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Monday, 9 March 2026 : 3rd Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Frances of Rome, Religious (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we heard from our passages of the Sacred Scriptures the power of God’s healing and mercy, as He has shown to us all, in healing us from our physical sickness and maladies, and even more importantly, in healing us from the sickness of our souls, that is our sins. Through God’s most generous love and mercy, all of us have received from Him the wonderful gift of grace and mercy, forgiveness and healing from all the things that have held us back from embracing Him and His most generous love, His kindness and all that He has patiently given to us through His Son, manifesting His perfect love in the flesh, and extending to us all the powerful healing that can make us all whole again and be worthy of Him.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Kings of Israel and Judah, of the story of the healing of Naaman, a powerful and renowned general of the army of the Aramaeans, the sworn enemies of the Israelites, who had been locked in bitter conflicts against the Aramaeans for many years and generations. Naaman was greatly respected and feared, but he faced a great predicament which was him contracting leprosy that disfigured him and made it very difficult for him. For the context, what the Scriptures referred here as leprosy might not necessarily be the same as what we now know as leprosy. Leprosy at that time referred to a rather diverse group of skin diseases, which was nonetheless contagious and hideous, making it difficult for the sufferer to carry on their usual daily life.

Amidst all that therefore, Naaman and the Aramaean king was desperate to find cure for the former, as leprosy was rather difficult to cure, and that was why Naaman went to the land of Israel seeking the help of the famous prophet Elisha, who was at that time ministering to the people of Israel and was well-known for his many miracles and wonders. Naaman eventually managed to find Elisha after some efforts and searching, and the prophet told him to do a simple task of immersing himself seven times in the River Jordan, and reassuring him that if he were to do that, then he would be made whole and well again.

But as we heard, Naaman was proud and became angry at the prophet’s suggestion, thinking of why he had to do such menial tasks in immersing himself in the River Jordan when he could have done that in the river of his own home country. He likely had this expectation that after all the efforts that he made to look for the prophet, that Elisha would perform the miracle healing through signs and wonders directly to him. However, his servant begged him to reconsider and to think that it was indeed a very easy task for him to perform, and as we heard, Naaman eventually relented and did as he was asked, and he was indeed cured from his condition. From this passage, we can see that it was Naaman’s pride that became his stumbling block earlier on.

That is therefore the reminder for all of us that we ourselves must not allow our pride, ego and all those things from preventing us as our stumbling blocks in attaining the grace and mercy of God. Too many times, many people fail to repent from their sins and wickedness, and persist on in their mistakes and problems because they were too proud to admit that they were facing problems and have fallen in their ways and paths. What the Lord asked of us is for us to listen to Him and to allow Him to make us whole again, and to trust Him in whatever He told us and guided us to do in each and every moments of our lives. And unlike the maladies and sickness of this world, which can be cured and healed, none can heal us from the afflictions of our sins, save that by the Lord’s compassionate mercy and forgiveness. That is why we should seek Him to be forgiven from our many sins and to be reconciled with Him.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist, we heard of the account of what happened at the time when the Lord Jesus came to His hometown of Nazareth to proclaim the Good News of God, and ended up facing rather cold and apathetic treatment and reception from those of His own hometown, as many among those people even doubted and refusing to accept the fact that one of their own could have received such great gift from God, and calling to be a great Teacher of the Faith, and less still what the Lord Himself had claimed, from their perspective, of being the One sent by God, the Messiah or Saviour promised by the Lord through His prophets.

And the Lord therefore lamented the lack of faith which was prevalent among those in His own hometown, which was partly due to their own prejudices and biases, as they all saw Him grew up and knowing and thinking that He was merely just the Son of the town carpenter, St. Joseph, the Lord’s foster-father, as no one but those within the Holy Family and perhaps very few others knew that the Lord was truly Incarnate in the flesh in Jesus, and He was not the biological son of St. Joseph. Hence, compounded with the fact that carpenter’s job was considered to be an honest and yet lowly job, this made the townspeople of Nazareth to look down on the Lord and hardened their hearts and minds against Him.

