The Season of Lent Thursday after Ash Wednesday - Friday Week 5

Eucharistic Adoration Tuesday & Wednesday 9am-10am Concluded with a short Prayer Service beginning at 9.45am Monday & Thursday 5.30pm-6.30pm Concluded with a short Prayer Service beginning at 6.15pm.

Reflection on the Way of the Cross Fridays of Lent at 9.30am. Season of Lent

Lent is a special time in the Church’s year that prepares the faithful and catechumens for Easter. The season opens formally on the first Sunday and continues for 40 days to Holy Thursday. The liturgy in this season disposes us in a variety of ways to celebrate the Paschal mystery which is at the centre of the Liturgical Year and of the Christian Life. It is preceded by the Penitential Rites of Ash Wednesday which calls the faithful to ‘Repent, and believe in the .’ The mark of the Cross on the forehead on the penitent is an outward sign of a desire to change and to model one’s life on Christ. Lent is a special time of Prayer, Fasting and Alms-giving. I invite you to join with me each day throughout the season in spending some time before the Blessed , and to reflect with me on the meaning and importance of the Lord’s final journey to Calvary. For your alms-giving, I ask you, please, to support the work of SCIAF, the official agency of the in Scotland that reaches out on our behalf to the poorest of the poor in many parts of the world. More than ever, your prayers and financial support is needed. Lent encourages us to foster a personal relationship with God. Day by day, we are encouraged to meditate on the exemplary and virtuous model of , who made his way through life with steadfastness and without faltering. Taken seriously, it is unquestionably a challenging time of the year for Christians. We are invited to undergo a profound change, to cleanse our heart and to live in harmony with God’s mercy. If we look firmly into the very depths of our being, we will find that there is something or indeed many things that we need to improve, to stamp out or to change. The reward? Forgiveness, in response to repentance. Now, is the favourable time to come back to the Lord, in humility, with open minds and loving hearts—Do not be afraid!

Happy Lent! Monday Week 5 Day of Prayer Prayer for those who have suffered Abuse

All: O God, you are my God, for you I long from early morning; for you my soul is thirsting. My body pines for you like a dry weary land without water. So I gaze The ’ Conference of Scotland have established A Day of on you in the sanctuary to see your strength and your glory. For your love is Prayer for those who have suffered abuse to be marked each year on better than life, my lips will speak your praise. So I will bless you all my life, in the Friday following Ash Wednesday. The following prayer Service your name I will lift up my hands. My soul shall be filled as with a banquet, my will be celebrated to mark this annual occasion. I ask that you join mouth shall praise you with joy. with me in offering this service on line on Friday at 9.30am. If you are unable to do so, please choose another time in the day to pray for all Tuesday Week 5 victims and their families.

Prayer ORDER OF SERVICE All: Gracious God, we know that the heart of your being is a passionate concern for all your creation and all your creatures. We bless you for the life of Jesus of Introduction Nazareth and for the Spirit of his living presence among us, inspiring in our

hearts a murmur of your passion. We bless you for calling us in this way to be your disciples, for seeing in each one of us the possibility and the potential to be Hymn your heart and passion for the world. May we listen attentively to your movement within us; may we grow more alert to where your call is leading us; Greeting and thus be true and faithful disciples. Amen. Priest/Leader: We have come here from pain and disillusionment, from anger and confusion, from sadness looking for Wednesday Week 5 hope. We come together for one thing only: to raise our hearts and Prayer voices and our very selves to God, in the hope that the very act of raising them in sorrow, yet in faith, they may be touched in their All: Loving God, we come to you through Jesus, your Son, present to us in the brokenness and know the transforming and surpassing power of , bringing you the deepest longings of our hearts. You know our thoughts before they find shape, our speech before it comes to our lips, our God’s love. intentions before our hands give them form. Search us through this time of Opening Prayer

