Litany of Penitence

Yesterday during my lunch hour, I had the privilege of attending an Ash Wednesday service at Trinity Episcopal Church in downtown Columbia. This was only my fifth Ash Wednesday service out of the 32 Ash Wednesdays for which I've been alive. I attended the other four services while I was in college. Until that point, I didn't even know what Ash Wednesday was!

Over the years, as I've learned about the Christian church calendar, I've been fascinated by the fact that people all over the world, throughout all generations, are tied together by the same Christian story-- celebrating the same rituals, praying the same prayers, reading the same scriptures, connecting to our awesome, steady, faithful God--a unified voice of petition, confession, trust, adoration, and praise.

May this litany of penitence resonate with you as it did with me as I worshipped yesterday...and may you be reminded not only of your call to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to the whole world but also of your connection to believers of every tribe, tongue, denomination, and generation.

Most holy and merciful Father:
We confess to you and to one another,
and to the whole communion of saints
in heaven and on earth,
that we have sinned by our own fault
in thought, word, and deed;
by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.

We have not loved you with our whole heart, and mind, and strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We have not forgiven others, as we have been forgiven.
HAVE MERCY ON US, LORD.

We have been deaf to your call to serve, as Christ served us. We have not been true to the mind of Christ. We have grieved your Holy Spirit.
HAVE MERCY ON US, LORD.

We confess to you, Lord, all our past unfaithfulness: the pride, hypocrisy, and impatience of our lives,
WE CONFESS TO YOU, LORD.

Our self-indulgent appetites and ways, and our exploitation of other people,
WE CONFESS TO YOU, LORD.

Our anger at our own frustration, and our envy of those more fortunate than ourselves,
WE CONFESS TO YOU, LORD.

Our intemperate love of worldly goods and comforts, and our dishonesty in daily life and work,
WE CONFESS TO YOU, LORD.

Our negligence in prayer and worship, and our failture to commend the faith that is in us,
WE CONFESS TO YOU, LORD.

Accept our repentance, Lord, for the wrongs we have done: for our blindness to human need and suffering, and our indifference to injustice and cruelty,
ACCEPT OUR REPENTANCE, LORD.

For all false judgments, for uncharitable thoughts toward our neighbors, and for our prejudice and contempt toward those who differ from us,
ACCEPT OUR REPENTANCE, LORD.

For our waste and pollution of your creation, and our lack of concern for those who come after us,
ACCEPT OUR REPENTANCE, LORD.

Restore us, good Lord, and let your anger depart from us;
FAVORABLY HEAR US, FOR YOUR MERCY IS GREAT.

Accomplish in us the work of your salvation,
THAT WE MAY SHOW FORTH YOUR GLORY IN THE WORLD.

By the cross and passion of your Son Our Lord,
BRING US WITH ALL YOUR SAINTS TO THE JOY OF HIS RESURRECTION.

Amen.

--taken from the Book of Common Prayer, pp. 267-269