ASH WEDNESDAY
Service will be livestreamed and available from 6.55pm Wednesday 5th March at
https://www.youtube.com/live/l8rs-BSnc1U
INTRODUCTION
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; Amen
The sacrifice of God is a broken Spirit
A broken and contrite heart O God you will not despise.
Make a clean heart in me O God
And renew a right spirit within me.
O Lord open my lips
And my mouth shall show forth your praise.
We confess
to God Almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,
that we have sinned in thought, word and deed,
through our own grievous fault;
wherefore we pray God to have mercy upon us:
Almighty God, have mercy upon us;
forgive us all our sins and deliver us from evil,
confirm and strengthen us in all goodness
and bring us to life everlasting. Amen.
KYRIE (William Byrd 1540-1623)
COLLECT FOR ASH WEDNESDAY
Almighty and everlasting God, you despise nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent. Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our brokenness, may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
The Lord is full of compassion and mercy,
slow to anger and of great kindness
He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
nor rewarded us according to our wickedness.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our sins from us
As a father cares for his children,
so does the Lord care for those who fear him
PRAYER FOR MERCY (psalm 120)
Out of the depths have I called to you, O Lord;
Lord, hear my voice; let your ears consider the voice of my supplication. For there is forgiveness with you; therefore you shall be worshipped. I wait for the Lord; my soul waits for him; in his word is my hope
BLESSING AND IMPOSITION OF ASHES
ANTHEM: Wash me throughly (Psalm 51:2&3) Music by Samuel Sebastian Wesley.
Wash me throughly from my wickedness,
and forgive me all my sin;
for I acknowledge my sin,
and my faults are not hid from thee
ABSOLUTION
Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, desires not the death of sinners, but rather that they may turn from wickedness and live; and has given authority and commandment to his ministers to declare and pronounce to his people, being penitent, the absolution and remission of their sins. He pardons and absolves all those who truly repent, and with sincere hearts believe his holy Gospel. Therefore we beseech him to grant us true repentance and his Holy Spirit, that those things may please him which we do on this day, and that the rest of our life hereafter may be pure and holy, so that at the last we may come to his eternal joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
HYMN
Forty days and forty nights
Thou wast fasting in the wild,
Forty days and forty nights
Tempted and yet undefiled.
Sunbeams scorching all the day,
Chilly dewdrops nightly shed,
Prowling beasts about thy way,
Stones thy pillow, earth thy bed.
Let us thine endurance share,
And awhile from joys abstain,
With thee watching unto prayer,
Strong with thee to suffer pain.
Keep, O keep us, Saviour dear,
Ever constant by thy side,
That with thee we may appear
At the eternal Eastertide.
FIRST READING Joel 2: 1-2, 12-17
A reading from the book of the prophet Joel
Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming, it is near— a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness spread upon the mountains a great and powerful army comes; their like has never been from of old, nor will be again after them in ages to come. Yet even now, says the LORD, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the LORD, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing. 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?
Blow the trumpet in Zion; sanctify a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Sanctify the congregation; assemble the aged; gather the children, even infants at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her canopy. Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep. Let them say, ‘Spare your people, O LORD, and do not make your heritage a mockery, a byword among the nations. Why should it be said among the peoples, “Where is their God?” ’
HYMN
Lord Jesus, think on me,
And purge away my sin;
From earthborn passions set me free,
And make me pure within.
Lord Jesus, think on me,
With care and woe opprest;
Let me thy loving servant be,
And taste thy promised rest.
Lord Jesus, think on me,
When flows the tempest high:
When on doth rush the enemy
O Saviour, be thou nigh.
Lord Jesus, think on me,
That, when the flood is past,
I may the eternal brightness see,
And share thy joy at last.
GOSPEL Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
Jesus said to the disciples ‘Beware of practising your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.
‘So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
‘And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever 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.
‘And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
‘Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
HOMILY
THE PEACE
We meet in Christ’s name
Let us share his peace.
OFFERTORY HYMN
Now is the healing time decreed
For sins of heart and word and deed,
When we in humble fear record
The wrong that we have done the Lord:
Therefore with fasting and with prayer,
Our secret sorrow we declare,
With all good striving seek his face,
And lowly-hearted plead for grace.
Cleanse us, O Lord, from every stain,
Help us the gifts of grace to gain,
Till with the angels, linked in love,
Joyful we tread thy courts above.
We pray thee, holy Trinity,
One God, unchanging Unity,
That we from this our abstinence
May reap the fruits of penitence. Amen.
THE LITURGY OF THE SACRAMENT
The Lord be with you.
And with thy Spirit.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up unto the Lord.
Let us give thanks unto our Lord God;
It is meet and right so to do.
