"Swimming in the law of God"

Continuing my occasional series of posts on various aspects of lectio divina, the following is taken from the writings of St Seraphim of Sarov (1759-1833) - a monk and saint of the Russian Orthodox Church - who brings together the Patristic idea of lectio as the eating of God's word (manducatio, in the language of western monasticism) and the characteristically Byzantine idea of salvation as theosis (deification).

It befits one to nourish the soul with the word of God; for the word of God, as Gregory the Theologian says, is angelic bread, through which souls that hunger for God are fed.

Above all, one needs to exercise oneself in the reading of the New Testament and the Psalter, and this should be done standing.

Through this the mind is enlightened and is in turn changed with a divine change.

A man should accustom himself to having his mind as if swimming in the law of God, which should be a guide in the ordering of his life.

Once a man has nourished his soul with the word of God then he is filled with understanding of what is good and what is evil.

The reading of the word of God should be conducted in solitude so that the mind of the reader may be totally immersed in the truth of the Holy Scriptures, and receive from God a warmth in himself which in solitude produces tears, which cause the whole man to be kindled and filled with spiritual gifts that delight the mind and heart more than any word.

H/T The Handmaid