Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of this world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

We beseech thee, O Lord, pour thy grace into our hearts; that we who have known the incarnation of thy Son Jesus Christ, announced by an angel to the Virgin Mary, may by his cross and passion be brought unto the glory of his resurrection; who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

25th March is the Feast of the Annunciation:

"Ecce ancilla Domini, fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum."#FeastoftheAnnunciation
Cotton MS Caligula A VII/1; Painted miniatures probably from a Psalter; 12th century; f.3r @BLMedieval pic.twitter.com/7kPGpXN4jo

— Ennius (@red_loeb) March 25, 2023

Merciful Lord,
absolve your people from their offences,
that through your bountiful goodness
we may all be delivered from the chains of those sins
which by our frailty we have committed;
grant this, heavenly Father,
for Jesus Christ’s sake, our blessed Lord and Saviour,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

Bright Blue Skies. 12°C and a keen Southwesterly breeze. Daffodils pic.twitter.com/f027R9N0M7

— Yorkshire Wolds Weather (@WeatherWolds) March 22, 2023

Almighty God, who has taught us in thy holy Word that the law was given by Moses, but that grace and truth came by Jesus Christ: Grant that we, being not under the law but under grace, may live as children of that Jerusalem which is above, and rejoice in the freedom of our heavenly citizenship; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

–The Rev. James Mountain (1844-1933)

« Vive le Printemps…». #chasseurdebeauté pic.twitter.com/gDZI6pgwKU

— Catherine Benoist (@benoistart) March 20, 2023

Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world: Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Daffodils gently swaying in the breeze this morning in Glastonbury. This was taken shortly after sunrise today. pic.twitter.com/VSkOv83Uo8

— Michelle Cowbourne (@Glastomichelle) March 19, 2023

O Eternal God, who through thy Son our Lord hast promised a blessing upon those who hear thy Word and faithfully keep it: Open our ears, we humbly beseech thee, to hear what thou sayest, and enlighten our minds, that what we hear we may understand, and understanding may carry into good effect by thy bounteous prompting; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

Another view of this morning's sunrise over Downtown Charleston! #chswx pic.twitter.com/4DZiHCsqYt

— Joey Sovine Live 5 (@JoeySovine) March 17, 2023

O Thou who hast prepared a place for my soul, prepare my soul for that place. Prepare it with holiness; prepare it with desire; and even while it sojourneth upon earth, let it dwell in heaven with thee, beholding the beauty of thy countenance and the glory of thy saints, now and for evermore.

Good Morning. #friends #chasseurdebeauté pic.twitter.com/a3FskE56et

— Catherine Benoist (@benoistart) March 16, 2023

O God, who through thy Son has taught us that a house divided against itself must fall: Save us, we beseech thee, from the danger of a divided allegiance; unite our hearts to fear thy name; and grant that in all our course of life our eye may be single and our purpose one; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

Morning all! Beautiful #sunrise over a field of mist and sheep this #morning. @StormHour #norfolk #landscapelovers pic.twitter.com/yrKb3JIkOd

— William Hulbert Photography (@WLH1972) March 15, 2023

Lord Christ, almighty Saviour, we cry to thee for aid against our strong enemy. O thou who art the Stronger than the strong, deliver us, we pray thee, from the evil one, and take sole possession of our hearts and minds; that filled with thy Spirit we may henceforth devote our lives to thy service, and therein find our perfect freedom; for the honour of thy great name.

Good morning from Cape Bonavista. Have a great day.#ShareYourWeather #NLwx pic.twitter.com/v3IuvkMMUk

— Mark Gray 🇨🇦 (@GrayMarker99) March 14, 2023

Almighty God,
whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain,
and entered not into glory before he was crucified:
mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross,
may find it none other than the way of life and peace;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

Morning calm #Maine #StormHour pic.twitter.com/pkfvdWHdY4

— Chef Hiking (@ChefHiking) March 13, 2023

O God, who through thy Son Jesus Christ hast promised help to man according to his faith: Grant us the freedom of the children to taste the food of eternal life, and to share with others what we ourselves receive; through the merits of the same thy Son, our Lord.

