The Litany. The following is the form of Litany said in the Greek Church at the commencement of the Liturgy of St. Chrysostom :1 Ὁ Διάκονος Ἐν εἰρήνῃ τοῦ Κυρίου δεηθῶμεν. Ο Χορός Κύριε ἐλέησον. Ὑπὲρ τῆς ἄνωθεν εἰρήνης, καὶ τῆς σωτηρίας τῶν ψυχῶν ἡμῶν, τοῦ Κυρίου δεηθῶμεν. Κύριε ἐλέησον. Ὑπὲρ τῆς εἰρήνης τοῦ σύμπαντος κόσμου, εὐσταθείας τῶν ἁγίων τοῦ Θεοῦ Ἐκκλησιῶν, καὶ τῆς τῶν πάντων ἑνώσεως. Ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἁγίου Οἴκου τούτου, καὶ τῶν μετὰ πίστεως, εὐλαβείας, καὶ φόβου Θεοῦ εἰσιόντων ἐν αὐτῷ. Ὑπὲρ τοῦ ̓Αρχιεπισκόπου ἡμῶν (τοῦ δεῖνος), τοῦ τιμίου Πρεσβυτερίου, τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ Διακονίας, παντὸς τοῦ Κλήρου, καὶ τοῦ Λαοῦ. Ὑπὲρ τῶν εὐσεβεστάτων καὶ Θεοφυλάκτων Βασιλέων ἡμῶν, παντὸς τοῦ Παλατίου, καὶ τοῦ στρατοπέδου αὐτῶν. Ὑπὲρ τῆς ἁγίας Μονῆς (ἢ τῆς πόλεως) ταύτης, πάσης πόλεως καὶ χώρας, καὶ τῶν πίστει οἰκούντων ἐν αὐταῖς. Ὑπὲρ εὐκρασίας αέρων, εὐφορίας τῶν καρπῶν τῆς γῆς, καὶ καιρῶν εἰρηνικῶν. Ὑπὲρ πλεόντων, ὁδοιπορούντων, νοσούντων, καμνόντων, αίχμαλώτων, καὶ τῆς σωτηρίας αὐτῶν. Ὑπὲρ τοῦ ῥυσθῆναι ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ πάσης θλίψεως, ὀργῆς, κινδύνου, καὶ ἀνάγκης, τοῦ Κυρίου δεηθῶμεν. ̓Αντιλαβοῦ, σῶσον, ἐλέησον, καὶ διαφύλαξον ἡμᾶς, ὁ Θεὸς, τῇ σῇ χάριτι. Τῆς Παναγίας, ἀχράντου, ὑπερευλογημένης, ἐνδόξου, Δεσποίνης ἡμῶν Θεοτόκου, καὶ ἀειπαρθένου Μαρίας, μετὰ πάντων τῶν Ἁγίων μνημονεύσαντες, ἑαυτοὺς καὶ ἀλλήλους καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν ζωὴν ἡμῶν Χριστῷ τῷ Θεῷ παραθώμεθα. Ὁ Ἱερεὺς ἐκφώνως· Ότι πρέπει σοι πᾶσα δόξα, τιμὴ καὶ προσκύνησις, τῷ Πατρὶ, καὶ τῷ Υἱῷ, καὶ τῷ ̔Αγίῳ Πνεύματι, νῦν, καὶ ἀεὶ, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ὁ Χορός ̓Αμήν. 1 Euchologion, p. 47· The old Western Litanies generally commenced with the form Kyrie eleison, each part of it being once or thrice repeated. It was all omitted in preparing the Litany of 1544; and at the same time the words miserable sinners were added in the Invocations of the Trinity, and also the words, proceeding from the Father and the Son. These changes, and the mode of repeating the clauses, are peculiar to our English Litany. Next in the old Litanies came the Invocation of Saints, beginning with St. Mary, and ending Omnes sancti: orate pro nobis. But in the Litany adopted by Hermann and his advisers, which supplied some hints to Cranmer in his work of revision, these were entirely omitted. Only three such clauses had been retained by our Reformers in 1544. They stood as follows :— Saint Mary, mother of God, our Saviour Jesu Christ, pray for us. All holy angels and archangels, and all holy orders of blessed spirits, pray for us. All holy patriarchs, and prophets, apostles, martyrs, confessors, and virgins, and all the blessed company of heaven, pray for us. Each clause was repeated by the choir, in the same way as the preceding Invocations of the Trinity. In the revision of this Litany for the King's Primer (1545) these three clauses still appeared, but only the words. pray for us were given to the choir. The clauses were entirely omitted in the Litany of Edward VI. The Prayer, between the Invocations and the Deprecations, was inserted in 1544, in the place of the old and short clause, Propitius esto: parce nobis Domine.1 It is a translation of an anthem at the end of the Penitential A second clause was added by Domine.' Hermann's Litany had two Quignon, 'Propitius esto: exaudi nos similar clauses. S The Litany. The Invocations. The Litany. The Deprecations. TheObservations. Psalms, which therefore stood in the Breviary immediately before the Litany : Ne reminiscaris, Domine, delicta nostra, vel parentum nostrorum, neque vindictam sumas de peccatis nostris. Non dicitur ulterius quando dicitur in choro. Parce, Domine, parce populo tuo quem redemisti pretioso sanguine tuo, ne in æternum irascaris nobis: et ne des hæreditatem tuam in perditionem, ne in æternum obliviscaris nobis. Then follow, in all the Litanies, the Deprecations, varying both in phrase and number, but preserving a general uniformity of subjects: they were given commonly in single clauses, each being followed by Libera nos Domine. No one will doubt that Cranmer exercised the soundest judgment in his selection of these clauses, and in bringing them together as they had never been arranged before. The last of the series only has been changed since 1544. It then contained the clause, from