40 Days of Examen
Forty evenings, five to ten minutes each: looking back over the day with God, as St Ignatius of Loyola taught. We start together on Ash Wednesday, 10 February 2027, and go on until Easter. You can take part without a subscription and without an account.
Count me inThe Examen in five steps
Following the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius (no. 43).
- Give thanks for the good in the day, small and concrete.
- Ask for light to see the day honestly, including what was not good.
- Go through the day thoughts, words and deeds, hour by hour.
- Ask for forgiveness for what was not good.
- One step for tomorrow one small thing, not ten.
The way through Lent
Every Sunday a short email brings a thought on the Gospel and the step for the week. Sundays do not count, they are little Easters; in the Examen, thanksgiving may be enough on those days.
| Date | Day | Gospel | Step of the week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ash Wednesday | Mt 6:1-6, 16-18 | the first evening | |
| 1st Sunday of Lent | Mk 1:12-15 | Give thanks | |
| 2nd Sunday of Lent | Mk 9:2-10 | Ask for light | |
| 3rd Sunday of Lent | Jn 2:13-25 | Look honestly | |
| 4th Sunday of Lent (Laetare) | Jn 3:14-21 | Ask for forgiveness, confession | |
| 5th Sunday of Lent | Jn 12:20-33 | One small step for tomorrow | |
| Palm Sunday | Mk 14:1–15:47 | Holy Week | |
| Holy Saturday | the fortieth evening | ||
| Easter Sunday | then a look back by email |
Archdiocese of Milan and the Ambrosian Rite: Lent begins there on Sunday, 14 February. If that is your rite, join on that day.
How to take part
- Enter your email address and click the link in the confirmation email.
- On the eve of Ash Wednesday a short email arrives: how the Examen works and how to begin.
- Five to ten minutes every evening. The Lumen app guides you step by step through the Examen and, in the Lent Journey, gives you a word of Scripture with a question for each evening. Both can be used without a subscription. A notebook and a pen work just as well.
- A short email every Sunday for the new week, and a look back after Easter. Nothing more.
Missed an evening? Simply start again the next one. There is no streak to break.
Sign up
Lumen for the evening
In Lumen, the Examen and the Lent Journey can be used without a subscription and without an account; your entries stay encrypted on your device. Further content is available through the optional MAGIS subscription.
For parishes and groups
It is easier to keep going together. If you would like to take part with your parish, prayer group or small group, here is a one-page guide for leaders (plan, a 45-minute weekly meeting, notes for accompanying) and a paragraph for your parish newsletter.
Parish newsletter paragraph to copy
40 Days of Examen: Lent with ten quiet minutes each evening
Instead of many good resolutions, one single practice: from Ash Wednesday, 10 February, until Easter, we look back over the day for ten minutes each evening, as St. Ignatius of Loyola taught. Give thanks for the good. Ask for an honest look. Go through the day once more. Hold out to God what was not good. And resolve one small thing for tomorrow. Whoever looks this way for forty evenings approaches Easter, and Easter confession, differently.
You can do it alone, but it is easier together: [We meet once a week, first on … at … in …]. A one-page guide is available in the church. If you like, add the app Lumen, which leads you through the evening review and offers a word of Scripture each day; the Examen and the Lent Journey need no subscription and no account.
Scan the QR code or visit lumenexamen.com/en/40.
Free to print. Fill in the square brackets with your own meeting or delete them.
Questions
- Do I need the app?
- No. The Examen works with a notebook or with nothing at all. Lumen helps you keep going and gives you a word of Scripture each day.
- What if I join later?
- Then simply join. Sign-up stays open until Palm Sunday.
- Who is behind this?
- Michael Porwol, a Catholic layman who built Lumen and is walking the forty evenings himself. The emails come from him, and he reads the replies himself.