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Christmas Lights and Candlemas

On the Feast of Candlemas, light a candle and reflect on the ways God is asking you to offer yourself to Him.

Monthly Wallpaper from Blessed is She // 398

Happy February, friend. The year is still young, but already the Church is gently turning our hearts toward Lent. 🌿🧡 This month, Ash Wednesday begins on February 18, marking the start of our Lenten journey. It’s a time not for striving harder, but for drawing nearer—letting the Lord reveal Himself more fully and lovingly to us. Here are a few ways we’re stepping into that nearness together as a community this month: Who Do You Say That I Am? 🌿 Lent begins this month, and we’re so excited to journey with you through our 2026 Lent devotional, Who Do You Say That I Am?, written by Debbie Herbeck. Debbie brings a beautiful and unique voice to this devotional. Raised Jewish and later becoming Catholic, she invites us to encounter Jesus through the richness of His Jewish roots and the fullness of the Catholic faith. Together, we’ll walk through the seven “I AM” statements of Jesus, allowing His own words to gently dismantle misconceptions, reveal His heart, and draw us into deeper relationship with Him. You can grab your devotional and discover more ways to draw closer to Him this Lenten season right here.  The NEW BIS Catholic Journaling Bible 📖 We’re overjoyed to share that the BIS Single-Column Journaling Bible is officially here! Wrapped in a beautiful suede-like cover and featuring original artwork by Susanna April, this Bible was prayerfully designed to help women fall in love with Scripture and make space to linger with the Word of God. With generous margins for notes, prayers, and reflection, this Bible invites you to live the invitation of James 4:8: “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” They are available for purchase here.  The 2026 Calendar Year Liturgical Planner 📔 It’s only February so it’s not too late to start the year with intention! Our 2026 Calendar Year Liturgical Planner is still available and designed to help you order your days around prayer, Scripture, the Litany of Humility, and the rhythm of the Church’s calendar. Download the February Wallpaper 📱🖥️ Click here to download your phone wallpaper. Click here to download your desktop wallpaper.   As Lent begins, may Jesus show you who He truly is and may you discover, again and again, how deeply He desires to draw near to you. We’re so grateful to walk this season with you, sister. We’re praying for you.

Saint Thomas Aquinas: Godhead Here in Hiding

On the Feast of Saint Thomas Aquinas, let us contemplate the invisible hidden beneath the visible, the mystery revealed in the ordinary.

BIS Reads // And You Will Find Rest: What God Does in Prayer

And You Will Find Rest invites readers to deepen their experience of prayer, trusting that God is at work, even in the dryness and distractions.

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How To Make a Catholic Bible (Hint: Pray, A Lot)