#thursdayvibes #snow #scarborough 🌊 A brisk north wind, a smattering of snow ❄️ Wrap up warm, folks, it's a chilly one ❄️ Photo taken a few minutes ago 🥶 pic.twitter.com/h8d0hwrgEo

— Faith Young Writer (@FYoungWriter) March 9, 2023

Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, thatwe may be defended from all adversities that may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts that may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Who likes waking up to a beautiful sunrise over Swaledale on a frosty morning? ✋

Each morning we open a window to the #YorkshireDales and share some of our favourite views 🧡

📸 Alex Helin Photography#PhotoOfTheDay #Swaledale #Dales pic.twitter.com/D5Fhd6O15M

— Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority (@yorkshire_dales) March 8, 2023

O Blessed Saviour, who art full of mercy and compassion, and wilt not cast out any that come to thee: Help us, we beseech thee, who are grievously vexed with the burden of our sins; and so increase in us the power of thy Holy Spirit that we may prevail against the enemy of our souls; for thy name’s sake.

Write deeply upon our minds, O Lord God, the lesson of thy holy Word, that only the pure in heart can see thee. Leave us not in the bondage of any sinful inclination. May we neither deceive ourselves with the thought that we have no sin, nor acquiesce idly in aught of which our conscience accuses us. Strengthen us by thy Holy Spirit to fight the good fight of faith, and grant that no day may pass without its victory; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

O Eternal God, who hast taught us by thy holy Word that our bodies are temples of thy Spirit: Keep us, we most humbly beseech thee, temperate and holy in thought, word and deed, that at the last we, with all the pure in heart, may see thee and be made like unto thee in thy heavenly kingdom; through Christ our Lord.

Enjoy your day!❄️😊Minus 9C💕 pic.twitter.com/B48TigJj9n

— Anne Grete Hagby (@AHagby) March 5, 2023

Almighty and everlasting God, who for the well-being of our earthly life hast put into our hearts wholesome desires of body and spirit: Mercifully increase and establish in us, we beseech thee, the grace of holy discipline and healthy self-control; that we may fulfill our desires by the means which thou hast appointed, and for the ends thou ordainest; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Just A Few Hints of Blue Sky. 4°C ( snow next week ? ) Magpies in numbers. pic.twitter.com/M9OnKKkgTM

— Yorkshire Wolds Weather (@WeatherWolds) March 4, 2023

O Heavenly Father, subdue in us whatever is contrary to thy holy will, that we may know how to please thee. Grant, O God, that we may never run into those temptations which in our prayers we desire to avoid. Lord, never permit our trials to be above our strength; through Jesus Christ our Saviour.

Eden-like beauty along the Kentucky/Virginia border. Photo by Robert Stephens pic.twitter.com/6yp8YRY7bm

— Scenes of the Bluegrass (@BluegrassScenes) March 1, 2023

O Lord our God, grant us, we beseech thee, patience in troubles, humility in comforts, constancy in temptations, and victory over all our spiritual foes. Grant us sorrow for our sins, thankfulness for thy benefits, fear of thy judgment, love of thy mercies, and mindfulness of thy presence; now and for evermore.

Good morning from the Lowcountry.. have a great day everyone!.. @ChasCountyGov @ChasChamber @CityCharleston @chswx @weatherchannel @NWSCharlestonSC @chasscene @Justin_Zepperi @SimonBooks @southernliving #sunrise #charlestonsc #WaterfrontPark @morningmika @JoeNBC @Nikon pic.twitter.com/M1aaEJXjVX

— Wendy Mogul Photography 📷 (@WendyMogulPhoto) February 28, 2023

Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan: Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations, and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Comme un air de printemps, Lac de la Brèche 💖💙💛🇨🇭#valais #suisse #switzerland #schweiz #ineedswitzerland #landscapephotography #landscape #photooftheday #photography #paysage #mountains #naturebeauty #lake #reflections @MySwitzerland_e @Veronique_Kanel @valaiswallis pic.twitter.com/WTQarMnsPh

— Délèze Dominique (@DelezeD) February 27, 2023

Blessed Lord, who wast tempted in all things like as we are, have mercy upon our frailty. Out of weakness give us strength; grant to us thy fear, that we may fear thee only; support us in time of temptation; embolden us in time of danger; help us to do thy work with good courage, and to continue thy faithful soldiers and servants unto our life’s end.

