A Prayer for the Beginning of Lent

…Come, Lord Jesus.I am here.
Waiting.
Hoping.
Loving.
Seeking you.
Amen.†
From: Episcopal Cafe.  Click here for the full prayer

 

 

Litany of Penitence

The Celebrant and People together, all kneeling

Most holy and merciful Father:
We confess to you and to one another,
and to the whole communion of saints
in heaven and on earth,
that we have sinned by our own fault
in thought, word, and deed;
by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.

The Celebrant continues

We have not loved you with our whole heart, and mind, and
strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We
have not forgiven others, as we have been forgiven.
Have mercy on us, Lord.

We have been deaf to your call to serve, as Christ served us.

We have not been true to the mind of Christ. We have grieved
your Holy Spirit.
Have mercy on us, Lord. †

 

Psalm 51    Miserere mei, Deus

  1     Have mercy on me, O God, according to your loving-kindness;
in your great compassion blot out my offenses.

  2     Wash me through and through from my wickedness *
and cleanse me from my sin. 

3      For I know my transgressions,*
and my sin is ever before me.

  4     Against you only have I sinned *
and done what is evil in your sight.

  5     And so you are justified when you speak *
and upright in your judgment

  6     Indeed, I have been wicked from my birth, *
a sinner from my mother’s womb.

  7     For behold, you look for truth deep within me, *
and will make me understand wisdom secretly.

  8     Purge me from my sin, and I shall be pure; *
wash me, and I shall be clean indeed.

  9     Make me hear of joy and gladness, *
that the body you have broken may rejoice.

10     Hide your face from my sins *
and blot out all my iniquities.

11     Create in me a clean heart, O God, *
and renew a right spirit within me.

12     Cast me not away from your presence *
and take not your holy Spirit from me.

13     Give me the joy of your saving help again *
and sustain me with your bountiful Spirit. †

Book of Common Prayer. p 337

 

A PRAYER
O God, let something happen to me,
something more than interesting or entertaining or thoughtful.
O God, let something essential happen to me, something awesome, something real.
Speak to my condition O Lord, and change me somewhere inside where it matters,
a change that will burn and tremble and heal, and explode me into tears
or laughter, or love that throbs or screams, or keeps a terrible cleansing silence,
and dares the dangerous deeds.
Let something happen in me which is my real self, O God.  †
(Ted Loder)

Prayer of Humble Access, BCP p. 337 Holy Eucharist Rite 1

We do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord,
trusting in our own righteousness but in thy manifold and great mercies.
We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table.
But thou art the same Lord whose property is always to have mercy.
Grant us therefore gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ,
and to drink his blood, that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us.
Amen.