Litany , in Christian worship and some forms of Jewish worship , is a form of prayer used in services and processions , and consisting of a number of petitions. The word comes through Latin litania from Ancient Greek λιτανεία ( litaneía ), which in turn comes from λιτή ( litḗ ), meaning " prayer , supplication ".
51-635: 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." The Litany originated in Antioch in the fourth century and from there was taken to Constantinople and through it to
102-469: A better world. These believe that Jesus' commands to feed the hungry and clothe the needy make the seeds of the kingdom already present on earth (Lk 8:5–15; Mt 25:31–40). Hilda C. Graef notes that the operative Greek word, basileia, means both kingdom and kingship (i.e., reign, dominion, governing, etc.), but that the English word kingdom loses this double meaning. Kingship adds a psychological meaning to
153-583: 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
204-420: A notable change in the style of the service by expanding and grouping together several of the separate deprecations, intercessions, obsecrations and suffrages said by the priest into groups of several, providing a single response to the whole group. 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"
255-472: A prayer known as the embolism . In the official International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) English translation, the embolism reads: "Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil, graciously grant peace in our days, that, by the help of your mercy, we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress, as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ." This elaborates on
306-483: A publication now in the public domain : Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Litany". Catholic Encyclopedia . New York: Robert Appleton Company. Josef Andreas Jungmann Josef Andreas Jungmann (16 November 1889 – 26 January 1975) was a prominent Jesuit priest and liturgist . He was an influential advocate of the Liturgical Movement , and is known for his 2-volume history Mass of
357-678: A reference book on the history of the Roman liturgical rite of the Catholic Church. Among other things, his book argued that the Roman Rite had undergone frequent changes over the centuries and was not immutable. Jungmann was an influential architect of the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council , in which he participated as a member of the Preparatory Commissiona in 1960, a peritus for
408-471: A sense of solidarity in knowing that Christians around the globe are praying together ... and these words always unite us." The first three of the seven petitions in Matthew address God; the other four are related to human needs and concerns. Matthew's account alone includes the "Your will be done" and the "Rescue us from the evil one" (or "Deliver us from evil") petitions. Both original Greek texts contain
459-452: A short, hymn-like verse that exalts the glory of God. Older English translations of the Bible, based on late Byzantine Greek manuscripts, included it, but it is absent in the oldest manuscripts and is not considered to be part of the original text of Matthew 6:9 – 13 . The translators of the 1611 King James Bible assumed that a Greek manuscript they possessed was ancient and therefore adopted
510-608: Is Avinu Malkeinu ("Our Father, Our King"), which is recited during Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur liturgies. Certain Selichot prayers also take the form of a litany during the month of Elul , as do some prayers recited on fast days. Litanies are often recited in Mandaeism . The most commonly recited Mandaean litanies are the Asut Malkia and Tabahatan . [REDACTED] This article incorporates text from
561-595: Is a central Christian prayer that Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels : a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew , and a shorter form in the Gospel of Luke when "one of his disciples said to him, 'Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples ' ". Regarding the presence of the two versions, some have suggested that both were original,
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#1732773145248612-574: Is not contained in the Lord's Prayer, provided of course we are praying in a correct and proper way. This excerpt from Augustine is included in the Office of Readings in the Catholic Liturgy of the Hours . Many have written biblical commentaries on the Lord's Prayer. Contained below are a variety of selections from some of those commentaries. This subheading and those that follow use
663-698: 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). Many other litanies are used in private prayer. A Marian litany is one dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary; only one is authorised for public recitation (mentioned above). In the Catholic Church , seven litanies are approved for public recitation: For all of them
714-627: 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, and he made
