Advent Audio Divina: Praying with Music
Rather than remaining in the background while shopping, working, or entertaining, I want to invite you to let Christmas music be a way of prayer this Advent season. What if you paused, entered into the music and let the music enter into you? What might God want to say to or offer you through it?
Famous Church Reformer, Martin Luther, once wrote, "Beautiful music is the art of the prophets that can calm the agitations of the soul; it is one of the most magnificent and delightful presents God has given us."
Sometimes the greatest gifts are the simplest ones. Maybe it's a season when you need to hear gently whispered to you, "Less is more." Even our Advent devotions can reflect the stress and strain of the holiday checklist! That's why this is a simple practice. You can engage it once or return to it multiple times throughout the week.
Below you'll find an instrumental song with which to pray and meditate. I'll add one each week of Advent (don't worry, the previous week's will not disappear!). Using the rhythm of Lectio Divina (Latin for "Divine Reading"), the Benedictine way of reading Scripture meditatively, we'll allow the Lectio part to be music and let the Word speak through the sounds as well as the rests in between.
Read through the rhythm of prayer then begin.
Silencio (Silence/Relaxing)
Find a quiet place of peace. Breathe deeply to help relax your body (you might purposely tense and release to invite your body to begin to calm). Close your eyes and become aware of your surroundings. Notice your feet, hands, and body in the place where you sit. Just be for a few minutes, knowing God loves you just as you are with life just as it is.
Audio (Hearing/Listening)
Enter into the music for the first time. Notice the sounds and space between the sounds. Do you notice a particular instrument, rhythm or movement? How does your body/feelings react to the music?
Meditatio (Meditating/Reflecting)
Playing the piece of music a second time, enter even deeper. What images, feelings, or memories are stirred by this music? Notice again how your body is responding. Where is this music taking you? How is it speaking to your life right now? What might God want to remind you of, say to you or invite you to through it?
Oratio (Speaking/Responding)
What words or prayer arise(s) in you after listening to this music? Respond to what God has stirred in you through the music. Share your thoughts, feelings, desires, and questions with God until you're “talked out.”
Contemplatio (Contemplating/Resting)
You might listen to the music for a third time then return to the silence and rest in God’s presence. Let go of the sounds and the need to accomplish, figure out or do anything further. Allow yourself to return to being with God just as you are.
Week One: In the Bleak Midwinter
If you'd like to meditate with the lyrics as well, click on the PDF file below.
Famous Church Reformer, Martin Luther, once wrote, "Beautiful music is the art of the prophets that can calm the agitations of the soul; it is one of the most magnificent and delightful presents God has given us."
Sometimes the greatest gifts are the simplest ones. Maybe it's a season when you need to hear gently whispered to you, "Less is more." Even our Advent devotions can reflect the stress and strain of the holiday checklist! That's why this is a simple practice. You can engage it once or return to it multiple times throughout the week.
Below you'll find an instrumental song with which to pray and meditate. I'll add one each week of Advent (don't worry, the previous week's will not disappear!). Using the rhythm of Lectio Divina (Latin for "Divine Reading"), the Benedictine way of reading Scripture meditatively, we'll allow the Lectio part to be music and let the Word speak through the sounds as well as the rests in between.
Read through the rhythm of prayer then begin.
Silencio (Silence/Relaxing)
Find a quiet place of peace. Breathe deeply to help relax your body (you might purposely tense and release to invite your body to begin to calm). Close your eyes and become aware of your surroundings. Notice your feet, hands, and body in the place where you sit. Just be for a few minutes, knowing God loves you just as you are with life just as it is.
Audio (Hearing/Listening)
Enter into the music for the first time. Notice the sounds and space between the sounds. Do you notice a particular instrument, rhythm or movement? How does your body/feelings react to the music?
Meditatio (Meditating/Reflecting)
Playing the piece of music a second time, enter even deeper. What images, feelings, or memories are stirred by this music? Notice again how your body is responding. Where is this music taking you? How is it speaking to your life right now? What might God want to remind you of, say to you or invite you to through it?
Oratio (Speaking/Responding)
What words or prayer arise(s) in you after listening to this music? Respond to what God has stirred in you through the music. Share your thoughts, feelings, desires, and questions with God until you're “talked out.”
Contemplatio (Contemplating/Resting)
You might listen to the music for a third time then return to the silence and rest in God’s presence. Let go of the sounds and the need to accomplish, figure out or do anything further. Allow yourself to return to being with God just as you are.
Week One: In the Bleak Midwinter
If you'd like to meditate with the lyrics as well, click on the PDF file below.
| in_the_bleak_midwinter_lyrics.pdf |
Week Two: Coventry Carol
If you'd like to meditate with the lyrics as well, click on the PDF file below.
If you'd like to meditate with the lyrics as well, click on the PDF file below.
| coventry_carol.pdf |
Week Three: It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
If you'd like to meditate with the lyrics as well, click on the PDF file below.
If you'd like to meditate with the lyrics as well, click on the PDF file below.
| it_came_upon_the_midnight_clear.pdf |
Week Four: O Come, O Come Emmanuel
If you'd like to meditate with the lyrics as well, click on the PDF file below.
If you'd like to meditate with the lyrics as well, click on the PDF file below.
| o_come_o_come_emmanuel.pdf |
