Illumination

Working on vellum with quill pens using hand ground pigments in their natural handmade inks, a group of monks are creating an illuminated Bible in the 21st century. Called the Saint John's Bible for the abbey and university which commissioned it, this is the first handwritten and illuminated Bible commissioned since the invention of the printing press. There is something about the loving care that is quite touching. The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams wrote

In the days before printed books, people must have thought and felt differently about words on the page: words were written with discipline, slowly and thoughtfully. It was a kind of outward expression of that ruminating over the words of the Bible which shaped the inner world of the reflective believers, especially monks. This project not only revives the ancient tradition of the church sponsoring creative arts: it also offers an insight into that lost skill of patient and prayerful reading. We tend to read greadily and hastily, as we do do many other things: this beautiful text shows us a better way.

The Saint John's Bible is not completely alone. In a less broadly publicized (outside of Texas that is) effort and with no commission, James G. Pepper is working on his own to create an illuminated Bible. Using less technology and funding, Pepper is painstakingly handwriting an illuminated Bible.

Both efforts are loving works of art created from the words of scipture. This slow work of illuminating a text is what Rowan Williams compared above to the sort of rumination which takes place in lectio divina or divine reading. Lectio Divina is an ancient way of four steps of reading, meditating, praying and contemplating scripture. In Lectio Divina, we seek illumination from the text through nothing less than's God's presence within the text itself. Janice Morris will teach about Lectio Divina on our Quiet Day, at King of Peace July 16. There is more information on this in the current issue of The Olive Branch.