The Great Litany: A Rookie Anglican Guide
In times of fasting or seasons of special need, Anglicans use an ancient form of responsive prayer called the Great Litany. This litany is extensive and encompassing, running across eight pages in the 2019 Book of Common Prayer (pp. 91-98). It includes prayers to the Trinity, prayers for protection against all manner of evil, petitions for God’s blessing on church, state, and family, and concluding supplications to Christ. A complete recitation of the Great Litany takes more than ten minutes.
But don’t let the length of the litany put you off. Once you start, it will draw you in by the rhythm of the prayers, the repetition of the responses, and the logical progression of the content. As much as we pray the litany for others in need, its deep layers also nourish our own hearts. The litany is a rich banquet of prayer for the soul. As J.I. Packer put it: “Do you ever dry up in prayer, feeling you have nothing to say? Live with the Litany, and that will not happen again!” (The Gospel in the Prayer Book, p. 15).
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The History of the Litany
Composed in 1544 by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, the Great Litany became the first liturgy published in English. Cranmer wrote it during an English war with Scotland and France, and Christians have used it ever since in times of distress. Though Henry VIII was generally reluctant to approve the translation of liturgies into English, he may have been convinced in this case because the original included a series of prayers for the King!
Cranmer designed the Litany for the Church to sing in procession, a practice that goes back centuries in English church history. In crafting his text, he drew upon various litanies and processional prayers: from the Ancient Church, the medieval English Church, and the continental Reformation. Drawing upon these Greek, Latin, and German sources, Cranmer created an English litany so that the people could participate in a service of “common prayer.” As Cranmer explained in the preface to the published litany:
As these holy prayers and suffrages following, are set forth of most godly zeal for edifying and stirring of devotion of all true faithful Christian hearts: so is it thought convenient in this common prayer of procession to have it set forth and used in the vulgar tongue, for stirring the people to more devotion: and it shall be every Christian man’s part reverently to use the same, to the honour and glory of almighty God, and the profit of their own souls.
1544 Litany, as cited in The Oxford Guide to the Book of Common Prayer, 24.
The Structure of the Litany
The Litany proceeds through four stages, each marked out by a unique response. In his essay on the “Prayer Book as Literature,” Paul Stanwood explains that, by “gathering ideas and surging forward through repetition and response, the Litany has power, assurance, and ‘rightness.'” (Oxford Guide, 141). J.I. Packer calls it a “pattern of prayer for all time” (Gospel, 14). Here I’ll offer a brief summary of these four stages, including a few representative quotations.
Invocation
O God the Father, Creator of heaven and earth
Have mercy upon us.
The Litany begins with an invocation of each person of the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The response of the congregation is Have mercy upon us. From the beginning, we recognize the majesty of God and the humility of man.
Yet the last prayer of the invocation addresses Jesus Christ directly, and pleads the power of his blood to redeem us and bridge the gap between God and man:
Remember not, Lord Jesus, our offenses, nor the offenses of our forebears; neither reward us according to our sins. Spare us, good Lord, spare your people, whom you have redeemed with your most precious blood, and by your mercy preserve us for ever.
Spare us, good Lord.
Having been reconciled to God, we are now bold to come before his throne of heavenly grace with prayers for deliverance.
Prayers for Deliverance
From all evil and wickedness; from sin, from the works and assaults of the devil; from your wrath and everlasting condemnation,
Good Lord, deliver us.
The second stage features prayers of deliverance called deprecations. Each petition covers multiple threats grouped together, such as the first (included above) on sin, its origin in wickedness, the temptation of the devil, and its consequences in the wrath of God. Another example is a petition against various forms of natural evil, which makes the Litany appropriate in times of natural disaster:
From lightning and tempest, from earthquake, fire, and flood; from plague, pestilence, and famine,
Good Lord, deliver us.
In these prayers, Paul Stanwood observes “much parallel construction, and many doublets and triplets.” The result is that the Litany has “the ability to say much in very few words that leaves one with a great deal to reflect upon” (ibid., 141-142).
This section also includes three petitions, called obsecrations, that identify the saving work of Jesus as the power by which we seek deliverance. Though these are creedal in form, their direct address to Christ and their gritty details bring out the power of Christ’s atoning work:
By your agony and bloody sweat; by your Cross and passion; by your precious death and burial,
Good Lord, deliver us.
The Intercessions
We sinners beseech you to hear us, O Lord God: that is may please you to rule and govern your holy Church universal in the right way,
We beseech you to hear us, good Lord.
Having prayed for personal deliverance, the Litany proceeds to its third stage, a long section of intercessions, also called suffrages. After each intercession, the response is “we beseech you to hear us, good Lord.”
