Ash Wednesday
As Catholics around the world gather for Mass and prayer services on Ash Wednesday, we are bonded by the physical and spiritual connection we share as followers of Jesus.
Ash Wednesday
On Ash Wednesday, either at Mass or at a special celebration, people of all ages receive ashes in the form of a cross on their foreheads. As the persons who are distributing the ashes make the Sign of the Cross, they say: Turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel (adapted from Mark 1:15) or Remember, man, you are dust and to dust you will return (adapted from Genesis 3:19). The ashes are made of the palm remaining from the previous year’s Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion.
Blessed Ashes
The remains of the blessed palms from Palm Sunday of the previous year are burned for use on Ash Wednesday. After the ashes are blessed, priests place the ashes on our foreheads and say, “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel,” or “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you will return.”
Prayer for each day from Ash Wednesday to Divine Mercy Sunday
Prayer of the little children of the Divine Will
For each day from Ash Wednesday to Divine Mercy Sunday
For The Jubilee Year of Mercy
Heavenly Father, In the Name of Jesus, In the Unity, Love and Power of the Holy Spirit, Under the Mantle of Mary Our Blessed Mother, with all the Angels and Saints, and through the Intercession of The Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta, we, the little children of the Divine Will, echo her Prayer to help fulfill her task, to repair and re-do all the acts, thoughts, words and deeds of all souls, past, present and future, and to hasten the Salvation and Sanctification of mankind, and with our voice, give You, Triune God, the Divine Glory as if it was done by all in a Divine Manner, as You Originally Wanted from Adam and his children. And so we say:
‘Heavenly Father, we come to Your Throne to bring to You Your dear children, broken and separated from You, so that You may bind and re-tie once again that Divine Will which was severed from You by Adam. We the little children of Your Most Holy Divine Will asks this of You and we take on the commitment to satisfy You for everyone. Please bind again the human will with the Divine Will bringing the Kingdom of Your Will so that It may come and Reign upon earth as it is in Heaven. Nothing is denied to Your little ones because what they ask is nothing other than the Echo of Your Own Divine Will and of what You Yourself Want.’
We pledge to pray these prayers each day from Ash Wednesday to Divine Mercy Sunday,
for the complete healing and restoration of all Your children and situations:
February 10 – For Our Holy Father Pope Frances, and for all Popes from Peter to the last
February 11 – For all Cardinals, Bishops, Priests and Deacons of all time
February 12 – For all Seminarians, all Religious men and women of all time
February 13 – For all teachers and Promoters of the Faith of all time
February 14 – For all Fathers, Adoptive Fathers, Grandfathers, throughout the generations
February 15 – For all Mothers, Adoptive Mothers, Grandmothers throughout the generations
February 16 – For all the unborn, newborns, infants, toddlers, and all children
February 17 – For all young people, teenage, young adult, and all seeking their vocations
February 18 – For all the single men and women and for all elderly
February 19 – For all the infirm and suffering, mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally
February 20 – For all souls before death, at any age and circumstance
February 21 – For all soldiers, law enforcement, fire protectors, service persons of all types
February 22 – For all farmers, workers, slaves of all time
February 23 – For all Your chosen people, the Hebrews, Israelites, Jews
February 24 – For all Patriarchs, Prophets, saints of the Old Testament
February 25 – For the Apostles, disciples, for all saints of the New Testament
February 26 – For all missionaries and martyrs
February 27 – For all Saints having aided Redemption and Sanctification
February 28 – For all Catholics of the East, of the West, of all Rites
February 29 – For all Protestants and all Christians
March 1 – For all Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and for all who do not know You, O God
March 2 – For all sinners and all in need of Your Infinite Mercy
March 3 – For all leaders, from Kings to politicians, from high authority to low
March 4 – For all medical persons, lawyers, professors, business persons of every sort
March 5 – For all astronomers, scientists, intellects of every degree
March 6 – For all handicapped and all suffering imperfections of mind and body
March 7 – For all abandoned, outcast and unwanted
March 8 – For the poor, homeless, week, the unloved everywhere
March 9 – For the cancellation of all debts and curses in all family lines
March 10 – For the generational healing of all family lines
March 11 – For the exorcism of all demons in souls and in or on the earth anywhere
March 12 – For the Angels to descend upon earth in the aid and protection of all Your chilren
March 13 – For the Angels of the Last Times to come and fulfill Their Tasks according to the Divine Will
March 14 – For all displaced people, those in refuges and in transition
March 15 – For all homosexuals and those uncertain of their Divine dignity
March 16 – For all addicts of drugs, alcohol, tobacco, food, entertainment, sex and of every vice
March 17 – For all aborted babies at any stage of development
March 18 – For all persons in having supported abortion by politics, human reasoning or indifference
March 19 – For all mothers, fathers, medical or evil persons responsible for killing any unborn child
March 20 – For the conversion of all souls, for their Salvation and Sanctification
March 21 – For the Proclamation 5th Dogma of Our Lady Mediatrix, Co-Redemptrix and Advocate
March 22 – For Our Lady, Mother and Queen of the Divine Will, to Honor Her as such
March 23 – For Luisa Piccarreta, the Little Daughter of the Divine Will, to Honor Her as such
March 24 – For the Gift of the Divine Will be given to the Holy Father
March 25 – For the release of all souls from Purgatory
March 26 – For the Unification of the East and the West Churches under the Roman Pontiff
March 27 – For the intentions of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the fulfillment of all Her Requests
March 28 – For the Glorification of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta
March 29 – For the blessing of the little family of which we are members.
