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Lectio Divina is a time-tested prayer of the monastic ages! But we should not be put off by the mention of monastic prayer. The monks prayed as simple Christians with the good sense to base their prayer on the sacred Scriptures.

The practice of Lectio Divina is easy! The busy meditator of our age can settle down in a short time and enter into the interior castle of deep recollection. We don't always need a quiet place.  All we need  is the resolve to be still!  It only takes a little discipline.

Lectio Divina literally means the divine reading.  It is a monastic designation for the meditative reading of the Scriptures. Its elements are ingredients of a spiritual frame of mind, a holy discipline that intuitively and affectively dwells on a biblical text as a means of seeking communion with Christ.  The practice could also be described as dwelling on a scriptural text in the divine presence for the sake of radical change in Christ. Yet again, we could say that Lectio is making one's own a small selection, phrase, or word of the Bible, in pursuit of greater faith, hope, and charity. In any event, Lectio Divina is prayer over the Scriptures. The monastics of the early and medieval church developed this into a fine art.

The four elements of Lectio Divina are:

(1) Lectio itself, which means reading, understood as the careful repetitious recitation of a short text of Scripture;
(2) Meditatio or meditation, an effort to fathom the meaning of the text and make it personally relevant to oneself in Christ;
(3) Oratio, which means prayer, taken as a personal response to the text, asking for the grace of the text or moving over it toward union with God; and
(4) Contemplatio, translated contemplation, gazing at length on something. The idea behind this final element is that sometimes, by the infused grace of God, one is raised above meditation to a state of seeing or experiencing the text as mystery and reality; one comes into experiential contact with the One behind and beyond the text. It is an exposure to the divine presence, to God's truth and benevolence.

A classic exposition of these four elements can be found in The Ladder of Monks, a twelfth century monastic letter by Guigo II (the Carthusian), about the year 1150, on the contemplative life, where Lectio, Meditatio, Oratio, and Contemplatio are presented as four rungs leading from earth to heaven. The image Guigo uses is taken from Jacob's Vision of the Ladder at Bethel, as described in Genesis 28:12. 

Briefly the four elements of the 'ladder' are:

READING.  In the monastic tradition, reading involved placing the divine word on the lips - a device for focusing.   A selection from the Bible is read, and when a thought, line, or word stood out and the reader's attention is captured, he or she would stop there and dwell on that text, carefully repeating it over and over again.  When there is a distraction, the strategy is to  return to this repetition.  One would therefore stay with that same text until it is dried up, and would then move on with the reading until another engaging text is encountered.  Traditionally, the monk would do this repetitious reading out loud, proclaiming the word to his or her own senses, praying with the whole body.  This first element is simple, nothing more than verbal focus on a biblical thought, like placing the word as food in the mouth.  In this way the word of God is committed to memory bit by bit.

MEDITATION. Once the word of God is on the lips and in the mouth, one begins to bite and chew it, metaphorically.  One begins to meditate on it.  To meditate, in fact, means to ruminate, to chew the word, dwelling at leisure on a morsel to extract the meaning of the text.  Every word of Scripture is seen as intended for oneself.  The monk personalised the text, entering into the meaning and identifying with it.  Meditation employs in an intuitive way all the faculties.  One does not work hard at this prayer, but simply keeps listening to the words being repeated, letting them suggest their own images, reflections, intuitive thoughts.  The whole process is basically intuitive, a right-brain activity, like reading a love letter over and over again.  Every word is savoured and every thought made one's own.  The meditator ponders and perceives the hidden lessons in the word of God in such a way that wisdom for life is learned.  Meditation seeks to acquire the mind of Christ.  One slowly begins to see what the scriptures are saying.  The meditator begins the lifetime task of hearing the word of God so as to keep it.  Meditation is basically hearing the word that Lectio (reading) is repeating.

PRAYER. With the help of grace, devout thought engenders prayer, the third element of Lectio Divina.  The word of God moves from the lips to the mind, and now into the heart.  Oratio or prayer is the response of the heart to the word of God we have heard addressing us through the Scriptures. Prayer here desires the grace of the text so ardently that it demands the needed graces of God. Prayer here is petition.  It is the intimate conversation with the Almighty, with sentiments of love.  It is resolution to grow and to be Christ-like.  It is compunction of heart for one's sins.  It is silent company-keeping.  It is the loving gaze.  Prayer desires God.

CONTEMPLATION. The fourth element is contemplation. Here God quenches the soul's thirst and feeds its hunger. God gives the meditator a new wine and lifts him or her above the normal meditative self into the sphere of experienced transcendence.  One experiences a state of inner harmony; carnal motions are quieted; the flesh is not at odds with the spirit; the person is in a state of spiritual integration.  The light of God's presence shines through the soul. The love of God is no longer abstract, but concretely poured into the receiving self.  One can see oneself being loved and loving in return.  These moments can be fleeting or prolonged, subtle or pronounced.  They can go and come again.  They can mingle with the flow of meditative words repeated, thoughts reflected, intuitions enjoyed, resolutions enacted.  However, the person is more still and passive; our God is passing by.

Guigo II summarises the four elements of Lectio divina in the following ways:

Reading seeks;
Meditation finds (meaning);
Prayer demands;
Contemplation tastes (God).

Or again:
Reading provides solid food;
Meditation masticates;
Prayer achieves a savour;
Contemplation is the sweetness that refreshes.

   Or yet again:
Reading is on the surface;
Meditation gets to the inner substance;
Prayer demands by desire;
Contemplation experiences by delight.