Once upon a time the world would have stopped for Ash
Wednesday observances. I could point to reasons that it will not stop today
ranging from the secularization of our society to Christians’ lack of courage
and commitment to tell coaches, schools, and kids, “Not today.” However, that
won’t help any of us observe the solemnity and self-examination today calls us
to.
So, if you are, like my family, in the position where you or
part of your family will not be attending an Ash Wednesday service today, here
is a devotional you can use to observe the beginning of Lent.
Fair notice: none
of this is original with me, but all the parts of this devotional have their
roots in ancient piece of the liturgy and God’s Word.
A Home Service for
Ash Wednesday
If you are alone, simply treat this as a prayer and
readings. If you are with family members, designate a family member to lead and
then follow the prayers responsively.
The Litany
Leader: On this day the Church begins
a holy season of prayerful and penitential reflection. Our attention is
especially directed to the holy sufferings and death of our Lord Jesus Christ.
From ancient times the season of Lent has been kept as a time of special
devotion, self-denial, and humble repentance born of a faithful heart that
dwells confidently on His Word and draws from it life and hope. Let us pray
that our dear Father in heaven, for the sake of His beloved Son and in the
power of His Holy Spirit, might richly bless this Lententide for us so that we
may come to Easter with glad hearts and keep the feast in sincerity and truth.
Leader: O Lord,
People: have mercy.
Leader: O Christ,
People: have mercy.
Leader: O Lord,
People: have mercy.
Leader: O Christ,
People: hear us.
Leader: God the Father, in
heaven,
People: have mercy.
Leader: God the Son,
Redeemer of the world,
People: have mercy.
Leader: God the Holy
Spirit,
People: have mercy.
Leader: Be gracious to us.
People: Spare us, good
Lord.
Leader: Be gracious to us.
People: Help us, good
Lord.
Leader: By the mystery of
Your holy incarnation; by Your holy nativity; by Your Baptism, fasting, and
temptation; by Your agony and bloody sweat; by Your cross and Passion; by Your
precious death and burial; by Your glorious resurrection and ascension; and by
the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter,
People: Help us, good
Lord.
Leader: In all time of our
tribulation; in all time of our prosperity; in the hour of death; and in the
day of judgment:
People: Help us, good
Lord.
Leader: We poor sinners
implore You
People: To hear us, O
Lord.
Leader: To prosper the
preaching of Your Word; to bless our prayer and meditation; to strengthen and preserve
us in the true faith; to give heart to our sorrow and strength to our
repentance:
People: We implore You to
hear us, good Lord.
Leader: To draw all to
Yourself; to bless those who are instructed in the faith; to watch over and
console the poor, the sick, the distressed, the lonely, the forsaken, the
abandoned, and all who stand in need of our prayers [especially . . .], to give
abundant blessing to all works of mercy; and to have mercy on us all:
People: We implore You to
hear us, good Lord.
Leader: To turn our hearts
to You; to turn the hearts of our enemies, persecutors, and slanderers; and
graciously to hear our prayers:
People: We implore You to
hear us, good Lord.
Leader: Lord Jesus Christ,
Son of God,
People: We implore You to
hear us.
Leader: O God, You desire
not the death of sinners, but rather that they turn from their wickedness and
live. We implore You to have compassion on the frailty of our mortal nature,
for we acknowledge that we are dust and to dust we shall return. Mercifully
pardon our sins that we may obtain the promises You have laid up for those who
are Your own; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns
with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
People: Amen.
Old Testament Reading: Joel
2:12–19
12 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
13 and rend your hearts and not your garments.”
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
and he relents over disaster.
14 Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
and leave a blessing behind him,
a grain offering and a drink offering
for the Lord your God?
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
13 and rend your hearts and not your garments.”
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
and he relents over disaster.
14 Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
and leave a blessing behind him,
a grain offering and a drink offering
for the Lord your God?
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion;
consecrate a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
16 gather the people.
Consecrate the congregation;
assemble the elders;
gather the children,
even nursing infants.
consecrate a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
16 gather the people.
Consecrate the congregation;
assemble the elders;
gather the children,
even nursing infants.
Let the bridegroom leave his room,
and the bride her chamber.
and the bride her chamber.
17 Between the vestibule and the
altar
let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep
and say, “Spare your people, O Lord,
and make not your heritage a reproach,
a byword among the nations.
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”
let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep
and say, “Spare your people, O Lord,
and make not your heritage a reproach,
a byword among the nations.
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”
18 Then the Lord became jealous for his land
and had pity on his people.
19 The Lord answered and said to his people,
“Behold, I am sending to you
grain, wine, and oil,
and you will be satisfied;
and I will no more make you
a reproach among the nations.
and had pity on his people.
19 The Lord answered and said to his people,
“Behold, I am sending to you
grain, wine, and oil,
and you will be satisfied;
and I will no more make you
a reproach among the nations.
Lector: This is the Word
of the Lord.
People: Thanks be to God.
Epistle: 2 Corinthians 5:20b–6:10
We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For
our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become
the righteousness of God.
6:1 Working
together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in
vain. 2 For he says,
“In a favorable time I listened to you,
and in a day of salvation I have helped you.”
and in a day of salvation I have helped you.”
Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of
salvation. 3 We put no obstacle in anyone's
way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 4 but
as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in
afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5 beatings,
imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy
Spirit, genuine love; 7 by truthful
speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right
hand and for the left; 8 through honor
and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet
are true; 9 as unknown, and yet well
known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet
making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.
Lector: This is the Word
of the Lord.
People: Thanks be to God.
Holy Gospel: Matthew 6:1–6, 16–21
Pastor: The Holy Gospel
according to St. Matthew, the 6th chapter.
People: Glory to You, O
Lord!
“Beware of practicing your
righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you
will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
2 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no
trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets,
that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received
their reward. 3 But when you give to the needy,
do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your
Father who sees in secret will reward you.
5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the
hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street
corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have
received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your
room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your
Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Pastor: The Gospel of the Lord.
People: Praise to You, O Christ!
The Sign of
the Cross
If you are alone, make the sign of the cross over your
forehead and say, “I am dust, and to dust I shall return.” If you are leading
make the sign of the cross on the foreheads of your family members and say, “You
are dust, and to dust you shall return.” If you are with little
children and you are uncomfortable with the reminder of death for them, you
might make the sign of the cross and say, “Remember that Jesus died on the cross for
you.”
Apostles’
Creed
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven
and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was
conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius
Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried.
He descended into hell. The third
day he rose again from the dead. He
ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father
Almighty. From thence he will come to
judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church,
the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen
Lord’s
Prayer
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy
kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive
us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not
into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and
ever. Amen
Dismissal
Leader: Go in peace in Jesus’ forgiveness.
People: Amen
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