Ash Wednesday Thoughts

Here are some pieces of readings which stood out particularly to me today. I have also included my plan for the Rosary throughout Lent.

Laudate is a good app for Catholic resources: the Liturgy of Hours,
Rosary, other prayers, daily readings... all are on here.

From the third Psalm of the Day (Terce):

If it were not for the Lord's help,
I should quickly find myself in the land of silence.
Whenever I said, 'My feet are slipping,'
your loving kindness, O Lord, held me upright.
In the midst of my heart's troubles,
your consolations gave me back my happiness.

From a reading of Eekiel:

Repent, renounce all your sins, avoid all occasions of sin! Shake off all the sins you have committed against me, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why are you so anxious to die, House of Israel? I take no pleasure in the death of anyone—it is the Lord who speaks. Repent and live!

 From the Didache (Church Fathers reading here):

Chapter 2: You shall not hate any man; but some you shall reprove, and concerning some you shall pray, and some you shall love more than your own life.

Chapter 14: But every Lord's day gather yourselves together, and break bread, and give thanksgiving after having confessed your transgressions, that your sacrifice may be pure. But let no one who is at odds with his fellow come together with you, until they be reconciled, that your sacrifice may not be profaned.

A lovely gift I received last year before Lent.
Quite possibly the prettiest cover ever. 

The Rosary:


The plan for now is to do a decade each week day of the Sorrowful Mysteries and a whole Rosary each Sunday of the Glorious Mysteries. Since there are forty days, I can do a set of mysteries eight times throughout Lent. Today's mystery was The Agony of Jesus in the Garden.

Accompanying each decade, I'm adding readings of St. Louis De Montfort's The Secret of the Rosary. He has fifty roses, brief writings about aspects of the Rosary: its purpose, how to pray it, commentary on the prayers included,.... The first rose, for example, concerns the prayers of the rosary. St. Louis highlights the dual prayers involved: mental prayer and verbal prayer.

He also includes extra information on how to offer each decade. One (shorter) way is to add a couple of words in each Hail Mary after "and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus." For today's mystery, for example, one adds "Jesus in His agony." The second (longer) way includes parts said before and after the normal prayers. For today's mystery, added is the following:

We offer Thee, O Lord Jesus, this sixth decade in honor of Thy mortal Agony in the Garden of Olives and we ask of Thee, through this mystery and through the intercession of Thy Blessed Mother, perfect sorrow for our sins and the virtue of perfect obedience to Thy Holy Will.
[Our Father, ten Hail Marys, Glory Be]
Grace of Our Lord's Agony, come down into my soul and make me truly contrite and perfectly obedient to Thy Will.

It is so nice having a holy hour to start (or two half-hours to split) the day. I haven't got my ashes yet, since the last Mass isn't until 6.00 PM. It's been snowing constantly since the morning. :(

Hope everyone's having a good Ash Wednesday. :)