This new app for iPhone/iOS devices features daily material for 13 February to 30 March 2013, taken from the Reflections for Daily Prayer 2012/13 annual edition. Reflections for Lent 2013 (£1.99) is ideal for individuals and groups seeking Lectionary-based reflections for use during Lent and Holy Week, or for anyone wishing to try Reflections for Daily Prayer before committing to a year's worth of material.

View the Reflections for Lent 2013 app on the app store

Read the news release from the Church of England

Here is what Canon Andrew White writes about Reflections for Lent 2013:

Again we are about to enter the time of Lent, the time when we remember the time of Jesus fasting in the wilderness and the approach of Easter. For many it is the time they will give up something hopefully for all followers of Christ it will also be the time they take up further Spiritual reflection. Apps such as this help us regain our right focus.

For those of us here in Iraq Lent is longer and has a very real focus. Here Lent is preceded by two further important events. First is the fast of Jonah, three days with no food at all. Many will not even drink in this period. This remembers Jonah in the belly of the whale when he did not eat or drink. Then we come to the fast of Nineveh for 10 days leading into Lent. This remembers the fasting of the Assyrians when they turned from there evil ways to the Almighty. The fact is that to this day all the Assyrians are Christian and all the Christians of Iraq come from Nineveh.

So for all in this land Lent is combined with the fast of Nineveh and is an intense time of giving thanks to the Lord for sending us a miserable evangelist in a submarine but also a time of suffering and glory. In the midst of our immense suffering we remember the suffering of our Lord, culminating in his intense suffering on the cross. That time though was also his greatest time of Glory and also our greatest time of glory. So this is a time when we all draw near to God and He draws near to us. There is no better time to do this than to find time to reflect.

Canon Andrew White

Baghdad