(Make the sign of the cross with your right thumb on your lips, saying:)

Lord, open my lips and my mouth will proclaim your praise.

INVITATORY: Come, let us worship Christ,
who for our sake endured temptation and suffering.

Psalm 51 (50)
Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness.
In your compassion blot out my offense.
O wash me more and more from my guilt
and cleanse me from my sin.

My offenses truly I know them;
my sin is always before me.
Against you, you alone, have I sinned;
what is evil in your sight I have done.

That you may be justified when you give sentence
and be without reproach when you judge.
O see, in guilt I was born,
a sinner was I conceived.

Indeed you love truth in the heart;
then in the secret of my heart teach me wisdom.
O purify me, then I shall be clean;
O wash me, I shall be whiter than snow.

Make me hear rejoicing and gladness
that the bones you have crushed may thrill.
From my sins turn away your face
and blot out all my guilt.

A pure heart create for me, O God,
put a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
nor deprive me of your holy spirit.

Give me again the joy of your help;
with a spirit of fervor sustain me,
that I may teach transgressors your ways
and sinners may return to you.

O rescue me, God, my helper,
and my tongue shall ring out your goodness.
O Lord, open my lips
and my mouth shall declare your praise.

For in sacrifice you take no delight,
burnt offering from me you would refuse;
my sacrifice, a contrite spirit,
a humbled, contrite heart you will not spurn.

In your goodness, show favor to Zion;
rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
Then you will be pleased with lawful sacrifice,
(burnt offerings wholly consumed),
then you will be offered young bulls on your altar.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen

Come, let us worship Christ,
who for our sake endured temptation and suffering.

ANT: All the descendants of Israel
will glory in the Lord's gift of victory.

Canticle 53 (Isaiah 45:15-24)
Truly you are a God who hides himself,
O God and Savior of Israel.
All the makers of idols will be put to shame.
They will go off into disgrace together.

But Israel will be saved by the Lord with an everlasting salvation.
For this is what the Lord says,
he who created the heavens, he is God.
He who fashioned and made the earth and founded it,
he did not create it to be empty,
but formed it to be inhabited.

He says: "I am the Lord and there is no other.
I have not spoken in secret in some darkness.
I have not said to Jacob's descendants, 'Seek me in vain.'
I the Lord speak the truth and declare what is right.

"Gather together and come;
assemble, you fugitives from the nations.
Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood,
who pray to gods that cannot save.

"Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth,
for I am God and there is no other.
Before me every knee shall bow.
By me every tongue will swear."

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen

ANT: All the descendants of Israel
will glory in the Lord's gift of victory.

READING (Isaiah 53:11-12)
Through his suffering, my servant shall justify many,
and their guilt he shall bear.
Therefore I will give him his portion among the great,
and he shall divide the spoils with the mighty.
Because he surrendered himself to death
and was counted among the wicked;
and he shall take away the sins of many
and win pardon for their offenses.

[Reflect on the Reading, applying it to your life today.]

ANT: If your virtue does not surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees,
you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH (Luke 1:68-79)
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;
he has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty savior,
born of the house of his servant David.

Through his holy prophets he promised of old
that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us.

He promised to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant.
This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham;
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
free to worship him without fear,
holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.

You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
to give his people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.

In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen

ANT: If your virtue does not surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees,
you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

INTERCESSIONS

Lord Jesus, you brought us life by your death on the cross;
raise us to new life.

Teacher and Savior, you are faithful to us and make us a new creation;
keep us from falling into sin.

Help us to deny ourselves today and not deny those in need.

Lord Jesus, open our hearts and make us generous to those we meet today.

[Pray for your special intentions.]

OUR FATHER
And now we pray to God the Father in the words that Jesus taught us.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory for ever and ever. Amen

PRAYER
Lord, may our observance of Lent
help to renew us and prepare us
to celebrate the death and resurrection of Christ,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen