These questions are aimed right at the heart of the colourful scenery of the hunger cloth. Digitally designed as a collage, printed on canvas, the picture has been painted over with acrylic and gold leaf. The photos used come from Misereor partner projects and from the artist, who places children at the centre of the hunger cloth and makes the little ones look big. Under a divided sky, blue and ominously darkened on the other side, a colourful group of children live on an island, accompanied by a few animals. They all help each other. The question remains open: What event has isolated the children? Will the island and the tent be able to withstand the approaching storm?

The shining white tent stands in the centre of a border divide. Gold frames this dwelling like a shelter and is reminiscent of the biblical stories of God, who led his people through the desert in a special tent, unhoused, travelling with the people. A tent as a temporary mobile home, makeshift accommodation for refugees also offers refuge, hope and "God-with-us".

Not an idyll, but rather a barren sandbank: Neuland. Young people are developing something new here on the border between paradise and catastrophe. Like in a future lab, patterns of action based on solidarity are growing. In view of the colourful diversity, the question is not: Where do you come from? But rather: Where are we going together?

No one can master life on their own: "Let us dream as one humanity, as children of the same earth", says the encyclical Fratelli Tutti, 6. It is not possible to commit ourselves to great things without inner motivations that give meaning to our actions. When the outer deserts grow because the inner deserts have become so great, crises call for a profound inner conversion. What ground are we standing on?

The accusation of the picture is countered by a trail of hope: The tent rises into the sky like an "antenna of love" that picks up every cry of distress and motivates us to want the best for others. In this mutual relationship, a "we" becomes possible that excludes no one and a brotherhood that is open to all.

We are antennas of love

by Hannah Braucks, Misereor

The service for the Misereor Lenten Veil 2025/26 "Dreaming together - let love be action" invites us to understand love not just as a feeling, but as a concrete action. In this service with prayer, visual contemplation and impulses, the message of the Lenten Veil becomes tangible: love is shown in solidarity and joint steps for a better future. Interactive elements and quiet reflection help you to discover your own role as an "antenna of love".

Dreaming together - let love be action

by Hannah Braucks, Misereor

Experience the Sundays of Lent and the Holy and Easter days consciously! The meditations take up the Sunday Gospel, link it to the Misereor Lenten Veil 2025/26 and open up space for encounters with God and the questions of our time. They invite you to reflect, pray and be silent - alone, in community or in a church service. Organise the setting consciously: time for silence, sharing and prayer makes the experience lively and deep.

"Where love becomes action"

by Hannah Braucks, Misereor

During Lent, the Misereor campaign "Where love becomes action" invites you to visualise where love becomes concrete in everyday life - in small gestures, words and deeds. Experiences recorded on slips of paper are collected and placed in front of the cross as a sign of hope on Good Friday, for example. This makes it tangible: Jesus' love continues to work - through us today.

Get creative and redesign past Lenten Veils. 
The brothers Ulrich Gansop and Silas Teyim can train in an electrical recycling workshop thanks to the support of our sample project for the CODAS Caritas Douala Lent campaign. We can also be inspired by this and upcycle things, i.e. turn something old into something new. Old Lenten Veils that are no longer in use are very suitable for this. They can also be turned into a great fundraising campaign.

Here, for example, you can find sewing instructions from Ulrike Gerdiken on how to make a bread bag from a Lenten Veil.

There are many videos of an upcycling challenge for Lenten Veils on YouTube with detailed instructions, for example for various bags: from HAHNER kreativ, Sandras Allerlei and ConnysKreativeWelt, a basket and a book cover from handmadebyanni or a wall hanging from Papperlababs.

Many parishes still have Lenten Veils that are no longer in use and can therefore be given a new lease of life. If you no longer have any old Lenten Veils, please contact us at fastenaktion@misereor.de, as we at Misereor still have some old Lenten Veils that we are happy to make available for donation campaigns.

An introduction to the 2025/26 hunger cloth

Dr Claudia Kolletzki, Misereor

Quick reading aid: Dreaming together - let love be deed

Dr Claudia Kolletzki, Misereor

My view of the world

by Anneliese Wohn, for many years a consultant in the Episcopal Ordinariate in Limburg, initially for women's work, then for the 3rd/4th age. Now retired and working freelance.

Extract: Each and every one of us has a certain way of looking at the world. Our perspective shapes our actions. What is your perspective, your view of the world? We have the current Misereor Lenten Veil in front of us here.
Once you have found "your view", look at the Lenten Veil with this view. What do you see? What do you notice? Is there anything that bothers you or particularly appeals to you?

Image file Lenten Veil

The following source must be cited for every use:

The Misereor Lenten Veil 2025 "Dreaming together - let love be deed" by Konstanze Trommer (c) Misereor

Note on the use of the materials:
We would be delighted if you use the image on your websites, in publications, for campaigns or events. Please always cite the source listed here.

Furthermore, we assume that you will use the materials in compliance with the legal regulations, in particular telemedia and copyright law, as well as the Press Code. For example, our materials may not be used in print or in any electronic form in the context of racist, sexist, inhuman or other criminal representations or statements. In such cases, we will involve the public prosecutor's office and/or the competent authority.

See you soon, says God

by Dr Annette Jantzen, Aachen, women's chaplain of the Diocese of Aachen, from 2025 project manager of "Kirche im Mentoring" Hildegardisverein Bonn

Extract: Lent Sunday 1 / Luke 4, 1-13 (lectionary year C)

Hello, God, I say. It's good to see you.

