Ash Wednesday: today's prayer

ASH WEDNESDAY

“On Wednesday before Sunday I of Lent, the faithful, receiving the ashes, enter the time destined for the purification of the soul. With this penitential rite arising from the biblical tradition and preserved in ecclesial custom up to the present day, the condition of the sinful man is indicated, who externally confesses his guilt before God and thus expresses the will for an interior conversion, in the hope that the Lord be merciful to him. Through this same sign begins the path of conversion, which will reach its goal in the celebration of the sacrament of Penance in the days before Easter. The blessing and imposition of the ashes takes place during Mass or even outside Mass. In this case, the liturgy of the Word was concluded, concluded with the prayer of the faithful. Ash Wednesday is an obligatory day of penance throughout the Church, with observance of abstinence and fasting. " (Paschalis Sollemnitatis nn. 21-22)

You called me, Lord, I'm coming.

If I stop to look in the mirror or if I go down into the depths of my life, I discover two great apparently irreconcilable realities. I find my smallness which is also nullity and the sublimity of the works that the Lord has accomplished in my life. To date, I have not sung a worthy poem of love to him, but He has shaped me as a marvel of grace before I was even born. And today the invitation returns. His. "Return to me with all your heart." His invitation cannot be faded. One must make one's spirit attentive, caring, docile because its promises are sublime. He never rejects anyone, does not despise the poor, does not humiliate the sinner, does not let the crumbs of his table fall into the mud. The covering of ashes, today, is certainly a sign of clarity and choice. It is like changing direction or, better, like becoming aware that vanities, seductions, enchantments are like brushwood to burn. Only by burning all the negativities of our spirit does the brightness of our being shine. Covering oneself with ashes means becoming aware of one's weakness, of one's own nullity, of one's own inability and above all of the great disorder accumulated in our life. The Lord can restore strength and momentum to our spirit. Covering oneself with ashes means finding that our eyes cannot look at the sun and our clothes are stained and tattered. He, immense beauty and goodness, awaits us to purify and save, to redeem and restore.

I burned all my slag, Lord Jesus, and I placed the ashes of my nothingness on my head. Allow me to come to you and be with you, with a contrite heart and a sincere heart.

(excerpt from the Lent booklet - The path of conformity to Christ Jesus - by N.Giordano)

PRAYER FOR LENT

(psalm 50)

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your mercy; *
in your great love erase my sin.

Wash me from all my faults, *

cleanse me of my sin.
I recognize my guilt, *

my sin is always before me.

Against you, against you alone I have sinned, *
what is bad in your eyes, I did it;
so you are right when you speak, *
right in your judgment.

Behold, in guilt I was begotten, *
in sin my mother conceived me.
But you want the sincerity of the heart *
and inwardly teach me wisdom.

Purify me with hyssop and I will be cleansed; *
wash me and I will be whiter than the snow.
Let me feel joy and gladness, *
the bones you have broken will rejoice.

Look away from my sins, *
erase all my faults.
Create in me, O God, a pure heart, *
renew a firm spirit in me.

Don't push me away from your presence *
and do not deprive me of your holy spirit.
Give me the joy of being saved, *
support a generous soul in me.

I will teach wanderers your ways *
and sinners will return to you.
Deliver me from the blood, God, God my salvation, *
my tongue will exalt your justice.

Lord, open my lips *

and my mouth proclaim your praise;
because you don't like sacrifice *
and if I offer burnt offerings, you don't accept them.

A contrite spirit *

it is sacrifice to God,
a heartbroken and humiliated, *

you, O God, do not despise.

In your love give grace to Zion, *
raise the walls of Jerusalem.

Then you will appreciate the prescribed sacrifices, *
the holocaust and the whole oblation,
then they will sacrifice victims *
above your altar.

Glory to the Father and the Son *
and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, and now and always, *
forever and ever. Amen.

LITANIES OF REPENTANCE

FLOWER OF THE DAY:

Smiling, especially when it costs.