March 30 – For the Book of Heaven to be known, loved and possessed by all
March 31 – For the Coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ in His Second Coming, all for His Glory
April 1 – For the Great Outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Second Pentecost
April 2 – For One Church, One Flock, One Shepherd
April 3 – For the Kingdom of the Divine Will on earth as It is in Heaven
*****
The Command Prayer
Abba Father,
In the name of Jesus
In the Unity and Power
of the Holy Spirit,
under the Mantle of Mary
with all the Angels and Saints
through the Intercession of
The Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta
please take my humble prayer
of Today
and make it Your Command.
that all be accomplished and completed
in Your Most Holy Divine Will.
Fiat!
Amen!
The Twenty-Four Hours of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ
The Twenty-Four Hours of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ
Promises of Jesus for Whoever Prays The Hours of the Passion
from the Writings of Luisa Piccarreta
Volume 11 – April 10, 1913
“Tell me, my Good, what will You give as a reward to those who will do the Hours of the Passion the way You taught them to me?”
And He: “My daughter, I will not look at these Hours as your things, but as things done by Me. I will give you the same Merits, as if I were in the act of suffering My Passion. In this way, I will let you obtain the same Effects, according to the dispositions of the souls. This, while on earth – and I could not give you a greater thing from My own. Then, in Heaven, I will place these souls in front of Me, flashing them with Lightnings of Love and Contentment for as many times as they did the Hours of My Passion – while they will flash to Me as well. What a Sweet Enchantment this will be for all the Blessed!”
Volume 11 – September 6, 1913
I was thinking about the Hours of the Passion which have now been written, and how they are without any indulgence. So, those who do them do not gain anything, while there are many prayers enriched with many indulgences. While I was thinking of this, my always Adorable Jesus, all Kindness, told me: “My daughter, one gains something through the prayers with indulgences. But the Hours of My Passion, which are My own Prayers, My Reparations and all My Love, came really from the depth of My Heart. Did you perhaps forget how many times I united Myself with you to do them together, and I turned chastisements into Graces over the entire earth? So, My Satisfaction is such that, instead of the indulgence, I give the soul a handful of Love, which contains Infinite Love of Incalculable Price. Further, when things are done for pure love, My Love finds Its Outpouring – and it is not inconsiderable that the creature can give relief and expression to the Love of her Creator.”
Volume 11 – October 1914
I was writing the Hours of the Passion and I thought to myself: “How many sacrifices in order to write these blessed Hours of the Passion, especially to put on paper certain interior acts which had passed only between me and Jesus! What reward will He give to me?”
Letting me hear His Tender and Sweet Voice, Jesus told me: “My daughter, as a reward for having written the Hours of My Passion, for each word you have written, I will give you a kiss – a soul.”
And I: “My Love, this is for me; and what will you give to those who will do them?”
And Jesus: “If they do them together with Me and with My own Will, I will give them a soul for each word they will recite, because the greater or lesser effectiveness of these Hour of My Passion is in the greater or lesser union that they have with Me. In doing them with My Will, the creature hides inside My Volition; and since it is My Volition that is acting, I can produce all the Goods I want, even through one single word. This, for each time you will do them.”
Another time I was lamenting with Jesus because, after so many sacrifices to write these Hours of the Passion, very few were the souls who were doing them. And He: “My daughter, do not lament. Even if there was only one, you should be happy. Wouldn’t I have suffered all My Passion even to save only one soul? The same for you. One should never omit good only because few benefit from it; all the harm is for those who do not take advantage of it. Just as My Passion made My Humanity acquire the Merit as if all were being saved, although not all are saved (since My Will was to save everyone, and I received Merit according to what I wanted, not according to the profit which creatures would have drawn), the same is for you: you will be rewarded depending on whether your will identified itself with Mine, wanting to benefit all. All the evil remains to those who, although being able to, do not do it.
