Psalter of Lectio is a revised guide to using your Bible to pray the way a monk might pray outside of the monastery. "Psalter" means the collection of psalms and canticles (poems and songs embedded in scripture) used by the early hermits, a collection developed by St. Benedict and the entire monastic tradition, which is always in a state of reform. "Lectio" is shorthand for "lectio divina," which means literally "sacred reading." Psalter of Lectio allows a pray-er to review the antiphons of all of the psalms and canticles prayed by the Church on a particular day of the week, choose an antiphon that seems to speak to him or her, and then go to the related psalm or canticle to listen to what the Lord might want to say on a particular day. The introduction includes concise and descriptive paragraphs on ways to use the book, the traditional four-step process of lectio divina (read, meditate, dialogue, and sitting open to contemplation), brief summaries of what some of today's teachers of praying are saying, and an invitation into "lectio continua," or continuous day-to-day reading in prayer of the Bible in its entirety, as one abbot says, "omitting nothing, doing honor to the integrity of revelation." Psalms for Night Prayer are also offered, as are simple charts comparing Psalter of Lectio with the Four-Week Psalter used by most priests and religious, and a chapter-a-day reading plan for praying the entire Catholic Bible over 44 months. Most significant are the three blank lines following each psalm antiphon to allow the pray-er to enter the psalm verses prayed, and so build his or her own Personal Psalter for those times when prayer is difficult. Compiled by a former parish priest who loves praying the Psalms and the Gospels, Psalter of Lectio may be the best answer to the oft-repeated question of believers: I want to pray with my Bible; how do I begin?