That was why the Lord mentioned the story of Naaman’s healing and the miracle that happened to him, and highlighted the irony of how it was an Aramaean who was not one of the twelve tribes of Israel who actually believed in God and put his faith in Him, while the Israelites themselves were unwilling to listen to the prophet Elisha and believing in God’s words that he bore towards them. It was then the same at the time of the Lord’s ministry among the people, where many among the Jewish people and their elders and elites of their community in particular, refused to listen to Him and believe in Him, and in fact they made it difficult for Him to carry out His mission. On the other hand, as highlighted in some parts of the Gospels, it was the Gentiles, the non-Jewish people who eagerly sought the Lord and had faith in Him.

Today perhaps we should then also look upon the good examples set by our holy predecessor, St. Frances of Rome, a holy woman and servant of God, who had dedicated her life to follow and serve the Lord. St. Frances of Rome was a wife and mother who was known in her role of caring for the poor and the sick in her community. St. Frances spent a lot of time and effort in reaching out to the less fortunate all around her, and when she became a widow, she even made part of her own family’s country estate into a hospital for the poor and the sick. She experienced a lot of hardships, challenges and difficulties throughout her life and ministry, but all those things did not discourage her from continuing to carry out her work and mission, and inspiring many others to follow her examples and doing what they could to care for the good of the people of God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore as we continue to progress through this time and season of Lent let us all reflect on our attitudes in life, in whether we have allowed our pride, ego and other obstacles in our path towards God to prevent us from truly being able to be reconciled with Him. We should reexamine our way of living our lives and do our very best so that we can truly find the Lord amidst all the hustle and bustle of the world around us. Let us all be humbler and realise that each and every one of us are imperfect, broken beings, who are in need of God’s love, compassion, mercy and forgiveness. May the Lord our God forgive us all our sins and bring us all into His most loving embrace, and help us to show the same love to our brethren around us, especially to those who are dearest and most beloved to us. Amen.

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Monday, 9 March 2026 : 3rd Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Frances of Rome, Religious (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Luke 4 : 24-30

At that time, Jesus said to the people of Nazareth, “No prophet is honoured in his own country. Truly, I say to you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens withheld rain for three years and six months and a great famine came over the whole land. Yet, Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow of Zarephath, in the country of Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha, the prophet; and no one was healed except Naaman, the Syrian.”

On hearing these words, the whole assembly became indignant. They rose up and brought Him out of the town, to the edge of the hill on which Nazareth is built, intending to throw Him down the cliff. But He passed through their midst and went His way.

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Monday, 9 March 2026 : 3rd Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Frances of Rome, Religious (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 41 : 2, 3 and Psalm 42 : 3, 4

As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for You, o God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I go and see the face of God?

Send forth Your light and Your truth; let them be my guide, let them take me to Your holy mountain, to the place where You reside.

Then will I go to the altar of God, to God, my gladness and delight. I will praise You with the lyre and harp, o God, my God.

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Monday, 9 March 2026 : 3rd Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Frances of Rome, Religious (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

2 Kings 5 : 1-15a

Naaman was the army commander of the king of Aram. This man was highly regarded and enjoyed the king’s favour, for YHVH had helped him lead the army of the Arameans to victory. But this valiant man was sick with leprosy.

One day some Aramean soldiers raided the land of Israel and took a young girl captive who became a servant to the wife of Naaman. She said to her mistress, “If my master would only present himself to the prophet in Samaria, he would surely cure him of his leprosy.”

Naaman went to tell the king what the young Israelite maidservant had said. The king of Aram said to him, “Go to the prophet, and I shall also send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman went and took with him ten silver talents, six thousand gold pieces and ten festal garments.

On his arrival, he delivered the letter to the king of Israel. It said, “I present my servant Naaman to you that you may heal him of his leprosy. When the king read the letter, he tore his clothes to show his indignation, “I am not God to give life or death. And the king of Aram sends me this man to be healed! You see, he is just looking for an excuse for war.”

Elisha, the man of God, came to know that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, so he sent this message to him : “Why have you torn your clothes? Let the man come to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel.” So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and stopped before the house of Elisha. Elisha then sent a messenger to tell him, “Go to the river Jordan and wash seven times, and your flesh shall be as it was before, and you shall be cleansed.”