765-517: The Gospel of Mark , together with its occurrence in Matthew and Luke, has caused scholars who accept the two-source hypothesis (against other document hypotheses ) to conclude that it is probably a logion original to the Q source . The common source of the two existing versions, whether Q or an oral or another written tradition, was elaborated differently in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Marianus Pale Hera considers it unlikely that either of
816-643: 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
867-456: The 1662 Book of Common Prayer (BCP) (see above) Our Father, which art in heaven "Our" indicates that the prayer is that of a group of people who consider themselves children of God and who call God their "Father". "In heaven " indicates that the Father who is addressed is distinct from human fathers on earth. Augustine interpreted "heaven" ( coelum , sky) in this context as meaning "in
918-683: The 2004 Enchiridion Indulgentiarum grants the partial indulgence to the faithfuls of Christ who piously pray the Litanies. Several others, including the Litany of the Blessed Sacrament , the Litany of the Passion , and the Litany of humility are approved for private devotion. 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
969-622: 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
1020-401: The Catholic Church teach that it "is truly the summary of the whole gospel". The prayer is used by most Christian denominations in their worship and with few exceptions, the liturgical form is the version from the gospel of Matthew. Although theological differences and various modes of worship divide Christians, according to Fuller Theological Seminary professor Clayton Schmit, "there is
1071-588: The Commission for Liturgy, and from 1962 a consultor for the Consilium, the commission entrusted with the implementation of Sacrosanctum Concilium . Jungmann is also noted for his contribution to the field of Catholic catechetics with his name being synonymous with the "kerygmatic renewal." He argued that liturgy and catechetics were joined in early church practice, as in Orthodox church practice through
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#17327731452481122-521: The Lord or prevail on him. When we say: "Hallowed be your name", we are reminding ourselves to desire that his name, which in fact is always holy, should also be considered holy among men. ...But this is a help for men, not for God. ...And as for our saying: "Your kingdom come," it will surely come whether we will it or not. But we are stirring up our desires for the kingdom so that it can come to us and we can deserve to reign there. ...When we say: "Deliver us from evil," we are reminding ourselves to reflect on
1173-490: The Lord's Prayer from Greek or Latin, beginning around AD 650 with the Northumbrian translation. Of those in current liturgical use, the three best-known are: All these versions are based on the text in Matthew, rather than Luke, of the prayer given by Jesus. The concluding doxology ("For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever") is representative of the practice of concluding prayers with
1224-820: The Matthean version spoken by Jesus early in his ministry in Galilee , and the Lucan version one year later, "very likely in Judea ". Didache (at chapter VIII) reports a version which is closely similar to that of Matthew and also to the modern prayer. It ends with the Minor Doxology . Here shown in the New International Version (NIV): Initial words on the topic from the Catechism of
1275-614: The Roman Rite , which contributed to informing the reforms to the Mass during and following the Second Vatican Council , as well as his work in the post-Vatican II catechetical movement in the Catholic Church . Jungmann studied in Brixen , Innsbruck , Munich , and Vienna and was ordained a priest in 1913. After several years of pastoral service as vicar in the parishes of Niedervintl (1913-1915) and Gossensass (1915-1917) he entered
1326-695: 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
1377-408: The adjective epiousion ; while controversial, "daily" has been the most common English-language translation of this word. Protestants usually conclude the prayer with a doxology (in some versions, "For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever, Amen"), a later addition appearing in some manuscripts of Matthew. In biblical criticism , the absence of the Lord's Prayer in
1428-525: The centuries. The teacher of catechetics Johann Höfinger was among his students. From 1927-1963 Jungmann was the chief editor of the Zeitschrift für katholische Theologie . In 2001, Jungmann's home town Sand in Taufers named the new public library after him. Lord%27s Prayer The Lord's Prayer , also known by its incipit Our Father ( Greek : Πάτερ ἡμῶν , Latin : Pater Noster ),
1479-542: 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
