Lent

Lent is the time Christians prepare to celebrate the Paschal mystery of Christ's death and resurrection. It is a penitential season of 40 days that is devoted to prayer, almsgiving and fasting.

Prayer to Follow Christ

O Lord Jesus,
gentle and humble of heart,
full of compassion and maker of peace,
you lived in poverty, and suffered persecution
for the cause of justice.
You chose the Cross as the path to glory
to show us the way of salvation.
May we receive the word of the Gospel joyfully
and live by your example as heirs
and citizens of your kingdom. Amen.

Prayer of Contrition

Merciful Father,
I am guilty of sin.
I confess my sins before you
and I am sorry for them.
Your promises are just:
therefore I trust that you will forgive me my sins
and cleanse me from every stain of sin.

Jesus himself is the propitiation for my sins
and those of the whole world.
I put my hope in his atonement.
May my sins be forgiven through his name,
and in his blood may my soul be made clean. Amen.

Prayer for Pardon

O Lord, the hour of your favor draws near,
the day of your mercy and our salvation -
when death was destroyed and eternal life began.
We acknowledge our sins
and our offenses are always before us.
Blot out all our wrong doings
and give us a new and steadfast spirit.
Restore us to your friendship
and number us among the living
who share the joy of your Son's risen life. Amen.

Prayer to Know Jesus Christ

O Lord Jesus,
Like St. Paul,
may I count everything as loss
in comparison with the supreme advantage
of knowing you.
I want to know you and what your passion
and resurrection can do.
I also want to share in your sufferings
in the hope that if I resemble you in death
I may somehow attain to the resurrection
from the dead.
Give me grace to make every effort
to supplement faith with moral courage,
moral courage with knowledge,
knowledge with self-control,
self-control with patience,
patience with piety,
piety with brotherly affection. Amen.

Preparation of the Ashes

My friends,
nearly a year ago, at the end of Lent, we carried these branches to welcome the Messiah.
In preparation for a new Lent, the Church’s sacred spring time,
we have gathered these holy branches to be burned.
On Ash Wednesday, as Lent begins, the ashes will be place on our foreheads.
Ashes are the leftovers of life. They are reminders of death.
At one time ashes were scattered on fields to make them fertile.
They were used with other ingredients to make soap.
For us the ashes signal an ending and a beginning, a season of repentance,
a time of purification and cleansing, a time of fresh growth.
My friends, let us bless the Lord, the maker of all our endings and beginnings.

Blessed are you Lord our God, the sovereign of creation.

You preserve us in life, you sustain us,

And you have brought us to this season, and to this lent,
Let us all say Amen. Amen.