Journeying On

Lord of the cloud and fire,

I am a stranger, with a stranger's indifference;

My hands hold a pilgrim's staff,

My march is Zionward,

My eyes are toward the coming of the Lord,

My heart is in thy hands without reserve.

Thou hast created it, 

redeemed it, 

renewed it, 

captured it, 

conquered it.

Keep from it every opposing foe,

crush in it every rebel lust,

mortify every treacherous passion,

annihilate every earthborn desire.

All faculties of my being vibrate to thy touch

I love thee with soul, mind, body, strength,

might, spirit, affection, will,

desire, intellect, understanding.

Thou art the very perfection of all perfections;

All intellect is derived from thee;

My scanty rivulets flow from they unfathomable fountain.

Compared with thee the sun is darkness,

all beauty deformity,

all wisdom folly,

the best goodness faulty.

Thou art worth of an adoration greater than my dull heart can yield;

Invigorate my love that it may rise worthily to thee,

tightly entwine itself round thee,

be allured by thee.

Then shall my walk be endless praise.

From The Valley of Vision, p.198-199

Prayer of St. Augustine

O God, by whose laws the poles revolve,

The stars follow their courses,

The sun rules the day

And the moon presides over the night;

And all the world maintains,

As far as this world of sense allows,

The wondrous stability of things

By means of the orders and recurrences of seasons:

Through the days by the changing of light and darkness,

Through the months by the moon's progressions and declines,

Through the years by the successions of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter,

Through the cycles by the completion of the sun's course,

Through the great eras of time by the return of the stars to their starting points.

God of life,

There are days when the burdens we carry chafe our shoulders

And wear us down;

When the road seems dreary and endless,

The skies grey and threatening,

When our lives have no music in them,

And our hearts are lonely,

And our souls have lost their courage.

Flood the path with light, we beseech you;

Turn our eyes to where the skies are full of promise.

Our hearts are restless, O Lord, until they rest in you.

Ash Wednesday

The Prayer of Manasseh:

O Lord, Almighty God of our fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, thou who hast made heaven and earth with all their order; who has shackled the sea by thy word of command, who hast confined the deep and sealed it with thy terrible and glorious name; at whom all things shudder, and tremble before they power, for thy glorious splendor cannot be borne, and the wrath of thy threat to sinners is irresistible; yet immeasurable and unsearchable is thy promised mercy, for thou art the Lord Most High, of great compassion, long-suffering, and very merciful, and repentest over the evils of men.

Thou, O Lord, according to thy great goodness hast promised repentance and forgiveness to those who have sinned against thee; and in the multitude of thy mercies thou has appointed repentance for sinners, that they may be saved.

Therefore thou, O Lord, God of the righteous, hast not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance; thou hast appointed repentance for me, who am a sinner. For the sins I have committed are more in number than they sand of the sea; my transgressions are multiplied, O Lord, they are multiplied!

I am unworthy to look up and see the height of heaven because of the multitude of my iniquities. I am weighted down with many an iron fetter, so that I am rejected because of my sins, and I have no relief; for I have provoked thy wrath and have done what is evil in thy sight, setting up abominations and multiplying offenses.

And now I bend the knee of my heart, beseeching thee for thy kindness. I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned, and I know my transgressions. I earnestly beseech thee, forgive me, O Lord, forgive me! Do not destroy me with my transgressions! Do not be angry with me forever or lay up evil for me; do not condemn me to the depths of the earth.

For thou, O Lord, art the God of those who repent, and in me thou wilt manifest thy goodness; for, unworthy as I am, though wilt save me in thy great mercy, and I will praise thee continually all the days of my life. For all the host of heaven sings thy praise, and thine is the glory forever.

Imposition of the Ashes:

Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel,

Remember, you are dust and to dust you will return.