted through this homegrown American ballpark, the crowd’s excitement rose to fever pitch not because of a fly ball or stolen base, but because their Holy Father was with them reminding them of what they knew all along, but so often forget, that it is all true: the fact that God exists and sent his Son and that he loves me and you individually. Somehow that reality, that truth came to life for us people in the crowd. For once, we Americans were not reduced to a number to be checked off on a spreadsheet or a company budget. We did not even pay for our tickets. They were a gift.

Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington, DC connected the Pope’s visit to the arrival of the first Catholics in the colonies in 1634. And in his homily, the Pope reminded us that he came at this particular time because it is the 200th anniversary of the creation of the first American dioceses. He told us that the “remarkable growth” of the Church in the United States was but “one chapter in the greater story” of the Church’s growth. Our story is intimately connected with the story of the whole Church and our life with the life of the whole Church. Benedict told us that he has come to America to confirm our faith, to repeat the message that Jesus Christ is Lord, to call us to conversion and to pray for a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the American Church.

He repeated over and over that we are called to constant conversion. To take on this task, we are to rediscover Confession, pray ardently and live out the new evangelization. These themes seemed especially appropriate as the Pope lowered his voice to slowly and painfully discuss the clergy sexual abuse scandal. His sincere sadness was deeply moving. Yet he reminded us Americans that we are people of hope. Hope is part of our civic identity and that uniquely American sense of hope parallels the hope we have in Christ. He emphasized that the sacrament of Penance is a key to the renewal of the American Church. The Pope concluded his homily with a few words in Spanish.

In the silence after the homily, a lone female voice could be heard shouting “Viva la Papa!” With this shout, a great wave of cheers and spontaneous shouts followed, many in Spanish. This moment somehow captured the deeply felt love that the gathered congregation had for the Pope. It was like we were children, telling our father how much we loved him. His smiles, waves and expressions gave us the assurance that the love was mutual. After Placido Domingo finished his exquisite rendition of Panis Angelicus, the Pope embraced him. But it was as if he wanted to embrace each of us and we could each visualize ourselves receiving that embrace.
The Mass concluded with fanfare and music, but the real treasure was deep within our hearts. We each had an encounter and would somehow never be the same.

I had the privilege of seeing the Pope later in the day at the Catholic University of America. He spoke to Catholic educators—university presidents and school-district superintendents. He spoke about the contemporary crisis of truth which is rooted in a crisis of faith. He emphasized that a Catholic educational institution ought to be a place thriving with the life of faith. When he spoke of this he raised his voice to say that “faith and reason never contradict.” He warned that without the Church, the individual can become lost as if on an “ideological chess-board” of endless amoral calculations. He exhorted educators to have “intellectual charity” for their students, to hope, to pray and to live the truth. After his speech, the Pope greeted the students gathered on the lawn outside the building to thunderous applause and exuberant cheers. The students even organized themselves to sing “Regina Caeli,” one of Benedict’s purported favorites.

The Pope’s day in Washington was a wonderful experience of faith, a celebration of Christ our Hope. His encouraging and well-meditated words will serve as food for thought for the American Church in the days and weeks to come. His witness encourages us to become more fully the “leaven of evangelical hope” and to bring the Good News to all the ends of America. ■

Freedom, Responsibility and the Pope

This morning, the pope gave a great address at the White House. His comments on the moral responsibility underlying American freedom and democracy struck me. He is perhaps the only person who could masterfully quote John Paul II and George Washington in the same breath. Here's the excerpt:

• Freedom is not only a gift, but also a summons to personal responsibility. Americans know this from experience — almost every town in this country has its monuments honouring those who sacrificed their lives in defence of freedom, both at home and abroad. The preservation of freedom calls for the cultivation of virtue, self-discipline, sacrifice for the common good and a sense of responsibility towards the less fortunate. It also demands the courage to engage in civic life and to bring one's deepest beliefs and values to reasoned public debate. In a word, freedom is ever new. It is a challenge held out to each generation, and it must constantly be won over for the cause of good. Few have understood this as clearly as the late Pope John Paul II. In reflecting on the spiritual victory of freedom over totalitarianism in his native Poland and in eastern Europe, he reminded us that history shows, time and again, that "in a world without truth, freedom loses its foundation," and a democracy without values can lose its very soul. Those prophetic words in some sense echo the conviction of President Washington, expressed in his Farewell Address, that religion and morality represent "indispensable supports" of political prosperity.