Naaman was angry, so he went away. He thought, “On my arrival, he should have personally come out, and then paused and called on the Name of YHVH, his God. And he should have touched with his hand the infected part, and I would have been healed. Are the rivers of Damascus, Abana and Pharpar not better than all the rivers of the land of Israel? Could I not wash there to be healed?”

His servants approached him and said to him, “Father, if the prophet had ordered you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? But how much easier when he said : ‘Take a bath and you will be cleansed.’” So Naaman went down to the Jordan where he washed himself seven times as Elisha had ordered. His skin became soft like that of a child and he was cleansed.

Then Naaman returned to the man of God with all his men.

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Sunday, 8 March 2026 : Third Sunday of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Third Sunday of the season of Lent all of us are reminded on the need for us to put our trust and faith in the Lord, to hold on to hope that we have in Him because regardless of how difficult our respective situations and conditions in this world may be, with God everything is possible and there is nothing too difficult or impossible for us all to overcome as long as we put our faith and trust in Him. We must remember that from the Lord we can receive the perfect assurance and support which will never fail. Anything of this world, all of our means and abilities can fail us, but if we hold on firmly in the Lord, He will provide for us, strengthening us with His Spirit and Wisdom against all the challenges facing us.

In our first reading this Sunday, we heard from the Book of Exodus in which the story of the rebelliousness of Israel and their stubborn attitude at the place known as Massah and Meribah was told to us. This place of Massah and Meribah was rather infamous in the history of God’s people because it was there that they openly rebelled against God, and it was at the latter place where even Moses himself, so frustrated at all the demands of the people, their stubborn attitudes and behaviours, disobeyed God by not following His instruction faithfully. And all of these highlighted to us the people’s lack of faith in their Lord and God, despite them having clearly seen everything which He had done for their sake.

Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, even though they themselves had witnessed the great works that the Lord Himself had done for their sake in striking against their Egyptian slavemasters and in bringing them out with great miracles and signs from the land of Egypt, among other things He has done. In fact, God has also provided His people amply with lots of food, sustenance and drink throughout their time and sojourn in the desert. But the people as we heard in our first reading this Sunday complained against the Lord and alleged that the Lord Himself had led them to the desert to perish, and those ungrateful people compared themselves with what they used to have in the land of Egypt, and how they preferred their previous status despite being in slavery.

And yet, as we also heard, God was still so patient with His people, caring for them and providing for them what they needed, instructing Moses what he ought to do in order to give the people the food and drink to sustain them even despite their constant and annoying complaints and grumbling, their constant lack of faith and trust in Him. God still truly loved His people, and still provided for all of them nonetheless even as He chastised them for their sins and disobedience. We can see indeed how if we put our trust in the Lord, His love and ever present and generous kindness ever provided to us all, and we should really trust that He knows what is best for us in our respective lives.

Then, from our second reading this Sunday, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful people of God in Rome, we heard of the Apostle’s words to the people reminding them all that we have received true peace and hope from the Lord our God, from Him Who is the Source of all Hope and strength, courage and providence, and Who will not fail us no matter what. As St. Paul famously said, which was also the theme of our previous year’s Jubilee Year of Hope, ‘Hope does not disappoint’, linking this Hope to the trust which all of us ought to have in the Lord, because in God alone we will not be disappointed and we will be strengthened and empowered through the difficult challenges of life.

And we are reminded by St. Paul how the Lord has given His love to us so generously and wonderfully, through the Incarnation of His Son, the Divine Word of God, the Logos, incarnate in the flesh and showing us all the infinite and most amazing love of God manifested in the flesh. Through Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, we have seen the perfect manifestation of God’s love made tangible for us, that God Himself has indeed walked in our midst, and we can behold His loving gaze and the reality of His love being made approachable to us. And because of this, each and every one of us can now have sure hope and assurance in God’s many promises, because God has indeed delivered everything that He has promised to us, even if it may take some time to happen.

Lastly, from our Gospel reading this Sunday, we heard from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, in which the story of the interactions between the Lord Jesus and a Samaritan woman was told to us. In that occasion, as the Lord and His disciples were passing through the region of Samaria between Judea and Galilee, the lands of the former northern kingdom of Israel, He was stopping by a spring and while His disciples left Him for errands, He encountered a Samaritan woman who came by the spring to take water. That spring was also known as Jacob’s well, because the Samaritans believed that their forefather Jacob was the one who found and established that spring, which provided water to the people living around the region.

