Ash Wednesday in Lent
February 14, 2024 Cycle B
Purple priestly vestments symbolize penance and preparation.

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Liturgical Year Cycle B 2023-2024

                                                                          Introductory Acts Of Worship

Entrance Song / Entrance Psalm (Antiphon)
Entrance Song
Wisdom 11:24, 25, 27  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.

The Priest Approaches and Kisses the Altar:  The altar is a symbol of Christ.  In it are cut five crosses to recall the five wounds of Christ.  The altar also represents the Church and has embedded in it the relics of her saints.  The priest comes to the altar to celebrate the Sacrifice in the Church's name.  Because of the glory surrounding the altar upon which the divine Sacrifice will be made, the kiss of the priest unites the Church to Christ, its Redeemer.

Priest:   In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
All:   Amen.

The Greeting:  We are welcomed in God's name.  Our response unites us to our neighbor, to the priest and to God.  (The priest may select from several forms of greeting).

Priest:   The Lord be with you.
All:     And also with you.

The Collect (Opening Prayer):    The priest lifts the united prayers and petitions of the congregation to God the Father through the merits of Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit.

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.

                                                    Liturgy of the Word

Christ is made known to us through the Old Testament which prepares us to recognize Him.  In those days, God inspired men who spoke His message.  Now, the New Testament Gospel reading announces His presence to us directly through His Son.  Both readings bring God's message to us.  Our responsibility is to respond.

The First Reading:  From the Old Testament

Priest/Reader:   A reading from the prophet Joel

First Reading:  Joel 2:12-181

Even now, says the Lord, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the Lord, your God.  For gracious and merciful is he, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment.  Perhaps he will again relent and leave behind him a blessing, Offerings and libations for the Lord, your God.

Blow the trumpet in Zion!  proclaim a fast, call an assembly; Gather the people, notify the congregation; Assemble the elders, gather the children and the infants at the breast; Let the bridegroom quit his room, and the bride her chamber. 

Between the porch and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep, And say, "Spare O Lord, your people, and make not your heritage a reproach, with the nations ruling over them!  Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?'"

Then the Lord was stirred to concern for his land and took pity on his people.

Priest/Reader:   The Word of the Lord.
All:    Thanks be to God.

The Responsorial Psalm:  This Psalm praising God, is a prayer to God, or recommends the practice of virtue.  It is sung as an interlude between the scriptural readings.  It provides yet another instructional setting and invites the assembly to imitate the cantor who sings a repeated response to the verses of an ancient Psalm many of which are attributed to King David.  The verses are sung first by a cantor (song leader) accompanied by instruments, the refrain is sung by the people. 

Psalm 146:6-7, 8-9, 9-10

Cantor:   Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.  Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
All:  R/.  Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.  Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Cantor:   Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.  Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me.
All:  R/.  Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.  Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Cantor:   For I acknowledge my offense, and my sin is before me always:  "Against you only have I sinner, and done what is evil in your sight." 
All:  R/.  Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Cantor:   A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me. Cast me not out from your presence, and our Holy Spirit take not from me.
All:  R/.  Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.  Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Cantor:  Give me back the joy of your salvation, and a willing spirit sustain in me.  O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
All:  R/.  Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.  Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.

The Second Reading:  Taken from the New Testament, often from a letter written by St. Paul.

Priest/Reader:   A Reading from the letter of Paul to the Corinthians. 

Second Reading:   2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2

Brothers and sisters: We are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us.  We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.  For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

Working together, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.  For he says: In an acceptable time I heard you, and on the day of salvation I helped you. 

Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

Verse before the Gospel:  
Psalm 95:8

Cantor:  If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
All:  R/.  If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Priest:   The Lord be with you.
All:    And also with you.

Priest/Deacon:   A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew.
All:    Glory to you, Lord.

The Gospel:   Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

Matthew wrote to show that Christ was the
Messiah and fulfilled the Jewish prophecies.

Jesus said to his disciples: "Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.  When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others.  Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.  But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret.  And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

"When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them.  Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.  But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret.  And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

"When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites.  They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting.  Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.  But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden.  And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you."

Priest:   The Gospel of the Lord.
All:    Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

The Priest's Sermon:    The priest develops, explains, and comments upon the Master's words, so our minds may be
enlightened, and our hearts enriched.

(A priestly reflection upon this Gospel)

The Blessing and Distribution of Ashes:

Priest:  Dear brothers and sisters, let us humbly ask God our Father that he be pleased to bless with the abundance of his grace these ashes, which we will put on our heads in penitence.

O God, who are moved by acts of humility and respond with 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 servants who are marked with these ashes, that, as they follow the Lenten observances, they may be worthy to come with minds made pure to celebrate the Paschal Mystery of your Son.  Through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Prayer Recited While Placing Ashes:

Priest / Assisting Minister: 

Repent, and believe in the Gospel.

