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    About The Book

    Easter is the high point of the year for millions of Christians around the world. And for most of them, there can be no Easter without Lent, the season that leads up to it.

    A time for self-denial, soul-searching, and spiritual preparation, Lent makes time for daily reading and reflection. This time-tested collection of devotions will deepen and stretch your faith, and can be returned to year after year. Culled from the wealth of twenty centuries, the selections are ecumenical in scope, representing the best classic and contemporary Christian writers.

    This expanded second edition adds dozens of voices, new and old, and takes the reader all the way through Eastertide to Pentecost. It includes ninety-six Lenten and Easter readings, plus seven chapter-opening poems.

    View Table of Contents

    About The Authors

    Dietrich Bonhoeffer

    Unwilling to allow the church to compromise its most fundamental beliefs in the face of Nazism, Dietrich Bonhoeffer worked tirelessly to keep the true spirit of the church alive in Germany. His resistance cost him his life. Read More

    Dorothy Day

    Dorothy Day was an American journalist and founder of the Catholic Worker movement. Day devoted her life to defending the downtrodden and serving Christ by serving the poor. Read More

    Søren Kierkegaard

    Søren Kierkegaard was a Danish philosopher, theologian, poet, social critic, and spiritual writer. Read More

    C. S. Lewis

    C. S. Lewis, a British novelist, poet, and Christian apologist, has been called one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century. Read More

    Philip Yancey

    Philip Yancey has been helping Christians answer tough questions ever since he first addressed the problem of pain in his 1977 book Where Is God When It Hurts? Read More

    Eberhard Arnold

    Eberhard Arnold (1883–1935), a German theologian, was co-founder of the Bruderhof and the founding editor of Plough. Read More

    Edith Stein

    Edith Stein (1891–1942) was born into an observant Jewish family. She became an atheist as a teenager, but at the age of thirty encountered the autobiography of Saint Teresa of Ávila, converted to Catholicism, and took vows as a Carmelite nun. Read More

    Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt

    A German pastor and religious socialist, Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt influenced theologians such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Eberhard Arnold, Emil Brunner, Oscar Cullman, and Karl Barth. Read More

    J. Heinrich Arnold

    Johann Heinrich Arnold is best known for his books which have helped thousands to follow Christ in their daily lives. Those who knew him best remember Arnold as a down-to-earth man who would warmly welcome any troubled person in for a cup of coffee and a chat. Read More

    Fyodor Dostoyevsky

    One of the greatest writers of Western literature, Fyodor Dostoyevsky continues to receive undiminished popularity and acclaim. He is best known for his novels The Idiot, The Brothers Karamazov, and Crime and Punishment. Read More

    Dorothy L. Sayers

    Dorothy L. Sayers was a renowned British writer best known for her detective stories, as well as for her translation of Dante’s Divine Comedy. Read More

    Johann Christoph Arnold

    A noted speaker and writer on marriage, parenting, education, and end-of-life issues, Arnold was a senior pastor of the Bruderhof, a movement of Christian communities. Read More

    George MacDonald

    George MacDonald wrote over fifty books that are still cherished for their literary quality and spiritual insight. C. S. Lewis has said that MacDonald’s influence can be found in every book he wrote. Read More

    Henri J. M. Nouwen

    Henri J. M. Nouwen was an internationally loved and renowned priest, professor, and author. He wrote more than forty books offering spiritual guidance and direction. Read More

    Sadhu Sundar Singh

    Known in his lifetime as India’s most famous convert to Christianity, Sundar Singh would not approve of that characterization. He loved Jesus and devoted his life to knowing and following him, bringing to life his teachings for millions of Indians. Read More

    Thomas Merton

    Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk, pacifist, poet, and bestselling author, was a leading spiritual voice of his generation. Read More

    Christina Rossetti

    Christina Rossetti (1830–1894) was an English poet of the Victorian period. Read More

    Leo Tolstoy

    Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) has been hailed by other literary giants as one of the world’s greatest writers. He is best known for his novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina. Read More

    N. T. Wright

    A leading bible scholar and former Anglican bishop, N.T. Wright is professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of St. Andrews. Read More

