ALMIGHTY and everlasting God,
who hatest nothing that thou hast made, and dost forgive the
sins of all those who are penitent; Create and make in us new
and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and
acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of
all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.
¶ This Collect is to be said every day in Lent, after
the Collect appointed for the day, until Palm Sunday.
For the Epistle. Joel ii. 12.
TURN ye even to me, saith the LORD, with all your heart, and
with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: and rend your
heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God:
for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great
kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. Who knoweth if he will
return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat-offering
and a drink-offering unto the LORD your God? Blow the trumpet
in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: gather the
people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather
the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom
go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. Let
the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch
and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and
give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should
rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where
is their God?
The Gospel. St. Matthew vi. 16.
WHEN ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance:
for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men
to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou,
when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; that
thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is
in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward
thee openly. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth,
where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through
and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where
neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not
break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will
your heart be also.
¶ The same Collect, Epistle, and Gospel shall serve for
every day after, unto the next Sunday, except upon the Feast
of St. Matthias.
Hymn Suggestions
+ +
Forty days and forty nights - Heinlein 55
Kind maker of the world (office hymn) - Jesu dulcis
memoria 56
Weary of earth, and laden with my sin - Langran 58
Lord, who throughout these Forty days - St.Flavian
59
The glory of these forty days - Spires 61
Here, O my Lord - Penitentia 208
O bless the Lord, my soul (St. Thomas-#388) - Doncaster 293
There's a wideness in God's mercy - Beecher 304
In the cross of Christ, I glory - Rathbun 336
My God, accept my heart this day - Song 67 404
Take my life, and let it be - Hollingside 408
Just as I am, without one plea - Saffron walden409
Just as I am, without one plea - St. Crispin409
Just as I am, without one plea - Woodworth409
O Lord, and Master of us all - Walsall 501