Prayer During Holy Week: Lent

Lent is the 40 days preceding Easter. During this period, the believer must meditate on his faith. For Catholics, meditation must be accompanied by fasting or deprivation.

Lent is an important time for all Christians. Indeed, this celebration represents the difficult times that Christ had to face. Believers are called to meditate on their spiritual and religious life.

Throughout Lent , it is possible to address prayers to the Lord. Praying during this period not only strengthens one's faith, but also allows one to live it fully.

If you would like to discover many other prayer articles, we invite you to visit our prayer news available on our site. Several prayer articles are available, such as the article on the prayer for the feast of the ascension .

Holy Week of Easter

Easter is a celebration commemorating the moment when Christ conquered death. It is arguably the most important Christian celebration.

Holy Week is the time when Jesus prepared for his sacrifice until his resurrection. It includes every day of the week, from Monday to Sunday. Thursday is a particularly significant day, because Jesus was crucified at that exact moment. On Maundy Thursday, churches hold a mass in his honor. Holy Week ends on Sunday with Easter.

Holy Week is an opportunity to pray intensely. Indeed, that is what Jesus did. Believers should not be content to feast once Easter Sunday comes. They should remember all the trials that Christ had to face before his resurrection. That is the whole point of prayer.

Rejoice in the victory of Christ

Lent and Holy Week end on Easter Sunday, the day symbolizing Christ's victory over death. Death is an evil over which we have no control, and we will all go through it at some point. But Jesus showed us that death could be conquered. Easter is therefore a particularly joyous celebration for Christians. The Christian faith is based almost entirely on this resurrection of Christ. Hence the importance of Easter and the traditions that precede it.

The Introductory Prayers

Prayer 1

Lord, you invite us to convert

“You invite us, Lord, to convert; a task that is never finished, because we will always be sinners. But you do not leave us alone to enter this time of conversion. You give us your Son, Jesus. It is with Him that we want to walk. With Him we will go to the desert. With Him we will climb the mountain. And, from week to week, we will put our steps in His until we commune, more intensely, with the total gift that Jesus makes of Himself, on the Cross, out of love for us. Amen.”

Sisters of the Congregation of the Religious of the Sacred Hearts

Prayer 2

Listen, O benevolent Creator,

our prayers accompanied by tears,

spread amidst fasts

of this holy Quarantine.

You who search the depths of hearts,

you know our weakness:

we come back to you;

give us the grace of forgiveness.

We have sinned much;

forgive us for our confession:

for the glory of your Name,

bring the remedy to our languor.

Make our body's resistance

be brought down by abstinence,

and that our heart is subjected to a fast

spiritual no longer feeds on sin.

Hear us, blessed Trinity,

grant us, Simple Unity,

that it may be profitable to your faithful

the benefit of fasting.

Amen.

Guillaume Dufay (1397-1474)

Prayer 3

“Lord, what is the fast that you expect from us?”:

“Lord, what is the fast that You expect from us? What is the sharing that would please You? What prayer would truly dispose us to live Your Passover, our Passover? You are waiting for us, following You, in this 40-day journey. You are waiting for us precisely where You would like to lead us today. Here we are... where a brother, a sister awaits forgiveness, where a lonely person awaits a visit, where a small decision on our part would make life easier for those around us, where a call can arise in the unexpected of our days. Our journey towards Easter will then be according to Your Will, I believe it, I desire it, I want it. Lord You told us: “What you do to one of the least of these, you do to me”. Thank you for your closeness in our brothers. Thank you for the Time of Lent which puts us back on track. Thank you for the Life that You want to blossom in us. Receive, Lord, our Lenten prayer.” So be it.

From a Sister of Christ the Redeemer

Texts to pray per week

First week:

"When my servant calls me," says the Lord, "I will answer him and be with him in his tribulation. I will deliver him and glorify him; I will satisfy him with long life." (Ps 90:15-16)

Prayer: Oration for the 1st Sunday of Lent

Grant us, Almighty God, throughout this Lent,

to progress in the knowledge of Jesus Christ

and to open ourselves to his light through an increasingly faithful life. He who reigns

father Jean-Luc Fabre

Jesus is tempted in the desert

Most holy Father, eternal and almighty God…

Jesus, by fasting for forty days in the desert, consecrated the time of Lent.

When He foiled the snares of the Tempter, He taught us to resist sin

so that we may come to celebrate the paschal mystery with a pure heart

and that we may finally reach the eternal Passover.

Second week of Lent

My heart repeated your word to me:

“Seek my face.” *

It is your face, Lord, that I seek:

do not hide your face from me.

Do not turn away your servant in anger: *

you remain my help.

Don't leave me, don't forsake me,

God, my salvation! *

Ps 26, 8-9

Prayer: Prayer for the second Sunday of Lent

“Remember, Lord, your tenderness, the friendship that you have always shown us.

May evil never prevail over us; deliver us from all our anxieties.

