For Lenten study alone or in groups, Holy- week reflection and Easter rejoicing.
Lent 2012 starts with Ash Wednesday 22nd February - 8th April Easter Day, but many books continue into Easter Week.

Love Unknown

- The Archbishop of Canterbury’s Lent Book 2012

by Ruth Burrows OCD

Sr Ruth talks of her own experiences as a young Carmelite nun, much of the time struggling with her emotions but is now able to say that she has no regrets, the experience gained however painful, has stood her in good stead in later life. She sets out to share with us the realisation that in Jesus Christ we can see God.
Jesus came to serve and Sr Ruth shows us that Mary realised that and sat at Jesus feet listening to him. Martha wanted to serve Him and was rebuked. Mary understood that Jesus is not an ordinary guest; we need to allow him to serve us. Thinking that something we can do will increase God’s love for us, is missing the point. We need to open our hearts to receive His gift of love.
In her introduction Ruth Burrows quotes a friends words, ‘there is a vast difference between being religious and being a true disciple of Jesus.’ If I quoted all the phrases that leapt out at me from this book, you would not have much more book to read! I found that having read a passage, I needed to go back and read it again and perhaps again, each time getting more of the authors meaning and getting a greater understanding of what she is saying.
A devotional book that deserves a much longer ‘life’ than just the forty days of Lent.

Review by Mary Bartholomew (04/02/12)

Paperback
Price: £9.99
Publisher: Burns & Oates imprint of Continuum
Published: 17 November 2011
ISBN: 978-1-441-10372-7

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Stations of the Nativity, Cross and Resurrection

by Raymond Chapman

Canterbury Press have combined Raymond Chapman's Stations of the Nativity and Stations of the Resurrection in a new enlarged edition and included a new section based on the Stations of the Cross.
This is a useful resource for devotion on the Incarnation, Passion and Resurrection of Christ. Its reflections by the author, who is Emeritus Professor of English Literature in the University of London and a non-stipendiary priest, are thoughtful and helpful.
Meditation and worship are also stimulated by the poetry and prose from other literary sources and the wonderful woodcuts by Eric Gill and David Jones that illustrate the themes so beautifully.
I recommend this book as one that gives insight into these major themes of the Christian life and makes them accessible at any time in the year.

Review by Paddy Beresford (03/02/12)

Paperback
Price: £12.99
Publisher: Canterbury Press imprint of Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd
Published: 31 October 2011
ISBN: 978-1-848-25113-7

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Love Set Free

- Meditations on Christ’s Passion

by Martin L. Smith

There are three ways of using the meditations in this book which are suggested in the introduction:
One each week of Lent, enabling the meditations to sweep in waves over our consciousness.
One each day of Holy Week – with a particularly appropriate meditation on the silence of the grave for Holy Saturday.
Using them all on Good Friday – perhaps especially helpful for someone who is unable to go to worship that day.
They are ‘invitations to allow the images that John has gathered together in his Gospel to resonate deeply in your imagination in a unique way’.
Originally published in 1998 and based on addresses at a 3-hour Good Friday service the previous year the meditations are:
Embodiment – Ecce Homo
Vulnerability – There they crucified him
Intimacy – When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved
Desire – I am thirsty
Union – One of the soldiers pierced his side
Silence – the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there
I quote from the back-cover reviews:
‘A rich stimulus to personal devotion’ – Robert Atwell, Bishop of Stockport
‘Time and again a forceful challenging phrase will make us pause, reflect, pray’ – Esther de Waal
Recommendation: I plan on using this book myself during Holy Week. Excellent!

Review by Nick Horton (03/02/12)

Paperback
Price: £7.99
Publisher: Canterbury Press imprint of Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd
Published: 31 October 2011
ISBN: 978-1-848-25100-7

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On Retreat: A Lenten Journey

- Mowbray Lent Book

by Andrew Walker

The title may put some people off, because the term ‘retreat’ suggests going away somewhere, into some secluded place. However that is not what Andrew Walker means as his first paragraph makes clear. His is very much alongside the everyday. He offers a clear pattern but one that is certainly not rigid or prescriptive.
Each chapter covers one phase of the Lenten journey; ‘being human’, ‘healing’, ‘contemporary living’, ‘responsibility’, ’sexuality and spirituality’, ‘vocation and response’, ‘prayer’. They incorporate the author’s own experience which sometimes reflects his Franciscan background, continuing with a period of premeditated prayer, a couple of readings for consideration, and finally some thoughts for today encouraged by the session.
The book is clear and concise. The Bible readings for meditation are included in full in the appendix. The final parts of each session are thought provoking and sometimes risky. It is undoubtedly a good companion for any season but will particularly aid a personal re-examination this Lent. I strongly recommend it.