    William H. Willimon

    Will Willimon is a professor at Duke Divinity School and a retired United Methodist bishop. Read More

    Meister Eckhart

    Famous as a mystic after his death, in life Meister Eckhart (ca. 1260–1328) was a noted scholar and active administrator, serving as a Dominican provincial and teaching at the University of Paris. Read More

    Erik Varden

    Erik Varden is bishop of Trondheim and former abbot of the Trappist monastery of Mount Saint Bernard in Leicestershire. Read More

    Jakob Hutter

    Jakob Hutter, an early Anabaptist leader, was a pastor, missionary and martyr. The congregation he led for two short years is known as the Hutterite church today. Read More

    Peter Riedemann

    Peter Riedemann (1506–1556) was an early Anabaptist leader and missionary. Read More

    Julian of Norwich

    Julian of Norwich (1342–c. 1416), was an English mystic and anchoress. Read More

    Stanley Hauerwas

    Stanley Hauerwas is a theologian and Christian ethicist, and professor emeritus of theological ethics and of law at Duke University. He is the author or editor of more than fifty books. Read More

    Ignatius of Antioch

    Ignatius was an early Christian writer and the bishop of Antioch in Syria. Read More

    Clement of Rome

    Clement of Rome (died c. AD 100) was a bishop of Rome in the first century. Read More

    Gregory of Nazianzus

    Saint Gregory of Nazianzus (329–390) was a theologian, author, and doctor of the church. Read More

    Hildegard of Bingen

    Saint Hildegard of Bingen was a German abbess, visionary mystic, and composer. Read More

    Archbishop Angaelos

    Archbishop Angaelos is the first Coptic Orthodox Archbishop of London. Read More

    John Chrysostom

    Saint John Chrysostom (c. 347–407), Archbishop of Constantinople, was a Church Father known for his eloquence, writings, and ascetism. Read More

    Howard Thurman

    Howard Thurman (1899–1981) was a spiritual mentor to civil rights leaders. Read More

    Cyril of Jerusalem

    Cyril of Jerusalem (AD 313–386) was Archbishop of Jerusalem and a doctor of the church. Read More

    Catherine de Hueck Doherty

    Catherine de Hueck Doherty (1896–1985), founded Friendship House, a house of hospitality to the homeless in Toronto, and later Madonna House, a more rural intentional Christian community and international Catholic lay apostolate. Read More

    Malcolm Guite

    Malcolm Guite is a poet, priest, and lead singer and guitarist for the blues-rock band Mystery Train. Read More

    Tish Harrison Warren

    Tish Harrison Warren is a priest in the Anglican Church in North America and the author of Liturgy of the Ordinary and Prayer in the Night. Read More

    Alastair Roberts

    Alastair Roberts received his PhD from Durham University, and teaches for both the Theopolis Institute and the Davenant Institute. Read More

    Cardinal Kurt Koch

    Prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity since 2010, Cardinal Kurt Koch is responsible for nurturing relations between the Roman Catholic Church and other Christian denominations. Read More

    Adrienne von Speyr

    Adrienne von Speyr (1902–1967) was a Swiss mystic, prolific author, and medical doctor. Read More

    Hannah Whitall Smith

    Hannah Whitall Smith (1832–1911), was an American Christian reformer and preacher who wrote the bestselling The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life. Read More

    Johann Ernst von Holst

    Johann Ernst von Holst (1828–1898) was a Lutheran pastor in Riga, Latvia. Read More

    Wendell Berry

    Wendell Berry is an American novelist, poet, essayist, environmental activist, cultural critic, and farmer. Read More

    Kwon Jeong-saeng

    Kwon Jeong-saeng (1937–2007) grew up as a refugee of the Korean War. Even later in life, after his children’s books met with commercial success, he continued to live in a simple one-room dwelling near the bell tower of his village church. Read More

