Entrance Antiphon: You are merciful to all, O Lord, and despise nothing that you have made. You overlook people’s sins, to bring them to repentance, and you spare them, for you are the Lord our God. (Wis 11: 24, 25, 27)
Collect: Grant, O Lord, that we may begin with holy fasting
this campaign of Christian service,
so that, as we take up battle against spiritual evils,
we may be armed with weapons of self-restraint.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
First Reading: Jl 2:12-18
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 51:3-4, 5-6AB, 12-13, 14 AND 17
Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Second Reading: 2 Cor 5:20—6:2
Gospel: Mt 6:1-6, 16-18
Prayer over the offerings: 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 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 for ever and ever.
Communion Antiphon: He who ponders the law of the Lord day and night will yield fruit in due season. (Cf. Ps 1: 2-3)
Prayer after Communion: May the Sacrament we have received sustain us, O Lord,
that our Lenten fast may be pleasing to you
and be for us a healing remedy.
Through Christ our Lord.
Suggested Music:
Processional Hymn: Attende, Domine
Entrance Antiphon: from the Ignatius Pew Missal
Responsorial Psalm: from the Ignatius Pew Missal
Gospel Acclamation: from the Ignatius Pew Missal
During the distribution of the ashes:
Antiphon I: from the Ignatius Pew Missal
Antiphon II: from the Ignatius Pew Missal
Antiphon III: from the Ignatius Pew Missal
Responsory: from the Ignatius Pew Missal
Offertory: Lord Jesus, Think on Me
Communion Antiphon: from the Ignatius Pew Missal
A Eucharistic Hymn is appropriate after communion.
Recessional: Forty Days and Forty Nights
For more hymn options, click here.