Wednesday in the First Week of Lent

Morning Prayers

Evening Prayers

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Martyrology - 1st of March

On the morrow we keep the feast of the holy Confessor David, Archbishop of Caerleon upon Usk.

Upon the same 1st day of March, were also born into the better life:

At Rome, two hundred and sixty holy martyrs whom for Christ's name's sake the Emperor Claudius first condemned to dig sand outside the Salarian Gate, and then to be shot to death with arrows in the amphitheatre.

Likewise the holy martyrs Leo, Donatus, Abundantius, Nicephorus, and nine others.

At Marseilles, [in the year 290,] the holy martyrs Hermes and Hadrian.

At Heliopolis, [in 114,] the holy martyr Eudocia [of Samaria, now Balbek in Turkey-in-Asia,] during the persecution under the Emperor Trajan. She was baptized by Theodotus, Bishop of [Heliopolis,] and, armed for the battle, the President Vincentius ordered her to be smitten with the sword, and thus she received the crown of martyrdom.

Upon the same day, the holy martyr Antonina. During the persecution under the Emperor Diocletian she laughed at the gods of the Gentiles, for the which cause she was diversely tortured, shut up in a barrel, and drowned in the marsh at the city of Cea.

At Werdt, [in the year 713,] holy Swibert, Bishop of that city, [Apostle of the Frisians,] who in the time of Pope Sergius preached the gospel to the Frisians, Hollanders, and other peoples of Lower Germany.

At Angers, [in the year 550,] the holy Confessor Albinus, Bishop of that see, a man of eminent graces and holiness.

At Mans, [in the year 687,] the holy Siviard, Abbot [of Saint Calais.]

At Perugia is commemorated the translation [in the year 547] of the holy martyr Herculanus, Bishop of that see, of whom mention is made upon the 7th day of November. He was beheaded by order of Totila, King of the Goths, and it is written by holy Pope Gregory that, forty days after his head was cut off, head and body were found united again, as though the iron had never touched him.

And elsewhere many other Holy Martyrs, Confessors and Holy virgins.

R. Thanks be to God

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Morning Prayer

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Place Yourself in the Presence of God, and adore His holy Name.

Most holy and adorable Trinity, one God in three Persons, I believe that Thou art here present: I adore Thee with the deepest humility, and render to Thee, with my whole heart, the homage which is due to Thy sovereign majesty.

An Act of Faith

O my God, I firmly believe that Thou art one God in three divine Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; I believe that Thy divine Son became man, and died for our sins, and that He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe these and all the truths which the holy Catholic Church teaches, because Thou hast revealed them, who canst neither deceive nor be deceived.

An Act of Hope

O my God, relying on Thy infinite goodness and promises, I hope to obtain pardon of my sins, the help of Thy grace, and life everlasting, through the merits of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Redeemer.

An Act of Love

O my God, I love Thee above all things, with my whole heart and soul, because Thou art all-good and worthy of all love. I love my neighbour as myself for the love of Thee. I forgive all who have injured me, and ask pardon of all whom I have injured.

Thank God for All Favours and Offer Yourself to Him.

O my God, I most humbly thank Thee for all the favours Thou hast bestowed upon me up to the present moment. I give Thee thanks from the bottom of my heart that Thou hast created me after Thine own image and likeness, that Thou hast redeemed me by the precious blood of Thy dear Son, and that Thou hast preserved me and brought me safe to the beginning of another day. I offer to Thee, O Lord, my whole being, and in particular all my thoughts, words, actions, and sufferings of this day. I consecrate them all to the glory of Thy name, beseeching Thee that through the infinite merits of Jesus Christ my Saviour they may all find acceptance in Thy sight. May Thy divine love animate them, and may they all tend to Thy greater glory.

Resolve to Avoid Sin and to Practice Virtue.

Adorable Jesus, my Saviour and Master, model of all perfection, I resolve and will endeavour this day to imitate Thy example, to be, like Thee, mild, humble, chaste, zealous, charitable, and resigned. I will redouble my efforts that I may not fall this day into any of those sins which I have heretofore committed (here name any besetting sin), and which I sincerely desire to forsake.