The Transfiguration of Jesus on Mount Tabor

Most holy Father, eternal and almighty God, Christ, after having predicted his death to his

disciples led them to the holy mountain; in the presence of Moses and the prophet Elijah, he manifested his splendor to them: He thus revealed to us that his Passion would lead him to the glory of the Resurrection.

On the day of the Transfiguration, the voice of the Father was heard:

"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him."

Third week :

“My eyes are always on the Lord, who frees my feet from the net.

Look, Lord, and have mercy on me, for I am alone and miserable.”

Ps 24, 15-16 –

Prayer: Prayer for the Third Sunday of Lent

You are the source of all goodness, Lord, and all mercy comes from You.

You told us how to heal from sin through fasting, prayer and sharing.

Listen to the confession of our weakness, we are aware of our faults:

Patiently, lift us up with love.

Jesus and the Samaritan woman

Holy Father, eternal and almighty God…

Asking the Samaritan woman to give him something to drink,

Jesus gave this woman the gift of faith.

He had such a great desire to awaken faith in her heart

That he brought forth in her the very love of God.

Fourth week:

Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad over her, you who love her.

Rejoice with her, all you who wept over her,

that you may be nursed and satisfied at the breast of his consolations, that you may savor with delight the fullness of his glory !

Is 66, 10-11

Prayer: Prayer for the Fourth Sunday of Lent

God, who has reconciled all mankind to yourself by giving them your own Son,

increase the faith of the Christian people, so that they may hasten with love

ahead of the approaching Easter holidays.

Jesus heals the man born blind

Most holy Father, eternal and almighty God… Jesus, taking the human condition

guided humanity that was drifting into darkness towards the light of faith.

And, by the bath that gives rebirth, He gives to men who are born in sin

to truly become sons of God.

God who enlightens every man coming into this world,

illuminate our hearts with the clarity of your grace,

so that all our thoughts may be worthy of You

and our love more and more sincere.

Fifth week:

Palm Sunday marks the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.

Universal Prayer for Palm Sunday “In You, our hearts hope, Lord” :

“God of tenderness and love, receive all the prayers that whisper in the hearts of each one on this Sunday. Come and reveal your merciful Face to those who desperately seek you on their own path of passion, now and forever and ever.” Amen

Give me justice, O my God, and uphold my cause against a faithless people.

From the man who deceives and betrays, deliver me, O God who is my help.

Ps 42, 1-2

Prayer: Prayer for the Fifth Sunday of Lent

May your grace obtain for us, Lord, to imitate with joy the charity of Christ.

who gave his life out of love for the world. Through the mystery of Easter, Christ leads us to Eternal life.

Holy Thursday

You gave your life, like bread placed on the table, broken into pieces and distributed

So that everyone, reaching out their hand and their heart, can receive and be nourished by it.

You gave your life, like wine poured into the cup and offered

So that everyone, holding out their lips and heart, can take it and rejoice in it.

You have delivered everything, Lord Jesus,

And in Your life given like bread, like wine,

The whole world can taste the love of God multiplied beyond measure for all the children of the earth!

Here we are, Lord, stretching out our hands and our hearts to You!

Charles Singer

Good Friday

I have placed everything in your hands

What overwhelms me and pains me,

What worries me and bothers me,

And the worry of tomorrow.

I have placed everything in Your hands.

I have placed everything in your hands

The heavy burden dragged along not long ago,

What I cry, what I hope,

And the why of my destiny.

I have placed everything in Your hands.

I have placed everything in your hands

Whether it is joy, sadness,

Poverty, wealth,

And everything I have feared to this day.

I have placed everything in Your hands.

I have placed everything in your hands

Whether it be death or life,

Health or illness,

The beginning or the end.

I have placed everything in Your hands.

Marie Henrioud

Easter Vigil: Holy Saturday

This is the night when everything changed.

It was all over,

It all starts again,

But better.

Death has lost its war,

Life has won everything

And so do we.

In the tomb our pains were hidden,

A fresh wind swept everything away.

Where is He, Whom Love has transfigured?

He is not here, He is in front,

He is waiting for us:

So many men have the right to know

What God did for them that night.

Eric Julien

Easter

The tomb is empty where the Living One rested.

The grave is empty, hallelujah!

Christ is risen:

He dwells in our hearts by faith.

Father, you have glorified him,

Your strength has been displayed in him,

He rose from the dead.

You make us his Body,

His Body living for your love,

And we proclaim our faith

Giving thanks,

Hallelujah!

Continue prayers even after Easter

For Christian believers, prayer can be likened to food to nourish faith and the soul. From the moment they stop praying, they then move further and further away from God. It is true that Easter is a particularly significant event for Christians. However, some of them stop praying once the festivities are over. It is therefore important to remind them to continue praying.

On our site you will find prayers for all important occasions. Feel free to come and visit to learn more.

Prayer holds a primordial place in the spiritual and religious life of the believer. He must establish regular contact with God so as not to lose faith. Easter is only one moment among others to draw closer to the Lord. The most assiduous pray continuously throughout the year.

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