It is very meet, right and our bounden duty,
that we should at all times and in all places
give thanks unto thee, O Lord,
Holy Father, Almighty, Everlasting God;
because thou hast given us the spirit of discipline,
that we may triumph over the flesh,
and live no longer unto ourselves
but unto him who died for us and rose again.
THEREFORE with Angels and Archangels,
and with all the company of heaven,
we laud and magnify thy glorious Name;
evermore praising thee and singing:
SANCTUS
ALL glory and thanksgiving be to thee,
Almighty God, our heavenly Father,
for that thou of thy tender mercy
didst give thine only Son Jesus Christ
to suffer death upon the cross for our redemption;
who, by his own oblation of himself once offered,
made a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction,
for the sins of the whole world;
and did institute,
and in his holy Gospel command us to continue,
a perpetual memorial of that his precious death
and sacrifice until his coming again.
For, in the night that he was betrayed, he took bread;
and when he had given thanks,
he brake it, and gave it to his disciples, saying,
Take, eat, this is my Body, which is given for you:
Do this in remembrance of me.
Likewise after supper he took the cup;
and when he had given thanks,
he gave it to them, saying,
Drink ye all of this, for this is my Blood of the new testament,
which is shed for you and for many
for the remission of sins:
Do this as oft as ye shall drink it in remembrance of me.
Wherefore, O Lord, and heavenly Father,
according to the institution of thy dearly beloved Son
our Saviour Jesus Christ,
we thy humble servants
do celebrate and make here before thy Divine Majesty,
with these thy holy gifts,
which we now offer unto thee,
the memorial thy Son hath commanded us to make;
having in remembrance his blessed passion,
and precious death, his mighty resurrection, and glorious ascension;
rendering unto thee most hearty thanks
for the innumerable benefits procured unto us by the same,
and looking for his coming again with power and great glory.
And we thine unworthy servants
beseech thee, Most merciful Father, to hear us,
and to send thy Holy Spirit upon us
and upon these thy gifts and creatures of bread and wine,
that, being blessed and hallowed by his life-giving power,
they may become the Body and Blood of thy most dearly beloved Son,
to the end that all who shall receive the same
may be sanctified both in body and soul,
and preserved unto everlasting life.
And we earnestly desire thy fatherly goodness,
mercifully to accept this our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving,
most humbly beseeching thee to grant,
that by the merits and death of thy Son Jesus Christ,
and through faith in his blood,
we and all thy whole Church
may obtain remission of our sins,
and all other benefits of his passion.
And here we humbly offer and present unto thee, O Lord,
ourselves, our souls and bodies,
to be a reasonable, holy, and living sacrifice unto thee,
beseeching thee that all we who shall be partakers of this Holy Communion
may worthily receive the most precious Body and Blood of thy son Jesus Christ,
and be fulfilled with thy grace and heavenly benediction,
and made one body with him,
that he may dwell in us and we in him.
And although we be unworthy,
through our manifold sins,
to offer unto thee any sacrifice;
yet we beseech thee to accept this our bounden duty and service,
not weighing our merits, but pardoning our offences,
through Jesus Christ our Lord:
by whom, and with whom, in the unity of the Holy Ghost,
all honour and glory be unto thee,
O Father Almighty, world without end. Amen.
As our Saviour Christ hath commanded and taught us, we are bold to say,
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.
Free us O Lord from every evil:
past, present, and to come,
and by our intercessions
give us favourable peace in our time,
that helped by the strength of your mercy
we may be always free of sin
and secure from all distress.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
PRAYER OF HUMBLE ACCESS
We do not presume to come to this thy holy table,
O merciful Lord,
trusting in our own righteousness,
but in thy manifold and great mercies.
We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy table;
but thou art the same Lord,
whose property is always to have mercy.
Grant us therefore, gracious Lord,
so to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ,
and to drink his blood,
that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his most sacred body,
and our souls washed through his most precious blood,
and that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us. Amen.
COMMUNION
AGNUS DEI (after communion)
POST-COMMUNION PRAYER
Almighty God, by the cross and passion of your Son, Jesus Christ,
you saved and redeemed your people.
May we, who have shared this day in holy things,
Find within ourselves the grace to do,
and to bear Whatever is your will,
and walk in the paths you have set before us.
This we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
BLESSING
Now may Christ Give us grace, to grow in holiness,
to deny yourselves, to take up our cross and follow him;
and the blessing of God Almighty,
Father, Son and holy Spirit,
be with you,
and those for whom you pray, this day and always.
Amen.
DISMISSAL
Let us go in peace, to love and serve the Lord
In the Name of Christ. Amen.
FINAL HYMN
When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.
See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were an offering far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.