“These Hours are the Most Precious of all, because they are nothing other than the repetition of what I did in the course of My mortal Life, and what I continue to do in the Most Blessed Sacrament. When I hear these Hours of My Passion, I hear My own Voice, My own Prayers. In that soul I see My Will – that is, wanting Good for everyone and wanting to Repair for all – and I feel moved to dwell in her, in order to do whatever she does within her. Oh, how I would Love that even one single soul for each town did these Hours of My Passion! I would hear Myself in every town, and My Justice, greatly indignant during these times, would remain partly appeased.”
Volume 11 – October 13. 1916
I was doing the Hours of the Passion, and Blessed Jesus told me: “My daughter, in the course of My mortal Life, thousands and thousands of Angels were the cortege of My Humanity, gathering everything I did – My Steps, My Works, My Words, and even My sighs, My Pains, the drops of My Blood – in sum, everything. They were the Angels in charge of My Custody, and of paying Me honor; obedient to My every Wish, they would rise to and descend from Heaven, to bring to the Father what I was doing. Now these Angels have a special office, and as the soul remembers My Life, My Passion, My Blood, My Wounds, My Prayers, they come around this soul and gather her words, her prayers, her acts of compassion for Me, her tears and her offerings; they unite them to Mine, and they bring them before My Majesty to renew for Me the Glory of My own Life. The delight of the Angels is so great that, reverent, they listen to what the soul says, and pray together with her. So, with what attention and respect must the soul do these Hours, thinking that the Angels hang upon her lips to repeat after her what she says.”
Volume 12 – May 16, 1917
Then, I found myself outside of myself. I was in the midst of many souls – they seemed to be purging souls and Saints – who were speaking to me and mentioning one person known to me, who died not too long ago. And they said to me: “He feels happy in seeing that there is not a soul who enters Purgatory without carrying the mark of the Hours of the Passion. Surrounded by the cortege of these Hours and helped by them, the souls take a safe place. And there is not a soul who flies into Heaven, without being accompanied by these Hours of the Passion. These Hours make a continuous dew pour down from Heaven to earth, into Purgatory, and even into Heaven.”
On hearing this, I said to myself: “Maybe my Beloved Jesus, in order to keep the Word He had given – that for each word of the Hours of the Passion He would give a soul – is allowing that there be not a saved soul who does not benefit from these Hours.”
Afterwards, I returned into myself, and as I found my Sweet Jesus, I asked Him whether that was true. And He: “These Hours are the Order of the Universe; they put Heaven and earth in Harmony, and restrain Me from sending the world to ruin. I feel My Blood, My Wounds, My Love and all I did, being placed in circulation; and they flow over all to save all. As souls do these Hours of the Passion, I feel My Blood, My Wounds, My anxieties to save souls, being put in motion, and I feel My own Life being repeated. How could creatures obtain any Good if not by means of these Hours? Why do you doubt? This thing is not yours, but Mine. You have been the strained and weak instrument.”
Volume 22 – June 17, 1927
After this, I found myself outside of myself, and while looking for my Sweet Jesus I encountered Father Di Francia. He was all cheerful, and he told me: “Do you know how many Beautiful Surprises I found? I did not think it would be so when I was on earth, though I thought I had done good by publishing the Hours of the Passion. But the Surprises I found are Marvelous, Enchanting, of a Rarity never before seen: all the Words regarding the Passion of Our Lord changed into Light, one more Beautiful than the other—all braided together; and these Lights grow more and more as creatures do the Hours of the Passion, so more Lights add to the first.
“But what surprised me the most were the few sayings published by me about the Divine Will: each saying changed into a Sun, and these Suns, investing all the Lights with their Rays, form such a Surprise of Beauty that one remains enraptured, enchanted. You cannot imagine how surprised I was at seeing myself in the midst of these Lights and these Suns—how content I was; and I thanked our Highest Good, Jesus, who had given me the occasion and the grace to do it. You too, thank Him on my behalf.”
John Berney Crome, “Great Gale at Yarmouth on Ash Wednesday,” 1836
Carl Spitzweg, “Ash Wednesday,” 1855–1860
Pieter Brueghel the Elder, “The Fight Between Carnival and Lent,” 1559