prayer and adoration. Give us as we meditate on your Word, give us peace as we recall your love and forgiveness, give us joy as we deepen our life in you, and lead us in the way of eternal life, through Christ our Lord. Amen. Priest/Leader: God of compassion and love, always present and just: you gave your only Son to save us by the blood of the cross. Gentle Jesus, join to your own suffering the pain of all who have been Thursday Week 5 hurt in body, mind and spirit by those who betrayed the trust placed Prayer in them. Hear our cries as we agonise over the harm done to our brothers and sisters. Breathe wisdom into our prayers, soothe restless All: Lord Jesus, at our baptism we were marked for you with the . hearts with hope, steady shaken spirits with faith: show us the way to May your cross inspire us to act justly and love tenderly. May the crosses in our lives be for us invitations for growth and new life as we place our trust in you. justice and wholeness, enlightened by truth and enfolded in your Renewed by your love, may the way we live proclaim you as Lord: you who are mercy. Holy Spirit, comforter of hearts, heal your people’s wounds the Way, the Truth and the Life. and transform our brokenness. Grant us courage and wisdom, humility and grace, so that we may act with justice and find peace in you. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Reflection on the Way of the Cross Monday Week 4 Prayer Station 1: Jesus is condemned to death All: Loving God, you ask us whatever we do, to do it for your sake– to offer our Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you. whole lives, our every thought, word and action, to your service, for your glory. During this time of prayer together help us to understand what that really All: Because by your holy Cross, you have redeemed the world. means– to see every part of each day as an opportunity to work for you, and to approach our work and leisure in such a way as to bear witness to you. Through Leader: Consider how Jesus, after having been scourged and Christ our Lord. Amen. crowned with thorns, was unjustly condemned to die on the Cross. Tuesday Week 4 (Pause for reflection) Prayer Hymn (Said or sung) All: Almighty, ever-living God, you have given the human race Jesus Christ our Saviour as a model of humility. He fulfilled your will by becoming man and O my people, what have I done to you, giving his life on the cross. Help us to bear witness to you by following his how have I hurt you, answer me. example of suffering and make us worthy to share in his resurrection. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. Prayer

All: We pray for the children, young people and vulnerable adults whose Wednesday Week 4 lives have been scarred, broken and even ended because of the Prayer abuse they have experienced at the hands of those whom they trusted and looked up to, those whose task it was to nurture, care for and protect them, All: I adore you, Jesus, true God and true man, here present in the Holy Eucharist, but who cast aside the trust placed upon them. May those sons and humbly kneeling before you, and united in spirit with all the faithful on earth and all the blessed in heaven. In deepest gratitude for so great a blessing, I love daughters of God, innocent victims who have suffered so greatly, be you, my Jesus, with my whole heart, for you are all perfect and worthy of all restored and strengthened by the power of Christ, who can bring inner love. Give me grace never more to offend you, and grant that I, being refreshed peace and fresh hope for living. , kyrie, eleison. by your Eucharistic presence here on earth, may be found worthy to come to the enjoyment, with Mary, of your eternal and ever blessed presence in heaven. Station 2: Jesus receives the Cross Amen. Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you. All: Because by your holy Cross, you have redeemed the world. Thursday Week 4 Leader: Consider how Jesus, in making this journey with the Cross Prayer on his shoulders, thought of us, and offered for us to his All: Loving God, we thank you for your call that comes to us your call to Father the death he was about to undergo. discipleship, to service, to be your people, sharing in the work of your kingdom. (Pause for reflection) We thank you that you call us as we are, with all our faults, weaknesses and doubts, accepting us not through our own deserving, but through your grace, Hymn (Said or sung) your love, and your mercy. And we thank you above all for the assurance we have that through his Holy Spirit, Christ is within us, working in our hearts O my people, what have I done to you, and minds and souls to change our lives and draw us ever closer to you. Loving how have I hurt you, answer me. God, receive our thanksgiving and praise in his name. Amen. Monday Week 3 Prayer Prayer All: Living God, it’s easy to fool ourselves that we are observing Lent—giving up All: We pray for the families and loved ones of those who have been certain vices, denying ourselves particular pleasures, making bold resolutions. abused, as they seek to bring comfort, encouragement and healing It’s easy to imagine this is what Lent is all about- but it’s not. For Lent above all to these innocent ones. May they be able to sow the seed of new beginning is a time of reflection, for self-examination, for prayer, for renewed for those whose lives have been so wounded. Kyrie, kyrie, eleison. commitment. We come then today to reflect, to search ourselves, to seek your guidance, to offer you our love. Help us through this service to hear your voice, Station 3: Jesus falls for the first time under the Cross and to be strengthened in the service of Christ our Lord. Amen. Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.