☘️Guten Morgen ☀️
wünsche euch einen
friedlichen Sonntag 🕊️☀️🕊️ pic.twitter.com/9X6LCuwNDR

— 💫Stein_harmonie🍀🧚‍♀️ (@SteinHarmonie) February 26, 2023

O God, who by thy Son dost marvellously work out the salvation of mankind: Grant, we beseech thee, that, following the example of our blessed Lord, and observing such a fast as thou dost choose, we may both be subjected to thee with all our hearts, and united to each other in holy charity; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

Happy weekend all! pic.twitter.com/KKEYNzkvhO

— David (discovering light) (@Disc_light) February 25, 2023

O Lord our God, long-suffering and full of compassion: Be present with us, we beseech thee, as we enter upon this season in which we make ready to recall our Saviour’s sufferings and to celebrate his triumph. Grant us the aid of thy Holy Spirit, that as we acknowledge our sins, and implore thy pardon, we may also be enabled to deny ourselves, and be upheld in the hour of temptation; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

—Prayers for the Christian Year (SCM, 1964)

Happy Friday all! pic.twitter.com/ItmKvJXY2t

— David (discovering light) (@Disc_light) February 24, 2023

A huge wooden cross has been suspended from York Minster’s Central Tower, to mark the start of Lent.

The cross which is 19ft (6m) tall and 10ft (3m) wide, has been made from wooden scaffold boards in the Minster’s workshop.

The Lent Cross arrived at the cathedral on Tuesday ahead of Ash Wednesday.

Read it all.

York Minster installs giant wooden cross for Lent https://t.co/l3KAiWkyYw

— BBC Yorkshire (@BBCLookNorth) February 22, 2023

Bible scholar and pastor N.T. Wright retells the following story about an archbishop who was hearing confessions of sin from three hardened teenagers in the church. All three boys were trying to make a joke out of it so they met with the archbishop and confessed to a long list of ridiculous and grievous sins that they had not committed. It was all a joke. The archbishop, seeing through their bad practical joke, played along with the first two who ran out of the church laughing. But then he listened carefully to the third prankster, and before he got away told the young man, “Okay, you have confessed these sins. Now I want you to do something to show your repentance. I want you to walk up to the far end of the church and I want you to look at the picture of Jesus hanging on the cross, and I want you to look at his face and say, ‘You did all that for me and I don’t care that much.’ And I want you to do that three times.”

And so the boy went up to the front, looked at the picture of Jesus and said, “You did all that for me and I don’t care that much.” And then he said it again, but then he couldn’t say it the third time because he broke down in tears. And the archbishop telling the story said, the reason I know that story is that I was that young man.

There is something about the cross. When we take time to reflect, meditate, and pray concerning what Christ did for us on the cross, something deeply happens to us. Like the holy season of Advent, Lent is such a time to reflect on what God has done for us through His Son, Jesus Christ. We need these seasons in our lives.

It is free to download there.

I’ve written a prayer for Ash Wednesday that names some of the struggles that I usually feel around Lent, but I hope it might be helpful to others who wish to journey through this season in faith, hope and love in the face of temptations to be faithless, hopeless and loveless. pic.twitter.com/n76uSJc8Hx

— W. David O. Taylor (@wdavidotaylor) February 23, 2023

O Lord Jesus Christ, who didst take upon thee the form of a servant, humbling thyself and accepting death for us, even the death of the cross: Grant that this mind may be also in us; so that we may gladly take upon ourselves the life of humility and service, and taking up our cross daily may follow thee in thy suffering and death, that with thee we may attain unto the power of thy endless life. Grant this, O Christ, our Saviour and our King.

Good morning ☕☕ pic.twitter.com/5pNkUHdXH9

— Mårten Björkgren 💙💛 (@MartenBjorkgren) February 23, 2023

The idea of national repentance seems at first sight to provide such an edifying contrast to that national self-righteousness of which England is so often accused and with which she entered (or is said to have entered) the last war, that a Christian naturally turns to it with hope. Young Christians especially-last-year undergraduates and first-year curates- are turning to it in large numbers. They are ready to believe that England bears part of the guilt for the present war, and ready to admit their own share in the guilt of England. What that share is, I do not find it easy to determine. Most of these young men were children, and none of them had a vote or the experience which would enable them to use a vote wisely, when England made many of those decisions to which the present disorders could plausibly be traced. Are they, perhaps, repenting what they have in no sense done?

