“Visio divina”, or the practice of praying with sacred art, is a beautiful and often forgotten form of meditation that can be particularly impactful during Lent.
Directly translated from the Latin, visio divina means “divine seeing.” It is a mixture of prayer, imagination and meditation.
Similar to lectio divina, which facilitates meditation with words and readings, visio divina is a long-held practice with deep roots in the Church. The practice is simple:
Prepare.
Quiet your mind. Take some space in your life and let the moment of meditation be just that. Remove interruptions as best you can.
Visio.
Sit with the artwork. Enter into it, whatever that means to you. Notice its details. Pull away and reckon with the whole of the piece. Where is it simple, where is it complex?
Meditatio.
What is the image capturing? What is it stirring in you? What is God telling you through it?
Oratio.
You’ve listened to what God is speaking to you, now respond. Pray.
Contemplatio.
Be quiet once more. Be still. Sit in the softness and silence of God.
Actio.
Consider how you can act on what you’ve contemplated during this prayer. What is God calling you to do? What is He calling you to change?
The prayer can include all or a few of these elements.
Visio divina is accessible to anyone. It is perfect for students with a busy schedule, who may be burned out from reading page upon page already for homework throughout the week. Using sacred art for meditation allows for a change of pace in sitting with Divine Word, and offers a variety of experience.
Art does not just look like an image on a wall.
Visio divina can be done with the architecture of the church one sits in. It can be done through a photograph. It can be ancient; it can be modern. It is individual; art will speak differently in everyone’s hearts.
Dr. John Romano, a history professor with an affinity for medieval art, speaks of his experience with Chartres Cathedral, about 90 miles from Paris. He says it is often called ‘a Bible set in glass and stone’.
“I’ve spent entire days in this cathedral…overwhelmed by beauty going through it….as a believer too I think it really strikes you that civilizations are able to create something that so very gloriously proclaims their faith,” he says.
Pope St. John Paul II wrote in his Letter to Artists “Humanity in every age, and even today, looks to works of art to shed light upon its path and its destiny.”
Appropriately, he delivered the letter on Easter Sunday in 1999.
During Lent, the church is reminded of its beginning and its end. It looks forward to the final chapter of salvation history. At the same time, the Lenten season recognizes the vocation of today: to serve and honor the Lord so as to take the place He has prepared for the church.
If, as Pope John Paul writes, art sheds light on the ultimate end of each person, then visio divina is a perfect tool for Lent.
Consider bringing a favorite piece of art – maybe a holy card, a picture in a book, or a printed image – with you when you next visit with Jesus.
