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Holy Solitude: Lenten Reflections with Saints, Hermits, Prophets, and Rebels

Heidi Haverkamp
WJK Press, 148 pages

Heidi Haverkamp is an Episcopal priest who previously delighted readers with “Advent in Narnia: Reflections for the Season.” In “Holy Solitude,” she opens the door for a deeper practice of Lent that will strengthen disciples for the life of faithful living. Haverkamp is an oblate in the Benedictine tradition, and the influence is sensed here. Not only is she mindful of busy schedules and the necessity of disciplines laid out in a calendar, but also the value of exemplars to guide our practice. The book is an invitation to learn from those who have gone before us: saints, rebels, prophets and hermits. It’s an opportunity to follow a wise guide into a more holy life equipped and fortified by simple practices. Each day of Lent has a story, a Scripture and a suggested practice. The reader will encounter Saint Francis and Jeremiah, Julian of Norwich and Isaiah, Dorothy Day and Howard Thurman, whose lives inspire us in a more faithful way. Haverkamp says: “If Lent is a time for us to imitate Jesus’ forty days in the desert, then it should be less a time to suffer and endure, and more a time to grow in a kind of wonder and vulnerability. In the wilderness and on the cross, Jesus made himself vulnerable, too – even unto death.”

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