The Litany

Tuesday in Holy Week
March 30, 2010

The Lord be with you

“The Litany” is used in services that do not celebrate the Lord’s Supper. It is traditionally prayed on Good Fridays, and can stand alone as a service in itself. When that is the case it is often concluded with the Lord’s Prayer. Luther Reed wrote:

The Litany is a responsive prayer of the church, penitential in character but unselfish in its intercessions for all human need and mighty in its grasp of the grounds for divine compassion. It is the most ancient of the services of the church except the Holy Communion. In form and content it is a people’s prayer. The Te Deum scales the heights, and the Litany plumbs the depths of our common humanity.

In using the Litany “we can turn to the whole world, Christian and otherwise, and say, ‘This is how we pray, this is how we are taught to think of life and death, of God and man.’” (Bayard Jones, quoting Dearmer).

Some who read this blog might not be able to attend a Good Friday worship service. Others may attend churches that do not use the ancient worship forms and therefore would not have an opportunity to pray the Litany this Good Friday. I love this prayer and would hate it if I did not at least provide those all who read this blog an opportunity to pray the Litany this Good Friday, or any other day they choose. So the Litany, as found in the Lutheran Service book (page 288) follows. May the Lord bless you as you pray.

THE LITANY

L: O Lord,
C: have mercy.
L: O Christ,
C: have mercy.
L: O Lord,
C: have mercy.
L: O Christ,
C: hear us.
L: God the Father in heaven.
C: have mercy.
L: God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
C: have mercy.
L: God the Holy Spirit,
C: have mercy.
L: Be gracious to us.
C: Spare us, good Lord.
L: Be gracious to us.
C: Help us, good Lord.
L: From all sin, from all error, from all evil;
From the crafts and assaults of the devil; from sudden and evil death;
From pestilence and famine; from war and bloodshed; from sedition and from rebellion;
From lightning and tempest; from all calamity by fire and water, and from everlasting death:
C: Good Lord, deliver us.
L: In all time of our tribulation; in all time of our prosperity; in the hour of death; and in the day of judgment:
C: Help us, good Lord.
L: We poor sinners implore You
C: to hear us, O Lord.
L: To rule and govern Your holy Christian Church; to preserve all pastors and ministers of Your Church in the true knowledge and understanding of Your wholesome Word and to sustain them in holy living;
To put an end to all schisms and causes of offense; to bring into the way of truth all who have erred and are deceived;
To beat down Satan under our feet; to send faithful laborers into Your harvest; and to accompany Your Word with Your grace and Spirit:
C: We implore You to hear us, good Lord.
L: To raise those who fall and to strengthen those who stand; and to comfort and help the weakhearted and the distressed:
C: We implore You to hear us, good Lord.
L: To give to all peoples concord and peace; to preserve our land from discord and strife; to give our country Your protection in every time of need;
To direct and defend our president and all in authority; to bless and protect our magistrates and all our people;
To watch over and help all who are in danger, necessity, and tribulation; to protect and guide all who travel;
To grant all women with child, and all mothers with infant children, increasing happiness in their blessings; to defend all orphans and widows and provide for them;
To strengthen and keep all sick persons and young children; to free those in bondage; and to have mercy on us all;
C: We implore You to hear us, good Lord.
L: To forgive our enemies, persecutors, and slanderers and to turn their hearts; to give and preserve for our use the kindly fruits of the earth; and graciously to hear our prayers:
C: We implore You to hear us, good Lord.
L: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,
C: we implore You to hear us.
L: Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world,
C: have mercy.
L: Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world,
C: have mercy.
L: Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world,
C: grant us Your peace.
L: O Christ,
C: hear us.
L: O Lord,
C: have mercy.
L: O Christ,
C: have mercy.
L: O Lord
C: have mercy. Amen.