1530-431: The fact that we do not yet enjoy the state of blessedness in which we shall suffer no evil. ...It was very appropriate that all these truths should be entrusted to us to remember in these very words. Whatever be the other words we may prefer to say (words which the one praying chooses so that his disposition may become clearer to himself or which he simply adopts so that his disposition may be intensified), we say nothing that
1581-470: The faith of the parishioners, a situation that he felt was a burden. From 1925 he gave lectures on pedagogy , catechetics , and liturgy at the University of Innsbruck . There he became an extraordinary professor in 1930, a full professor in 1934, and an honorary professor for pastoral theology from 1956. On 9 November 1972 he was awarded the honorary doctorate of the University of Salzburg . He
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1632-559: The final petition, "Deliver us from evil." The people then respond to this with the doxology: "For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever." Saint Augustine of Hippo gives the following analysis of the Lord's Prayer, which elaborates on Jesus' words just before it in Matthew's Gospel: "Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then in this way" (Mt. 6:8–9): We need to use words (when we pray) so that we may remind ourselves to consider carefully what we are asking, not so that we may think we can instruct
1683-664: The final petition, the priest makes the ekphonesis (exclamation) which summarizes the ektenia, and always involves an invocation of the Holy Trinity . Although used to a much lesser extent in Jewish worship , litanies do appear in Jewish liturgy . The most notable examples are the Hoshanot recited in the additional ( musaf ) service during all seven days of the Sukkot festival. These are mostly alphabetical acrostics to which
1734-507: The first and principal thing he ought to desire and pray for is, the great honor and glory of God." Thy kingdom come; "This petition has its parallel in the Jewish prayer, 'May he establish his Kingdom during your life and during your days. ' " In the gospels Jesus speaks frequently of God's kingdom, but never defines the concept: "He assumed this was a concept so familiar that it did not require definition." Concerning how Jesus' audience in
1785-578: The glory: of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages.", and in either instance, reciter(s) of the prayer reply "Amen". The Catholic Latin liturgical rites have never attached the doxology to the end of the Lord's Prayer. The doxology does appear in the Roman Rite Mass as revised in 1969. After the conclusion of the Lord's Prayer, the priest says
1836-435: The gospels would have understood him, George Eldon Ladd turns to the concept's Hebrew biblical background: "The Hebrew word malkuth [...] refers first to a reign, dominion, or rule and only secondarily to the realm over which a reign is exercised. [...] When malkuth is used of God, it almost always refers to his authority or to his rule as the heavenly King." This petition looks to the perfect establishment of God's rule in
1887-482: The hearts of the righteous, as it were in His holy temple". Hallowed be thy Name; Former archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams explains this phrase as a petition that people may look upon God's name as holy, as something that inspires awe and reverence, and that they may not trivialize it by making God a tool for their purposes, to "put other people down, or as a sort of magic to make themselves feel safe". He sums up
1938-470: The meaning of the phrase by saying: "Understand what you're talking about when you're talking about God, this is serious, this is the most wonderful and frightening reality that we could imagine, more wonderful and frightening than we can imagine." Richard Challoner writes that: "[t]his petition claims the first place in the Lord's prayer [...]; because the first and principal duty of a Christian is, to love his God with his whole heart and soul, and therefore
1989-736: The novitiate of the Society of Jesus on 23 September 1917 in St. Andrä in Carinthia , Austria. In 1918 he took up studies at the Jesuit theologate of Innsbruck, earning the degree Doctor of Theology in 1923. From 1923 to 1925 he taught in Munich and Vienna. During his pastoral ministry, he would later come to believe that there was a gap between the "joyful faith" of the Gospel and the "legalistic" approach to
2040-470: The other hand, Michael Goulder, Thomas J. Mosbo and Ken Olson see the shorter Lucan version as a reworking of the Matthaean text, removing unnecessary verbiage and repetition. The Matthaean version has completely ousted the Lucan in general Christian usage. The following considerations are based on the Matthaean version. The majority percentage of the verbs are aorist imperatives. In the first part of
2091-416: The petition: one is also praying for the condition of soul where one follows God's will. Richard Challoner , commenting on this petition, notes that the kingdom of God can be understood in three ways: 1) of the eternal kingdom of God in heaven. 2) of the spiritual kingdom of Christ, in his Church upon earth. 3) of the mystical kingdom of God, in our souls, according to the words of Christ, "The kingdom of God
