How to Pray Visio Divina

How to pray with art in four simple steps

Religious or sacred art is a rich source of inspiration for personal prayer and the Catholic tradition boasts thousands of beautiful pieces of art for every taste. Art can be a great jumping off point for personal prayer because you have a visual reference you can either bring into conversation with God or can help you better visualize a scene in Scripture (for all you fans of imaginative prayer out there). Visio Divina (meaning "Divine Seeing") is a form of prayer where you "read" a piece of sacred art like you would read Scripture and meditate on what God is trying to say to you through it.

the Catholic tradition boasts thousands of beautiful pieces of art for every taste.

How to Pray Visio Divina

To begin, pick an image that interests you. When praying Visio, you should choose an image that is specifically religious or sacred art, meaning that it depicts religious subject matter like a Bible story, the life of a saint, and so on. While non-religious art is beautiful and can speak to us of Truth, remember that we are "reading" this image like we would read Scripture, so it is best to put ourselves in the mindset of prayer by choosing a religious image.

The steps of Visio Divina are very similar to those of Lectio Divina, which is where you read and meditate on a passage of Scripture. (You can find a how to pray Lectio Divina article here.) The steps for Visio Divina are:

1. Make the Sign of the Cross and place yourself in the presence of God. Look over the image and choose one aspect to focus on. Spend a little time focusing on this one piece of the image. What is it? What is going on? What about it drew you to it?

2. Take some time to look over the whole piece. What is going on in the piece? What story is the piece telling? How does it make you feel? What about the piece draws you in and draws you to God?

3. Attend to your thoughts and feelings about the piece. Really focus on the parts of the piece draw you to prayer and what feelings and thoughts it brings up in you. What in your life connects with what you see in the piece? Voice all these things to the Lord.

4. Offer all your reflections to the Lord and then sit in silence with Him to let Him speak back to you. Conclude your prayer with a short act of thanksgiving and the sign of the cross.

Visio Divina like Lectio can also be done in a group setting. If you all want to reflect on the same piece have someone walk the group gently through the steps and then allow some time to share what each of you reflected on. You can also have everyone bring in their own piece which is a really cool opportunity to learn more about your friends and encounter new pieces of art. Have you ever prayed with art before? What pieces of art have been fruitful sources of prayer for you? Feel free to share in the comments!