For the context, we must first understand who the Samaritans were, the Samaritans were descended from the people living in the areas that was once the central parts of the northern kingdom of Israel, the lands of the former tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, and where the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, Samaria once stood. When the Assyrians defeated and conquered the northern kingdom of Israel, they also supplanted its people partly with the people they brought in from various parts of their empire, while bringing quite a significant number of the Israelites to exile in distant lands, in Assyria and beyond. Then, those people who lived in the land of Samaria, both some of the Israelites and the people brought in to dwell in the land, likely intermingled and from their descendants came about the Samaritans.

The Samaritans and the Jews in Judea and Galilee were often very suspicious at each other, and they were locked in bitter rivalry and even hatred for each other, especially because each of them accused the other of having corrupted and changed the Law to suit their own agenda, and with each group having different places that they considered as sacred, which was mentioned in our Gospel passage today in the conversation between the Lord and the Samaritan woman. To the Samaritans, Mount Gerizim in Samaria was the sacred mountain of God where they ought to be worshipping Him as opposed to Mount Zion where the Temple of God stood since the time of King Solomon, the place considered sacred by the Jewish people.

And the Samaritans also considered themselves as the true descendants of Jacob, while the Jews themselves also took great pride in their identity as those mainly descended from the people of the southern kingdom of Judah and some of their northern Israelite neighbours, and because of this, and historical frictions, conflicts and misunderstandings, eventually led to both groups becoming very hostile at each other. And that was why the Samaritan woman was surprised, even shocked when the Lord initiated conversation with her, which was something that no Jew or Samaritan would likely do to each other, given their extensive animosities.

The Lord however approached her with great patience, kindness and love, and with genuine intentions, revealing the truth about what God Himself has planned for all of His people, and not limited only to the Jews or the Samaritans, but to all of mankind. The Lord told her that if she listened to Him and kept His words, then His Word would become the Spring of living water which would far surpass the spring of Jacob which she had been taking her water regularly from. And the Lord also revealed truth about the woman which convinced her that He was indeed the One that God had promised to all of His people through the prophets, and that was how she then went to proclaim about Him to the Samaritans and many more people came to believe in the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, through what we have received in this Sunday’s Scripture readings, we are reminded that God’s love for His people has indeed been so great and He has shown and manifested it throughout all of history, even when the people bickered, grumbled and complained against Him and even as they became divided and bitterly set against each other, He still patiently loved them and wanted them to be reconciled not just with one another but also with Himself. And that is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we all continue to progress through this time and season of Lent, let us all continue to embrace the love of God, His mercy and compassion, doing our very best to live our lives faithfully in accordance to His ways, His Law and commandments.

May the Lord continue to guide us all in our journey of life, in our perseverance in faith at all times, and may our Hope in Him continue to flourish, as we recall what St. Paul had said, that Hope in God does not disappoint, because God will surely provide for all of us what we require and need, and He will vindicate us all, and bring us all to the ultimate triumph, joy and satisfaction with Him if we remain truly faithful and committed to Him even through our greatest challenges and trials in life. May God bless us always and bless our Lenten journey moving forward, and help us all to continue to persevere in faith, now and always. Amen.

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Sunday, 8 March 2026 : Third Sunday of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

John 4 : 5-42

At that time, Jesus came to a Samaritan town called Sychar, near the land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well is there. Tired from His journey, Jesus sat down by the well; it was about noon. Now a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” His disciples had just gone into town to buy some food.

The Samaritan woman said to Him, “How is it that You, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan and a woman, for a drink?” (For Jews, in fact, have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift of God! If you knew Who it is, Who is asking you for a drink, you yourself would have asked Me, and I would have given you living water.”

The woman answered, “Sir, You have no bucket, and this well is deep; where is Your living water? Are You greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well, and drank from it himself, together with his sons and his cattle?” Jesus said to her, “Those who drink of this water will be thirsty again; but those, who drink of the water that I shall give, will never be thirsty; for the water, that I shall give, will become in them a spring of water, welling up to eternal life.”