Tuesday Week 3 All: Because by your holy Cross, you have redeemed the world. Leader: Consider how his flesh was torn by the scourges. His head Prayer was crowned with thorns; he had lost a great quantity of All: Loving God, we think we are so busy, so pressurised, having so much to do. We blood. So weakened he could scarcely walk, he yet had to rush around day after day with never a moment to spare. Yet so often we forget carry this great load upon his shoulders. The soldiers struck the one thing we really need-to make time and space in our lives to meet with him rudely, and he fell several times. you, to hear your voice, and to look at the world from your perspective. Loving (Pause for reflection)

God, teach us to be still and to know your presence, through Christ our Lord. Amen Hymn (Said or sung) Wednesday Week 3 Prayer O my people, what have I done to you, how have I hurt you, answer me. All: Lord Jesus Christ, we remember today how crowds listened spellbound to your

teaching, how they gazed in wonder as you demonstrated your love in action, how they gave thanks to God as you transformed the lives of all who came to Prayer seek your help. Come, again to our lives, to your Church, and to your world All: We pray for the members of our Church, the , today. May your power be seen, your loved displayed, your forgiveness received broken and scarred by the grave sin of abuse in all forms. We and your word proclaimed. Break through the complacency of our discipleship, acknowledge that she can only begin to be healed through repentance and restore our and revitalise our faith so that we may live to your glory and firm resolve to protect the young and the vulnerable. May Christ the Healer, lead others to a saving knowledge of your love. Amen who alone can redeem, grant our Church the braces of humility, continuing conversion and adherence to the truth. Kyrie, kyrie, eleison. Thursday Week 3 Prayer Station 4: Jesus is met by his Blessed Mother All: Loving God, in Jesus Christ we have met you, experiencing your love, rejoicing Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you. in your mercy, receiving your guidance, thrilling to your blessing. Help us to All: Because by your holy Cross, you have redeemed the world. live as Jesus taught us, to love as he urged us, to serve as he showed us and to trust as he told us. So may we live in him and he live in us to the glory of your Leader: Consider this meeting of the Son and the Mother, which name. Amen took place on this journey. Their looks became like so many arrows to wound those hearts which loved each other so tenderly. (Pause for reflection)

Hymn (Said or sung) Monday Week 2 O my people, what have I done to you, Prayer how have I hurt you, answer me.

All: Compassionate God, you bless us with the abundance of your love and grace us with the gift of your eternal presence. In this Lenten time give us the wisdom to Prayer recognise our poverty and the compassion to share it’s treasures with our All: We pray for God’s blessing on those who seek to bring about brothers and sisters. Give us all things for our good, and teach us that it is in our justice for all victims of abuse. May they never be impeded in their everyday work, leisure, and family life that we experience your love and grace. work by those in authority in the Church or in any other institution. May the Help us to remember that you are the One we listen to above all others. needs, the healing, and the new beginnings deserved by every victim always Be present with us now as we meet in service to your people. Amen. be their first priority. Kyrie, kyrie, eleison. Tuesday Week 2 Station 5: The Cross is laid upon Simon of Cyrene Prayer Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you. All: Loving God, you have created us from nothing. You have filled us with your All: Because by your holy Cross, you have redeemed the world. goodness. Fashion your creature closer to your intentions. We stray from you, Leader: Consider his cruel tormentors, seeing Jesus was on the sometimes unintentionally, but your kindness and mercy constantly call us back. May we open ourselves to see you as “potter”, the one to whom we turn when point of expiring, and fearing he would die on the way, making decisions, setting direction and relating to one another. whereas they wished him to die the shameful death of the Cross, constrained Simon of Cyrene to carry the Cross behind our Lord. Wednesday Week 2 (Pause for reflection)

Prayer Hymn (Said or sung) All: Loving God, may we gifted with the opportunity to go deeper into our faith

during this time of Lent. May we recognise the promptings that you place within O my people, what have I done to you, us as a call to refine our motivation to serve you more clearly, more lovingly, and more sincerely. Through that love may each of us reach out to others how have I hurt you, answer me. recognising your Son within them. Amen.