Much like all our lives, everything we go through, we have incredible mountains and valleys we experience that we just do not know how to begin explaining to anyone else, even those closest to us, who know us, love us, speak our language. That is how I feel about beginning to articulate what it has been like to dream of something with the Lord, to set that dream in motion, and to persevere through high highs and low lows to see that dream come to life. The Dream Sets In In 2019, we dreamt of what it would look like to create a Blessed is She branded Catholic Bible. Now, you may be asking, "Didn't a Blessed is She Bible already exist?!" Well, yes and no. We were approached by Our Sunday Visitor in 2017 to design a Bible with their imprint. That meant we got to pray about and implement a theme to the Bible, design art pages, and lay out the Bible with our own texts, fonts, margin sizes, etc., but the Bible was owned by Our Sunday Visitor. And we jumped on the opportunity! What an honor it was to be asked to design a BIBLE. Like what. We prayed and heard from the Lord a very clear theme for that OSV Bible, and with an incredible amount of perseverance, that Bible was designed by surrendered hands who said yes to an incredibly difficult job. The Bible was edited, printed, and published by OSV. In order for us to stock that Bible, we had to purchase at wholesale from Our Sunday Visitor and then sell it on our site.  And so a couple years later, we thought, "What would it look like if we created our own Bible that wasn't owned by another Catholic publisher but it was totally ours?" Now, that would require we hold a license for a Bible translation. That would require finding a designer. That would require hunting for a printer. It would require a lot of steps (most of which we didn't anticipate). So we took another step. I reached out to a dear friend and incredible designer (who designs all of our books, our daily devotion images, and most of our products) and asked her if she would be open to endeavor down this road with us: Needless to say, Michelle said yes. Thanks be to God. Friends who say yes to an adventure with Jesus alongside you are life-changing. The Journey to Licensing a Catholic Version of the Bible Just a month prior to reaching out to Michelle, I inquired about obtaining the licensing for the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition because we had come to love that translation of the Bible. Recently I was asked "What makes it a Catholic Bible?" Well, it has the Old Testament canon which follows the Septuagint (an ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures) used by Jesus and the Apostles, which contained these books: Tobit, Judith, 1 & 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch and additions to Daniel and Esther. Months later we signed a contract, and we were one step closer to seeing this dream come to life. A Surprising Partnership In the midst of us trying to make this beautiful Catholic Bible ourselves, we hit quite a few speed bumps. It's difficult to layout and design such an important and massive book. We became overwhelmed at times with how big the job was. I reached out to another publisher to see what it would look like to create a custom Blessed is She Bible (similar to our relationship with Our Sunday Visitor but would be an exclusive Bible to Blessed is She, not to be sold by any other companies), and we decided to create that with Harper Collins Publishing. That's the brown Blessed is She Bible so many of you have and love! We loved this Bible so much as well, and it was so sad when it sold out and we weren't able to order more. We still felt called to make a Blessed is She Bible that was totally published by us as opposed to another publisher, so we kept pursuing that idea (even though, again, the speed bumps felt so frustrating at times). A Theme, A Prayer, and a Beautiful Design Something we have to come to recognize as vitally important not only in our personal lives, but also when it comes to Blessed is She, is prayer. It's asking the Lord where He wants us to move, in any direction, at any time. It's taking a step here and a step there, even if we don't know the subsequent step after that. So when I asked my best friend Beth Davis, who is the one who originally prayed about and pulled all 73 bible verses for the very first OSV Bible as well as was inspired by the Holy Spirit to pull out the theme we used for that Bible, to pray about a theme and write our prayer prompts, I knew this Bible's theme and prompts would come to life beautifully. Beth knows the Lord in such a profoundly intimate way, and I knew He would reveal to her just the right theme for this Blessed is She Bible. So, away she went, to pray and to ask God what direction we should go. And a beautiful way He went. We originally tried to layout the Bible ourselves and with some contracted designers, but we came to realize that that job needed Bible Layout Experts (and apparently those exist?!), so we asked them to help us lay out the Bible after years of us trying to do it ourselves. Guys, I told you, it was a JOURNEY. We found proofreaders for the Bible, and one book at a time was laid out, proofread, sent back to design, edited, and sent back to proofreaders. It was months of back and forth on every single book of the Bible. We decided to make this Bible single column with easy to read fonts for better readability (because what's a Bible if it's not being read, studied, soaked in?!). We added in our prayer prompts and art pages (more on this below!), and we kept taking one step at a time. We picked the cover by looking in a book of pages and pages of swatches, searching for just the right black cover that would go with our gold foiling on the cover, spine, and back cover. The front cover lettering is from the lovely artist Susanna April. When An Artist Takes Your Breath Away I remember the very first time I saw a post by an Australian mama artist named Susanna April. I was stunned by her unique and beautiful art style and how each piece invited me into deep prayer. When I dreamt of this upcoming Bible, I envisioned her art within it. It felt like a full circle moment for me when I was able to ask her to work with us on this project, because I had been following her account around the same time that Blessed is She was founded. It felt like she was a woman who I had journeyed with, and who had journeyed with me, even though we had never spoken and I never met her. She was an inspiration to me. Even though it felt scary, I pressed Send in 2021 on an email asking if she would paint and design the art pages for our Blessed is She Bible.  With love, she replied yes. And then began the course of working with an artist, a Christian, a mother, and a woman after God's heart on the art for our beautiful pulled-out Bible verse and prayer prompts. It Takes a Village (And Lots of Purification) We finally had all the pieces we needed: a designer to help us lay out, design, and dream up the Bible, a writer to pray and write with God for the unique theme and prayer prompts, an artist who would paint and design the Bible verses, a professional company to continue to lay out and proofread THE ENTIRE BIBLE, a team of people cheering us on (most especially my husband who told me to not to give up on this project, even though I felt like giving up many, many times), and all of you, who kept asking and asking and asking when our Bible was going to be available. Most of all, it took our own journey of purification. Our own journey to humility, to surrender, to docility, to falling on our knees with tears in our eyes at the hard work that sometimes felt futile, to having hope. So whatever dream you have sitting in your heart, dear friend, let this story be an anchor of hope for you. Let it be a reminder that sometimes while taking steps toward what you're being called to do you may falter behind, but stay the course. Keep going in the direction God has asked you to go. Keep praying. Keep worshipping. Keep seeking His face, His voice, His guiding presence. Even if you're hit with a few years that throw you off course, or a speed bump that seems to knock you off your feet, be encouraged to get back up. Persevere in what God has set on your heart. I entrust this reminder to you, from Psalm 119:Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Let Him lead.

