Praying the Psalms is always a good idea, but Psalm 50 is especially appropriate for Lent as it's one of the 'Penitential Psalms'.
From Aleteia
By Philip Kosloski
Psalm 50, the Miserere, is a perfect psalm to meditate upon during the first few days of Lent.
Many of the psalms in the Old Testament speak to our human condition and our need for repentance. They are beautiful poems that recall our sinfulness, while also looking forward to redemption in Christ. In particular, Psalm 50, also called the Miserere, is a perfect psalm to begin the season of Lent. The Church even prescribes this psalm for the Ash Wednesday liturgy.Pope Benedict XVI commented on this psalm in his homily for Ash Wednesday in 2012.
The same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead can turn our hearts from hearts of stone into hearts of flesh (cf. Ezek 36:26). We invoked him just now in the Psalm Miserere: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your holy Spirit from me” (Ps 50:10, 11). That same God who banished our first parents from Eden, sent his own Son to this earth, devastated by sin, without sparing him, so that we, as prodigal children might return, repentent and redeemed through his mercy, to our true homeland.
Here is Psalm 50 to help you start off Lent on the right foot.
50:3 Have mercy on me, O God, * according to thy great mercy.
50:3 And according to the multitude of thy tender mercies * blot out my iniquity.
50:4 Wash me yet more from my iniquity, * and cleanse me from my sin.
50:5 For I know my iniquity, * and my sin is always before me.
50:6 To thee only have I sinned, and have done evil before thee: * that thou mayst be justified in thy words, and mayst overcome when thou art judged.
50:7 For behold I was conceived in iniquities; * and in sins did my mother conceive me.
50:8 For behold thou hast loved truth: * the uncertain and hidden things of thy wisdom thou hast made manifest to me.
50:9 Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed: * thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow.
50:10 To my hearing thou shalt give joy and gladness: * and the bones that have been humbled shall rejoice.
50:11 Turn away thy face from my sins, * and blot out all my iniquities.
50:12 Create a clean heart in me, O God: * and renew a right spirit within my bowels.
50:13 Cast me not away from thy face; * and take not thy holy spirit from me.
50:14 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, * and strengthen me with a perfect spirit.
50:15 I will teach the unjust thy ways: * and the wicked shall be converted to thee.
50:16 Deliver me from blood, O God, thou God of my salvation: * and my tongue shall extol thy justice.
50:17 O Lord, thou wilt open my lips: * and my mouth shall declare thy praise.
50:18 For if thou hadst desired sacrifice, I would indeed have given it: * with burnt offerings thou wilt not be delighted.
50:19 A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit: * a contrite and humbled heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
50:20 Deal favourably, O Lord, in thy good will with Sion; * that the walls of Jerusalem may be built up.
50:21 Then shalt thou accept the sacrifice of justice, oblations and whole burnt offerings: * then shall they lay calves upon thy altar.
℣. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Ghost.
℟. As it was in the beginning, is now, * and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
50:3 And according to the multitude of thy tender mercies * blot out my iniquity.
50:4 Wash me yet more from my iniquity, * and cleanse me from my sin.
50:5 For I know my iniquity, * and my sin is always before me.
50:6 To thee only have I sinned, and have done evil before thee: * that thou mayst be justified in thy words, and mayst overcome when thou art judged.
50:7 For behold I was conceived in iniquities; * and in sins did my mother conceive me.
50:8 For behold thou hast loved truth: * the uncertain and hidden things of thy wisdom thou hast made manifest to me.
50:9 Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed: * thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow.
50:10 To my hearing thou shalt give joy and gladness: * and the bones that have been humbled shall rejoice.
50:11 Turn away thy face from my sins, * and blot out all my iniquities.
50:12 Create a clean heart in me, O God: * and renew a right spirit within my bowels.
50:13 Cast me not away from thy face; * and take not thy holy spirit from me.
50:14 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, * and strengthen me with a perfect spirit.
50:15 I will teach the unjust thy ways: * and the wicked shall be converted to thee.
50:16 Deliver me from blood, O God, thou God of my salvation: * and my tongue shall extol thy justice.
50:17 O Lord, thou wilt open my lips: * and my mouth shall declare thy praise.
50:18 For if thou hadst desired sacrifice, I would indeed have given it: * with burnt offerings thou wilt not be delighted.
50:19 A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit: * a contrite and humbled heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
50:20 Deal favourably, O Lord, in thy good will with Sion; * that the walls of Jerusalem may be built up.
50:21 Then shalt thou accept the sacrifice of justice, oblations and whole burnt offerings: * then shall they lay calves upon thy altar.
℣. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Ghost.
℟. As it was in the beginning, is now, * and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are subject to deletion if they are not germane. I have no problem with a bit of colourful language, but blasphemy or depraved profanity will not be allowed. Attacks on the Catholic Faith will not be tolerated. Comments will be deleted that are republican (Yanks! Note the lower case 'r'!), attacks on the legitimacy of Pope Francis as the Vicar of Christ (I know he's a material heretic and a Protector of Perverts, and I definitely want him gone yesterday! However, he is Pope, and I pray for him every day.), the legitimacy of the House of Windsor or of the claims of the Elder Line of the House of France, or attacks on the legitimacy of any of the currently ruling Houses of Europe.