Prayer All: We pray for those who minister in our Catholic , schools Thursday Week 2 and communities: for teachers who catechise our young people in Prayer the ways of faith, that they be enlightened with the wisdom of Christ the Teacher; for priests who preach the Word and celebrate the , that All: Loving God, we try to look at ourselves openly and honestly, but we find it so they be kept holy by Christ the High Priest; for ministers of hospitality and hard, for we are so often blind to our faults, closed to anything that disturbs care who offer the friendship of the Catholic community to all members of the image we have of ourselves. So we come to you, appealing to your grace and Christ’s Body and to all whom the Lord sends our way, that they be mercy. Search us we pray—forgive us our sins, cleanse us of our iniquities, have mercy on our weakness, and through your love create a clean heart sanctified by Christ, the giver of divine hospitality. Kyrie, kyrie, eleison. and a right spirit within us. Remake us, redeem us, restore us, and grant that we may live as your people a new creation in Christ to the glory of your name. Amen. Monday Week 1 Station 6: Veronica wipes the face of Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you. All: Let our hearts and minds be filled with God’s Holy Spirit which has guided All: Because by your holy Cross, you have redeemed the world. creation since the beginning, which remained with Jesus in his desert and in his dying, which has been poured out on the world through his rising, which Leader: Consider how the holy woman named Veronica, seeing animates the whole Christian community, which inspires our discipleship, which Jesus so ill-used, and bathed in sweat and blood, wiped his shapes the providence in our lives, all the dying and rising of our spirit. face with a towel, on which was left the impression of his Tuesday Week 1 holy countenance. (Pause for reflection)

Prayer All: I now see clearly that, if there is a path at all on which I can approach you, it Hymn (Said or sung) must lead through the very middle of my life. If I should try to flee to you by any other way, I would actually be leaving myself behind, and that, aside O my people, what have I done to you, from being quite impossible, would accomplish nothing at all. Your love, which how have I hurt you, answer me. can allow my daily routine to remain to routine and still transform it into a

home-coming to you: this love only you can give. As I come to lay my everyday routine before you, there is only one thing I beg for: and that is your most Prayer ordinary and most exalted gift: the grace of your love. Touch my heart with this All: We pray for all who spend themselves in the pursuit of peace, grace, O Lord. When I reach out in joy or in sorrow for things of this world, healing and reconciliation for the abused, the needy, the weak and grant that through them I may know and love you, their maker and final home. the vulnerable. May they be sustained with the power of Christ, the divine You who are love itself, give me the grace of love, give me yourself, so that all reconciler. Kyrie, kyrie, eleison. my days may finally empty into one day for eternal life. Amen

Wednesday week 1 Station 7: Jesus falls the second time Prayer Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you. All: We believe in you, God our creator; we know that your creativity flows out All: Because by your holy Cross, you have redeemed the world. from us. We love you, Jesus, our intimate companion; we feel your compassion welling within us. We hope in you, life-giving Spirit; we quicken with Leader: Consider the second fall of Jesus under the Cross; a fall anticipation of all that you promise. From the depths of our hearts you bind us which renews the pain of all the wounds in his head and in together; may we bring forth fruit for the life of the world. his members. (Pause for reflection) Thursday week 1

Prayer Hymn (Said or sung) All: Blessed be the Lord our God because he has come to his people and set us free. He has raised up a powerful Saviour for us, born a descendent of David. O my people, what have I done to you, Through his prophets of old he promised to save us from the hands of those who how have I hurt you, answer me.

