From Ashes to Glory invites you to take up the practice of reflecting on your day, its gifts and graces, and the progress you are making in life with Christ. It’s a way of praying the Examen through Lent, with materials by Joseph Tetlow, SJ.
Each Sunday during Lent, read an introduction to the week’s prayer. On Ash Wednesday and the Mondays of Lent and Easter Week, find a brief Scripture passage, steps for reflecting with the Examen, and a closing prayer.
Week of Ash Wednesday
An Examen “From Ashes to Glory”
An Examen for Ash Wednesday
First Week of Lent
Give Thanks with the Examen
An Examen for the First Week of Lent
Second Week of Lent
Pray for Light with the Examen
An Examen for the Second Week of Lent
Third Week of Lent
Examining the Day and Choosing Freedom
An Examen for the Third Week of Lent
Fourth Week of Lent
Face What’s Wrong by Praying the Examen
An Examen for the Fourth Week of Lent
Fifth Week of Lent
Asking “What Now?”
An Examen for the Fifth Week of Lent
Holy Week
The Cross and the Examen
An Examen for Holy Week
Easter Week
Praying the Glory
An Examen for Easter Week
From Ashes to Glory is based on this version of the Ignatian Examen:
I thank God.
I say to the Lord: I am content with what I am and have. Thank you for stars and universes, for mountains and oceans. Thank you for health and home and work, for those I love and those who love me. Thank you that I know Jesus Christ and am his—for the Church, and sacraments, and hope in eternal life. And thank you for this day.
I ask for light.
Let me see myself and my behavior the way the Holy Spirit has been seeing me, who am God’s splendid creature, adopted and “set free in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24).
I look for God in my life.
I ask what I have done for love—love of God, of others, and of myself. If I have decided to change a habit or to grow a virtue, I give myself an account.
I face what’s wrong.
I accept responsibility for what I have done or not done, rejoicing in the good and repudiating the bad. I do not blame circumstances, upbringing, or others.
I determine what to do now.
I see what I can do to love God better, grateful for what Jesus Christ is doing in me. I watch where the Spirit is leading me.
