Visio Divina for women: Thursday, Dec 9

Hey girlfriend,

Join us every Thursday at 3pm for Visio Divina! I hope you will find this to be a fun and inspirational journey to help close off 2020.

You may be familiar with Lectio Divina which is a method of praying with scripture, started by the late great Fr Michel De Verteuil. Visio Divina (Latin for ‘divine seeing’) is a method for praying with images.

With the onslaught of social media, the world has become more visually oriented. Visio Divina invites us to see beyond first and second impressions, and even beyond our initial ideas, judgements, or understandings. It encourages us to be transformed by God through art.

This desire to create an online platform of Visio Divina came because I am an avid follower of Fr Martin Sirju on Facebook. Sometimes I wake up to find the most astounding and thought-provoking images followed by deep, soul-touching reflections. The images that he used captivated me, and helped me to connect with my relationship with God. I always wonder where he gets these images, so I thought that we should create our own collection of amazing artwork that can connect us with God.

Each week, we will feature the work of a female Catholic artist, prepared specifically for your reflective prayer. Today we feature Stephanie Rattan.

Stephanie is a teacher, catechist, artist and an all-round beautiful person. She has also been a member of the Eternal Light Community and the Charismatic Renewal for the past seven years. Stephanie is passionate about seeing others come into conversion, and experience a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, using art (poetry/free speech, writing, painting) as a means of evangelisation.

So here’s how we are going to do it:

1. Set aside 20 minutes in the day for the guided prayer experience.

2. As you begin to pray, take a few minutes to open your heart and mind to God.

3. When you are ready, slowly look and notice the image, taking your time to let feelings and thoughts come to you as you take in forms, figures, colours, lines, textures, and shapes. What does it look like, or remind you of? What are your initial thoughts? What feelings are evoked?

4. Now, return to the image with an open heart and mind again. You may now experience new thoughts, meanings, and feelings. Start exploring new meanings and feelings that come to you associated with the image. Be aware of any assumptions or expectations that you bring to the image. Regardless of your response to the image—delight, disgust, indifference, confusion—contemplate prayerfully the reason for your response and what these responses might mean for and about you.

5. As you go deeper in this prayer, open yourself to what the image might reveal to you. What does the Spirit want to say, evoke, make known, or express to you in quiet meditation? What are your feelings, thoughts, desires, and meanings evoked by the image and how they are directly connected to your life?

6. Now take the time to respond to God. Jot down in a journal the insights you want to remember, actions you are invited to take, wisdom you hope to embody, or any feelings or thoughts you wish to express. Bring your prayer to a close by resting in God’s grace and love. Please email us as at forwomen@catholictt.org on the impact this activity may have had on your day, and be sure to share the artist’s image on your social media feeds.

Source info: https://www.patheos.com/resources/additional-resources/2009/07/praying-with-art-visio-divina