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Welcome:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen
The sacrifice of God is a broken spirit:
a broken and contrite heart you will not despise.
Collect for Ash Wednesday:
O Lord,
grant that your faithful people
may enter this season of penitence with faithfulness,
and complete it with steadfast devotion;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, world without end.
Amen
First Reading Joel 2:1-2, 12-17
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Second Reading 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:10
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Gospel Matthew 6:1-6; 16-21
At the announcement of the Gospel: Glory to Christ our Saviour.
This is the Gospel of Christ. Praise to Christ our Lord.
Brothers and sisters in Christ: since early days Christians have observed the time of our Lord’s passion and resurrection.
It became the custom of the Church to prepare for this by a season of prayer and fasting.
I invite you now to begin this observance of a holy Lent, by self -examination and repentance; by prayer and self-denial; and by the reading and meditating on God’s holy word.
Let is confess our sins in penitence and faith.
Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth,
we confess to you
that we have sinned in thought, word and deed.
We have not loved you with all our being,
we have not loved our neighbours as ourselves:
we have disfigured your image in which we are made.
In your mercy, forgive what we have been
and what we have done,
guide us and help us to amend our lives,
and bring us to fullness of life in you,
for the sake of your Son who died for us,
Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
Imposition of Ashes
Almighty God,
you have compassion on all your children,
and hate nothing you have made;
you do not desire the death of sinners,
but that they turn from their ways and live.
May these ashes be for us,
who are redeemed through the cross of Christ,
a sign of our death to sin, and the pledge of our life in Christ;
who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
Amen
I invite you to join me in making the sign of the cross on your forehead as a reminder of the mark of Christ’s cross,
with which we are signed at Baptism, and by which we are forgiven our sins and live to the glory of God.
Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.
Turn away from sin and be faithful to Christ.
Amen.
Lord God Almighty, your people are washed clean in the saving flood of baptism, and born again:
As we follow the way of your cross,
we ask you to unseal for us the wellspring of your grace,
cleanse our hearts of all that is not holy,
and cause your gift of new life to flourish in us;
grant this through Jesus Christ your Son,
who sets us free from sin,
and lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
holy and mighty God, world without end.
Amen.
Intercessions
The Peace
We are the Body of Christ. In the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. Let us then pursue all that makes for peace and builds up our common life.
The peace of the Lord be always with you.
And also with you.
Offertory
Yours, Lord, is the greatness, the power,
the glory, the splendour and the majesty;
for everything in heaven and on earth is yours.
All things come from you,
and of your own do we give you.
Eucharistic Prayer 3 :
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
Worship and praise belong to you,
maker of light and darkness.
Your wisdom draws beauty from chaos,
brings harvest out of sorrow and leads the exiles home.
In Christ your Son enemies are reconciled,
debts forgiven and strangers made welcome.
Your spirit frees us to live as sons
and daughters in our Father’s house.
We who by Christ’s power follow the way of the Cross,
sharing the joy of his obedience, now offer you our praise,
with angels and archangels and the whole company of
heaven, singing the hymn of your unending glory.
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might.
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
Glory and thanksgiving be to you,
most loving Father,
for Christ in whom the world is reconciled.
Lifted on the Cross, his suffering
and forgiveness spanned the gulf our sins had made.
Through that dark struggle
death was swallowed up in victory,
that life and light may reign.
Before he was given up to suffering and death,
recalling Israel’s release,
the night in which the sons of Egypt died,
your Chosen One, himself the First-Born,
freely offered his life.
At supper with his disciples
he took bread and offered you thanks.
He broke bread, and gave it to them saying:
“Take, eat. This is my Body: it is broken for you.”
After supper, he took the cup,
he offered you thanks, and gave it to them saying:
“Drink this, all of you.
This is my Blood of the new covenant;
it is poured out for you, and for all, that sins may be forgiven.
Do this in remembrance of me.”
We now obey your Son’s command.
We recall his blessed passion and death,
his glorious resurrection and ascension;
and we look for the coming of his Kingdom.
Made one with him, we offer you these gifts
and with them ourselves,
a single, holy, living sacrifice.
Hear us, most merciful Father,
and send your Holy Spirit upon us
and upon this bread and this wine,
that, overshadowed by the Spirit’s life-giving power,
they may be the Body and Blood of your Son,
and we may be kindled with the fire of your love
and renewed for the service of your Kingdom.
Help us,
who are baptised into the fellowship of Christ’s Body
to live and work to your praise and glory;
may we grow together in unity and love
until at last, in your new creation,
we enter into our heritage
in the company of the Virgin Mary,
the apostles and prophets,
and all our brothers and sisters
living and departed.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord,
with whom, and in whom,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
all honour and glory be to you,
Lord of all ages,
world without end.
Amen
Breaking of the Bread:
The living bread is broken for the life of the world.
Lord, unite us in this sign
The Lord’s Prayer:
As our Saviour taught us, so we pray:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory
are yours now and forever.
Amen.
Communion Song:
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world: have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world: have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world: grant us peace
Post Communion Prayer
Lord our God, grant us grace
to desire you with our whole heart that so desiring,
we may seek and find you;
and so finding you, we may love you;
and so loving you, may hate those sins
from which you have delivered us;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
The Blessing
Christ give you grace to grow in holiness, to deny yourselves, take up your cross, and follow him; and the blessing of our God almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always. Amen.
Dismissal:
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
In the name of Christ. Amen.
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