Lent is a season in which the faithful focus on deep reflection, prayer, fasting, and giving, remembering Christ’s suffering, sacrifice, and love for us—all to prepare ourselves for Good Friday, and then for Easter.
One of the best ways to sink in the feel of Lent is to spend time with a book. Here are a few good books that can act as your best companion through this season.
- Show Me the Way – Henri Nouwen
Show Me the Way is a wonderful choice for daily guided reading. You can start reading on Ash Wednesday, don’t worry if you haven’t yet, and can end by Easter. Nouwen’s wise, poetic words will help you reflect and stay connected to Christ.
- Preparing for Easter – C. S. Lewis
Christians who are seeking to deepen their faith in Christ can approach the books of Lewis especially, Preparing for Easter. Written both brilliantly and concisely, this will be a book to which you can return each year.
- Confessions – Saint Augustine
Confessions is one of the greatest classics of philosophy, theology, and Christian history is ever written. It is an intimate, personal look at the life and conversion of Saint Augustine. The Saint reckons with the weight of his own sins and the sins of the world—all the while, growing closer to Christ.
- Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference? – Philip Yancey
Deepening of faith is to be the main focus of Lent for the faithful. Many say that prayer can sometimes become meaningless as we are speaking of our greatest desires into a void. We wonder if God is even listening. Here, Yancey helps us to approach prayer from a new perspective.
- Revelations of Divine Love – Julian of Norwich
Julian of Norwich was no stranger to suffering, which is what makes this work so moving. Revelations of Divine Love is so moving. It’s her reflection on a series of sixteen revelations she experienced after she fell seriously ill; the revelations are about Christ, the mystery of faith, and God’s powerful love for us: “Truth sees God, and wisdom contemplates God, and from these two comes a third, holy and wonderful delight in God, who is love.”
- The Seven Last Words – Fulton J. Sheen
In this book, Archbishop Sheen reflects on Christ’s last words, guiding them through prayer and offering them a profound understanding as he examines each phrase in depth. The Seven Last Words reminds us of the weight of Christ’s suffering and sacrifice.
- The Word in the Wilderness -Malcolm Guite
If you love to read poetry, this is a special book for you. Beloved Christian poet and priest Malcolm Guite offers the readers a collection of his favorite poems that can be read all through the Lent, as well as his own unique thoughts.
- Bread and Wine: Readings for Lent and Easter – Orbis Books
Teaming with some of our favorite literary voices (Chesterton, L’Engle, Buechner, Berry, and Rossetti, just to name a few), this collection of more than seventy readings is sure to inspire, challenge, and encourage you as you soul-search all through the Lent.