These prayers generally fall into three spheres of government: the church, the state, and the family. In the original version, the intercessions for church and state were interspersed, since the monarch also governed the Church of England. In the 2019 BCP, the prayers for the church and its mission come first, including for its obedience to God’s law of love:
To give us a heart to love and fear you, and diligently to keep your commandments.
We beseech you to hear us, good Lord.
Next, come intercessions for the civic sphere, broadly conceived, including elected authorities, the armed forces, industry, education, agriculture, and those in special need. There is a wonderful sense of social solidarity in this section of the litany, which intercedes for people of all stations, from the King or President to the homeless and the hungry:
That it may please you to rule the hearts of your servant N, the President, and all others in authority…
That it may please you to show mercy on all prisoners and captives; refugees, the homeless, and the hungry; and all those who are desolate and oppressed,
We beseech you to hear us, good Lord.
Finally, there are intercessions for the human family, acknowledging the foundational importance of marriage in society:
To strengthen the bonds of those in Holy Matrimony; to uphold the widowed and abandoned; and to comfort all whose homes are torn by strife,
We beseech you to hear us, good Lord.
This section also speaks to our pro-life commitments in interceding for unborn children and their parents, offers prayer for those who are lonely or grieve, and prays that we receive the grace both to repent of our sin and to forgive those who sin against us. The Litany recognizes that our family and personal lives are the context for real and consequential spiritual warfare:
To strengthen those who stand; to encourage the faint hearted; to raise up those who fall; and finally to beat down Satan under our feet,
We beseech you to hear us, good Lord.
Concluding Prayer to Christ
The closing section of the Litany features a direct address to Christ as the Son of God and Lamb of God:
Son of God, we beseech you to hear us.
Son of God, we beseech you to hear us.O Lamb of God you take away the sin of the world;
Have mercy upon us…
After the Lord’s Prayer, there is an option to say a special set of prayers called the Supplication, which is “especially appropriate in times of war, or of great anxiety, or of disaster.” These prayers pour out the sorrows of our hearts and address Jesus in an especially pleading and intimate way:
From our enemies defense us, O Christ;
Graciously behold our afflictions.
With pity behold the sorrow of our hearts;
Mercifully forgive the sins of your people
With favor hear our prayers;
O Son of David, have mercy upon us.
Be pleased to hear us, O Christ;
Graciously hear us, O Christ; graciously hear us, O Lord Christ.
The point of such repetition is not to get through to God; we are certainly aware that God hears our prayers the first time (in fact, he knows even before we ask!). Rather, this poignant language is designed to express our utter reliance upon God in circumstances of extremity and distress.
When Should I Pray The Litany?
The short answer is this: whenever you read the news, be prepared to pray the Litany!
For a somewhat longer answer, consider the three spheres of government mentioned above: church, state, and family. When there is a significant disruption in any of these spheres, it is an occasion to pray the litany. Is there a war between states, a scandal in the church, or a divorce in the family? Pray the litany.
We feel such disruptions keenly because these spheres are established by God to provide order in our lives and to support our flourishing. When they are disrupted with scandal or corruption, conflict or division, destruction or loss, then we experience a very real loss, both as constituents of those spheres and as the ripple effects reach our personal lives.
Yet God providentially allows such disruptions, and at least one reason he allows them is to draw us back to himself. Though we rely in many ways upon temporal authorities, none can take the place of God, our true King in heaven. When our worldly leaders wobble, God is our strong tower, our mighty fortress.
“Let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.”
Hebrews 12:28-29
The Litany in Penitential Seasons
Perhaps this is one reason why it is the ancient practice of the church to pray the Litany during penitential seasons such as Advent and Lent, and through the year at morning prayer on Fridays. These seasons, and especially every Friday, remind us of Good Friday and the failure of worldly authorities. God’s Son came to earth, but he was reviled by the religious leaders, crucified by the state, and abandoned by his family of disciples. The three spheres of human government all failed, and they continue to fail today.
Yet God vindicated his Son Jesus by raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in glory. His is the true authority, the true dominion, and the kingdom which shall never end. We are happy when we put our trust in him.
On Video
The first video features a cantor and a four-voice choir singing the text of the 1662 Litany to a somber and beautiful setting by 17th-century composer Henry Loosemore. Wonderfully, the video also includes text so you can read along. The second video features the litany sung in procession at St Peter’s Anglican Cathedral in Tallahassee, led by ACNA Archbishop Bob Duncan.
Image: Detail of Monument of Richard Stapleton in Exeter Cathedral, painting by S.A. Hart (1884). Courtesy of Wikipedia. Digitally edited by Jacob Davis.
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