Prayers for the Holy Week

 A fitting and traditional devotion for the Lenten season is to pray the beautiful Seven Penitential Psalms. These psalms are: 6, 31, 37, 50, 101, 129, and 142. (In some versions of the Bible, the numbering will vary, making them 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143).

 The Penitential Psalms are prayers of mercy and contrition, and their recitation aids us in recognizing our sins, expressing our contrition, and begging God's mercy. The traditional practice of praying these psalms, which began in the early centuries of the Church, is to say all of them each day of Lent; however, they could all, or just one, be said only on the Fridays of Lent. With Holy Week approaching, it would be most fitting to pray these psalms each day throughout this final week of Lent, meditating on them and striving to be truly sorry for our sins which cause Our Lord so much anguish. Psalm 129, or De Profundis, is provided below.

De Profundis (Out of the Depths—Psalm 129)

Out of the depths I have cried to Thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my voice.
Let Thy ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication.
If Thou, O Lord, wilt mark iniquities: Lord, who shall stand it?
For with Thee there is merciful forgiveness: and by reason of thy law, I have waited for Thee, O Lord.
My soul hath relied on His word, my soul hath hoped in the Lord.
From the morning watch even until night, let Israel hope in the Lord.
Because with the Lord there is mercy: and with him plentiful redemption.
And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.