Western Christianity This form of prayer finds its model in Psalm 136: "Praise the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endures for ever. Praise ye the God of gods . . . the Lord of lords . . . Who alone doth great wonders . . . Who made the heavens", etc., with the concluding words in each verse, "for his mercy endures for ever."
Josef Andreas Jungmann explains how the
Kyrie in the Roman Mass is best seen as a vestige of a
litany at the beginning of the Mass, like that of some Eastern churches. Public Christian devotions became common by the fifth century and processions were frequently held. These processions were called "litanies", and in them pictures and other religious emblems were carried. In Rome, pope and people would go in procession each day, especially in
Lent, to a different church, to celebrate the Sacred Mysteries. Thus originated the Roman "Stations", and what was called the "Litania Maior", "
Major Rogation", was held on 25 April. The word
rogation comes from the
Latin verb
rogare, meaning "to ask", which reflects the beseeching of God for the appeasement of his anger and for protection from calamities. In 590, when an
epidemic caused by an overflow of the
Tiber was ravaging Rome,
Gregory the Great commanded a litany; on the preceding day he exhorted the people to fervent prayer, and arranged the order to be observed in the procession, during which the
Litany of the Saints was prayed. The "Litania Minor", also called
Minor Rogations or "Gallicana", the
Rogation Days before
Ascension, was introduced (477) by
St. Mamertus,
Bishop of Vienne, on account of the earthquakes and other calamities then prevalent. It was prescribed for the whole of
Frankish Gaul, in 511, by the
First Council of Orléans. For Rome it was ordered by
Leo III, in 799. In the
Ambrosian Rite this litany was celebrated on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday after Ascension. In Spain, a similar litany is prayed from Thursday to Saturday after
Pentecost. In England the Litany of
Rogation Days was known in the earliest periods. In Germany it was ordered by a Synod of Mainz in 813. Because the Mass Litany became popular through its use in processions, numberless varieties were soon made, especially in the Middle Ages. Litanies appeared in honour of God the Father, of God the Son, of God the Holy Spirit, of the Precious Blood, of the Blessed Virgin, of the Immaculate Conception, of each of the saints honoured in different countries, for the souls in Purgatory, etc. In 1601
Baronius wrote that about eighty forms were in circulation. To prevent abuse,
Pope Clement VIII, by decree of 6 September 1601, forbade the publication of any litany, except that of the saints as found in the
liturgical books and that of
Loreto.
Anglican litanies , designed by
Owen Jones. The
Anglican Communion also includes a
Litany in the
1662 Book of Common Prayer. This is substantially the same as
Thomas Cranmer's original English vernacular service from 1544,
Exhortation and Litany. Cranmer drew on a variety of sources, chiefly two medieval litanies from the
Sarum rite, but also the German Litany of Martin Luther. He originally retained the invocation of the Saints and the Blessed Virgin Mary in very shortened form, but these were omitted in 1549, An anti-papal deprecation was omitted in 1559. The processional aspect was soon eliminated and the service said or sung kneeling in the church. The term "Lesser Litany" is sometimes used to refer to the versicles and responses, with the
Lord's Prayer, that follow the Apostles' Creed at Morning Prayer (or Mattins) and Evening Prayer (or Evensong). Several others, including the
Litany of the Blessed Sacrament, the
Litany of the Passion, and the
Litany of humility are approved for private devotion.
Lutheran litanies Much of the historic Litany was retained by the
Lutheran Church.
Luther hailed it as one of the greatest Christian prayers ever. When faced with the Turkish armies at the gates of
Vienna in 1528/29, Luther exhorted pastors to call their Christian people to repentance and prayer. He recommended the use of the Litany during the Sunday mass or Vespers. In 1529, he, after modifying the traditional
Litany of the Saints (mostly by removing the invocation of saints and prayers for the pope), began using the Litany at Wittenberg in Latin and German.
Thomas Cranmer used Luther's revised Litany as one of his main sources in the preparation of the Litany in the
Book of Common Prayer. Today, a form of the Litany continues to be used in the various
Lutheran Churches around the world.
Methodist litanies The Methodist
The Book of Worship for Church and Home (1965) contains the following litanies: • The Litany of Recollection of Jesus • The Litany on the
Will of God • The Litany of the Divine Will • The Litany of Self-Examination • The Litany of
Confession • The Litany of
Supplication • The Litany of Remembrance • The Litany of Commemoration • The Litany of
Intercession • The Litany for
Peace Eastern Christianity 's
The Deacon (1888,
Russian Museum, St. Petersburg). A deacon intones an
ektenia clasping his
orarion with the first three fingers of his right hand with which he makes the
Sign of the Cross after each petition. In the
Eastern Orthodox and
Byzantine Catholic churches, a litany is referred to as an
ektenia. There are numerous ektenias during the Byzantine divine services: the
Divine Liturgy,
Vespers,
Matins, the Sacraments, and numerous other services. The petitions of the ektenias are usually chanted by a
deacon (but if there is no deacon the
priest will say the petitions), to each of which the
choir (
chanters) or congregation will respond. The response is usually
Kyrie eleison ("Lord, have mercy"), but other responses are used at different ektenias. After the final petition, the
priest makes the
ekphonesis (exclamation) which summarizes the ektenia, and always involves an invocation of the
Holy Trinity. ==Judaism==