Visio Divina is a way of praying that uses the arts as a guide rather than words.  If you’re familiar with lectio divina (sacred reading) then visio divina will seem like a welcome companion.  The practice of Visio Divina helps us to exercise different prayer muscles other than the cognitive ones many people use most of the time.  Many Christian contemplatives write of God speaking to them, not only through the scriptures, but also through...

You may have asked yourself this many times and of course there are many possible answers - asking God for things; seeking a blessing or forgiveness; or offering thanks. The question of ‘What is prayer?’ is rarely asked and, if we’re honest, most of us struggle to answer this! Recently I was intrigued by this reflection by Thomas Merton, a Cistercian monk, who wrote in 2011, “The birds are my prayer”. It really grabbed my attention. What an intriguing thing to write, not least because he was a...