The woman said to Him, “Give me this water, that I may never be thirsty, and never have to come here to draw water.” Jesus said, “Go, call your husband, and come back here.” The woman answered, “I have no husband.” And Jesus replied, “You are right to say, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you said is true.”

The woman then said to Him, “I see You are a Prophet; tell me this : Our ancestors came to this mountain to worship God; but you Jews, do you not claim that Jerusalem is the only place to worship God?” Jesus said to her, “Believe Me, woman, the hour is coming when you shall worship the Father, but that will not be on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.”

“You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, because salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is even now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for that is the kind of worshippers the Father wants. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit, and truth.”

The woman said to Him, “I know that the Messiah (that is the Christ) is coming. When He comes, He will tell us everything.” And Jesus said, “I Who am talking to you, I am He.”

At this point the disciples returned, and were surprised that Jesus was speaking with a woman, however, no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are You talking with her?” So the woman left her water jar and ran to the town. There she said to the people, “Come and see a Man Who told me everything I did! Could He not be the Christ?” So they left the town and went to meet Him.

In the meantime the disciples urged Jesus, “Master, eat.” But He said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” And the disciples wondered, “Has anyone brought Him food?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of the One Who sent Me, and to carry out His work.”

“You say that in four months there will be the harvest; now, I say to you, look up and see the fields white and ready for harvesting. People who reap the harvest are paid for their work, and the fruit is gathered for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. Indeed the saying holds true : One sows and another reaps. I sent you to reap where you did not work or suffer; others have worked, and you are now sharing in their labours.”

In that town many Samaritans believed in Him when they heard the woman who declared, “He told me everything I did.” So, when they came to Him, they asked Him to stay with them, and Jesus stayed there two days. After that, many more believed because of His own words, and they said to the woman, “We no longer believe because of what you told us: we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is the Saviour of the world.”

Alternative reading (shorter version)

John 4 : 5-15, 19b-26, 39a, 40-42

At that time, Jesus came to a Samaritan town called Sychar, near the land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well is there. Tired from His journey, Jesus sat down by the well; it was about noon. Now a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” His disciples had just gone into town to buy some food.

The Samaritan woman said to Him, “How is it that You, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan and a woman, for a drink?” (For Jews, in fact, have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift of God! If you knew Who it is, Who is asking you for a drink, you yourself would have asked Me, and I would have given you living water.”

The woman answered, “Sir, You have no bucket, and this well is deep; where is Your living water? Are You greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well, and drank from it himself, together with his sons and his cattle?” Jesus said to her, “Those who drink of this water will be thirsty again; but those, who drink of the water that I shall give, will never be thirsty; for the water, that I shall give, will become in them a spring of water, welling up to eternal life.”

The woman said to Him, “Give me this water, that I may never be thirsty, and never have to come here to draw water. I see You are a Prophet; tell me this : Our ancestors came to this mountain to worship God; but you Jews, do you not claim that Jerusalem is the only place to worship God?” Jesus said to her, “Believe Me, woman, the hour is coming when you shall worship the Father, but that will not be on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.”

“You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, because salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is even now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for that is the kind of worshippers the Father wants. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit, and truth.”

The woman said to Him, “I know that the Messiah (that is the Christ) is coming. When He comes, He will tell us everything.” And Jesus said, “I Who am talking to you, I am He.”

In that town many Samaritans believed in Him, so, when they came to Him, they asked Him to stay with them, and Jesus stayed there two days. After that, many more believed because of His own words, and they said to the woman, “We no longer believe because of what you told us: we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is the Saviour of the world.”

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Sunday, 8 March 2026 : Third Sunday of Lent (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Romans 5 : 1-2, 5-8

By faith we have received true righteousness, and we are at peace with God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Through Him we obtain this favour in which we remain and we even boast to expect the Glory of God.

And hope does not disappoint us because the Holy Spirit has been given to us, pouring into our hearts the love of God. Consider, moreover, the time that Christ died for us : when we were still helpless and unable to do anything.

