Almighty and everlasting God,
who hatest nothing that thou hast made,
and dost forgive the sins of all them that are penitent:
Create and make in us new and contrite hearts,
that we worthily lamenting our sins,
and acknowledging our wretchedness,
may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy,
perfect remission and forgiveness;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
ECUMENICAL BCP 1662 AND TRADITIONAL
A Prayer for the Forty Days of Lent
Also known as Lenten Prayer · Ash Wednesday Prayer · Prayer for Lent
About this prayer
Lent is the forty-day season of penitence and preparation that precedes Easter. It begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday. The forty days recall Christ's forty days of fasting in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11) and the forty years of Israel's wandering in the desert. Lent is observed in Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist, and many other Protestant traditions, with varying degrees of fasting and abstinence. Its character is penitential: a sustained examination of conscience, a return to God, and a preparation for the celebration of Easter. The BCP Collect for the First Sunday in Lent asks God to support his people in their Lenten fasting, and the Ash Wednesday service includes specific penitential prayers. The prayer given here is drawn from this BCP tradition. Note: for the Prayer of Ephrem the Syrian, the primary Orthodox Lenten prayer, see the Prayer of Ephrem page on this site.
When it's said
This prayer is said throughout Lent, particularly on Ash Wednesday and the Sundays of Lent. In the BCP it is the Collect for Ash Wednesday. It is also used as a private penitential prayer throughout the Lenten season. Many Anglican churches include it in their Ash Wednesday service alongside the imposition of ashes.
Notes on the text
The phrase 'hatest nothing that thou hast made' draws on the Wisdom of Solomon 11:24, expressing the theological point that God's call to repentance flows from love, not from rejection. 'Contrite hearts' draws on Psalm 51:17. The prayer is notable for asking not merely for forgiveness but for the creation of new hearts capable of genuine repentance.
Source
Book of Common Prayer, 1662, Collect for Ash Wednesday. Public domain.
Last reviewed: May 2026 against primary source.