hate us. So he shows his loving kindness, as promised to our father Abraham. Yes, he has freed us so that, without fear, we can worship him and serve him in his very presence all the days of our lives. As for you, little child, you, too, will Prayer be called God’s prophet, for you will go before him to prepare the way for his All: We pray for ourselves in this faith community. May our lives shine coming amongst us, as the prophets promised from of old. It will be for you, my with the light of Christ; may we have grace and energy to bring his child, to tell his people that he will save them and forgive them, and be gentle good news to the poor, and to echo in our words and actions his care in and merciful. You, my child, must tell them that he will bring the rising sun to binding up hearts that are broken. visit us, giving light to those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, Kyrie, kyrie, eleison. guiding our feet along the way of peace. Station 8: The women of Jerusalem mourn for our Lord Friday Mornings in Lent at 9.30am Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you. (This format is the same for weeks 2-5 in Lent) All: Because by your holy Cross, you have redeemed the world. Leader: Consider how these women wept with compassion on Hymn seeing Jesus in such a pitiable state, streaming with blood, Prayer before the Cross as he walked along. ‘Daughters of Jerusalem,’ he said, ‘weep not for me, but for yourselves and for your children.’ (All) (Pause for reflection) Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus,

while before Your face I humbly kneel and, Hymn (Said or sung) with burning soul, pray and beseech You to fix deep in my heart lively sentiments of faith, hope and charity; true contrition for my sins, O my people, what have I done to you, and a firm purpose of amendment. how have I hurt you, answer me. While I contemplate, with great love and tender pity, Prayer Your five most precious wounds, ponder over them within me All: We pray that our prayers may rise like incense in the presence of the and calling to mind the words which David, Lord as a symbol of our sorrow and contrition, our humility and Your prophet, said to You, my Jesus: penitence. Renew us in spirit, strengthen us in hope, perfect us in love. "They have pierced My hands and My feet, Kyrie, kyrie, eleison. they have numbered all My bones."

Station 9: Jesus falls for the third time Reflection on the Way of The Cross Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.

All: Because by your holy Cross, you have redeemed the world. Refrain Leader: Consider the third fall of Jesus Christ. His weakness was extreme, and the cruelty of his executioners excessive who Oh my people, what have I done to you, how have I hurt you, answer me. tried to hasten his steps when he could scarcely move. (Pause for reflection) Prayer The Cross is my sure salvation. Hymn (Said or sung) The Cross I ever adore.

The Cross of my Lord is with me. O my people, what have I done to you, The Cross is my refuge. how have I hurt you, answer me. All: I love you Jesus, my love above all things. I repent with my whole heart for Prayer having offended you. Never permit me to separate myself from you again. Grant that I may love you always, then do with me what you will. All: We pray for those who were disbelieved or punished for trying to speak the truth Kyrie, kyrie, eleison. Concluding Prayer

Thursday after Ash Wednesday Station 10: Jesus is stripped of his garments (This format is the same for all services, Monday–Thursday in Lent) Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you. All: Because by your holy Cross, you have redeemed the world. Prayer of Adoration Leader: Consider the violence with which Jesus was stripped by the (St ) executioners. His inner garments adhered to his torn flesh, All: Almighty and everlasting God, and they dragged them off so roughly that the skin came behold I come to the Sacrament of your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus with them. Take pity on your Saviour thus cruelly treated. Christ: I come as one infirm to the physician of life, as one unclean to the (Pause for reflection) fountain of mercy, as one blind to the light of everlasting brightness, as one poor and needy to the Lord of heaven and earth. Hymn (Said or sung) Therefore I implore the abundance of your measureless bounty

that you would vouchsafe to heal my infirmity, wash my uncleanness, enlighten my blindness, enrich my poverty and clothe my nakedness, O my people, what have I done to you, that I may receive your graces, King of kings, the Lord of lords, how have I hurt you, answer me. with such reverence and humility, with such sorrow and devotion, with such purity and faith, with such purpose and intention as may be profitable to my Prayer soul’s salvation. Grant unto me, I pray, the grace always to receive you worthily in the Holy Eucharist. O most loving Father, give me grace to behold forever All: We pray for those whose memories have been reawakened and your beloved Son with His face at last unveiled, in the glory of heaven, for ever whose pain feels as fresh as the time it was inflicted. and ever. Amen. Kyrie, kyrie, eleison. Hymn Prayer Station 11: Jesus is nailed to the Cross All: Lord Jesus, we have begun our Season of Lent. Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you. We ask for the power of your Spirit that we may become All: Because by your holy Cross, you have redeemed the world. more thoughtful towards others, more honest with ourselves, and more faithful to you. Help us to walk in your presence Leader: Consider how Jesus, having been placed upon the Cross, and grow as the people you want us to be. Amen extended his hands, and offered to His eternal Father the sacrifice of His life for our salvation. Those barbarians Hymn fastened him with nails, and then, securing the Cross, Meditation & Time to Ponder allowed him to die with anguish on this infamous gibbet. Reflection & Time to Ponder (Pause for reflection)