The full text of the Pope's speech is here at the Globe and Mail and will be here at the Vatican.

And kudos to President Bush for quoting the Pope's pre-papacy line about the "dictatorship of relativism." (from this homily) Bush said, "In a world where some no longer believe that we can distinguish between simple right and wrong, we need your message to reject this dictatorship of relativism and embrace a culture of justice and truth." (full text here)

The George Washington quote comes from this line in his farewell address: "Of all the dispositions and habits, which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports." (full text here)

The John Paul II quote comes from Centessimus Annus sec. 46. "But freedom attains its full development only by accepting the truth. In a world without truth, freedom loses its foundation and man is exposed to the violence of passion and to manipulation, both open and hidden. "

Has anything really changed?

Global Climate Change is the new Apocalypse.
Health is the new salvation.
Doctors are the new healers.
Government is the new Savior.
News is the new Gospel.
Abortion is the new sacrament.
Professors are the new theologians.
Teachers are the new priests.
Activists are the new evangelists.
Chemical imbalances are the new demons.
Psychologists are the new exorcists.

All this progress is not really new at all, is it?

Dei Verbum, the Minor Prophets and a Catholic Textbook: A Case Study

The Vatican II document on Scripture, Dei Verbum, has some very specific language about how to read the Bible. The document states, "Since Holy Scripture must be read and interpreted in the sacred spirit in which it was written, no less serious attention must be given to the content and unity of the whole of Scripture if the meaning of the sacred texts is to be correctly worked out." (sec. 21) Also it states, "the books of the Old Testament with all their parts, caught up into the proclamation of the Gospel, acquire and show forth their full meaning in the New Testament and in turn shed light on it and explain it." (sec. 16, footnotes removed)

So, as Catholics, we are supposed to read the Old Testament in light of the New and the New Testament in light of the Old. They go hand-in-hand. We are supposed to pay attention to the "content and unity of the whole of Scripture." So let's put these ideas to the test in a miniature case study:

1. The New Testament says, "No prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." (2 Peter 2:20-21 ESV)

2. A common Catholic textbook on the Old Testament commenting on Haggai says, "Haggai's enthusiastic nationalism and hope for independence led him to extol Zerubbabel as the person God would use to bring blessing to the land." (Boadt, Lawrence. Reading the Old Testament. New York: Paulist Press, 1984. p. 439)

The textbook's explanation of Haggai certainly sounds as if the author believes that Haggai's prophecy about Zerubbabel was produced by Haggai's will because of his nationalism and hope for political independence and not by the Holy Spirit. The oracle is a result of Haggai's personal thoughts, struggles, weaknesses and dreams. That is, it was produced by "the will of man." But this understanding is directly in opposition to the understanding laid out in 2 Peter 2:20-21. There, the author emphasizes thoroughly that the prophecies of Scripture are not the product of human thinking or striving, but of the Holy Spirit's leading and inspiration.

It seems it would be quite difficult to reconcile 2 Peter 2:20-21 and the statement of the textbook. Oh wait, Dei Verbum just makes the problem worse. It says we are supposed to read Scripture as a unity, Old and New Testaments together interpreting one another. Here, 2 Peter is telling us how to read the prophets. So, if we accept Dei Verbum, then we should follow 2 Peter's guidance.

The point is simple, the prophets spoke "under the influence of God"(2 Pet 2:21 NAB). They did not make up their prophecies because of their pet political issues or their psychological problems. God spoke through them. And to read the Bible in a Catholic way, we must accept this simple teaching of the Bible and the Church.

(Photo: Siena, Cathedral of S. Maria, west facade, head of prophet Haggai: ca. 1280-1300 from mtholyoke.edu)

St. Ambrose on Prayer

"Frequent prayer tends to strengthen our wills, so that we become more amenable to God's purposes though practice, just as we may become less amenable through indifference."

-St. Ambrose Cain and Abel II, 22, FC 42:423