Lectio Divina is a Benedictine practice dating back many years.
Traditionally, Lectio Divina has four separate steps: read, meditate, pray, contemplate. First a passage of Scripture is read, before its meaning is reflected upon.
Through working with the Chaplaincy team, pupils are introduced to the monastic practice of lectio divina (Divine Reading) – meditative reading of Sacred Scripture, and are encouraged to do lectio divina in groups. Older pupils are encouraged to give spiritual mentoring to younger pupils – a practice known by the Spanish term tutoria. The practise is very popular at Downside with over a third of pupils regularly taking part in voluntary groups.
Lectio Divina at Downside School
There are currently 22 Lectio groups at Downside, with 125 pupils in total involved. The Lectio Leaders’ Group for pupils is called the St John Group.