Theonas of Alexandria on the Importance of Holy Scripture

Despite the claims of the Roman Church in reaction to the Reformation, there is an immense divide between Patristic piety and late Medieval spirituality. In the late Medieval church, reading of sacred Scripture was discouraged on behalf of the laity; it was done by some of the clergy, and even then only with the guidance of magisterial teaching. The following quote from the 4th century Alexandrian bishop Theonas which is representative of the place which Scripture held in the church prior to the Middle Ages, 

“Let no day pass by without reading some portion of Sacred Scripture, at such convenient hours as offers, and giving some space to meditation. And never cast off the habit of reading in the Holy Scriptures; for nothing feeds the soul and enriches the mind so well as those sacred studies do.” Epistle to Lucianus IX. 

This is advice that we would be wise to accept.