Again We Keep This Solemn Fast

1. Again we keep this solemn fast,
A gift of faith from ages past.
This Lent which binds us lovingly
To faith and hope and charity.

2. The law and prophets from of old,
In figured ways this Lent foretold,
Which Christ, all ages Lord and Guide,
In these last days He sanctified.

3. More sparing, therefore, let us make
The words speak, the food we take,
Our sleep, our laughter, ev’ry sense.
Learn peace through holy penitence.

4. Let us avoid each harmful way
That lures the careless mind astray,
By watchful prayer our spirits free
From scheming of the enemy.

5. We pray, O blessed Three in One,
Our God while endless ages run,
That this, our Lent of forty days,
May bring us growth and give you praise.

Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence

Let all mortal flesh keep silence,

And with fear and trembling stand;
Ponder nothing earthly minded,
For with blessing in his hand
Christ, our Lord, to earth descends now,
Our full homage to demand.

Rank on rank the host of heaven
Spreads its vanguard on the way,
As the Light from Light, descends now
From the realms of endless day,
That the powers of hell may vanish
As the darkness clears away.

Liturgy of St. James
Translator: Gerard Moultrie

When From The Darkness

When from the darkness comes no light,
When from the weeping comes no laughter;
When in the day we hope for night
Nor any comfort coming after:
Grant us your peace.

When in our confidence our fears
Clutch at the heart and make us tremble;
When in our joy we weep cold tears,
And in our frankness, we dissemble:
Grant us your light.

When in our love there is no care,
And in our yearning we are dullness;
When what we know we cannot dare,
And we are nothing that is fullness:
Grant us your truth.

 Brendan Mclaughlin

Draw Near, O Lord

Draw near, O Lord, our God, graciously hear us,

Guilty fo sinning before you.

O King exalted, Savior of all nations, 
See how our grieving lifts our eyes to heaven; hear us,
Redeemer, as we beg forgiveness.

Might of the Father, Keystone of God's temple,
Way of salvation, Gate to heaven's glory;
Sin has enslaved us; free your sons from bondage.

We pray you, O God, throned in strength and splendor,
Hear from your kingdom  this, our song of sorrow;
Show us your mercy, pardon our offenses.

Humbly confessing countless sins committed,
Our hearts are broken, laying bare their secret;
Cleanse us, Redeemer, boundless in compassion.

Innocent captive, unressisting victim, 
Liars denounced you, sentenced for the guilty;
Once you redeemed us: now renew us Jesus.

Attende Domine
Translator: Melvin Farell, S.S.

This Is Our Accepted Time

This is our accepted time,

This is our salvation;
Prayer and fasting are our hope
Penance our vocation.
God of pardon and of love,
Mercy past all measure,
You alone can grant us peace,
You our holy treasure.

Lord, look down upon your sons,
Look upon their yearning;
Man is dust, and unto dust
He shall be returning.
Lift him up, O Lord of life,
Flesh has gained him sadness,
Hear his splea, bestow on him
Everlasting gladness.

Michael Gannon

Lord, Who Throughout These Forty Days

CM; Caludia F. Hernaman 

Lord, who throughout these forty days

For us did fast and pray, 

Teach us with you to mourn our sins,

And close by you to stay.

As you with Satan did contend

And did the victory win,

O give us strength in you to fight,

In you to conquer sin.

As you did hunger bear and thirst,

So teach us, gracious Lord,

To die to self and so to live

By your most holy word.

And through these days of pe­ni­tence,

And through your pas­siontide,

Yea, ev­er­more in life and death,

Jesus, with us abide.

Abide with us, that through this life

Of suffering and of pain

An Easter of unending joy

We may attain at last.

For Forty Years

For forty years God's people lived in dessert land.
For forty days Elijah trudged the wilderness;
Our Lord was tempted, prayed and fasted for forty days;
Now we his Church observe the sacred time of Lent.

Refrain:
Have mercy on your people Lord,
Have mercy.

Lord, make us understand the dessert of this life;
The misery, the sin, the death that all mus face;
That we will conquer only if we turn to you,
With prayer and fasting and almsgiving in this Lent.

Teach us to spurn tthe pomps of Satan in our path,
Lead us to glimpse the promised land, the Mount of God,
With eyes of faith and hope that pierce the worldly gloom,
With heart of charity your Holy Spirit gives.

And when we celebrate the Paschal Triduum,
The holy days you suffered, died, and rose again;
Live in us, Lord, these sad and glorious mysteries,
Until the Last Day when eternal Easter dawns.

 Stephen Somerville

Take Up Your Cross

Take up your cross, the Savior said,
If you would my disciple be;

Deny yourself, the world forsake, 
And humbly follow after me.

Take you your cross, let not its weight
Fill your weak spirit with alarm;
His strength shall bear your spirit up,
Shall brace your heart and never your arm.

Take up your cross, then in his strength, 
And ever'y danger calmly brave, 
To guide you to a better home, 
And vict'ry over death and grave.

Take up your cross and follow Christ,
Nor think till death to lay it down;
For only he who bears the cross
May hope to wear the glorious crown.

To you, great Lord, the One in three,
All praise for evermore ascend;
O grant us here below to see
The heav'nly life that knows no end.

Charles William Everest

Grant To Us

Grant to us, O Lord, a heart renewed;
Recreate in us your own Spirit, Lord!

Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord our God,
When I will make a new convenant

With the house of Israel.

