Invitatory
Antiphon: Today, if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Psalm 94 (95)
Come let us praise the Lord with joy:
let us joyfully sing to God our saviour.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving;
and make a joyful noise to him with psalms.
For the Lord is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
For in his hand are all the ends of the earth:
and the heights of the mountains are his.
For the sea is his, and he made it:
and his hands formed the dry land.
Come let us adore and fall down:
and weep before the Lord that made us.
For he is the Lord our God:
and we are the people of his pasture
and the sheep of his hand.
Today if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts:
As in the provocation, according to the day of temptation in the wilderness:
where your fathers tempted me, they proved me, and saw my works.
Forty years long was I offended with that generation, and I said:
These always err in heart.
And these men have not known my ways:
so I swore in my wrath that they shall not enter into my rest.
Glory be to the Father…
Antiphon: Today, if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Psalmody
Psalm 50 (51)
Antiphon: A clean heart create in me, O God.
Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy.
And according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my iniquity.
Wash me yet more from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my iniquity,
and my sin is always before me.
To thee only have I sinned, and have done evil before thee:
that thou mayst be justified in thy words,
and mayst overcome when thou art judged.
Behold I was conceived in iniquities;
and in sins did my mother conceive me.
For behold thou hast loved truth:
the uncertain and hidden things of thy wisdom thou hast made manifest to me.
Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed:
thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow.
Create a clean heart in me, O God:
and renew a right spirit within my bowels.
Cast me not away from thy face;
and take not thy holy spirit from me.
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation,
and strengthen me with a perfect spirit.
For if thou hadst desired sacrifice, I would indeed have given it:
with burnt offerings thou wilt not be delighted.
A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit:
a contrite and humbled heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
Glory be to the Father…
Antiphon: A clean heart create in me, O God.
Canticle – Isaiah 38:10–14, 17–20
Antiphon: Lord, you will save us, and we shall sing your praise.
I said: In the midst of my days
I shall go to the gates of hell.
I sought for the residue of my years.
I said: I shall not see the Lord God in the land of the living.
My generation is at an end, and it is rolled away from me, as a shepherd’s tent.
Thou hast rescued my soul that it should not perish:
thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.
The living, the living, he shall give praise to thee, as I do this day.
O Lord, save me, and we will sing our psalms
all the days of our life in the house of the Lord.
Glory be to the Father…
Antiphon: Lord, you will save us, and we shall sing your praise.
Psalm 146 (147:1–6)
Antiphon: O praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
Praise ye the Lord, because psalm is good:
to our God be joyful and comely praise.
The Lord buildeth up Jerusalem:
he will gather together the dispersed of Israel.
Who healeth the broken of heart,
and bindeth up their bruises.
Who telleth the number of the stars:
and calleth them all by their names.
Great is our Lord, and great is his power:
and of his wisdom there is no number.
The Lord lifteth up the meek,
and bringeth the wicked down even to the ground.
Glory be to the Father…
Antiphon: O praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
Short Reading – Joel 2:12–13
Be converted to me with all your heart, in fasting, and in weeping, and in mourning.
And rend your hearts, and not your garments, and turn to the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, patient and rich in mercy, and ready to repent of the evil.
Benedictus
Antiphon: When you give alms, pray, and fast, do so in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will repay you.
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel;
because he hath visited and wrought the redemption of his people…
(Full Benedictus – Luke 1:68–79, Douay-Rheims)
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel;
because he hath visited and wrought the redemption of his people:
And hath raised up an horn of salvation to us,
in the house of David his servant:
As he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets,
who are from the beginning:
Salvation from our enemies,
and from the hand of all that hate us…
To give knowledge of salvation to his people,
unto the remission of their sins:
Through the bowels of the mercy of our God,
in which the Orient from on high hath visited us:
To enlighten them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death:
to direct our feet into the way of peace.
Glory be to the Father…
Antiphon: When you give alms, pray, and fast, do so in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will repay you.
Intercessions
Let us pray to Christ the Lord, who gives us the grace of repentance:
— Lord, create in us a clean heart.
— Teach us to fast from pride and feast upon humility.
— Give us courage to confess our sins and hope in your mercy.
— Let our prayer, fasting, and almsgiving be hidden in you.
Concluding Prayer
Grant, O Lord, that we may begin with holy fasting this campaign of Christian service, so that as we take up battle against spiritual evils, we may be armed with weapons of self-restraint. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Paradox of the Day
We cover our foreheads with ashes so that our eyes may see clearly.
“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.”
— G.K. Chesterton
Reflection (200–350 words)
Ash Wednesday is not a day of gloom; it is a day of clarity.
Ashes are what remain when fire has done its work. They are not the fire itself, nor the warmth, nor the light. They are what is left when something temporary has passed away. The Church places them upon our foreheads as a bold and bracing mercy: Remember, man, that thou art dust.
Yet it is precisely because we are dust that we may become saints.
The world tells us to decorate ourselves. The Church tells us to diminish ourselves. The world says, “Express yourself.” The Gospel says, “Deny yourself.” And hidden within that denial is a tremendous affirmation — that we are loved enough to be remade.
“Rend your hearts, not your garments,” cries the prophet. The danger is not that we shall wear ashes. The danger is that we shall wear them theatrically. True repentance is secret, steady, almost cheerful. It is the quiet decision to turn again toward the Father who already waits.
There is something wonderfully defiant about Lent. In a culture addicted to indulgence, we fast. In a culture of noise, we pray. In a culture of grasping, we give.
Ash Wednesday does not begin a season of sadness. It begins a season of honesty — and honesty is the doorway to joy.
Dust we are. But dust breathed upon by God.
And that makes all the difference.
Chesterton Radio
Stories that stir the mind.
Faith that steadies the heart.
A quiet hour in a noisy age.