Brothers+ Please pardon if this is a repeat. There have been some difficulty at the Associate.com server. Charles+ -------------------------------- LECTIO DIVINA Leclercq has made an excellent point about the significance of the Ascension of Christ as a model of the spiritual life and one that has great significance to us in our daily lectio divina. "Two angels came to tell them that they would not see Him again until such time as He would return." (70). As we read the Word of God we enjoy His immediate return through lectio divina preparing us for His return in our prayer of the heart and ultimately for our reception in Holy Communion adoring Jesus in the Eucharist. As the Ascension demands we look for Jesus and love Him without seeing the Transfiguration, on the other hand, foreshadowing the Ascension is the very first earthly glimpse at the beatific vision of God in glory. "Peter the Venerable introduced into Cluny and to monasticism, this Eastern feast which only entered the calendar of the Universal Church some three centuries later. He composed an office for it and wrote on this mystery a long treatise as beautiful as it is rich in doctrine." (71). As we read the Scriptures in lectio divina it is part of this devotion to venerate a sacred icon of Jesus Christ. For the Scriptures are the Word of God who became visible in the flesh so that we too may behold His image and adore that what we know: Jesus Christ is Lord! The greatest icon venerable in the Church is the sacred image Christ left of Himself on the Holy Shroud of Turin. Having a copy of the Holy Face from the Holy Shroud of Turin or another icon during lectio divina will aid greatly to enhance our spiritual journey of the heart to God. Jean Leclercq, O.S.B., The Love of Learning and the Desire For God. A Study of Monastic Culture. (NY: Fordham University Press, 1961, 1974) ISBN 0-8232-0406-5 * * * __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Exclusive Video Premiere - Britney Spears http://launch.yahoo.com/promos/britneyspears/