Prayer for Ash Wednesday

For decades, each Ash Wednesday, Catholics around the world have recited the same prayers in their local churches. Millions have made the pope's litany their own in the US alone.

Prayer for Ash Wednesday focused on the spiritual life of Catholic faith. On this day of ashes, a time of reflection and penance, we need to turn our hearts toward one another. Brother, sister, this is a time for tears and intercessions. Let us pray for others, not just think about them. And so, let us pray...

This is a Quicktime of the prayer, including a Bible passage and the Father's Prayer. The prayer of the faithful from around the world. We're engineering a deeper understanding of how to receive God's grace and how to be in relationship with the Father through prayer.

After the Maundy Thursday pre-Lenten Eucharistic liturgy, we gather to pray the Penitential Rite. Praying this rite allows us to join in atonement and intercession before God in our own responsibility and on behalf of the whole Church.

Bells for Ash Wednesday in the early morning hours. The Church's longing for the coming of the Lord seems to cry aloud today especially in our time of need. Our Church has called upon the faithful from the day of its foundation to join together in prayer for the Church. Unlike the funeral rite it is steeped in joy and hope for the coming Messiah. The end of the old year and the start of a new, allow us to use this day to prepare ourselves for the celebration of Jesus’ birth.

The ashes are prepared by burning the palm fronds used the prior year’s Palm Sunday celebration. They represent death and repentance, a reminder that we are human – mortal, sinful, and in need of repentance.

Whether your church offers an Ash Wednesday service or observes Lent, you can enter into this season with prayer, reflection, and repentance. Taking a season each year to reflect on your life, confess your sins to God, and recommit to walking in God’s way is a powerful way to enter into Easter.

As we begin this Lenten season, take a few minutes to reflect and pray on Ash Wednesday (and maybe stop by a church for your ashes). Then, consider observing a Holy Lent with prayer, fasting, reflection, and repentance. As we usher in Lent, we're inviting you to join us for a 7-day journey in which you will explore Ash Wednesday, it's meaning, and what we do to prepare for the season. Thank you for your participation.