THURSDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY


MORNING PRAYER


Throughout the Lenten Season, use the Morning and
Evening Prayer as in the Psalter, substituting the
readings, intercessions, and prayers for Lent. Supple-
mental psalms and canticles appropriate for Lent
may also be chosen.

READING: 1 Kings 8:51-53

For they are your people and heritage, which
you brought out of Egypt, from the midst of
the iron-smelter. Let your eyes be open to
the plea of your servant, and to the plea of your
people Israel, listening to them whenever they
call to you. For you have separated them from
among all the peoples of the earth, to be your
heritage, just as you promised through Moses,
your servant, when you brought our ancestors
our of Egypt, O Lord God.

CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH

If you want to become my follower, you must deny yourself and take up your cross and follow me.

Praise the Lord, the God of Israel,
who shepherds the people and
sets them free.

God raises from David’s house
a child with
power to save.
Through the holy prophets
God promised in
ages past
to save us from enemy hands,
from the grip of
all who hate us.

The Lord favored our ancestors
recalling the
sacred covenant,
the pledge to our an
cestor Abraham,
to free us
from our enemies,
so we might worship without fear
and be holy and just
all our days.

And you child, will be called
Prophet of
the Most High,
for you will come to prepare
a pathway
for the Lord
by teaching the peo
ple salvation
through forgiveness
of their sin.

Out of God’s
deepest mercy
a dawn will come
from on high,
light for those sha
dowed by death,
a guide for our feet on the
way to peace.

INTERCESSIONS

Jesus by your cross and resurrection, you have set us free. That we may experience your saving love, we pray.

Jesus, free us to embrace the rhythm of our lives, joys and sorrows mingled:
~
You are the Savior of the world.

Jesus, prevent us from contributing to the burdens carried by our brothers and sisters:

Jesus, help us to move beyond ethnic conflicts to the richness of intercultural sharing:

Jesus, strengthen those who carry the cross of sickness, in mind or body:

Jesus, bring healing to those who have suffered the death of their loved ones:

THE LORD'S PRAYER

PRAYER

Catherine McAuley taught us that the humble, abandoned, agonizing Christ is our Christ. Jesus, give us the courage to glory in your cross and to die with you, so that we may share in your resurrection. Amen.

BLESSING

Purify our hearts, O God, that we may be freed from sin. Amen.
Renew our hearts, O God, that they may burn with love for you. Amen.
Open our hearts, O God, that we may welcome all persons as our brothers and sisters. Amen.



EVENING PRAYER


READING: James 4:7-8, 10

Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and
he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and
he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands,
you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-
minded. Humble yourselves before the Lord,
and he will exalt you.

CANTICLE OF MARY

Those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.

I acclaim the greatness of the Lord,
I delight in God my savior,
who regarded my humble state.
Truly from this day on
all ages will call me blest.

For God, wonderful in power,
has used that strength for me.
Holy the name of the Lord!
Whose mercy embraces the faithful,
one generation to the next.

The mighty arm of God
scatters the proud in their conceit,
pulls tyrants from their thrones,
and raises up the humble.
The Lord fills the starving
and lets the rich go hungry.

God rescues lowly Israel,
recalling the promise of mercy,
the promise made to our ancestors,
to Abraham’s heirs for ever.


INTERCESSIONS

Saving God, we come to you confident of your
unfailing love for us:

~
Strengthen our hope for eternal life
with you.

When we experience times of personal doubt
and confusion:

When we are faced with accidents, tragedies,
or natural disasters:


When we lose friends and loved ones in death:

When we receive diagnoses of serious illness:

When we struggle in oppressive situations:

THE LORD'S PRAYER

PRAYER

O God, we place ourselves in your hands
without reserve. Help us draw near to you
through prayer and good works, that we may
one day enjoy the fullness of life with you
forever. This we ask in the name of Jesus our
Savior, who gave his life that we might find
ours. Amen.

BLESSING

Purify our hearts, O God, that we may be freed from sin. Amen.
Renew our hearts, O God, that they may burn with love for you. Amen.
Open our hearts, O God, that we may welcome all persons as our brothers and sisters. Amen.