Lectio divina is the slow, prayerful reading of scripture practised in Benedictine monasteries. In the twelfth century the Carthusian Guigo II described its four rungs: reading, meditation, prayer and contemplation, like eating, chewing, tasting and digesting. It remains a central practice of Christian contemplative life.
Lectio divina
Sacred reading: the monastic practice of reading scripture slowly, moving through meditation and prayer to contemplation.
Also: sacred reading