The Ascension Planner: A Tool for Catholic Daily Living

Barb Szyszkiewicz reviews the new small edition of the 2026 Ascension Planner: a beautiful and portable organizing tool. 

Simplicity is key in the new small edition of the 2026 Ascension Planner. It’s packed with thoughtful, useful touches without being cluttered. And it’s filled with features to help you live your faith. 

What I Look for in a Planner 

The 2026 Ascension Planner checked all the basic boxes for me: 

• Spiral binding so the planner lays flat and can be flipped all the way open to save desk space. 
• Pen loop and elastic to keep the planner closed (or if you’re like me and never close your planner, this can mark your page). 
• Thick, durable, and colorful monthly dividers. 
• High-quality paper stands up to ballpoint pens, fine-tip markers, pastel highlighters, and gel pens without any bleeding of ink. 
• 2-page-per-week layout with ample space each day for writing tasks, appointments, and more. 
• A built-in expandable pocket in the back cover to hold essential small papers. 
  

Scroll through the images below to check out these features.

1 Left side of the weekly view, showing the Mass readings for Sunday.

2 Right side of the weekly view, with Scripture at the top and reflection by Nell O'Leary at the bottom.

3 Expandable back pocket on the inside back cover.

4 An optional caption for the image that will be added to the gallery. Enter any descriptive text for this image that you would like visitors to be able to read.

5 An optional caption for the image that will be added to the gallery. Enter any descriptive text for this image that you would like visitors to be able to read.

This planner also beautifully integrates faith elements: 

• The monthly dividers indicate each month’s dedication in the Church (October is the Month of the Holy Rosary, for example). There’s a brief reflection by Mary Lenaburg on each monthly divider, and the facing page offers space to list goals, prayer intentions, blessings, and a personal monthly focus. 
• The monthly calendar page includes a short prayer as well as an idea for intentional prayer or reflection that can be done each day (or whenever you think of it). 
• On Sundays and Solemnities, the Mass readings are listed. 
• Feast days are listed on both the monthly and weekly views! 
• The weekly pages include daily trackers for the Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet, plus two other trackers to use however you like. 
• A short reflection or prayer by Nell O’Leary and quote from the Bible accent each spread of weekly pages.
• Bonus pages at the back feature frequently-used Catholic prayers and instructions on praying the Rosary.

Scroll through the images below to check out these features.

1 Sturdy, colorful monthly dividers with reflection on that month's focus in the liturgical year.

2 Monthly page for goals, prayer intentions, and blessings.

3 Monthly calendar view shows feast days, meatless Friday reminders, liturgical colors for feast days and liturgical seasons.

4 Bonus pages at the back feature frequently-used Catholic prayers and instructions on praying the Rosary.

5 An optional caption for the image that will be added to the gallery. Enter any descriptive text for this image that you would like visitors to be able to read.

It’s Almost Perfect 

The Ascension Planner has almost everything I would include if I were designing a planner for myself. What’s missing for me? I wish there were more than two blank “notes” pages in the back (or between months). I use those for meal planning. I’ll work around that by using a separate paper and keeping it in the handy back pocket of the planner. 

Also, the Mass readings for Sundays and Solemnities take up almost 1/3 of the usable space in the weekly layout. 

With reflections by Mary Lenaburg and Nell O'Leary, as well as a relatively soft color palette for the monthly dividers and weekday headers, the planner seems to be geared toward women. 

Why I Keep Mentioning the Small Planner 

I’ve been specifying that this review applies to the small version of the Ascension Planner because the large planner has a different layout. Instead of a horizontal box for each day on the weekly layout, the large planner uses a vertical layout with hourly space for appointments. There’s also space each day for a small to-do list, plus a brief contrition and gratitude section, and a little extra space for another running list. (I’ve tried that vertical hourly layout in several other planners, and I wanted to love it, but those are the planners I dump after three months or less of use!) I’m glad Ascension has added a second planner option for people who prefer the horizontal layout. 

You can compare the large and small planners feature by feature, and even flip through sample pages of each, on Ascension.com.  

Share your thoughts with the Catholic Mom community! You'll find the comment box below the author's bio and list of recommended articles.

Copyright 2025 Barb Szyszkiewicz
Images: copyright 2025 Barb Szyszkiewicz, all rights reserved.