READING
Deuteronomy 7:6, 8-9  

The Lord, your God has chosen you from all the nations on the face of the earth to be a people peculiarly his own. It was because the Lord loved you and because of his fidelity to the oath he had sworn to your fathers, that he brought you out with his strong hand from the place of slavery, and ransomed you from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Understand, then, that the Lord, your God, is God indeed, the faithful God who keeps his merciful covenant down to the thousandth generation toward those who love him and keep his commandments.

RESPONSORY
God himself will set me free, from the hunters snare.
God himself will set me free, from the hunters snare.
From those who would trap me with lying words
-and from the hunter's snare.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
God himself will set me free, from the hunters snare.

BENEDICTUS (Canticle of Zechariah)
Antiphons for Benedictus:
Week 1:   This evil and faithless generation asks for a sign but no sign will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
Week 2:   The Son of Man did not come to serve but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Week 3:   The Lord said: Do not think that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.
Week 4:   Whoever hears my words, says the Lord, and believes in him who sent me, has eternal life.

INTERCESSIONS
Week 1 and 3

Blessed be God, the giver of salvation, who decreed that mankind should become a new creation in himself, when all would be made new.  With great confidence let us ask him:

   Lord, renew us in your Spirit.

Lord, you promised a new heaven and a new earth; renew us daily through your Spirit,
 - that we may enjoy your presence for ever in the heavenly Jerusalem.
Help us to work with you to make this world alive with your Spirit,
 - and to build on earth a city of justice, love and peace.
Free us from all negligence and sloth,
 - and give us joy in your gifts of grace.
Deliver us from evil,
 - and from slavery to the senses, which blinds us to goodness.

Our Father...

Let us give thanks to God, our Father: through the power of the Spirit he purifies our heart and strengthens us in love. Let us humbly ask him:

      Lord, give us your Holy Spirit.

Help us to receive good things from your bounty with a deep sense of gratitude;
-and to accept with patience the evil that comes to us.
Teach us to be loving not only in great and exceptional moments,
-but above all in the ordinary events of daily life.
May we abstain from what we do not really need,
-and help our brothers and sisters in distress.
May we bear the wounds of your Son,
-for through his body he gave us life.

Our Father...

Week 1   Lord,
look upon us and hear our prayer.
By the good works you inspire
help us to discipline our bodies
and be renewed in spirit.
Grant this...

Week 2   Father,
teach us to lead good lives,
encourage us with your support
and bring us to eternal life.
We ask this...

Week 3   Lord,
during this Lenten season
nourish us with your word of life
and make us one in love and prayer.
Grant this...

Week 4   Lord,
you reward virtue
and forgive the repentant sinner.
Grant us your forgiveness
as we come before you confessing our guilt.
We ask this...

Reading
Ezekiel 18:30b-32

Turn and be converted from all your crimes, that they may be no cause of guilt for you. Cast away from you all the crimes you have committed, and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies, says the Lord God. Return and live!

Create in me a clean heart, O God.
 - Renew in me a steadfast spirit.

Antiphon: As I live, says the Lord, I do not wish the sinner to die, but to turn back to me and live.

Reading
Zechariah 1:3b-4b

Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. Be not like your fathers whom the former prophets warned: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Turn from your evil ways and from your wicked deeds.

Turn away your face from my sins.
 - Blot out all my guilt.

Antiphon: Armed with God's justice and power, let us prove ourselves through patient endurance.

Reading
Daniel 4:24b

Atone for your sins by good deeds, and for your misdeeds by kindness to the poor; then your prosperity will be long.

My sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit.
 - A humble contrite heart, O God, you will not spurn.

My beloved, obedient as you have always been, not only when I am present but all the more now when I am absent, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. For God is the one who, for his good purpose, works in you both to desire and to work. Do everything without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine like lights in the world, as you hold on to the word of life.

RESPONSORY
To you, O Lord, I make my prayer for mercy;  
To you, O Lord, I make my prayer for mercy;
heal my soul, for I have sinned against you.
I make my prayer for mercy;
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
To you, O Lord, I make my prayer for mercy.  

MAGNIFICAT (Canticle of Mary)
Antiphons on Magnificat:
Week 1:   As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the fish, so will the Son of Man spend three days and three night in the heart of the earth.
Week 2:   The Son of Man will be handed over to the Gentiles to be mocked, scourged and crucified; and on the third day he will rise again.
Week 3:   The one who obeys God's law and teaches others to do so will be great in the kingdom of heaven.
Week 4:   By myself, says the Lord, I can do nothing.  I judge as I am told to judge, and my sentence is just.

INTERCESSIONS
Week 1 and 3

Blessed be almighty God, who watches over us as a Father; he knows all our needs but wants us to seek first his kingdom. Let us cry out to him as his people:

   May your kingdom come, that justice may reign.

Father of all holiness, you gave us Christ as the shepherd of our souls; stay with your shepherds and the flock entrusted to them, do not leave this flock without the loving care of its shepherd,
 - do not leave your shepherds without an obedient flock to follow them.
Teach Christians to help the weak with loving care,
 - and in serving them to serve your Son.
Gather into your Church those who do not yet believe,
 - and help them to build it up by good deeds done for  love of you.
Help us to turn to you for forgiveness,
 - and, as you forgive us, reconcile us also with your Church.
May the dead pass from this world to eternal life,
 - to be with you for ever.

Our Father...

All glory and honor to God, for in the blood of Christ he has ratified a new and everlasting covenant with his people, and renews it in the sacrament of the altar.  Let us lift our voices in prayer:

  Bless your people, Lord.

Lord, guide the minds and hearts of peoples and all in public office,
 - may they seek the common good.
Renew the spirit of dedication in those who have left all to follow Christ,
 - may they give clear witness to the holiness of the Church.
You have made all men and women in your image,
 - may they give clear witness to the holiness of the Church.
You have made all men and women in your image,
 - may they always uphold human dignity,
Lead back to your friendship and truth all who have gone astray,
 - teach us how to help them.
Grant that the dead may enter into your glory,
 - to praise you for ever.

Our Father...

Week 1   Lord,
look upon us and hear our prayer.
By the good works you inspire
help us to discipline our bodies
and be renewed in spirit.
Grant this...

Week 2   Father,
teach us to lead good lives,
encourage us with your support
and bring us to eternal life.
We ask this...

Week 3   Lord,
during this Lenten season
nourish us with your word of life
and make us one in love and prayer.
Grant this...

Week 4   Lord,
you reward virtue
and forgive the repentant sinner.
Grant us your forgiveness
as we come before you confessing our guilt.
We ask this...