the tyranny of the bishop of Rome, and all his detestable enormities,' after 'privy conspiracy:' in the next year the phrase was changed into 'abominable enormities,' in the Primer (1545); but the original phrase appeared in Edward's Prayer Books, and in the Litany printed in the first month of Elizabeth's reign.1 When the Litany was published by authority (1559), as used in the royal chapel, the clause was omitted. The words 'rebellion' and 'schism' were inserted at the last revision of the Prayer Book in 1661. The next portion, the plea for mercy by the merits of Christ's passion, is formed from the old English Litany and that in Hermann's Consultation, as will be seen from the following phrases : Per mysterium sanctæ incarnationis tuæ:-Per nativitatem tuam:-By thy holy nativity (H.):-Per sanctam circumcisionem tuam:-Per baptismum tuum :-Per jejunium tuum:-By thy baptism, fasting, and temptations (H.). 1 See above, p. 54. Again : By thine agony and sweating of blood (H.):-Per crucem et passionem tuam :-Per pretiosam mortem tuam:-Per mortem et sepulturam tuam (Quign.):-By thy death and burying (H.):-Per gloriosam resurrectionem tuam:-Per admirabilem ascensionem tuam:-By thy resurrection and ascension (H.):-Per gratiam Spiritus Sancti :—Per adventum Spiritus Sancti Paracleti :-By the coming of the Holy Ghost the Comforter (H.). The next clause is formed by combining four separate clauses of Hermann's Litany: In all times of our tribulation :-In all times of our prosperity:In the hour of death:-In the day of judgment: Deliver us, O Lord. The clauses of the old Litany were : In hora mortis, succurre nos Domine. The Litany. cessions. The form of the suffrages that follow is common to The Interall the Litanies, but the subjects vary considerably. After the suffrage for the Church, those for the ecclesiastical orders usually came first, and were followed by those for the prince and for Christian people. Yet the intercessions for rulers of the Church and of the State are occasionally transposed.1 The clergy were described by Cranmer under the names of 'bishops, pastors, and ministers of the Church ;' which was altered at the last revision to 'bishops, priests, and deacons,'-an expression more distinctly opposed to Presbyterian notions of the Christian ministry. The Prayer for the peace of all nations is peculiar to our Litany. The old phrase was, 'That thou yield everlasting goods to our good doers.' Hermann's Litany prays, 'to give peace and concord to all kings and princes.' Quignon limits the prayer for peace to Christian kings 1 Maskell, Mon. Rit. 11. pp. 220, 226. The Litany. and all Christian people. The ancient Anglo-Saxon Litany is remarkable in this respect, that it contains a suffrage 'for our enemies.' The suffrages for grace seem to be formed from Hermann's Litany, where we find the expressions : That thou wilt vouchsafe to bring them again into the way of truth, which stray and be seduced :-to tread Satan under our feet: -to send faithful workmen into thy harvest :-to give to all the hearers increase of thy word, and the fruit of thy Spirit :-to lift them up that be fallen, and to strengthen them that stand:-to comfort and help the weaklings and such as be tempted. The Sarum Litany has only : Ut obsequium servitutis nostræ rationabile facias:-Ut mentes nostras ad cœlestia desideria erigas. Two similar clauses had been introduced into Marshall's Primer : That thou vouchsafe that all which do err and be deceived may be reduced into the way of verity:—That thou vouchsafe that we may the devil with all his pomps crush and tread under foot. The suffrages for special mercies may be considered as Cranmer's composition. The same subjects are indeed found, some of them in Hermann's Litany, and some in that of Marshall's Primer, but not with the same excellence of arrangement or expression. There are only two similar petitions in the Sarum Litany: Ut miserias pauperum et captivorum intueri et relevare digneris : -Ut fructus terræ dare et conservare digneris. The last suffrage has nothing corresponding to it in any other Litany: it is a beautiful summary, expressing 1 One expression has been traced in a prayer at the Elevation in an edition of the Hora B.V.M. (Paris, 1530): Sanguis tuus, Domine Jesu Christe, pro nobis effusus sit mihi in remissionem omnium peccatorum, negligentiarum et ignorantiarum mearum.' Blunt, Annotated Prayer Book, p. 587. |