Ps 29:11
The Lord has heard, and has had pity on me; the Lord became my helper.
Ps 29:2
I will extol You, O Lord, for You drew me clear and did not let my enemies rejoice over me.
Glory Be to the Father…
The Lord has heard, and has had pity on me; the Lord became my helper.

May Your kindly favor, we beseech You, O Lord, accompany the fast we have begun, that we may be able to practice with a pure mind what we perform bodily.
Through our Lord…

Commemoration St. Thomas Aquinas
O God, Who dost enlighten thy Church by the wonderful learning of thy blessed Confessor Thomas, and quickenest her through his godly labours, grant unto thy people, we humbly beseech thee, ever to apprehend by their understanding what he teacheth, and in their life faithfully to practice the same.
Through our Lord…

Lesson from the book of Isaias
Isa 58:1-9
Thus says the Lord God: Cry out full-throated and unsparingly, lift up your voice like a trumpet blast; tell My people their wickedness, and the house of Jacob their sins. They seek Me day after day, and desire to know My ways, like a nation that has done what is just and not abandoned the law of their God; they ask Me to declare what is due them, pleased to gain access to God. ‘Why do we fast, and You do not see it? afflict ourselves, and You take no note of it?’ Lo, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits, and drive all your laborers. Yes, your fast ends in quarreling and fighting, striking with wicked fist. Would that today you might fast so as to make your voice heard on high! Is this the manner of fasting I wish, of keeping a day of penance: that a man bow his head like a reed, and lie in sackcloth and ashes? Do you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own. Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed; your vindication shall go before you, and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer, you shall cry for help, and He will say: ‘Here I am!’ For I, the Lord your God, am merciful.

Ps 26:4
One thing I ask the Lord; this I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord.
℣. That I may gaze on the loveliness of the Lord and be protected by His holy temple.
Ps 102:10
O Lord, deal with us not according to our sins, nor requite us according to our crimes.
Ps 78:8-9
℣. O Lord, remember not against us the iniquities of the past; may Your compassion quickly come to us, for we are brought very low. (kneel)
℣. Help us, O God, our Saviour, because of the glory of Your Name, O Lord; deliver us and pardon our sins for Your Name’s sake.

Continuation ☩ of the Holy Gospel according to Matthew
Matt 5:43-48; 6:1-4
At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor, and shall hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who persecute and calumniate you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, Who makes His sun to rise on the good and the evil, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. For if you love those that love you, what reward shall you have? Do not even the publicans do that? And if you salute you brethren only, what are you doing more than others? Do not even the Gentiles do that? You therefore are to be perfect, even as you heavenly Father is perfect. Take heed not to do your good before men, in order to be seen by them; otherwise you shall have no reward with your Father in heaven. Therefore when you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and streets, in order that they may be honored by men. Amen I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be given in secret; and your Father, Who sees in secret, will reward you.

Ps 118:154, 125
O Lord, for the sake of Your promise give me life, that I may know Your decrees.

Grant, O Lord, we beseech You, that as we offer the sacrifice of Lent, our hearts may be made acceptable to You; and the sacrifice may give us greater willingness for self-denial.
Through our Lord…

Commemoration St. Thomas Aquinas
May the pious prayer of holy Thomas thy Confessor and illustrious Doctor be not wanting to us, O Lord, but make our offerings acceptable to thee and ever win for us thy mercy.
Through our Lord…

Lent
It is truly meet and just, right and for our salvation, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, everlasting God; Who by this bodily fast, dost curb our vices, dost lift up our minds and bestow on us strength and rewards; through Christ our Lord. Through whom the Angels praise Thy Majesty, the Dominations worship it, the Powers stand in awe. The Heavens and the heavenly hosts together with the blessed Seraphim in triumphant chorus unite to celebrate it. Together with these we entreat Thee that Thou mayest bid our voices also to be admitted while we say with lowly praise:

Ps 2:11-12
Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice before Him with trembling; embrace discipline, lest you perish from the just way.

Fill us, O Lord, with the spirit of Your love, to unite in charity those whom You have filled with one and the same heavenly Bread.
Through our Lord…

Commemoration St. Thomas Aquinas
May blessed Thomas thy Confessor and illustrious Doctor intercede for us, O Lord, that this thy sacrifice may obtain for us salvation.
Through our Lord…

Prayer over the people
Let us pray.
Bow your heads to God.
Watch over Your people, O Lord, and mercifully cleanse them from all their sins; for no harm can come to them if no evil has power over them.
Through our Lord…