The Sacred Sacrifice: Cultivating Lenten Traditions with Bach's Great Passion

by Hannah Paris

Easter, the annual celebration of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, is the most significant holy day on the Christian calendar. And yet, even while we diligently focus our families on Christ in the weeks before Christmas, we often find that Easter sneaks up on us, catching us totally unprepared. Lent, the period of forty days leading up to the weekend marking the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, is traditionally a time in the church’s calendar to meditate on the gravity of our sin and our deep need for a Savior. Observing Lent makes the good news of Easter resonate more gloriously with us.In The Sacred Cultivating Lenten Traditions with Bach’s Great Passion, Hannah Paris leads us into establishing a beautiful Lenten tradition for families of listening to Johann Sebastian Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. She makes it easy for you to journey through Lent with Bach, on your own or with your family.Make Lent memorable for your family listening schedule for Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, including the German and parallel English librettoOccasional poems and other readingsSuggested activities for observing Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, Holy Saturday, and othersRecipes for Shrove Tuesday and Easter

Genres: Nonfiction

Paperback

Reviews

[Cindy Rollins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent listening schedule for Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. I was also delighted by all the poetry included.

It is a nice companion to my own Advent book Hallelujah.

[Elsa Mathews · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book inspired me to dig deeper into Bach’s St. Matthew Passion than I have ever done before, and I can see myself using it in my Lenten devotions and as a homeschool resource for many years to come. However, there were a few mistakes about music that prevent me from giving it a five star review. Overall, a well researched and heartfelt tribute to a magnificent work of music.

I recommend watching the Netherlands Bach Society performance and documentaries on YouTube as well as the Kings College Choir’s “A Guide to Bach’s St. Matthew Passion” if looking for resources beyond those listed in the back of this book. Michael Steinberg also has an interesting essay about Bach’s St. Matthew Passion in his “Choral Masterworks.”

[Lauren Fee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of Cindy Rollins’ “Hallelujah” Advent Listening guide to Handel’s Messiah and “The Sacred Sacrifice” is a lovely companion which walks you through Bach’s Passion during the Lenten season. I really enjoyed the pace as well as the poetry included. I went through it this first go around by myself, but I will definitely plan to share with my family next Lenten season for them to experience. I appreciate how these books inspire new traditions and carve out time for rest and reflection during the most important Christian holidays.

[Sarah Fowler Wolfe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn't nearly as familiar with Bach's St. Matthew Passion as I am with Handel's Messiah, but what a great way to remedy that! This book is beautifully put together and wonderfully done. I went through it alone this year but it's designed for use with family so I'd definitely like to include my daughter in future years. Highly, highly recommended.

[Amy Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a joy it was to publish Hannah’s book and serve as part of her editorial and publishing team at Blue Sky Daisies. She wrote an excellent companion book to Cindy Rollins’s Hallelujah in this book. The Sacred Sacrifice will lead your family through the masterpiece from Bach: St. Matthew Passion.

[Kaitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book about Lent! The author walks you through the Lenten season by introducing you to one of Bach's epic works: St Matthew Passion. I learned a ton about this piece of music, since I'd hadn't heard about it before. There is a daily reading guide for Lent with suggested activities for listening with the family. The publishers also have a ready-to-go playlist, so you can jump right in and listen along without much prep. In this crazy, hasty life we're all living, I think all of us could use more time to slow down, focus, and spend time thinking about Jesus' sacrifice as we prepare our hearts for Easter. I'm grateful to have this book to help me do that this year.

If you love classical music and want to get more in touch with the Christian calendar, this is a great book to check out! There is also a book in the series for Advent as well.

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this resource for building Lenten liturgies with our kids. I wish this had been written when my boys were younger but I look forward to adding into our traditions next year with just the one remaining. This year I alone read the passages & poetry (discovered some beautiful new poems through this book!) and listened to beautiful Bach for my own enjoyment, instruction and adoration of our Lord. I loved how Paris finished with selections from Handel’s Messiah - Bach leaves us with the death of Jesus - it was glorious to finish on Sunday with the reality of His resurrection and reign!

[Gina Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I used this with my 13 and 15 year olds this year. My son hated listening to the German music but I really loved all of it. It is very obvious how much work Paris put into this and that her heart is that God be glorified. We didn’t do the extra reading and activities for the weekends but we loved the insight into the music and the translations to follow along as we listened. I don’t think this will be the last time I use this resource.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

We love Cindy Rollins' Hallelujah and so I jumped at the chance to walk through another classic piece of sacred music with the girls during Lent. We weren't familiar with Bach's St. Matthew Passion (and it's not sung in English) so it was a little harder to connect with it this first time through.

