It’s time to order your Lent books so they make it for Ash Wednesday! Check out these wonderful options.
1Wilderness Within: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation
In Wilderness Within, Sr. Josephine Garrett, CSFN, guides the reader through the 40 days of Lent, inviting them to explore the wilderness of their heart as a place to be restored, healed, and sent on mission by Jesus’s tender love:
Have you ever wondered why Jesus went into the wilderness? Some believe it was to reveal his divinity or to restore humanity’s relationship with God. In Wilderness Within, Sr. Josephine Garrett, a mental health counselor and popular speaker, reflects on the belief that Jesus went into the wilderness to rescue us—to rescue us!
Each day’s content includes brief meditations, illustrations, reflection questions, prayers, and journaling space. Free companion videos featuring Sr. Josephine and a free downloadable leader’s guide are available at avemariapress.com:
Perfect for journeying either alone or with a group, Wilderness Within is a beautifully written guide to a sacred and renewing Lent.
2How To Lent, Foretold, and Coming to Christ
The Augustine Institute put together two helpful video series for Lent 2025, plus a companion journal that goes with both.
First, there’s How To Lent, a four-part video series with each part clocking in at about 15 minutes:
Lively and accessible, these episodes challenge the commonly held notion that Lent is merely about giving things up. Using the experience of Jesus’ temptation in the desert, episodes dive into the three Lenten pillars of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving to ultimately help Catholics understand why purposeful preparation is important before Lent even begins.
Then another series picks up right where How To Lent ends. Foretold: Learning to Trust in God’s Providence, launching on Ash Wednesday, weaves together stories of the Old and New Testaments to reveal the prophecy and fulfillment of Christ throughout history.
Both series are available on Formed, the Augustine Institute’s on-demand streaming platform. You can also go deeper into this content with Lent: Coming to Christ, a new mini journal with reflection questions for both series and space to write along the way.
3Magnificat Lenten Companion
A classic offering, we love this annual publication from Magnificat! This companion for the 40 days of Lent includes the following:
- Inspiring daily reflections from gifted Catholic writers
- Faith-filled essays
- Prayers, poetry, and devotions
- Meditations for the Way of the Cross
- A treasury of spiritual insights
By spending a few moments meditating on the inspiring daily reflections and the short prayers that follow them, readers can accompany Jesus through his Passion and Death, emerging on Easter Sunday to the overflowing joy of his Resurrection.
4Bishop Barron's Lenten Gospel Reflections
In this devotional booklet, Bishop Robert Barron invites readers to enter more deeply into the prayerful nature of the season.
Lenten Gospel Reflections features the full Gospel reading for each day of Lent, a daily reflection from Bishop Barron, space for journaling and answering reflection questions, and more!
Beautiful, practical, and affordable, this booklet is ideal for both individual meditation and group study with your family or a parish group.
5Media Fasting: Six Weeks To Recharge In Christ
Recharge your spiritual life, relationships, and sense of well-being with this wise and practical guide to living your faith in a media-saturated world from Sister Nancy Michael Usselmann, FSP, the National Director of Pauline Media Studies.
Media Fasting: Six Weeks to Recharge in Christ helps you assess your current media habits; develop a media fasting plan based on your personal goals; and grow in your relationship with Christ through six weeks of devotional readings, reflection questions, and prayer prompts. Learn tips for cultivating virtue, practice media mindfulness, and discover powerful ways to pray for our media world and witness to Christ from within it.
While this book can be used at any time, the six-week format maps nicely onto the weeks of Lent, making Lent a great time to undertake this kind of fast.
Bonus: For families and kids
Got a little one (or a houseful of little ones) at home? Check out The Jesus Tree According to John: Lenten Devotional for Families from Catholic Sprouts. This beautiful devotional will guide your family through the entire Gospel of John and prepare your hearts to stand with Mary at the foot of the cross and joyfully greet the Risen Lord on Easter. The set includes a colorful poster and sticker set for marking off the days of Lent.
