I don’t know about you, but I’ve noticed in the last several years that once the Christmas decorations have lost their luster, I’m actually ready for Lent.
My soul yearns for a renewal, a time to focus on pruning and tending, a time to dwell more intently with the Lord.
Maybe you’ve experienced this, too, as you lean into the change of liturgical seasons. Weeks of celebrating and feasting lead into a calm of Ordinary Time; then we’re drawn to the desert for the Lord to work new things in us.
Lent is such a time.
The Lord has been at work, preparing the ground in my heart just for this season. A season to draw near to His Heart, to bring my broken heart to Him, to console Him in His Agony, to let Him console me in mine.
I had the honor of reading the 2025 Blessed Is She Lent devotional in advance, to write a review and invite you to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane with Jesus this Lent. Olivia Spears, author of Under the Olive Tree, reminds us that the Mount of Olives was significant to Jesus as a place of rest and prayer. We, too, can make the garden our place for rest with the Lord, bringing our broken and weary hearts to Him, becoming even more who He made us to be.
You’re Invited to the Garden with Jesus
I can hear an objection you may have: You struggle to imagine being with Jesus in prayer and don’t easily enter prayer imaginatively. This type of prayer hasn’t come easily to me either.
If you haven’t prayed this way before, or have tried but not yet found yourself in the scene, Under the Olive Tree is a good starting point. Olivia artfully describes walking into the garden, following Jesus to a place among olive trees, and watching Him kneel and enter prayer. While reading, I found it easy to imagine myself walking into the darkness of night, following Jesus with anticipation to His chosen place to pray.
As we begin on Ash Wednesday, we’re beckoned not just to the edge of the garden, but to Jesus’ side as He prays. Jesus Himself speaks to each of us as we enter Lent, “Remain with Me,” and if we accept His invitation, we’ll stay with Him through the entire night of His Agony.
About the Garden and Olive Imagery
Throughout the weeks of Lent, Olivia speaks about the garden and olive trees. The most striking part of the descriptions woven into the reflections is how the trees grow and survive, and how the trees’ growth can help us understand our life with the Lord.
For example, in the second week of Lent, we’ll read about olive trees’ ability to survive drought, thanks to their roots constantly drawing from water deep in the ground. Olivia writes, “When we are deeply rooted in the Father, we, too, can survive massive droughts. When we choose to [. . .] rely on His grace to sustain us, we will actually grow when it seems improbable.”
These short teachings and analogies woven throughout the weeks touch deep parts of my heart, where my heart is driest and most crushed under the weight of my cross. I look forward to spending more time in prayer with this book, tending those areas I have neglected and that are most in need of Jesus’ mercy.
An Inside Look at Each Week
So often I’ve read Lenten devotionals, packed with prayer and practices, and felt rushed through the season, quickly bouncing from one image and story to the next. With Under the Olive Tree, we aren’t rushed. We have all six weeks to remain with Jesus in the garden, to enter into His story and console Him with our prayer. As we do, we’ll let Jesus into our story and allow Him to console us in our agony too.
Each week focuses on a different scene during Jesus’ Agony: entering the garden, staying near while He prays, hearing Jesus surrender His will to the Father’s, witnessing drops of blood fall from Jesus’ head, watching Judas’ betrayal, hearing Jesus speak and heal the servant’s ear, and hearing Jesus reveal His identity just before His arrest.
A beautiful rhythm of reflection and prayer flows through each week:
- Pray with Psalms each Sunday.
- Enter the scene with a Gospel passage each Monday.
- Imagine yourself there on Tuesday, guided by Olivia’s words and by praying with art.
- Reflect with short essays on Wednesday and Friday.
- Spend time in Adoration on Thursday.
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Use prompts for prayer and reflection on Saturday.
The chosen art pieces and the details Olivia draws our attention to deepen the experience of imaginative and contemplative prayer.
The daily reflections invite us to give our hearts more completely to Jesus. Whatever it is we need to surrender to Him, this devotional gently encourages us to give more to Jesus each week as we allow His mercies to tend to our hearts.
Key Takeaways
Though I spent far less time pre-reading than we’ll have during Lent, I already feel as though I know Jesus better, both intellectually and personally. Multiple references to the Catechism of the Catholic Church and various books of the Old and New Testaments enriched my intellect and knowledge about Who Jesus is. The essays and prayer prompts helped me to know Jesus better, to know the depths of His love and mercy more than I have before.
In spending time by Jesus’ side during His Agony, I learned again that whatever suffering we have, we’re invited to suffer it with Jesus, and not independently. To quote Olivia, “We are not the source of our own sustenance: He is. When we drink the cup in full surrender and reliance on Him, we can truly do all things through Christ Who strengthens us (see Philippians 4:13).”
Even as I write this review far in advance of Lent, I look ahead eagerly to encountering Jesus’ Heart again in the garden during those long weeks, and I invite you to join me there.
Gina Fensterer is a wife and mother of six children. She is passionate about finding God in the ordinary moments of her vocation. She loves Adoration, praying with Scripture, long morning walks, and fitness. She was a contributing author to And Hay Became Holy and our children's devotional prayer book called Rise Up. Read more by her here.
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