PRAYERS FOR LENT

O Lord,
my soul is like a house,
small for you to enter,
but I pray you to enlarge it.
It is in ruins, but I ask you to remake it.
It contains much that you will not be pleased to see:
this I know and do not hide.
But who shall cleanse it,
to whom shall I cry but to you?
Cleanse me from my secret faults, O Lord,
and spare me Your servant from sin.
St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430)


Deep unto deep, O Lord, crieth in me.
Gathering strength I come, Lord, unto Thee.
Jesus of Calvary, smitten for me,
Ask what Thou wilt, but give Love to me.
Amy Carmichael (1867-1951)

O Lord, who has mercy upon all,
take away from me my sins,
and mercifully kindle in me the fire of thy Holy Spirit.
Take away from me the heart of stone,
and give me a heart of flesh,
a heart to love and adore Thee,
a heart to delight in Thee,
to follow and enjoy Thee, for Christ's sake. Amen.
St. Ambrose of Milan (339-397)

O Son of God, do a miracle for me and change my heart.
Thy having taken flesh to redeem me
was more difficult than to transform my wickedness.
Irish, 15th century

image: "La priere sacerdotale" from the series "Couleurs d'Evangile" by Corinne Vonaesch