Ash Wednesday Prayers

In keeping with Lent being a time given to more prayer, here are some good prayers for this Ash Wednesday:

The Lord my Creator took me as dust from the earth,
and formed me into a living being,
breathing into me the breath of life.
God honored me,
setting me up as ruler upon earth over all things visible,
and made me companion of the angels.
But Satan the deceiver,
using the serpent as instrument,
enticed me by food--
parted me from the glory of God,
and gave me over to the earth and to the lowest depths of the earth.
But in compassion, O Savior, call me back again! (Byzantine Vespers, cited in For All the Saints, III:818)

Almighty God, you have created us out of the dust of the earth; grant that these ashes may be to us a sign of our mortality and penitence, so we may remember that only by your gracious gift are we given everlasting life; through Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen. (Anonymous; cited in For All the Saints, III:818)

The second prayer nicely coincides with Pr. Weedon's thoughts about ashes *not* being done to show off one's fasting!