If they are, it might be supposed that their error is very harmless: men fail so often to repent their real sins that the occasional repentance of an imaginary sin might appear almost desirable. But what actually happens (I have watched it happening) to the youthful national penitent is a little more complicated than that. England is not a natural agent, but a civil society. When we speak of England’s actions we mean the actions of the British government. The young man who is called upon to repent of England’s foreign policy is really being called upon to repent the acts of his neighbor; for a foreign secretary or a cabinet minister is certainly a neighbor. And repentance presupposes condemnation. The first and fatal charm of national repentance is, therefore, the encouragement it gives us to turn from the bitter task of repenting our own sins to the congenial one of bewailing-but, first, of denouncing-the conduct of others.

–C.S. Lewis, “Dangers of national repentance”

Happy Ash Wednesday! pic.twitter.com/BA54gkyAvY

— Countess Anna (@AnnaCountessK) February 22, 2023

“Confess your faults one to another” (Jas. 5:16). He who is alone with his sin is utterly alone. It may be that Christians, notwithstanding corporate worship, common prayer, and all their fellowship in service, may still be left to their loneliness. The final break-through to fellowship does not occur, because, though they have fellowship with one another as believers and devout people, they do not have fellowship as the undevout, as sinners. This pious fellowship permits no one to be a sinner. So everybody must conceal his sin from himself and the fellowship. We dare not be sinners. Many Christians are unthinkably horrified when a real sinner is suddenly discovered among the righteous. so we remain alone with our sin, living in lies and hypocrisy. The fact is that we are sinners!

But it is the grace of the Gospel, which is so hard for the pious to understand, that it confronts us with the truth and says: You are a sinner, a great, desperate sinner; now come as the sinner that you are, to God who loves you. He wants you as you are; He does not want anything from you, a sacrifice, a work; He wants you alone. “My son, give me thine heart” (Prov. 23:26). God has come to you to save the sinner. Be glad! This message is liberation through truth. You can hide nothing from God. The mask you wear before men will do you no good before Him. He wants to see you as you are, He wants to be gracious to you. You do not have to on lying to yourself and your brothers, as if you were without sin; you can dare to be a sinner. Thank God for that; He loves the sinner but He hates sin.

–Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

Baltimore: Walters Art Museum, W. 174, Missal of Eberhard von Greiffenklau, fol. 28r; initial D at beginning of prayer during the blessing of ashes on Ash Wednesday, “O God, who desirest not the death of sinners, but their penance…" @Princeton #MedievalTwitter #AshWednesday pic.twitter.com/BUzdFfjviW

— Marlene T. Diaz (@academicknight) February 22, 2023

O Lord and heavenly Father, who hast given unto us thy people the true bread that cometh down from heaven, even thy Son Jesus Christ: Grant that throughout this Lent our souls may so be fed by him that we may continually live in him and he in us; and that day by day we may be renewed in spirit by the power of his endless life, who gave himself for us, and now liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end.

Sky looked like it was on fire over Pawleys Island this morning. Awesome 📸 Bob Callahan! #scwx pic.twitter.com/wRHSXtzo2t

— Ed Piotrowski (@EdPiotrowski) February 22, 2023

On that Wednesday, throughout the world,
as it is appointed, priests bless
clean ashes in church, and then lay them
on people’s heads, so that they may remember
that they came from earth and will return again to dust,
just as Almighty God said to Adam,
after he had sinned against God’s command:
‘In labour you shall live and in sweat you shall eat
your bread upon the earth, until you return again
to the same earth from which you came,
for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.’
This is not said about the souls of mankind,
but about their bodies, which moulder to dust,
and shall again on Judgement Day, through the power of our Lord,
rise from the earth, all who ever lived,
just as all trees quicken again in the season of spring
which were deadened by the winter’s chill.

Read it all.

'Þu eart dust and to duste gewendst': an Anglo-Saxon Ash Wednesday sermon and the link between Lent and spring https://t.co/gW6skHKmRv

The word 'Lent' comes from the Old English word for spring, 'lencten', the season when the days are lengthening. pic.twitter.com/Zlfx8tEJyO

— Eleanor Parker (@ClerkofOxford) February 22, 2023

Almighty and everlasting God,
you hate nothing that you have made
and forgive the sins of all those who are penitent:
create and make in us new and contrite hearts
that we, worthily lamenting our sins
and acknowledging our wretchedness,
may receive from you, the God of all mercy,
perfect remission and forgiveness;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

Join us for Eucharist for Ash Wednesday with Imposition of Ashes at 5pm here @wabbey today. Music by Palestrina, Allegri and Byrd #ashwednesday pic.twitter.com/zQzoPmqi5t

— Choir of Westminster Abbey (@WAbbeyChoir) February 22, 2023