Today Wednesday 17th February, is the start of Lent (Latin: Quadragesima, ‘Fortieth’) a solemn religious observance in the Christian liturgical calendar that begins today on Ash Wednesday and ends approximately six weeks later, before Easter Sunday. The purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer for Easter through prayer, doing penance, mortifying the flesh, repentance of sins, almsgiving, and self-denial.
Almighty and everlasting God,
you hate nothing that you have made
and forgive the sins of all those who are penitent: