Cultivate Your Prayer Life This Lent!

It’s hard to take time out for Lent these days. We’re surrounded by constant distractions: getting the kids out the door for school, fielding calls and emails at work, finding time to get the laundry done and take the dog for a walk. Television and the Internet exist to distract our minds, and fast food and Starbucks coffees exist to distract our bellies.

People find quiet moments where they can. Subway riders will crack open a book or check their phones. Office workers will head outside to eat lunch instead of sitting at their desks. When life goes fast, as it often does during the months of Lent, moments of peace and restfulness go fast as well.

At Novalis, part of our mission is to help people balance their inner faith life and their outer everyday life. Incorporating faith—meditation, prayer and charity—into a daily routine has proven benefits. Scientific studies have shown that people who pray regularly are happier and engage more positively with their friends and family, and that people who volunteer on a consistent basis live longer, healthier lives. As we seek that same balance in our own lives, we hope that the books, DVDs and online resources we work with will help people foster a better, more meaningful spiritual connection.

To that effect, we’re introducing a new project this year: daily reflections for the Lent season, delivered to your email inbox. Each day of Lent, a Scripture quotation is paired with a paragraph or two from our publications. Sacred Journey: Daily Reflections for Lent 2014 is written by noted Canadian editor Bernadette Gasslein, author of The Mass: Step by Step, while Words of Life 2014 is an anthology of warmth, humour and wisdom from women monastics across Canada, the U.S. and Ireland.

These email reflections can be read on your iPhone, your Blackberry or your computer; they can be shared aloud with friends or read silently to yourself. They’re meant to help you find a quiet moment—to pray and meditate on the meaning of Lent, and to incorporate it into your own daily routine.

You can sign up now for our daily Lent reflections by registering here. We hope you enjoy them, and wish you the best of luck this coming season!