Or

Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

General Intercessions:   We pray for the needs of the pope, civic leaders, our own needs, those of others, the sick, the dying, those who have died, the church, and the world.  The response of all to each intercession:  Lord, hear our prayer.

All:   Lord, hear our prayer.

                                                    The Liturgy of the Eucharist

Gifts of bread and wine symbolizing ourselves are presented to the priest who will offer them to God the Father.  Through the Holy Spirit, they will become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ whom we receive in Holy Communion.  Jesus unites Himself with us for our spiritual nourishment and strength.  Today, when individuals do not present their own personal offerings of bread and wine, the monetary contribution symbolizes the material of their united sacrifice.  The priest makes and offering of the bread and wine to God.

Preparation of the Bread and Wine:

Priest:   Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation, through your goodness we have this bread to offer, which earth has
given and human hands have made.  It will become for us the bread of life.
All:    Blessed be God for ever.

Priest:    By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ, who humbled himself to
share in our humanity.

Priest:   Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have received the wine we offer you;
fruit of the vine and work of human hands it will become our spiritual drink.
All:    Blessed be God for ever.

Priest:    Lord God, we ask you to receive us and be pleased with the sacrifice we offer you with humble and contrite hearts.

The Priest's Hands are Washed: This act was traditionally necessary because the priest handled the various gifts presented by the people.  Now, the cleansing act using water reminds the priest and ourselves of the need to cleanse not only the hands but the soul.  Soon, the priest's hands will hold the actual body of Christ, and we will become His dwelling place.   

Priest:    Lord, wash away my iniquity; cleanse me from my sin. Pray, brethren, that my sacrifice and yours may be
acceptable to God, the almighty Father.

All:    May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands, for the praise and glory of his name, for our good, and the good
of all his holy Church.

Prayer over the Gifts:  Speaking in our name, the priest asks the Father to accept the gifts we offer through him.

Priest:   Give us the right dispositions, O Lord, we pray, to make these offerings, for with them we celebrate the beginning of this venerable and sacred time.  Through Christ our Lord.
All:   Amen.

Eucharistic Prayer:   (Number Four:  The priest may select from several forms).

Priest:    The Lord be with you.
All:    And with your spirit. 

Priest:    Lift up your hearts.
All:   We lift them up to the Lord.

Priest:    Let us give thanks to the Lord, our God.
All:    It is right and just. 

Preface Prayer: 

It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks, Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God. 

For you will that our self-denial should give you thanks, humble our sinful pride, contribute to the feeding of the poor, and so help us imitate you in your kindness. 

And so we glorify you with countless Angels, as with one voice of praise we acclaim:

Acclamation:

Priest and All:   Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of hosts.  Heaven and earth are full of your glory.  Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.  Hosanna in the highest.

Priest:   You are indeed Holy, O Lord, and all you have created rightly gives you praise, for through your Son our Lord Jesus Christ, by the power and working of the Holy Spirit, you give life to all things and make them holy, and you never cease to gather a people to yourself, so that from the rising of the sun to its setting a pure sacrifice may be offered to your name.

Priest:  Therefore, O Lord, we humbly implore you: by the same Spirit graciously make holy these gifts we have brought to you for consecration, that they may become the Body and Blood of your Son our Lord Jesus Christ, at whose command we celebrate these mysteries.

The priest repeats the words which Christ used at his Last Supper when He changed the bread into His Body and the wine into His Blood.  His Body and Blood are truly present but under the appearance of bread and wine.  The death of Christ is prolonged in each of those who receive Him worthily.  We apply His death to ourselves so that we may share His glory.  This moment is the most solemn on earth because it is Divine act which enables us to apply to ourselves the Cross which Christ willingly took upon Himself. 

We are called to die to sin and lift our very selves to God so that we become changed; to do as God would have us do, to become what God would have us become.  Our own little cross can lift us into union with Christ's Cross so we may earn the joys of everlasting happiness with God the Father. 

The Lord's Supper:  At the time he was betrayed and entered willingly into his Passion, he took bread and, giving thanks, broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying:

Take this, all of you, and eat of it, for this is my Body, which will be given up for you.

In a similar way, when supper was ended, he took the chalice and, once more giving thanks, he gave it to his disciples, saying:

Take this, all of you, and drink from it, for this is the chalice of my Blood, the Blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.  Do this in memory of me.
 

Memorial Acclamation: (The priest may select from several forms). 
Priest:   The mystery of faith.
All:  Save us, Savior of the world, for by your Cross and Resurrection you have set us free.

Memorial Prayer:  (The priest may select from several forms).

