Each year, the Church makes its pilgrimage to the cross and beyond—through the refining trials of the wilderness, to the heart-rending breakthrough of Calvary and into the expansive Easter hope that motivates and animates all that we do. This selection of useful and inspiring resources and articles from around the web has been collected to help you enter more deeply into the Lent and Easter seasons.
Lent in 3 minutes, produced by Busted Halo—a brief and engaging video explaining the basics of Lent
The Pope’s messages for Lent, available in English and a range of other languages
What is Lent?—an overview of the season from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Lent resources from Loyola Press, including:
- Ash Wednesday resources
- an invitation to the ‘Living Lent Daily’ email series for 2023
- activities for children and families
- the ‘Arts & Faith: Lent’ video resource
- reading recommendations for kids and adults
- a list of articles with Lenten themes
- a range of Lenten prayers and online retreats, including prayers for families
- resources for praying the Stations of the Cross
- devotions on the seven last words of Christ
- Holy Week resources, including children’s activities
Easter resources from Loyola Press, including Easter lesson plans for children and a range of Easter-themed articles
Paschale Solemnitatis—a circular letter concerning the preparation and celebration of the Easter feasts, from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 1988
The 2023 Triumph Lenten program from the Catholic Diocese of Wollongong—a popular and beautifully designed book of daily reflections for the season of Lent that can be ordered through the diocese’s website
From Ashes to Hope—a book of daily, Scripture-based reflections from Evangelisation Brisbane for Lent and Easter 2023, which can be ordered through their website and used by busy individuals or adapted for groups
The Jerusalemm Journey: the 2023 Lenten audio retreat from the popular Pray as you go devotional app, produced by Jesuit Ministries UK
A rich and comprehensive collection of Lenten prayer and devotional resources from Hallow, the popular subscription-based Catholic prayer app
Project Compassion—Caritas Australia’s annual Lenten fundraising and awareness-raising appeal
‘Lent and Social Justice’—an exploration of the Lenten call to recognise the face of Christ in all those in need, from the Justice and Peace Office of the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney
A free, video-based Way of the Cross from the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne, using the Gospel of Mark and featuring the beautiful carved stations of the late Melbourne sculptor Leopoldine (Poldi) Mimovich that reside in the Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Deepdene
Laudato si’ Stations of the Cross—a free, downloadable liturgy booklet from the Columbans in Australia, and Lenten Odyssey: Our Human Calling in Christ Jesus, a series of reflections on the Sundays in Lent, Year C, also from the Columbans.
The Little Way of Lent, from Shalom Media—an Australian series of video reflections for kids, presented by Ann Rennie
‘Ave Explores: Lent’—a series of Lenten-themed conversations from the Ave Explores podcast, produced by Ave Maria Press
A Guide to Night Prayer for Lent, a free downloadable ‘Liturgy of the Hours’ resource for families, from the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame (USA)
‘The Triduum in Art’ (artwork-based reflections for each day of the Triduum) and ‘A Lenten Playlist: 40 songs in 40 days’, both also from the McGrath Institute for Church Life