Review by Paul Scott (02/02/12)

Paperback
Price: £9.99
Publisher: Mowbray imprint of Continuum
Published: 08 December 2011
ISBN: 978-0-826-43169-1

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The Naturalist and The Christ

- A Lent Course based on the film Creation

by Tim Heaton

This is a fantastic Lent resource for those who want to be challenged and look deeper into the life of Darwin, a man of transitioning faith, great intellect and heartbreaking loss, because that is what this Lent course introduces us to, but also a course that addresses our current society views and values too.
Given that lent is a time of change, reflection and glimpse to sorrow then the subject matter fits perfectly to the season. This is not a creation vis á vis evolution debate, although the principles of evolution are well discussed and insightfully put forward against the backdrop of creationist theory, but rather it is a look at how faith and science meet, interact and can work together.
Given most think Darwin an Atheist (even though in fact he started a man of faith and ended as an agnostic due to loss and grief not science) it is a fantastic book for looking at how our modern world interprets faith and places it today, whilst also looking back to how at the beginning of our faith we needed apologists too.
As a Lent course for a questioning generation this is fantastic material. Well written, deeply challenging but not hard to read at all, covering many subjects that are topical, interesting and relevant with a clear insight but also a deep spirituality flowing throughout it. Certainly this is the Lent course I will want to be doing this year and will likely be thinking of it long after Lent has finished.

Review by Melanie Carroll (19/01/12)

Paperback
Price: £7.99
Publisher: Circle Books imprint of John Hunt Publisjing Ltd
Published: November 2011
ISBN: 978-1-846-94762-9

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The Heart’s Time

by Janet Morley

An anthology of poems, grouped into a succession of week-long themes for the seven weeks of Lent, and preceded by an introductory ‘engaging with Lent’ selection. Janet Morley provides a commentary for each poem, highlighting its imagery and explaining its relevance. Some are intentionally ‘Spiritual’ poems, others are not – the likes of Margaret Atwood, St Augustine, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost and Christina Rossetti all rub shoulders. Themes include expressing our longings, struggle, suffering, altered perspectives and finally, appropriately enough, resurrection. This would make a good gift for any poetry lover – I found several poems previously unknown to me and the commentaries provide depth and insight, not shying away from difficult matters and taboos, but ending on a positive and challenging note. Highly recommended.

Review by Diane Morrison (19/01/12)

Paperback
Price: £9.99
Publisher: SPCK (Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge)
Published: November 2011
ISBN: 978-0-281-06372-7

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The Way of the Desert - Daily Bible Readings Through Lent to Easter by Andrew Watson
ISBN: 978-1-841-01798-3 Price: £7.99	Published: November 2011
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Handing On the Torch - Sacred Words for a Secular World – A Course in Five Sessions for Lent 2012 Written by John Young
ISBN: 978-0-955-74376-4	Published: Spring 2011
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The Nail - Being Part of the Passion by Stephen Cottrell
ISBN: 978-0-281-06635-3 Price: £6.99	Published: November 2011
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You Will be My Witness - Meditations for the Easter Season (Sundays and Weekdays) by Bishop Michael Campbell
ISBN: 978-0-854-39810-2 Price: £8.75	Published: 2011
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The Body of Christ - The Shudder of Blissful Truth by Sebastian Moore
ISBN: 978-0-232-52857-2 Price: £14.99	Published: 20 May 2011
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Hope for Easter - Do More Together, in Word and Action by Liza Hoeksma and Lawrence Singlehurst
ISBN: 978-1-860-24822-1 Price: £4.99	Published: 20 January 2011
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Praying At Easter by Donal Neary SJ
ISBN: 978-1-856-07731-6 Price: £4.99	Published: 11 April 2011
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Beyond Crucifixion - Meditations on Surviving Sexual Abuse by Beth Crisp
ISBN: 978-0-232-52843-5 Price: £10.99	Published: 11 November 2010
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Exploring God’s Mercy - Five Images of Salvation by Steven Croft
ISBN: 978-0-715-14224-0 Price: £5.99	Published: Spring 2010
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Come and See by Stephen Cottrell
ISBN: 978-1-841-01843-0 Price: £6.99	Published: 18 February 2011
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Feast + Fast - Food For Lent and Easter by Christina Rees
ISBN: 978-0-232-52844-2 Price: £8.99	Published: November 2010
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Sacred Space – For Lent 2011 by The Irish Province of the Society of Jesus
ISBN: 978-1-594-71252-4 Price: £2.50	Published: December 2010
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Reflections for Lent – 9th March – 23 April 2011 by Jeff Astley, Christopher Herbert & Ann Lewin
ISBN: 978-0-715-14231-8 Price: £3.99	Published: October 2010
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Marked for Life: Prayer in the Easter Christ - SPCK classics by Maria Boulding
ISBN: 978-0-281-06396-3 Price: £8.99	Published: 18 November 2010
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