penitential context for daily prayer during lent

Considerations

1 Consider that a few years ago you were not in the world at all, that you were nothing. Where was your soul then? The world had already lasted so long and you were not known.

2 God has raised you from this nothingness and made you what you are, purely out of his goodness. He had no need of you.

3 Consider what nature God has given you; the highest in the visible world, capable of eternal life and perfect union with Him.

Spiritual Acts and Resolutions

1 Humble yourself

Humble yourself before God, saying in your heart with the psalmist:

My lifetime is as nothing in your sight. What is man, that you should be mindful of him? (Psalm 39.5; 8.4)

My soul, I was in the depths of nothingness and would still be there had not God drawn me out. If I were still there, what could I have done?

2 Give thanks to God

My good and great Creator, how much I owe you! In your mercy you decided to raise me from my nothingness to make me what I am. What can I possibly do to give you worthy praise or thank you enough for your immeasurable goodness?

3 Acknowledge your sinfulness

My Creator, instead of uniting myself to you in loving service, my disordered desires have made me a rebel and I have cut myself off from you. I have preferred sin and dishonored you, forgetting that you are my Creator.

4 Kneel down in worship

Know, my soul, that the Lord is God: it is he that has made us and we are his.

5 Resolve anew

From now on I will no longer put myself first: by myself I am nothing. What have I to glory in? I am dust and ashes, and even less than that! What have I to be proud of? In order to humble myself I will take the necessary steps, bear with humiliation, and change my life. I shall follow my Savior, honor the nature he has given me, align myself with his will, and, in obedience, accept the guidance of my spiritual director.

(From A Manual of Anglo-Catholic Devotion)