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    Table of Contents

    Section I – Invitation

    • Oscar Wilde: The Ballad of Reading Gaol
    • Tish Harrison Warren: Not All Right
    • William Willimon: Repent
    • Walter Wangerin: In Mirrors
    • Barbara Cawthorne Crafton: Living Lent
    • Howard Thurman: Time for Reflection
    • Jean-Pierre de Caussade: Surrender Is Everything
    • Oswald Chambers: The Relinquished Life
    • Thomas à Kempis: The Royal Road
    • Thomas Merton: To Know the Cross
    • Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Discipleship and the Cross
    • Søren Kierkegaard: Followers, Not Admirers
    • J. Heinrich Arnold: The Center

    Section II – Temptation

    • Geoffrey Hill: Lachrimae Amantis
    • Philip Berrigan: Keeping Watch
    • Fleming Rutledge: Too Good for Jesus
    • Emil Brunner: The Divine Scandal
    • Barbara Brown Taylor: Truth to Tell
    • John Donne: They Took My Lord Away
    • Alastair Roberts: Remember Her Love
    • Meister Eckhart: Merchandising Truth
    • John Dear: Sheath Your Sword
    • Romano Guardini: Believing Is Seeing
    • Henry Drummond: Turning
    • Kahlil Gibran: The Crucified

    Section III – Passion

    • Christina Rossetti: Beneath Thy Cross
    • Blaise Pascal: The Mystery of Jesus
    • Jürgen Moltmann: Forsaken by God
    • Martin Luther: A Father’s Grief
    • Peter Kreeft: Shared Hells
    • Dag Hammarskjöld: For the Sacrificed
    • G. K. Chesterton: God the Rebel
    • Edith Stein: Thy Will Be Done
    • Wendell Berry: Still Bleeding
    • Juan Mateos: Freedom and Love
    • Henri Nouwen: From Action to Passion
    • Joseph Langford: I Thirst for You

    Section IV – Crucifixion

    • Dylan Thomas: This Bread I Break
    • Augustine of Hippo: Our Mediator
    • Johann Ernst von Holst: The Criminal’s Faith
    • Elsa Támez: The Image of God Crucified
    • Simone Weil: The Distance
    • John Stott: God on the Cross
    • William Stringfellow: The Temptation of Palm Sunday
    • Toyohiko Kagawa: Life in the Blood 
    • Erik Varden: O Sacred Head, Now Wounded 
    • Watchman Nee: It Is Done 
    • George MacDonald: The Father’s Hands
    • Paul Tillich: A Cosmic Cross
    • Kurt Koch: The Path from Death to Life

    Section V – Resurrection

    • John Updike: Seven Stanzas at Easter
    • Gregory of Nazianzus: Today I Rise
    • C. S. Lewis: The Strangest Story of All
    • Marilyn Lacey: What Difference Does Easter Make?
    • Malcolm Muggeridge: Impending Resurrection 
    • Frederick Buechner: The End Is Life
    • Dorothy Sayers: The Greatest Drama
    • Karl Barth: Threatened by Resurrection
    • Walter J. Ciszek: Fear Not
    • Madeleine L’Engle: Waiting for Judas
    • Dorothy Day: The Mystery of the Poor
    • Philip Yancey: Jesus’ Hands
    • Catherine Doherty: The Tomb Is Empty
    • Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt: Christ Rising
    • Clement of Rome: The Future Resurrection

    Section VI – New Life

    • John Masefield: The Everlasting Mercy
    • Leo Tolstoy: I, Like the Thief
    • Fyodor Dostoevsky: Redemption
    • Alfred Kazin: I Had Been Waiting
    • E. Stanley Jones: The Christ of Experience
    • Amy Carmichael: Calvary Love
    • Johann Christoph Arnold: The Power of Forgiveness
    • Jürgen Moltmann: The Feast of Freedom
    • Clarence Jordan: The Last Word
    • Henri Nouwen: Jesus Gives All
    • Julian of Norwich: To Make All Things Well
    • N. T. Wright: A New World
    • Gonzalo Báez Camargo: The Sword and the Cross
    • Brennan Manning: The Signature of Jesus
    • John Chrysostom: Why We Rejoice
    • Sadhu Sundar Singh: The Great Physician
    • Hannah Whittal Smith: Monday Christians
    • Jakob Hutter: Life Up Your Heads!
    • Therese of Lisieux: Love Alone Repays Love

    Section VII – Pentecost

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