Intercessory Prayer Hymn (Said or sung) Response: Hear us as we pray, O Lord, hear our prayers today. Penance Rite O my people, what have I done to you, how have I hurt you, answer me.

All: I love you Jesus, my love above all things. I repent with my whole heart for having offended you. Never permit me to separate myself from you again. Grant that I may love you always, then do with me what you will. Prayer Benediction All: We pray for those who hid the truth from themselves and from others. Kyrie, kyrie, eleison. Station 12: Jesus dies on the Cross “And when you pray, do not imitate the hypocrites: they love to say their prayers standing up in the synagogues and at street corners for Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you. people to see them. I tell you solemnly, they have had their reward. All: Because by your holy Cross, you have redeemed the world. But when you pray, go to your private room and, when you have shut Leader: Consider how Jesus, being consumed with anguish after your door, pray to your Father who is in that place, and your three hours’ agony on the Cross, abandoned himself to the Father who sees all that is done is secret will reward you.” weight of his body, bowed his head and died. “When you fast do not put on a gloomy look as the hypocrites do: (Pause for reflection) they pull long faces to let men know they are fasting. I tell you

solemnly, they have had their reward. But when you fast, put oil on Hymn (Said or sung) your head and wash your face, so that no one will know you are

fasting except your Father who sees all that is done in secret; and your O my people, what have I done to you, how have I hurt you, answer me. Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.” The Gospel of the Lord. Prayer All: We pray for the families of survivors, for parents who experience Reception of Blessed Ashes guilt, for spouses and partners who deal daily with long-term Leader: consequences, and for all who suffer pain . Kyrie, kyrie, eleison.

O God, who are moved by acts of humility and respond with Station 13: Jesus is taken down from the Cross forgiveness to works of penance, lend your merciful ear to our prayers and in your kindness pour out the grace of your blessing on your Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you. servants who are to be marked with these ashes, that, as we follow the All: Because by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world. Lenten observances, we may be worthy to come with minds made Leader: Consider how, after our Lord has expired, two of his pure to celebrate the Paschal Mystery of your Son. disciples, Joseph and Nicodemus, took him down from the Through Christ our Lord. Amen. Cross and placed him in the arms of his afflicted Mother, who received him with unutterable tenderness, and pressed All: Help me, O God my saviour; for the sake of your name, O Lord, him to her bosom.. set me free and grant me the courage and grace always to repent, (Pause for reflection) and believe in your Gospel. (Each person present marks their forehead with the ashes Hymn (Said or sung) making the sign of the cross.)

Leader: O my people, what have I done to you, how have I hurt you, answer me. As we solemnly offer the annual sacrifice for the beginning of Lent, we entreat you, O Lord, that, through works of penance and charity, we may Prayer turn away from harmful pleasures and, cleansed from our sins, may become worthy to celebrate devoutly the Passion of your Son. Who lives and reigns All: We pray for ourselves: that in anger, dismay, revulsion and despair for ever and ever. Amen. Let us bless the Lord. we might be bearers of light in the darkness. Kyrie, kyrie, eleison. All: Thanks be to God. In the name of the Father, and of the Son..

Responsorial Psalm Station 14: Jesus is placed in the Sepulchre Response: Have mercy on us, O Lord, for we have sinned. Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.