I Am Jonah: Finding God’s Presence in Our Daily Lives

When God calls, will we flee, like Jonah? Or will we respond with courage and obedience to what God has for us in the present moment?

The Hidden Years of Christ’s Life

During this stretch of Ordinary Time, consider the hidden years of Christ and how they leave nothing to separate us from the Incarnational reality of God’s love.

Catholic Baby Names Inspired by Winter

Expecting a baby this winter? Here is a list of baby names inspired by the winter season as well as Saints, Scripture, and traditions.

Lent: Who Do You Say That I Am?

Who Do You Say That I Am? is the 2026 Lenten devotional, rooted in the Gospel of John and centered on Jesus' seven “I Am” statements.

“Flowers”: What Two Songs Get Right and Wrong About Healing

A new year feels like a waiting garden: What might it hold this year? What hopes and dreams can I plant? . . . It's time to dream of flowers.

In the Midst of Rainfall, Find Your Spiritual Umbrellas

What are your spiritual umbrellas—those God-given things that allow us to stand amid the storms of life without getting soaking wet?

Letting God Speak Through Flesh and Bone

Our bodies tell the truth about our stories. There is deeper peace and greater understanding when we discover what they are truly meant for.

Monthly Wallpaper from Blessed is She // 397

The Church begins January by honoring the Holy Name of Jesus, a Name that carries power, healing, and hope. It’s an invitation to begin the year close to Him, letting Him shape our days and guide our steps. And this month, there are a few intentional ways we’re walking into that nearness together as a community: The 2026 Calendar Year Liturgical Planner 📔 The calendar year has begun and our 2026 planner is in full swing! If you haven’t grabbed yours yet, there’s still time! It’s designed to help you order your days around prayer, the Litany of Humility, Scripture, and the Catholic Church's calendar. Click here to learn more + grab your planner! Draw Near: 31 Days in the Word  What if the next 31 days changed everything? We’re inviting you to take the Draw Near Prayer Pledge and join us as we read the Word & pray with the Blessed is She Daily Devotions alongside thousands of other women across the world.  Our FREE daily devotions will guide you. Whether you’re restarting a prayer habit or longing for more consistency, this is a beautiful place to begin at the start of this new year. Looking ahead to Lent 2026 As we move deeper into the new year, we’re also preparing for Lent which begins next month! Stay tuned for the big reveal of our 2026 Lent Devotional.  Download the January Wallpaper 📱🖥️ Click here to download your phone wallpaper. Click here to download your desktop wallpaper.   January is a new mercy from the Lord. A moment to begin again. To open the Word. To draw near. We’re so grateful to walk into this new year with you. We're praying for you, sister. 🙏🏽💜

Four Lessons in Femininity From Our Lady

Our Lady desires a personal relationship you to help you receive the gift of your femininity—the gift of who you already are.

Come to Me: Spiritual and Physical Nourishment at the End of a Long Year

As a new year begins, remember that Holy Night. May it carry us into 2026, radiant in the joy of Jesus’ birth and filled with the peace that flows from Him.

When Life is Less Than Perfect: Finding Comfort in the Holy Family

The Holy Family is a shining beacon of hope, the model we long for in this world. When we are tempted to despair, they are the remedy.

Christ is Born: What the Incarnation Means for Us Today

While the Christmas story is familiar, we cannot allow the Incarnation to become anything less than shocking. The God of the universe came to humanity in flesh and blood. Let us respond with gratitude and a desire to follow Him.