Few would accept to die for an upright person; although, for a very good person, perhaps someone would dare to die. But see how God manifested His love for us : while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

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Sunday, 8 March 2026 : Third Sunday of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 94 : 1-2, 6-7, 8-9

Come, let us sing to the Lord, let us make a joyful sound to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before Him giving thanks, with music and songs of praise.

Come and worship; let us bow down, kneel before the Lord, our Maker. He is our God, and we His people; the flock He leads and pastures. Would that today you heard His voice!

Do not be stubborn, as at Meribah, in the desert, on that day at Massah, when your ancestors challenged Me, and they put Me to the test.

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Sunday, 8 March 2026 : Third Sunday of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Exodus 17 : 3-7

But the people thirsted for water at Rephidim and grumbled against Moses, “Why did you make us leave Egypt to have us die of thirst with our children and our cattle?”

So Moses cried to YHVH, “What shall I do with the people? They are almost ready to stone me!” YHVH said to Moses, “Go ahead of the people and take with you the elders of Israel. Take with you the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will stand there before you on the rock at Horeb. You will strike the rock and water will flow from it and the people will drink.”

Moses did this in the presence of the elders of Israel. The place was called Massah and Meribah because of the complaints of the Israelites, who tested YHVH saying, “Is YHVH with us or not?”

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(Usus Antiquior) Third Sunday of Lent (I Classis) – Sunday, 8 March 2026 : Offertory, Secret Prayer of the Priest, Preface, Communion and Post-Communion Prayer

Liturgical Colour : Violet

Offertory

Psalm 18 : 9, 10, 11, 12

Justitiae Domini rectae, laetificantes corda, et judicia Ejus dulciora super mel et favum : nam et servus Tuus custodit ea.

English translation

The justices of the Lord are right, rejoicing hearts, and His judgments are sweeter than honey and the honeycomb; for Your servant kept them.

Secret Prayer of the Priest

Haec hostia, Domine, quaesumus, emundet nostra delicta : et, ad sacrificium celebrandum, subditorum Tibi corpora mentesque sanctificet. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum, qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

English translation

May this offering, o Lord, we beseech You, wipe out our sins, and sanctify the bodies and minds of Your servants for the celebration of the sacrifice. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who with You lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.

Preface of Lent

Vere dignum et justum est, aequum et salutare, nos Tibi semper et ubique gratias agere : Domine, Sancte Pater omnipotens, aeterne Deus : Qui corporali jejunio vitia comprimis, mentem elevas, virtutem largiris et praemia : per Christum, Dominum nostrum.

Per quem majestatem Tuam laudant Angeli, adorant Dominationes, tremunt Potestates. Caeli caelorumque Virtutes ac beata Seraphim socia exsultatione concelebrant. Cum quibus et nostras voces ut admitti jubeas, deprecamur, supplici confessione dicentes :

English translation

It is truly meet and just, right and profitable, for us, at all times, and in all places, to give thanks to You, o Lord, the Holy One, the Father Almighty, the Everlasting God, Who on those who chastise their bodies by fasting had bestowed the restraining of evil passions, uplifting of heart, and the enjoying of virtue with its reward. Through Christ our Lord.

Through Whom the Angels praise, the Dominations adore, the Powers, trembling with awe, worship Your majesty, which the heavens, and the forces of heaven, together with the blessed Seraphim, joyfully magnify. And may You command that it be permitted to our lowliness to join with them in confessing You and unceasingly to repeat :

Communion

Psalm 83 : 4-5

Passer invenit sibi domum, et turtur nidum, ubi reponat pullos suos : altaria Tua, Domine virtutum. Rex meus, et Deus meus : beati, qui habitant in domo Tua, in saeculum saeculi laudabunt Te.

English translation

The sparrow had found herself a house, and the turtle a nest, where she may lay her young ones. Your altars, o Lord of hosts, my King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in Your house, they shall praise You forever and ever.

Post-Communion Prayer

Acunctis nos, quaesumus, Domine, reatibus et periculis propitiatus absolve : quos tanti mysterii tribuis esse participes. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum, qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.
English translation

Be merciful, o Lord, we beseech You, and free us from all sins and dangers, as You had granted us to be sharers in this great mystery. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who with You lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.