Introit: Psalms xxix. 11

    The Lord hath heard, and hath had mercy on me: the Lord became my helper. Ps. I will extol Thee, O Lord, for Thou hast upheld me: and hast not made my enemies to rejoice over me. ℣. Glory be to the Father.

Collect

    Regard with Thy loving care, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the fast which we have begun; that the abstinence which we keep with our body may be exercised with sincerity of mind. Through our Lord.

Epistle: Isaias lviii. 1-9

    Lesson from the book of Isaias. Thus saith the Lord God: Cry, cease not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show My people their wicked doings and the house of Jacob their sins. For they seek Me from day to day and desire to know My ways, as a nation that hath done justice and hath not forsaken the judgment of their God: they ask of Me the judgments of justice: they are willing to approach to God. Why have we fasted, and Thou hast not regarded; have we humbled our souls, and Thou hast not taken notice? Behold in the day of your fast your own will is found and you exact of all your debtors. Behold you fast for debates and strife, and strike with the fist wickedly. Do not fast as you have done until this day, to make your cry to be heard on high. Is this such a fast as I have chosen, for a man afflict his soul for a day? is this it, to wind his head about like a circle, and to spread sackcloth and ashes? wilt thou call this a fast and a day acceptable to the Lord? Is not this rather the fast that I have chosen? loose the bands of wickedness, undo the bundles that oppress, let them that are broken go free, and break asunder every burden. Deal thy bread to the hungry, and bring the needy and the harborless into thy house: when thou shalt see one naked, cover him, and despise not thy own flesh. Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy health shall speedily arise, and thy justice shall go before thy face, and the glory of the Lord shall gather thee up. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall hear; thou shalt cry, and He shall say: Here I am. For I the Lord thy God am merciful.

Gradual: Psalms xxvi. 4

    One thing I have asked of the Lord, this will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord. ℣. That I may see the delight of the Lord, and be protected by His holy temple.

Tract: Psalms cii. 10; lxxviii. 8-9

    O Lord, repay us not according to the sins we have committed, nor according to our iniquities. ℣. O Lord, remember not our former iniquities, let Thy mercies speedily prevent us: for we are become exceeding poor. (Here kneel.) ℣. Help us, O God, our Savior, and for the glory of Thy name, O Lord, deliver us: and forgive us our sins for Thy name's sake.

Gospel: Matthew v. 43-48, vi. 1-4

    + Continuation of the holy Gospel according to St. Matthew. At that time Jesus said to his disciples: You have heard that it hath been said: Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thy enemy. But I say to you: Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you: and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you: that you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven, who maketh His sun to rise upon the good and bad, and raineth upon the just and the unjust. For if you love them that love you, what reward shall you have? Do not even the publicans this? And if you salute your brethren only, what do you more? Do not also the heathens this? Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect. Take heed that you do not your justice before men, to be seen by them: otherwise you shall not have reward of your Father who is in heaven. Therefore when thou dost an almsdeed, sound not a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be honored by men. Amen I say to you, they have received their reward. And when thou dost alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: that thy alms may be in secret, and thy Father, who seeth in secret, will repay thee.

Offertory: Psalms cxviii. 154, 125

    O Lord quicken Thou me for Thy word's sake, that I may know Thy testimonies.

Secret

    Grant, we beseech Thee, O Lord, that the sacrifice of Lenten observance which we offer to Thee may both make our souls more acceptable to Thee and give us the strength to restrain ourselves more readily. Through our Lord.

Communion: Psalms ii. 11-12

    Serve ye the Lord with fear, and rejoice unto Him with trembling: embrace discipline, lest you perish from the just way.

Postcommunion

    Pour forth upon us, O Lord, the spirit of Thy love, that by Thy mercy, Thou mayest make those to be of one mind, whom Thou hast fed with the one bread from heaven. Through our Lord.

+ Taken from St. Andrew Daily Missal, by Dom Gaspar Lefebvre, O.S.B., Imprimi Potest 11-18-1945 P. Joannes Delacroix, O.S.B., Imprimatur 11-22-1945 Joseph Van Der Meersch