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2142-1414: The prayer there are third person passive imperatives, while in the last one there are second person active imperatives. Standard edition of Greek text 1. πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς (páter hēmôn ho en toîs ouranoîs) 2. ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου (hagiasthḗtō tò ónomá sou) 3. ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου (elthétō hē basileía sou) 4. γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς (genēthḗtō tò thélēmá sou hōs en ouranô(i) kaì epì gês) 5. τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δὸς ἡμῖν σήμερον (tòn árton hēmôn tòn epioúsion dòs hēmîn sḗmeron) 6. καὶ ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰ ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν ὡς καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀφήκαμεν τοῖς ὀφειλέταις ἡμῶν (kaì áphes hēmîn tà opheilḗmata hēmôn hōs kaì hēmeîs aphḗkamen toîs opheilétais hēmôn) 7. καὶ μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν ἀλλὰ ῥῦσαι ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ (kaì mḕ eisenénkēis hēmâs eis peirasmón allà rhŷsai hēmâs apò toû ponēroû) Patriarchal Edition 1904 Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς , ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου , ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου , γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς . τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δὸς ἡμῖν σήμερον καὶ ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰ ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν, ὡς καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀφίεμεν τοῖς ὀφειλέταις ἡμῶν . καὶ μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν, ἀλλὰ ῥῦσαι ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ . Roman Missal There are several different English translations of
2193-520: 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. The Methodist The Book of Worship for Church and Home (1965) contains the following litanies: In the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches, a litany is referred to as an ektenia . There are numerous ektenias during
2244-506: The refrain at the end of each line is " Hoshanah "!, a contraction of the biblical Hoshi'a na ( Psalm 118:25), "Save us, please!" These are recited in a procession around the sanctuary, with congregants holding the lulav and etrog (the biblical " Four Species " of Leviticus 23:40). They are essentially prayers for rain. Litanies are also recited during the Ten Days of Repentance . The most famous of these "supplicatory" prayers
2295-862: The rest of the East...From Constantinople the Litany was taken to Rome and the West. 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
2346-492: 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 . The Anglican Communion also includes a Litany in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer . This
2397-540: The text into the Lord's Prayer of Matthew's Gospel. The use of the doxology in English dates from at least 1549 with the First Prayer Book of Edward VI which was influenced by William Tyndale 's New Testament translation in 1526. In the Byzantine Rite , whenever a priest is officiating, after the Lord's Prayer he intones this augmented form of the doxology, "For thine is the kingdom and the power and
2448-539: The two used the other as its source and that it is possible that they "preserve two versions of the Lord's Prayer used in two different communities: the Matthean in a Jewish Christian community and the Lucan in the Gentile Christian community". If either evangelist built on the other, Joachim Jeremias attributes priority to Matthew on the grounds that "in the early period, before wordings were fixed, liturgical texts were elaborated, expanded and enriched". On
2499-540: The world in the future, an act of God resulting in the eschatological order of the new age. The Catholic Church believes that, by praying the Lord's prayer, a Christian hastens the Second Coming . Like the church, some denominations see the coming of God's kingdom as a divine gift to be prayed for, not a human achievement. Others believe that the Kingdom will be fostered by the hands of those faithful who work for
2550-442: Was an important advocate and theorist for the Liturgical Movement , advocating an "active participation" of the faithful in the liturgy, and conducted research on liturgical history, particularly on the changes in the Mass over the centuries. During the Second World War he lived in Austria, where he carried on research for his main, 2-volume work The Mass of the Roman Rite: Its Origins and Development, published in 1948. It became
2601-405: 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
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