'Lenten Prayer for Families,' by Grosse Pointe's Colleen Pressprich, helps families dive deeper into the 'whys' behind Lent
GROSSE POINTE PARK — Prolific local author Colleen Pressprich’s new book is what families of all ages need to make their Lenten season as prayerful and intentional as possible.
Pressprich, a homeschooling mother of five and parishioner at St. Paul on the Lake Parish in Grosse Pointe Farms, writes all of her books with the needs of the domestic church in mind, and “Lenten Prayer for Families,” published Feb. 2 by Our Sunday Visitor, is no exception.
The book contains daily Scripture, reflections and notes for discussion from Ash Wednesday all the way through Divine Mercy Sunday. Each day is accompanied by illustrations from Amy Heyse, who also illustrated Pressprich’s books “The Jesse Tree for Families” and “God the Father’s Love.”
“I get a lot of book suggestions from families, and one thing I get repeatedly asked is, ‘What are we supposed to do for Lent?’” Pressprich told Detroit Catholic. “There are not a lot of Lenten traditions that are easily accessible to families on a day-to-day basis. Yes, you have Stations of the Cross on Fridays, and we are going to fast, we are going to abstain, but there is no devotional practice for families during Lent.”
Lent is more difficult to observe alongside children, compared to other liturgical seasons such as Advent, Pressprich added.
Sometimes the difficulty is due to logistics: Stations of the Cross in the evenings can overlap with bedtimes, or children have extracurricular activities that are hard to plan around. And, not only is Lent longer, but the sacrifices the Church asks in preparation for Jesus’ death and resurrection are often presented as negative burdens, Pressprich added.
“Lent is focused a lot on sacrifice, and it should be, but we don’t always talk to our kids about the why,” Pressprich said. “Why are we making these sacrifices? Why are we spending more time in prayer? Why are we experiencing this kind of austere season in the Church's year?”
Pressprich wanted to create a Lenten book that helps families “in the thick of it” find ways to realistically build the domestic church. She hopes the book makes the season accessible to families, answers these questions and encourages them to dive into the season with the guided devotions.
In the book, each of the six weeks is based on a Lenten theme, such as repentance, and for many of the days, the Scripture is pulled directly from Mass readings and closely follows the Church’s liturgical life, Pressprich said.
As she writes each of her books, Pressprich relies on the input of her five children and cherishes their feedback about the content.
“My kids love the fact that the book doesn’t end on Easter,” Pressprich said. “They love hearing about what Jesus is doing after the resurrection — that is always one of their favorite parts of Scripture. A lot of us sort of gloss over what happens in the Gospel after Christ’s death, stopping our devotional journey after Easter, but what Christ was doing after the resurrection is so important, and that’s where some of my kids’ favorite stories are.”
Pressprich added that her kids enjoy the prayer ritual that comes along with the book's structure.
“They love that they can count on the fact that every evening before bedtime, we are going to snuggle up together and read and talk and pray,” Pressprich said. “Having an easy way to do that just makes their evenings calmer, it makes everything more peaceful, and it connects us in a very powerful way.”
Catechesis doesn’t have to be complicated or involved to be powerful, Pressprich added.
“Sometimes I think social media and Pinterest tell us that these big fancy shiny elaborate activities equal depths of faith, and they don’t have to,” Pressprich said. “Catechesis can be deep and easy to use; it doesn’t have to be excessive. Lent is meant to be for every person in every season of life, and my hope is that it becomes more possible with this book.”
"Lenten Prayer for Families" ($21.95) is available for purchase on Amazon and Our Sunday Visitor.
