First Sunday in Lent The Holy Eucharist Rite One Great Litany, Eucharistic Prayer 1 Sunday, February 22, 2026 The Word of God GREAT LITANY All stand. The People respond with the words in italics. I. Holy God, Creator of heaven and earth. Have mercy on us. Holy and Mighty, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us. Holy Immortal One, Sanctifier of the faithful, Have mercy on us. Holy, blessed and glorious Trinity, One God, Have mercy on us. II. From all evil and mischief; from pride, vanity and hypocrisy; from envy, hatred and malice; and from all evil intent. Savior, deliver us. From sloth, worldliness and love of money; from hardness of heart and contempt for your word and your laws, Savior, deliver us. From sins of body and mind; from deceits of the world, flesh and the devil, Savior, deliver us. From famine and disaster; from violence, murder, and dying unprepared, Savior, deliver us. In all times of sorrow; in all times of joy; in the hour of our death and at the day of judgment, Savior, deliver us. By the mystery of your holy incarnation; by your birth, childhood and obedience; by your baptism, fasting and temptation, Savior, deliver us. By your ministry in word and work; by your mighty acts of power; by the preaching of your reign, Savior, deliver us. By your agony and trial; by your cross and passion; by your precious death and burial, Savior, deliver us. By your mighty resurrection; by your glorious ascension; and by your sending of the Holy Spirit, Savior, deliver us. III. Hear our prayers, O Christ our God. Hear us, O Christ. Govern and direct your holy Church; fill it with love and truth; and grant it that unity which is your will. Hear us, O Christ. Give us boldness to preach the gospel in all the world, and to make disciples of all the nations. Hear us, O Christ. Enlighten your bishops, priests and deacons, especially Nicholas our Bishop, and Craig our Rector, with knowledge and understanding, that by their teaching and their lives they may proclaim your word. Hear us, O Christ. Give your people grace to witness to your word and bring forth the fruit of your Spirit. Hear us, O Christ. Bring into the way of truth all who have erred and are deceived. Hear us, O Christ. Strengthen those who stand; comfort and help the fainthearted; raise up the fallen; and finally beat down Satan under our feet. Hear us, O Christ. IV. Guide the leaders of the nations into the ways of peace and justice. Hear us, O Christ. Give your wisdom and strength to Donald, the President of the United States, and Daniel the Governor of this state, that in all things they may do your will, for your glory and the common good. Hear us, O Christ. Give to the Congress of the United States, the members of the President’s Cabinet, those who serve in our state legislature, and all others in authority the grace to walk always in the ways of truth. Hear us, O Christ. Bless the justices of the Supreme Court and all those who administer the law, that they may act with integrity and do justice for all your people. Hear us, O Christ. Give us the will to use the resources of the earth to your glory and for the good of all. Hear us, O Christ. Bless and keep all your people, Hear us, O Christ. V. Comfort and liberate the lonely, the bereaved and the oppressed. Hear us, O Christ. Keep in safety those who travel and all who are in peril. Hear us, O Christ. Heal the sick in body, mind or spirit and provide for the homeless, the hungry and the destitute. Hear us, O Christ. Guard and protect all children who are in danger. Hear us, O Christ. Shower your compassion on prisoners, hostages and refugees, and all who are in trouble. Hear us, O Christ. Forgive our enemies, persecutors and slanderers, and turn their hearts. Hear us, O Christ. Hear us as we remember those who have died and grant us with them a share in your eternal glory. Hear us, O Christ. VI. Give us true repentance; forgive us our sins of negligence and ignorance and our deliberate sins; and grant us the grace of your Holy Spirit to amend our lives according to your word. To be sung three times Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy Immortal One. Have mercy on us. THE COLLECT OF THE DAY (BCP p. 325) Celebrant The Lord be with you. People And with thy spirit. Celebrant Let us pray. Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan: Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. The Lessons FIRST READING Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7 The people sit. A Reading from the book of Genesis. The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.” Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’“ But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. Reader The Word of the Lord. People Thanks be to God. Silence may follow. PSALM Psalm 32 Beati quorum Remain seated. 1 Happy are they whose transgressions are forgiven, * and whose sin is put away! 2 Happy are they to whom the Lord imputes no guilt, * and in whose spirit there is no guile! 3 While I held my tongue, my bones withered away, * because of my groaning all day long. 4 For your hand was heavy upon me day and night; * my moisture was dried up as in the heat of summer. 5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you, * and did not conceal my guilt. 6 I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord." * Then you forgave me the guilt of my sin. 7 Therefore all the faithful will make their prayers to you in time of trouble; * when the great waters overflow, they shall not reach them. 8 You are my hiding-place; you preserve me from trouble; * you surround me with shouts of deliverance. 9 "I will instruct you and teach you in the way that you should go; * I will guide you with my eye. 10 Do not be like horse or mule, which have no understanding; * who must be fitted with bit and bridle, or else they will not stay near you." 11 Great are the tribulations of the wicked; * but mercy embraces those who trust in the Lord. 12 Be glad, you righteous, and rejoice in the Lord; * shout for joy, all who are true of heart. SECOND READING Romans 5:12-19 The people sit. A Reading from Paul’s letter to the Romans. As sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned-- sin was indeed in the world before the law, but sin is not reckoned when there is no law. Yet death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one who was to come. But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man's trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many. And the free gift is not like the effect of the one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification. If, because of the one man's trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much...