You too, says God and sits down with me on the beach. And a sea view is always good.

I've always liked the sea, I say. But I've never been in distress or stranded either.

I remember when you were a child on your way to Heligoland, God says. It was quite scary for you to change from the big boat to the small one out at sea.

That's true, I say.

We are silent for a while.

Dreaming together - let love be action

by Doris Ziniel, Eisenstadt in Burgenland, teacher and member of the "Feel the Pulse - Religious Education at the Pulse of Time" team

Pantomime and role play: Everyone is given a section of the hunger cloth as an A4 printout. The cut-outs are chosen so that two people/animals are depicted. Two pupils each choose a scene that they would like to act out, either as a pantomime or as a role play. The scene is discussed and rehearsed beforehand and then presented.

Everyone else observes attentively. Afterwards, the pupils give feedback on their own performance and that of the others: I see, I feel, I sense ...

At the beginning

by Margaretha Hermann, Eisenstadt in Burgenland, teacher and member of the "Feel the Pulse - Religious Education at the Pulse of Time" team

Excerpt: We can approach the hunger cloth by the Erfurt artist Konstanze Trommer in different ways. Possible topics are: Climate crisis between ignorance, resignation and urgent options for action, borderline experiences and attempts to escape, global) connectedness - with God and the world, tent as a shelter, but permeable and fleeting, for change, hope for miracles, love that connects and sustains.

What connects us - Crocheting at the Tent of Encounter

by Reinhilde Woditsch, Eisenstadt in Burgenland, teacher and member of the "Feel the Pulse - Religious Education at the Pulse of Time" team

Extract: The class tent, which was created through the work with the hunger cloth, can accompany us throughout the school year, in religious education lessons, but also at school festivals. There is always the opportunity to think about the hunger cloth and the tent, to meet in the tent and tell stories. It can be further customised by adding new elements to or in the tent. At the end of the school year, the tent tells the story of the class community throughout the year.

Everything in a mess?!

by Helmut Schlegel OFM, Spiritual Centre Hofheim; Andreas Walke, Frankfurt am Main, composer, organist and cantor

Excerpt: Several buckets are depicted on the Lenten Veil. Buckets play an important role in all cultures. They are used to transport resources necessary for life, such as water, plants, soil, compost, tools and much more. They symbolise "giving" and "receiving", "sharing" and "future". Owning or losing a bucket can be life-defining in some situations.

In this family service, various buckets can become symbols of what God gives us for life and what people can share with each other in solidarity.

This excerpt from the Lenten Veil is intended for kindergarten and primary school children to colour in. Adults may also enjoy colouring it in. The colouring sheets are also suitable for creating your own comics and inserting speech bubbles. A complete illustration and other details can be found on the DVD in the "Workbook on the Lenten Veil" (available to order: bestellung@eine-welt-mvg.de)

Everything you do

By Andrea Kett, Head of the Department of Education, Diocese of Aachen and

Barbara Verholen, kfd Diocesan Board Aachen

Extract: The artist Konstanze Trommer has given the picture the title: "Dreaming together - love is action". She thus emphasises that she wants love to be understood as action and not as talk about it or as a feeling. We take up this energetic love in the appeal of the 1st letter to the Corinthians (chapter 16:14) and thus title this devotion: "Let all that you do be done in love!" We believe that God not only loves us as his children and has accepted us unconditionally, but that he himself is the love that lives among us.
So let us allow the title of the Lenten Veil to speak to us and begin this hour of prayer full of trust in the all-encompassing love of God.

Devotions on the Lenten Veil for groups in parishes and organisations, a shorter and a longer version (40 and 60 minutes) with short joint activities.

The future is us

By Helmut Schlegel OFM, Norbert Lammers OFM, Andreas Walke (music)

Five themes for five weeks: The period from Ash Wednesday to Palm Sunday not only encourages Christians to adopt meaningful forms of fasting and renunciation, but also to do what St Vincent de Paul formulated in his life motto and what serves as the motto for the hunger cloth: "Let love be action". The design elements presented below can be used freely and creatively. They offer the opportunity to develop the theme of "love" in five topics based on the visions of the hunger cloth and to inspire action.

Developed and compiled by Steffi Spiegel, Thomas Schmidt and Waltraud Zehender-Liedtke

Procedure for a hunger cloth pilgrimage:

If the impulses are to be used for a pilgrimage from church to church (or to special places) in a parish with the Lenten Veil:

Sequence of a station: song - introduction - Bible text - reflection - song - impulse for the next leg of the journey

For a pilgrimage, you will need a large Lenten Veil that you hem and attach to two poles so that you can carry it with you.

Procedure for group work with the Lenten Veil: Lay down a small Lenten Veil for all to see - Song - Present the theme and/or section of the Lenten Veil - Methodical group work/discussion - Reflective text - Prayer and/or intercessions and thanksgiving

A shared dream of love - children approach the hunger cloth

By Sarah Weber, Freiburg

Target group: Kindergarten and primary school children

Excerpt:

Background: In the centre between a blue and threatening sky stands a brightly lit tent. A crouched child can retreat into the shelter of the tent. The golden frame of the tent is reminiscent of the biblical story of Moses on his way to freedom. God says to Moses: "I will dwell in your midst." To this end, the Israelites build a so-called "tent of meeting" with heart and mind. In this way, God remains close to the wandering people in the desert, especially in the desert time when everything is at stake: Salvation or disaster? Freedom or slavery?