FRIDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY


MORNING PRAYER


READING: Isaiah 53:11b-12

The righteous one, my servant, shall make
many righteous,
and shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will allot my servant a portion
with the great,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong;
because he poured out himself to death,
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet this servant bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.

CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH

Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

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

O Jesus, righteous one, you taught us to bear wrongs patiently and to love those who harm us. Sometimes our pride even prompts us to feel injury where none was intended, and so we pray:
~
Jesus, help us to see and love you in our brothers and sisters.

When we are overlooked by our companions and co-workers:

When those to whom we minister complain or take our services for granted:

When others are preferred before us, for praise or honor:

When the actions of others cause us personal harm:


THE LORD'S PRAYER

PRAYER

O Jesus, Catherine McAuley founded our
Institute on Calvary, in order to serve you
as our crucified Redeemer. Help us to be
faithful to the inspiration of her life by bearing
wrongs patiently and by seeking you in the
daily experience of our Mercy mission. We ask
this through the intercession of Catherine and
all the women of Mercy who have preceded us.
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 5:16, 19-20

Confess your sins to one another, and pray for
one another, so that you may be healed. The
prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.
My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you
wanders from the truth and is brought back by
another, you should know that whoever brings
back a sinner from wandering will save the
sinner's soul from death and will cover a
multitude of sins.

CANTICLE OF MARY

If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also.

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

El Shaddai, God of reconciling love, be with us
this night as we recall the many ways we have
sinned against you:

~ El Shaddai, have mercy on us.

We ask forgiveness for our failures in charity to
our friends, companions and co-ministers:

We ask forgiveness for the many times we have
failed to stand in solidarity with those who are
poor, sick, and ignorant:
We ask forgiveness for the many times we have
judged one another unjustly, condemning those
things we did not understand:

We ask forgiveness for the attitudes of racism
which alienate us from one another.

THE LORD'S PRAYER

PRAYER

O God, through your mercy we are forgiveness
and made whole; through the example of Christ
we are shown the way of peace and reconciliation;
through the power of the Spirit we are enabled
to persevere in doing good. Be with us this
night and throughout our live. 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.