Deep within their being
I will implant the law;
I will write it in their hearts.

I will be their God
And they shall be my people.

And for all their faults
I will grant forgiveness;
nevermore will I remember their sins.

Lucien Deiss

The Glory of these Forty Days

Latin, 6th century
Translator: Maurice F. Bell

The glory of these forty days

We celebrate with songs of praise;
For Christ, by whom all things were made,
Himself has fasted and has prayed.

Alone and fasting Moses saw
The loving God who gave the law;
And to Elijah, fasting, came
The steeds and chariots of flame.

So Daniel trained his mystic sight,
Delivered from the lion’s might;
And John, the Bridegroom’s friend, became
The herald of Messiah’s name.

Then grant us, Lord, like them to do
Such things as bring great praise to you;
Our spirits strengthen with your grace
And give us joy to see your face.

O Father, Son and Spirit blest,
To you be every prayer addressed
And by all mankind be adored,
From age to age, the only Lord.

Praise To The Holiest

Praise to the holiest in the height,
And in the depth be praise.
In all his words most wonderful,
Most sure in all his ways.

O loving wisdom of our God;
When all was sin and shame,
A second Adam to the fight
And to the rescue came.

O wisest love! that flesh and blood
Which did in Adam fail,
Should strive afresh against the foe,
Should strive and should prevail

And that a higher gift than grace
Should flesh and blood refine,
God's presence and his very self
And essence all divine

O generous love! that he, who smote
In man for man the foe,
The double agony in man
For man should undergo;

And in the garden secretly,
And on the cross on high,
Should teach his brethren, and inspire
To suffer and to die.

Praise to the holiest in the height,
And in the depth be praise,
In all his words most wonderful,
Most sure in all his ways.

 J. H. Newman

Lord, Your Glory In Christ We Have Seen

Lord, your glory in Christ we have seen,
Full of goodness and full of grace:
In Christ let us live anew,
Fill us with his love,
And all men shall see the fruits of your victory.

The Almighty has planted his seed in the earth:
He tended well the grain and he waits for the rebirth.

The Almighty has ground all the grain for the feast:
He made it into flour, and he waits for the yeast.

The Almighty has given his body for man:
He broke for us the bread, and he waits like a lamb.

The Almighty was given a crown made of thorn:
It pierced him till he bled and he waits: do we mourn?

The Almighty did suffer and evil destroy:
He died to ease our pain, and he waits for our joy.

Dieu, nous avons vu ta gloire, D Rimaud

Creator Of The Earth And Skies

Creator of the earth and skies,

To whom all truth and power belong,
Grant us your truth to make us wise;
Grant us your power to make us strong.

We have not known you: to the skies
Our monuments of folly soar,
And all our self-wrought miseries
Have made us trust ourselves the more.

We have not loved you: far and wide
The wreckage of our hatred spreads,
And evils wrought by human pride
Recoil on unrepentant heads.

We long to end this worldwide strife:
How shall we follow in your way?
Speak to mankind your words of life,
Until our darkness turns to day. 

Donald Hughes

When I Survey The Wondrous Cross

When I survey the wondrous cross
on which the Prince of Glory died;
my richest gain I count but loss,
and pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
save in the death of Christ, my God;
The vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to his blood.

See, from his head, his hands, his feet,
What grief and love flow mingling down;
Did e'er such Love and sorrow meet,
or thorns compose so rich a crown.

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
that were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Isaac Watts

With Hearts Renewed

With hearts renewed by living faith,
We lift our thoughts in grateful prayer
To God our gracious Father,
Whose plan it was to make us sons
Through his own Son's redemptive death,
That rescued us from darkness.
Lord, God, Savior,
Give us strength to mold our hearts in your true likeness,
Sons and servants of our Father.

So rich God's grace in Jesus Christ,
That we are called as sons of light
To bear the pledge of glory.
Through him in whom all fullness dwells,
We offer God our gift of self
In union with the Spirit.
Lord, God, Savior,
Give us strength to mold our hearts in your true likeness,
Sons and servants of our Father.

Jack May, S.J.

Now Let Us All With One Accord

Now let us all with one accord,

In fellowship with ages past, 
Keep vigil with our heav'nly Lord.
In his temptation and his fast

The covenant so long revealed
To faithful men in former time, 
Christ by his own example sealed,
The Lord of love, in love sublime.

This love, O Lord, we sinful men
Have not returned, but falsified;
Author of mercy, turn again,
And see our sorrow for our pride.

Remember, Lord, though frail we be,
By your own kind hand were we made;
And help us, lest our frailty
Cause your great name to be betrayed.

Therefore we pray you, Lord, forgive;
So when our wanderings here shall cease,
We may with you for ever live,
In love and unity and peace.

Hear us, O Trinity sublime,
And undivided unity;
So let this consecrated time
Bring forth its fruit abundantly.

 Ex More Docti

The Master Came

The Master came to bring good news,
The news of love and freedom,
To heal the sick and seek the poor,
To build the peaceful kingdom.

Father, forgive us!
Through Jesus hear us!
As we forgive one another!

Through Jesus Christ the Law's fulfilled,
The man who lived for others,
The law of Christ is love alone,
To serve now all our brothers,

To seek the sinners Jesus came,
To live among the friendless,
To show them love that they might share
The kingdom that is endless.

Forgive us, Lord as we forgive
And seek to help each other,
Forgive us Lord, and we shall live
To pray and work together.

Gabriel Huck