Our father, St. Dominic, had yet another manner of praying at once
beautiful, devout, and pleasing, which he practiced after the canonical hours
and the thanksgiving following meals. He was then zealous and filled with the
spirit of devotion which he drew from the divine words which had been sung in
the choir or refectory. Our father quickly withdrew to some solitary place, to
his cell or elsewhere, and recollected himself in the presence of God. He would
sit quietly, and after the sign of the cross, begin to read from a book opened
before him. His spirit would then be sweetly aroused as if he heard Our Lord
speaking, as we are told in the psalms: "I will hear what the Lord God will
speak to me. . ." (Ps. 84:9). As if disputing with a companion he
would at first appear somewhat impatient in his thought and words. At the next
moment he would become a quiet listener, then again seem to discuss and contend.
He seemed almost to laugh and weep at the same time, and then, attentively and
submissively, would murmur to himself and strike his breast.
Should some curious person have desired to watch our holy father Dominic, he would have appeared to him like Moses who went into the desert, to Horeb, the sacred mountain of God, and there beheld the burning bush and heard the Lord speaking to him as he was bowed down in the divine presence. This holy custom of our father seems, as it were, to resemble the prophetic mountain of the Lord inasmuch as he quickly passed upwards from reading to prayer, from prayer to meditation, and from meditation to contemplation.
When he read alone in this solitary fashion, Dominic used to venerate the book, bow to it, and kiss it. This was especially true if he was reading the Gospels and when he had been reading the very words which had come from the mouth of Christ. At other times he would hide his face and cover it with his cappa, or bury his face in his hands and veil it slightly with the capuce. Then he would weep, all fervent and filled with holy desires. Following this, as if to render thanks to some person of great excellence for benefits received, he would reverently rise and incline his head for a short time. Wholly refreshed and in great interior peace, he then returned to his book.
From: "The Nine Ways of Prayer of St. Dominic", trans. Andrew Kolzow, Saint Dominic: Biographical Documents, ed. Francis C. Lehner (Washington: Thomist Press, 1964) 157-58.
Comments, questions or suggestions concerning Lectio Divina should be directed to Elizabeth Knuth, M.A., M.Div. mailto:eknuth@unix.csbsju.edu, Alcuin Library, Collegeville, MN 56321. She would be especially interested to learn of a translation of the Nine Ways which is in the public domain.
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