SPIRITUAL READING. - By spiritual reading is meant the reading of those writings that are conducive to the progress of the spiritual life, undertaken precisely with the aim of nourishing and strengthening it. Unlike prayer and also unlike meditative reading, spiritual reading presupposes in the reader a disposition more receptive than active, but by communicating to him new matter for consideration it serves to strengthen his interior energies and his subsequent activity. The object of spiritual reading is not only works of strictly ascetical or mystical content, but also those of dogma or of other theological discipline and of hagiography, on condition that they are not taken as a subject of pure study. The necessity and importance of devoting part of one's time to spiritual reading derives from human indigence, which is continually in need of instruction and of new impulses in order to maintain itself and advance in the way of virtue and of apostolic action; with the growth of profane culture this necessity increases, not only in order to have a more adequate knowledge of the problems and interests of the spirit, but in order to counteract errors and to defend oneself from corruption. For many, spiritual reading can bring the same fruits as meditation and at times greater ones, and, compared with the word heard through preaching, it has the advantage of being able to be repeated and deepened.
Experience confirms the powerful influence of spiritual reading on the human soul. St. Augustine recounts the example of two friends of Ponticianus who were induced to abandon the court and give themselves to God by the reading of the life of St. Anthony (Conf., 8, 6), and he himself was salutarily shaken in reading a text of St. Paul (ibid., 12). Bl. Giovanni Colombini and St. Ignatius of Loyola through spiritual reading began their own conversion and matured their own sanctification; hence it is explained why spiritual reading has always been recommended by the Fathers and imposed in the Rule of almost every religious family. Pius X effectively inculcated it upon ecclesiastics as a great means of priestly holiness (encyclical Haerent animo of 28 July 1906 [*Acta Pii X, IV, Rome 1914, p. 237 ff.]) and Pius XII supposes it necessary for the formation of the clergy (encyclical Menti nostrae*, of 23 Sept. 1950: AAS, 42 [1950], pp. 657-702).
In practice one must choose one's reading with discernment, not allowing oneself to be guided by curiosity or frivolity. The first place belongs to Sacred Scripture, particularly the Gospels with good commentaries and the Apostolic Letters, then the ascetical books properly so called and the biographies of the saints. Not everything is equally suited to individuals, and therefore spiritual reading must be chosen and proportioned to the spiritual needs of each one and to the various times and moments of one's life. It is commonly helpful to carry out also some systematic reading, considering the various more celebrated authors of the different epochs. Whoever follows a special kind of life, as happens for religious, must first of all deepen his knowledge of the writings that best contain the spirit proper to his vocation and profession. As for the technique or manner of reading, one usually begins with prayer, asking God for light for the intellect and movement for the will; then one reads unhurriedly, pausing from time to time to reflect, without wishing to run through too many pages at once. Constancy is advised, that is, not changing a book before having finished it, not skipping chapters and pages, unless particular reasons suggest the contrary. It is also helpful to take notes. One ends with a prayer of thanksgiving to God and of offering of the good resolutions conceived in the pious exercise.
Bibliography4 works
Arnaldo M. Lana