Last year I wrote about The Tradition of Lenten Reading, so this year I thought I would presume to play Abbess and lay out a selection of books you might find interesting reading during these 40 days.
The Rule of St. Benedict “Listen my child, to the master’s instructions and attend to them with the ear of your heart…”
The Catholic Passion: Rediscovering the Power And Beauty of the Faith, Reviewed here. Perfect book if you’ve been away or are wondering why you stay.
My Life With the Saints Cozy, warm and nostalgic. Comfort and Joy.
Orthodoxy Or, you know, Anything by Chesterton
The Screwtape Letters Or, you know, anything by Lewis
Benedict XVI: Way of the Cross It looks gorgeous and is supposed to read beautifully.
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More of course, at The Bookshelf.
Benedict XVI’s Message for Lent
Julie at Happy Catholic also has reading recommendations and she’s listing what others are reading, too, so lots of ideas, there.
National Review Online has an excellent symposium of Lenten reading recommendations, oh, and look! Yours truly contributed! 
Also, Kathryn Jean Lopez talks to Frederica Mathewes-Green on The Great Canon of St. Andrew.
Vanderleun has a brilliant, deep and affecting piece about moving from hating God to knowing man.
Maureen Martin reveals that Ray Nagin is giving up New Orleans for Lent.
The Curt Jester has Lenten trivia and reading recommendations.
The Ash-O-Matic 5000 is here! H/T Jeff.
The American Spectator reviews a few good books, too.
Prof. Bainbridge is giving up cigars
Patrick O’ Hannigan brings an Orthodox Flavor to the day.
Understanding Liturgical Seasons Part I. More on that here.
Bernard Higgins at ACSOL has a book recommendation with a helpful exposition.
Kim at Musing Minds is Reading Rich Warren.
A quick prayer to start
See also:
Vocations Flowering
On Your Mark, Get Set
Novena to JPII
There’s something about ashes
So, what are you giving up for Lent - 2005
Whispers from the Loggia has Benedict meeting with Muslims. Check out the picture. This is why I love Benedict. The pic looks like Uncle Benny wandered over to the fence to chat with his Muslim neighbors.
UPDATE: Someone asked me to repost this for today. It’s not really about Lent, but I’m happy to do it.
February 28th, 2006 at 11:59 pm
I’m pretty sure that the “Way of the Cross” is the same one that then-Cardinal Ratzinger did for Good Friday 2005, and it is available with some beautiful artwork at the Vatican.va website.
March 1st, 2006 at 12:07 am
Kewl, thanks for letting me know, Bender
March 1st, 2006 at 7:32 am
Bon Voyage on the journey that is 2000 years old, yet ever new.
March 1st, 2006 at 8:02 am
A DISUSED GRAVEYARD
The living come with grassy tread
To read the gravestones on the hill;
The graveyard draws the living still,
But never any more the dead.
The verses in it say and say:
“The ones who living come today
To read the stones and go away
Tomorrow dead will come to stay.”
So sure of death the marble’s rhyme,
Yet can’t help marking all the time
How no one dead will seem to come.
What is it men are shrinking from?
It would be easy to be clever
And tell the stones: Men hate to die
And have stopped dying now forever.
I think they would believe the lie.
~ Robert Frost
March 1st, 2006 at 12:51 pm
I’m reading On Being Catholic by Thomas Howard and a novel - Father Elijah by Michael O’Brien.
March 1st, 2006 at 4:01 pm
For many years now, I have re-read “Karen” and “With Love From Karen,” both by Marie Killilea, during Lent. I am, in fact, somewhat obsessed with the family, and I think my heart broke when I found out about the terrible tragedy that took three of Marie’s granddaughters. I also read a lot of poetry during this time.
March 1st, 2006 at 4:16 pm
[...] The Anchoress and many other prominent Catholic bloggers are far more qualified than I to suggest reading recommendations grounded in Catholic theology and appropriate for the Season of Lent. [...]
March 1st, 2006 at 4:26 pm
[...] Today is Ash Wednesday. Forty days before Easter. The date of Ash Wednesday in any year is found by subtracting 40 days from Easter, which is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox. The Anchoress has quite a few lenten links, I’ll send you to the first one, she has further links from there. [...]
March 1st, 2006 at 9:38 pm
I am going to read something by Chesterton and have been challenged by my associate pastor to read the gospel of Mark through twice and the 51st Psalm daily. Not a bad choice on his part to challenge a bunch of Baptists that for the most part (I’m an exception and there are a few others in my church.) aren’t used to observing Lent at all. I am giving up drinking soda pop (goodbye, Diet Pepsi!) as well.
Thanks for all the great links today. They helped me “abstain from chewing” at meal times. I didn’t totally fast, being 24 weeks pregnant, but I did drink instant breakfast instead of having regular meals until dinner. I think it’s easier to have nothing at all than it was to drink flavored milk when everyone around me was eating normally.
smiles, Myssi
March 1st, 2006 at 9:45 pm
By the way, your literary enticements brought to my mind a favorite, and I think these days little known, work of Chesterton–The Everlasting Man.
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It covers much of the same ground as Heretics and Orthodoxy, but with fewer of the fin-de-siecle firecrackers of Chesterton’s young mind, and more of the depth, richness, and emotive perspective of his late maturity.
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I took a chance with Google and, lo and behold! it is actually on the net. You can read it here:
/ http://www.worldinvisible.com/library/chesterton/everlasting/content.htm
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If you haven’t yet run across it, give it a try. You won’t be disappointed.
March 1st, 2006 at 10:05 pm
[...] ANCHORESS.. So, What are you Reading for Lent? …. (theanchoressonline) [...]
March 2nd, 2006 at 4:11 am
Go, Fish.
Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, the opening of Lent. It’s time for practicing Catholics to give something up for the 40 day run up to Easter. For a lot of folks, it’s meat. Fish Friday is now every day! That’s why this editor is spending the day trawli…
March 2nd, 2006 at 11:28 am
Everlasting Man is an excellent book, Joseph - I actually had debated whether to recommend EM or Orthodoxy, and decided on Orthodoxy for the season - but they’re both swell. I think I would call EM his masterpiece.
March 2nd, 2006 at 4:02 pm
I was perusing my stack of books, and lo and behold! you have listed some of them. I bought “The Everlasting Man” and “Father Elijah” over a year ago but ended up boxing up for the move and forgot about them!
I also have “God is Near Us” and Weigel’s “God’s Choice”. Oh, and a very silly book called “The Saint’s Bones” about a bunch of supernatural kids at a Catholic school in western Michigan. (I don’t know if the writer is Catholic, but I was ROTFL at the dead-on descriptions of old nuns. So far it’s like a funny version of Hogswart’s.)
February 26th, 2007 at 8:12 pm
Lent Readings 2007
Is an article I wrote about my planned lent readings and these are links to last years.
Lenten Readings
Way of the cross Part 1
Way of the Cross Part 2