Priest:  
Recalls Christ's Passion, Resurrection, Ascension, the Church, the dead, and ourselves.
Therefore, O Lord, as we celebrate the memorial of the saving Passion of your Son, his wondrous Resurrection and Ascension into heaven, and as we look forward to his second coming, we offer you in thanksgiving this holy and living sacrifice.  Look, we pray, upon the oblation of your Church and, recognizing the sacrificial Victim by whose death you willed to reconcile us to yourself, grant that we, who are nourished by the Body and Blood of your Son and filled with his Holy Spirit, may become one body, one spirit in Christ.

May he make of us an eternal offering to you, so that we may obtain an inheritance with your elect, especially with the most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God,  with blessed Joseph, her Spouse, with your blessed Apostles and glorious Martyrs and with all the Saints, on whose constant intercession in your presence we rely for unfailing help.

May this Sacrifice of our reconciliation, we pray, O Lord, advance the peace and salvation of all the world.  Be pleased to confirm in faith and charity your pilgrim Church on earth, with your servant, _____ our Pope and, _____ our Bishop, the Order of Bishops, all the clergy, and the entire people you have gained for your own.  Listen graciously to the prayers of this family, whom you have summoned before you: in your compassion, O merciful Father, gather to yourself all your children scattered throughout the world.

To our departed brothers and sisters and to all who were pleasing to you at their passing from this life, give kind admittance to your kingdom.  There we hope to enjoy for ever the fullness of your glory through Christ our Lord, through whom you bestow on the world all that is good.
               
Doxology
Prayer of Praise:   Through him, with him, and in him, O God, almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, for ever and ever.
All:   Amen.      

                                                            Communion Rite

We symbolically offer ourselves to the Lord through the gifts of bread and wine.  At the Consecration, we offer our very lives to be united the God the Father through the Cross of Christ.  In Communion, we find that we have not died at all, but have come to life.  We have surrendered ourselves to God through His Divine Son, Jesus Christ.  In return become ennobled and enriched.  We give up time and we get eternity, we give up our sin and we receive grace, we surrender our self-will and receive the strength of the Divine Will, we give up ourselves and we receive everything.  For the Son of God says to us that unless we receive Him we shall not have Divine life in us.  But it is not really we who receive Christ as it is Christ who receives us, bringing us into Himself.

God makes His Cross the very means of our salvation and our life.  While we have crucified Him, His eternal love cannot be extinguished.  Christ willed to give us the very life we crucified in our Redemption, the Consecration of Holy Thursday into Communion, His death into our everlasting life.

The Lord's Prayer:

Priest:  At the Savior's command and formed by divine teaching, we dare to say:
Priest and All:   Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be they 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.

Priest:  Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil, graciously grant peace in our days, that, by the help of your mercy, we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress, as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

All:  For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours now and forever.

Prayer for Peace:

Priest:  Lord Jesus Christ, who said to your Apostles: Peace I leave you, my peace I give you, look not on our sins, but on the faith of your Church, and graciously grant her peace and unity in accordance with your will.  Who live and reign for ever and ever.
All:  Amen.

Priest:  The peace of the Lord be with you always.
All:  And with your spirit.
Priest:   Let us offer each other the sign of peace.

Breaking of the Bread:

Priest:   May this mingling of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ bring eternal life to us who receive it.

Priest and All:  Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
                           Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
                           Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, grant us peace.

Priestly Preparation:    May the receiving of your Body and Blood, Lord Jesus Christ, not bring me to judgment and condemnation, but through your loving mercy be for me protection in mind and body and a healing remedy.

Priest:   Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world.  Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb. 

Priest and All:   Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the world and my soul shall be healed.

Priest:   May the Body of Christ keep me safe for eternal life.
              May the Blood of Christ keep me safe for eternal life.

Communion Antiphon:  
Psalm 1:2-3

He who ponders the law of the Lord day and night will yield fruit in due season.

Communion of the Faithful:

Priest:    The Body of Christ. 
The Faithful:   Amen.

Priest/Deacon/
Extraordinary Eucharistic Minister:   The Blood of Christ.
The Faithful:   Amen.

Cleansing of the Vessels:

Priest:   What has passed our lips as food, O Lord, may we possess in purity of heart, that what has been given to us in time may be our healing for eternity.

Prayer after Communion:

Priest:   Let us pray.
Priest:  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.

Concluding Rite

Greeting:

Priest:   The Lord be with you.
All:   And with your spirit. 
Priest:   Bow down for the blessing.

Blessing:

Priest:  Pour out a spirit of compunction, O God, on those who bow before your majesty, and by your mercy may they merit the rewards you promise to those who do penance.  Through Christ our Lord.
All:  Amen.

Priest/Deacon:   Go forth, the Mass is ended.
All:   Thanks be to God.

  O my Jesus, forgive us our sins. 
  
  Save us from the fires of hell. 

  Lead all souls to heaven,

  especially those in most need of your mercy.

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Liturgical Year Cycle B 2023-2024