Vatican City – This evening, in the evocative setting of the Pauline Chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the Spiritual Exercises for Lent 2026 began, with Pope Leo XIV taking part. Joining the annual retreat are members of the College of Cardinals and the Heads of Dicasteries of the Roman Curia.
To lead this year’s meditations, Leo XIV personally invited Bishop Erik Varden, O.C.S.O., Prelate of Trondheim, Apostolic Administrator of Tromsø, and President of the Scandinavian Bishops’ Conference. The opening meditation began with the celebration of Second Vespers of the First Sunday of Lent, presided over by Cardinal Protodeacon Dominique François Joseph Mamberti, Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura.
Bishop Varden’s first meditation, entitled “Entering Lent”, offered a sustained reflection on the meaning of this liturgical season. The preacher stressed that Lent confronts us with what is essential, urging us to shed what is superfluous and to embrace an authentic spiritual struggle. In pointed terms, he warned against the instrumentalisation of the Gospel, stating that “any manipulation of Christian words and signs for other purposes must be vigorously challenged”. He insisted that mistaken ideas should be corrected not through indignation, but by “teaching and showing what authentic spiritual combat truly consists in”.
Central to his address was the notion of Christian peace, described not as a promise of an easy life, but as “the condition for a transformed society”. Bishop Varden urged that the radical character of this peace be expressed clearly, rooted “in the just and courageous gift of self”. In this context, he quoted St John Climacus: “There is no greater obstacle to the presence of the Spirit within us than anger.” The Church, he concluded, offers at the outset of this spiritual battle a “melody that brings peace”, identified in the tract Qui habitas (Psalm 90), which prepares the listening of the Gospel of the temptations.
“For more than a thousand years the Roman liturgy of the First Sunday of Lent has retained, as a fixed element, a tractus of exquisite beauty that prepares for the Gospel -always the same one: Christ’s temptation in the desert,” Varden said.
Leo XIV’s week of silence
The week’s programme, entitled “Illuminated by a hidden glory: a Lenten itinerary”, will follow a daily rhythm of prayer and reflection. Each day, from Monday to Friday, begins at 9:00 with the celebration of Midday Prayer followed by a morning meditation. At 17:00, a second meditation will be given, followed by Eucharistic Adorationand the chanting of Vespers. The spiritual itinerary proposed by Bishop Varden will draw particular inspiration from St Bernard of Clairvaux and his Lenten sermons on Psalm 90, exploring themes such as freedom, the radiance of truth, and hope. The reflections aim to lead participants towards a “loving and clear-sighted discipleship”, so that Lent may be lived with renewed spiritual purpose.
fr.F.V.
Silere non possum
