Thursday after Ash Wednesday

We beg You, O Lord, by instilling them anticipate our actions, and by helping follow up on them, so that our every service always begins from You, and what was begun is brought to conclusion through You. This subtle prayer cuts two ways. The words actio and operatio, conceptually related "doing" connected to the verbs ago and operor, both have a connotation of sacred liturgical service. At the same time, they can simply point to our own daily undertakings. These layers of meaning overlap and show us how there must be a continuity between how we participate at Holy Mass and how we act outside of the sacred precincts of the church or chapel we frequent. The highest form of…