"Jesus, I give You my whole
heart and my whole will.
They once rebelled against You, but now I dedicate them completely to you…
They once rebelled against You, but now I dedicate them completely to you…
Receive
me, and make me faithful until
death.” - St. Alphonsus Liguori
ASH
WEDNESDAY*
"Give me, good Lord, a full faith and a
fervent charity, a love of You, good Lord,
incomparably above the love of myself; and that I love nothing that displeases
You but everything for the sake of You.
Take from me, good Lord, this
lukewarm -- or rather cold-hearted -- way of meditation
and this dullness in praying to You. And give me warmth, delight, and
life in thinking of You.
And give me grace to long for
Your holy Sacraments, and specifically to rejoice in the
presence of Your Blessed
Body, sweet Savior Christ, in the holy Sacrament
of the altar, and duly to thank You for Your precious visitation through it; and
at that high Memorial, may I have grace to remember and consider Your most
bitter passion with tender compassion."
*ASH
WEDNESDAY is solemnly observed by the Church to mark the
beginning of the forty days of penance in the Lenten season. The faithful who
attends the Mass on this day will be marked on the forehead with a CROSS of
ASHES as a sign of conversion, penance,
fasting and human mortality.
Ash
Wednesday, Julian Falat (1853-1929, Poland)
The
marking of the forehead with a cross made of ashes reminds each that (1) God
made the first human being by breathing life into dust, and without God, human
beings are nothing more than dust and ashes, (2) the phrases often used when
the ashes are administered remind Christians of the doctrine of original sin
and (3) the cross of ashes may symbolize the way Christ's sacrifice on the cross
as atonement for sin replaces the Old Testament tradition of making burnt
offerings to atone for sin.
As ashes are being administered, the priest utters one of the following phrases:
"Turn
away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel."
"Remember
(O man) that you are dust, and unto dust you shall
return."
"Repent, and hear
the good news."
And
if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him;
and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. - Ecclesiastes 4;12
and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. - Ecclesiastes 4;12
During
Lent, we are called to prayer,
fasting and almsgiving.They are the
"three-fold cord" spoken of in Ecclesiastes 4:12. Satan will not prevail against
us if we follow Christ's call to use this three-fold cord as a basis for our
Christian walk.
"Act,
and God will act. " - St. Joan of Arc
Prayer
is good when accompanied
by
fasting, almsgiving, and righteousness.
A
little with righteousness is better than much with wrongdoing.
It is better to give alms than to treasure up gold. - Tobit 12:8
It is better to give alms than to treasure up gold. - Tobit 12:8
Let
us pray - one for the other -
for
perseverance and fidelity in this Lenten season!
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