Visio Divina is ancient form of 'praying with your eyes'

In your special place to pray, you may have icons or other art which inspire you to enter the presence of God. Perhaps without even knowing it, you are practicing an ancient spiritual devotion called Visio Divina.

This was the case for Byron Bordelon, a candidate for the permanent diaconate of the Diocese of Baton Rouge, who gave a presentation, “Visio Divina: Praying with Your Eyes,” on July 13 at Immaculate Conception Church in Denham Springs.

 “Some of you I’m sure have heard of or used Lectio Divina in your prayer life,” said Bordelon. “Lectio Divina is divine reading with Scripture. With Visio Divina it’s divine seeing through art and images.”

In ancient times most people were illiterate because there was no printing press or books, said Bordelon.

“People had to go someplace to have someone read Scriptures or books to them,” said Bordelon. “And the way they communicated with a lot of these illiterate people was through drawings, stained glass windows or paintings. That’s how they communicated and that’s the way a lot of people learned about Scripture and thought about and reflected on God.”



When Bordelon recently heard about Visio Divina he said he thought, “how can I learn about this?”

“I was never an ‘art guy,’ ” Bordelon said. “Art didn’t inspire me or get me going. I would take a look at a picture and say, ‘That’s pretty ...’ but when I learned about Visio Divina, I realized a couple years ago I started doing it unknowingly.”

When a FranU professor introduced Bordelon’s diaconate class to Rublev’s Icon, he told the class to write a reflection paper on it. Bordelon rolled his eyes and complied with a simple, ‘okay.’ ”

After sitting with the icon, which depicts the three angels who visited Abraham, representing the holy Trinity, sitting around a table, Bordelon put the icon on the shelf before a kneeler in his prayer area to inspire him during prayer time.

“I was actually doing a form of Visio Divina with the Rublev’s ion. (This prayer form) is something you may not realize you have been doing.”

An image used for Visio Divina does not have to be strictly from Scripture, but it should be something that inspires your prayer life, said Bordelon.

To teach Visio Divina to the room full of attendees, Bordelon used the Rublev’s icon as well as paintings featuring St. Peter attempting to walk toward Jesus during the storm at sea, the woman at the well and Mary and the miraculous medal.

As images were displayed before attendees, Bordelon said, “Don’t worry about what your first reaction is, what your emotions are. Don’t judge that. Just let the Holy Spirit guide the process.”

Participants were encouraged to write in journals provided to them what the first thing their eyes were drawn to and their initial response. Then they spent time reflecting and focusing on the image again to think about what the image could be conveying to them.


Concerning his own experiences with the storm at sea painting, Bordelon discovered that the further away your get from Jesus, the more turmoil you will have. The closer you get to Jesus you’ll be able to find the peace and calmness that only comes from the Lord.
Attendees were encouraged to envision themselves in the picture.

In the case of the storm at sea, you can ponder, “when have I taken my eyes of Jesus, whom I should have been focusing on?” noted Bordelon.

“I can put myself right there, sinking in the water. I realized I saw myself in the picture,” Bordelon said.

Visio Divina is a process, that can be combined with Lectio Divina, that guides you through circumstances in life and “where you are at the moment” with your emotions, feelings and relationship with God, according to Bordelon.

“This is definitely contemplative prayer and it’s a personal prayer for you,” said Bordelon.