But I love the format and I look forward to walking through this book during future years.

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

We made it through, but it was a struggle to find a good routine to do it with the kids and to keep their interest, so we'd get behind and playing catchup didn't help the latter. I enjoyed it a lot though, and may opt to use it more personally next year and just have it playing as a background to lent for the kids instead of trying to make it a focused listening.

4/2025
I just used the daily guide for my own listening and reflections and it worked great. I had read the fictional account The Great Passion a few months ago which led me a bit of a dive into Bach so it was lovely coming off of that. For the kids I pulled up a YouTube video performance from the Netherland Bach Society and played it in various longer chunks about once a week, finishing the last quarter on Good Friday. The video made a big difference in their ability to stay engaged, wondering about some of the unusual instruments and the emotional facial expressions of the vocalists.

[Rachel N · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been longing for a resource to help my family prepare our hearts for Easter, arguably the most central event in the Christian calendar, an event that has sadly been overlooked and minimized in our culture. The Sacred Sacrifice fills that void in a very special way. Utilizing the St. Matthew Passion by Bach as its center point, sharing historical details, adding carefully chosen poetry, and providing translation from the German lyrics, this has been a beautiful way to join together as a family several nights per week. We got a late start and did not use every single chapter this year, but it was an amazing first time through - and certainly not our last. He is Risen! He is Risen, indeed!

If you listen to The New Mason Jar podcast with Cindy Rollins, there is an excellent and fascinating interview on there with the author.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who grew up with traditions surrounding Advent, I found myself wanting to dig into the waiting that is the season of Lent. This book is a guide for a family, but I used it personally to see what it was like, but I do hope to use it in a few years with my children as well. The author provides a guided tour through Bach's St. Matthew Passion, a work I was unfamiliar with. The music helped evoke deeper thoughtfulness as I found the daily page/selection and let myself hear the story in a new way. I chose to listen to the German version linked in her Spotify playlist, which required paying more attention, but also provided the original experience more fully.

[ladydusk · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the libretto and explanations of what was going on in this piece helpful for following the German and what Bach was doing (especially the string "halo" when Jesus was speaking). Such weightiness to the Bach was added by contemplating it over these many weeks.

Other parts of it were less engaging to me, the weekends and some of the activities, but I can see how they might be helpful to others. I particularly enjoyed the poetry additions during Holy Week. A worthwhile companion to Cindy Rollins' Hallelujah!

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

I did not like the ordering of the sections of the oratorio nearly as well as I liked those in Hallelujah (kind of a sister-book which covers Handel's Messiah). Especially I would have arranged it personally in order to listen to the actual crucifixion on Good Friday, not before, even though that would mean having sections on Saturday as well.

All in all, though, it is well done and makes a satisfying part of observing the church year - especially when you also use Cindy Rollins's Hallelujah.

[Leanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful resource for the season of Lent! I thoroughly enjoyed this and learned SO MUCH. For anyone wanting to go deeper in preparation for Easter Sunday - this is the source for you.

The Spotify playlist was a lovely addition as well as the yummy recipes in the back! I will be returning to this book each year 💜✝️

[Nicholas & Megan Clinch · Rating 5 out of 5]

🐑⚰️🪦🖤
“I think it’s ever so important to let your kids begin to interpret the oratorio and take ownership of what they’re hearing.”

A lovely, wise shepherding through the stations of the cross, at a pace slow enough take in each 🎬 “number, drop by drop Thy blood’s slow loss.” Will return to this guide again! Really good parallel reading with James Runcie’s The Great Passion audiobook.

[Dayna Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful devotional for the Easter season; a companion to Cindy Rollin's similar guide for Christmas based on Handel's Messiah. This book walks you through the entire Lenten season using Bach's St. Matthew Passion as a base. A must have for Christians wanting to be more intentional in their celebration of Easter and their knowledge of the great music of the past.

[Emily Billings · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved going through this book with my children during the Lenten season. It was a very rich and meaningful experience for all of us.

[Stacy Atherton Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fabulous guide to Lent that we use in our homeschool. There is a Scripture most weekdays and a brief bit of background to the Scripture read. Then there is discussion of what you'll hear in that day's section of Bach's St. Matthew Passion, along with the number of minutes for that section and a translation from the German. There are suggestions for items to watch and/or listen to over the weekends, but these are optional bonuses. The fact that weekends are optional has been really helpful because we don't honestly find ourselves using the guide over the weekends, sadly. There are also often poems each week, which add to the study and background. I highly recommend this book and have learned a lot from it! It has been a boon to our homeschool and our observance and understanding of Lent.