Quinquagesima Sunday

The last Sunday before Ash Wednesday. The Benedictus antiphon this morning summarizes the coming Lenten journey:

Ecce ascendimus Ierosolyman,
et consummabuntur omnia quæ scripta sunt de Filio hominis:
tradetur enim Gentibus,
et illudetur,
et conspuetur:
et postquam flagellaverint,
occident eum,
et tertia die resurget.

Behold, let us go up to Jerusalem,
and all will be completed as it was written concerning the Son of man:
He will also be handed over to the gentiles,
and He will be ridiculed,
and spat upon,
and afterwards they will flog and kill Him,
and on the third day He will rise.

If you're a Byzantine Catholic you are right out of time to prepare: Lent begins tomorrow.