A Holy & Joyful Lent
Local Groups in Lent
For details of Lent house groups, quiet days and other offerings in the Totnes Team, please click on the image below.
How can I keep Lent
In the 40 days of Lent we are invited to undertake a period of self-emptying and reflection, to call a temporary halt to some of our more automatic functions and habits, to see and taste the world from a different perspective. We do this through fasting, prayer and acts of love and compassion. It is a time of drawing closer to Jesus, who spent 40 days in the Judean wilderness and who walked the path of the cross. Yet in the strange paradox that is faith, and as he himself said: 'my yoke is easy and my burden is light'. Lent is about letting go and travelling lighter. How will you keep the fast this year?
Prayer
During Lent we try and make more space in our lives for prayer (and study), perhaps by giving up watching TV or Netflix.
Prayer is like an ocean, there is so much depth and expanse to it. It can be sitting in silence, indoors or out, in a state of attentive listening and letting go.
It can use a short phrase or simple words to act as an anchor for the unruly mind - the classic prayer being: Lord have mercy...
In can be embodied through using a prayer rope, rosary or by simple prostrations.
It can involve songs and chants
It can be the cultivation of gratitude and thankfulness for our blessings, however small.
It can be honest self-observation and owning our issues.
It can be praise and thanksgiving to God who has called all things into being, the amazing realm of nature and the human mind.
Prayer can be long or short, an hour or 5 minutes. What matters is to pray...
Study
The best study is always prayerful - a form of meditation. It is best to read a small amount of text daily and let it percolate through you.
There are many resources that can help, for example:
Reflections for Lent, Holy Week and Easter
Isabelle Hamley, Ben Quash, Carlton Turner
Church House Publishing
ISBN: 9781781405222
Reflections for Lent, Holy Week and Easter is designed to enhance your spiritual journey through the season of Lent and into Easter, from Ash Wednesday to the Saturday of Easter Week. Covering Monday to Saturday each week, it offers reflections from respected Christian authors on a reading from the Common Worship Weekday Lectionary. Each day includes:
• Full lectionary details for Morning Prayer
• A reflection on one of the Bible readings
• A Collect for the day
This volume offers daily material taken from the Reflections for Daily Prayer 2025/26 annual edition. It is ideal for individuals and groups seeking a simple yet profound daily prayer companion throughout Lent. It also contains:
• A simple form of Morning Prayer for Lent, Passiontide and Easter
• A short form of Night Prayer (Compline)
• An introduction to Lent by Mark Oakley
• A guide to building daily prayer into daily life by Rachel Treweek
Dancing to the Heartbeat of God
The Archbishop of Canterbury's Lent Book 2026
SPCK Publishing 2026
9780281092314
Dancing to the Heartbeat of God explores many aspects of discipleship.
With a foreword and an afterword by the Archbishop of Canterbury designate, an introduction by the Archbishop of York, and chapters by around thirty authors drawn from across the globe, the volume creates a sense of excitement, dynamism and faithful witness in its gloriously diverse writers and readers alike.
Includes prayers and questions for reflection.
Its testimonies and stories aim to encourage people in the Church of England and across the Anglican Communion to share their faith with others.
What is Lent
Lent is the 40 day period (more or less) of preparing for Easter. It begins on Ash Wednesday and ends in Holy Week, building up to the climax of the three holiest days, from the evening of Holy Thursday to dawn on Easter Sunday. It is a time when people prepare for baptism, for spiritual renewal and going deeper.
Fasting
The traditional Lenten fast is to adopt a vegan diet (no meat, fish or dairy and definitely no sweets!). Given the urgent need for us all to reduce our consumption of meat and dairy what better opportunity to explore what this would be like!
For examples of really good and nutritious fasting food from Greece and the Middle East
Nistisima by Georgina Hayden
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
ISBN: 9781526630681
Draw Near
This Lent we are encouraged to put down deep roots of hope by connecting with God who is with us at all times.
The Church of England’s Lent theme for 2026 is Draw Near: Life-giving habits for Lent.
This year’s resources have at their heart the theme of a ‘rhythm of life’ – habits and patterns which help us grow as disciples of Christ day by day, especially as we prepare to celebrate the great mystery of God’s saving love at Easter.
During Lent, reflections are centred around a summary of the Christian Way
from Common Worship, which identifies six activities essential to our calling as disciples.
Each week a different contributor explores a different aspect of Christian discipleship – worshipping together, praying, exploring the Bible, sharing communion, offering service and sharing the good news with others.
A parallel 40-day challenge for families and children will also be available - exploring the life-giving habit of generosity in partnership with 40 acts.
"Draw Near is all about teaching us how we can cultivate the habits and practices that will draw us nearer to God. And we will find that, in doing so, God will draw nearer to us, too."
Archbishops Sarah Mullally & Stephen Cottrell
Acts of Love and Compassion
In its most traditional form we put aside a little extra money each week to give for the relief of poverty etc. But there is a lot more that we could embrace.
Lent: Easter in Disguise
In Lent: Easter in Disguise, Sister Liz Dodd invites us to move beyond giving up chocolate and instead join a radical season of resistance that connects our faith with the fight for social justice.
Lent is Easter in disguise, a radical, subversive season of resistance. A blend of contemporary spirituality, scriptural reflection and tales from one of the UK's youngest nuns make this a vibrant take on an ancient season.
Sister Liz Dodd, an activist and journalist, draws on feminist and Liberation theologies, as well as her work with refugees and her adventures cycling around the world, to outline a new spirituality for social justice. This Lent she challenges Christians to do more than give up chocolate: Lent is God's invitation to shake up your life, rattle your parish, and change the world.
Learn from Jesus the spiritualities that he passed onto his disciples, including solidarity, poverty, hospitality, peace-making and protest. Explore ways to practise them against racism, inequality, homelessness and the climate crisis alongside spiritual guides including Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King, Jr and Pope Francis.
This book is a companion to the six weeks of Lent, with each week and its gospel focus corresponding to one of Jesus' six spiritualities of social justice. It culminates in a fresh look at the traditions of Holy Week. Each chapter includes questions for reflection and a suggested spiritual practice, making it ideal for use with a group as well as for personal prayer.