Ask God for the Necessary Graces.

O my God, Thou knowest my poverty and weakness, and that I am unable to do anything good without Thee; deny me not, O God, the help of Thy grace; proportion it to my necessities; give me strength to avoid anything evil which Thou forbiddest, and to practise the good which Thou hast commanded; and enable me to bear patiently all the trials which it may please Thee to send me.

The Lord’s Prayer...

The Hail Mary...

The Apostles’ Creed...

At this point, please go to the relevant text of Fr Hamon’s Meditation. Once I have read and meditated on the text, and its various points . I complete my meditation by saying:

Evening Prayer

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Wednesday in the First Week: The Examination of Conscience

Summary of the Morrow’s Meditation

As the first condition for confessing properly is thoroughly to examine our conscience, we will consecrate the following meditation to this examination. We will consider tomorrow: first, the importance of a daily examination of the conscience; second, the importance of the examination preparatory to confession. We will then make the resolution: first, every evening to perform with exactitude the examination of our conscience; second, to exercise special care in preparing ourselves well before confession. Our spiritual nosegay shall be the words of the Psalmist: “I have thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto Thy testimonies” (Ps. cxviii:59)

Meditation for the Morning

Let us adore Our Lord, who, in order to make us understand the importance of the examination of conscience, warns us by His saints that to perform it well is the sign of the elect, that to neglect it is the character of the reprobate (St Greg., Mor., ii, vi). Let us thank Him for so useful a warning, and let us render to Him on that account all our homage.

The importance of the daily examination of our conscience

All the saints and all the masters of the spiritual life are unanimous in speaking of the daily examination of the conscience as the most efficacious means for correcting defects and advancing in virtue (St. Chrys., in Ps. iv). The Pagan philosophers themselves enjoined their disciples to examine themselves every day on these three points: What have I done? How have I done it? What have I omitted to do? In point of fact, unless we make this examination every day we do not know ourselves. There exist within us vices so disguised, ill regulated feelings so hidden, passions so subtle, that we do not perceive them except by means of serious reflection. It is, with the soul which does not examine itself, or else examines itself badly, as it is with a vineyard left fallow, which, for want of being cultivated, is covered with thorns and briars; or it is like the man of business who, for want of rendering to himself every day an account of his position, allows the state of his fortune to get worse without having the least idea of it. For want of examination vices increase in the soul and virtues disappear from it; without our remarking it, the state of the conscience becomes constantly worse and worse, and such is the ignorance we are in of ourselves, that we do not even suspect it. The soul languishes, loses its strength, is no longer on its guard against temptations and dangerous occasions, and in this state it is on the point of being lost.

By a daily examination, on the contrary, we remark our failings and we repair them; we say to ourselves every evening: “I have committed such and such a fault today, I will correct myself tomorrow; I will observe such or such a bad inclination in my heart, I will fight against it.” Every day we say to ourselves: “I shall have to render an account this evening of the employment of my time, of my fidelity to grace,” and this thought will awaken vigilance, excite my attention, and hinder bad habits from taking root. Moreover, the sight of our wretchedness, which daily examination keeps always before our eyes, preserves humility, makes presumption keep aloof, disposes us to make a good confession by means of a clearer knowledge of our faults. Lastly, daily examination, when it is accompanied by perfect contrition, as it ought always to be, protects the soul from the danger of sudden and unprovided death, since contrition stands in place of the sacrament when we can not receive it. Let us examine ourselves as to whether we attach to this exercise all the importance it deserves, and whether we make it every day at a regular hour.

The importance of the examination of conscience before confession

We have to do here with a holy confession or else a sacrilegious one. If by a notable fault in our examination we omit to accuse ourselves of a single mortal sin, the confession is null and the absolution a sacrilege: what, then, can be more serious than this? If, on the contrary, each time that we confess our examination is made as it ought to be, confession purifies the soul from the past and renders it strong for the future: what can be more consoling? Nevertheless, how many times does it not happen that we make our confessions lightly, and content ourselves with casting a rapid glance over the time which has elapsed since our last confession? It is a very serious matter; it has to do with our eternity.

Resolutions and spiritual nosegay as above.

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