All: Because by your holy Cross, you have redeemed the world. Reader:

Leader: Consider how the disciples, accompanied by his holy Mother, carried the body of Jesus to bury it. They closed Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness. In your compassion blot the tomb, and all came sorrowfully away. out my offence. O wash me more and more from my guilt and (Pause for reflection) cleanse me from my sin. ® My offences truly I know them; my sin is always before me. Against Hymn (Said or sung) you, you alone, have I sinned: what is evil in your sight I have done. ® A pure heart create for me, O God, put a steadfast spirit within me. O my people, what have I done to you, how have I hurt you, answer me. Do not cast me away from your presence, nor deprive me of your saving help. ® Prayer Give me again the joy of your help; with a spirit of fervor sustain me. All: We pray for those who perpetrated these crimes and committed O Lord, open my lips and my mouth shall declare your praise. ® these grave sins. . Kyrie, kyrie, eleison.

Acclamation Prayer

(All) Praise to you, O Christ, King of eternal glory. (X2) A pure heart create for me, O God. The Cross is my sure salvation. And give me again the joy of your help. The Cross I ever adore. Praise to you, O Christ, King of eternal glory. (X2) The Cross of my Lord is with me. The Cross is my refuge.

Gospel: Matthew 6:1-6. 16-18 All: I love you Jesus, my love above all things. I repent with my whole Reader: heart for having offended you. Never permit me to separate myself from you again. Grant that I may love you always, then do with me Jesus said to his disciples: “Be careful not to parade your good deeds what you will. before men to attract their notice; by doing this you will lose all Blessing reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give alms, do not Leader: May God bless you with every heavenly blessing, make you have it trumpeted before you; this is what the hypocrites do in the always holy and pure in his sight, pour out in abundance upon you synagogues and in the streets to win men’s admiration. I tell you the riches of his glory, and teach you with the words of truth; may solemnly, they have had their reward. But when you give alms, your he instruct you with the Gospel of salvation, and ever endow you left hand must not know what your right hand is doing; your with fraternal charity. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. almsgiving must be secret, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you. Go now! Take up your cross and with your life complete your way!

Hymn Leader: May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring Ash Wednesday Celebration us to everlasting life. All: Amen Hymn (Sung or said) Come back to me with all your heart. Don’t let fear keep us apart. Leader: God our bountiful Father, we know that you love us and that you Trees do bend, ‘though straight and tall; are faithful to your promises. We pray that you will continue to look so must we to others’ call. upon this family with love and to strengthen in us the presence of your Holy Spirit. May he illuminate us so that we may live our lives Long have I waited for your coming ever watchful, ever striving and ever faithful. May the home to me and living deeply our new life. encouragement we give to one another help us to fulfil our hopes The wilderness will lead you and desires as followers of Christ. to your heart where I will speak. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Integrity and justice with tenderness you shall know. LITURGY OF THE WORD

INTROUDTORY RITE First Reading: Joel 2:12-18 Greeting and Welcome Reader: Leader: In the name of the Father, and of the Son.. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, “But now, now—it is the Lord who speaks—come back to me with all your and the of the Holy Spirit be with us now and heart, fasting weeping, mourning.” let not your hearts be broken, not your always. garments torn, turn to the Lord your God again, for he is all tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in graciousness, and ready to relent. All: And with your spirit.

Who knows if he will not turn again, will not relent, will not leave a blessing Leader: Let us begin by acknowledging our sins before God our as he passes, and libation for the Lord your God? Sound the loving and merciful Father, and so, prepare ourselves to trumpet in Zion! Order a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly, call the people celebrate this Ash Wednesday liturgy. together, summon the community, assemble the elders, gather the children, (Pause for a few moments to call to mind one’s sins) even the infants at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his bedroom and the

bride her alcove. All: I confess to almighty God and to you, my brothers and Between vestibule and let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, lament. sisters, that I have greatly sinned, in my thoughts and in my Let them say, “Spare your people, Lord! Do not make your heritage a thing words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do, of shame, a byword for the nations. Why should it be said among the nations, ‘Where is their God?” Then the Lord, jealous on behalf of his land, (Striking one’s breast say) took pity on his people. through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault; therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin, The Word of the Lord. and the Angels and Saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God.