From the Rector

Dear Friends in Christ,

Next Sunday (11/27), at 11:15am we will chant the Great Litany in procession. It’s an old custom and considered especially appropriate at the beginning of Advent and through Lent. Due to its length it is not printed in full in the bulletin but may be found on page 148 of the Book of Common Prayer (BCP).

The Litany was the first English language rite prepared by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer. It was first published in 1544. Cranmer modified an earlier litany form by consolidating certain groups of petitions into single prayers with response. The Litany’s use in church processions was ordered by Henry VIII when England was at war with Scotland and France. It was printed as an appendix to the Eucharist in the 1549 BCP. 

The 1552 BCP called for use of the Litany after the fixed collects of Morning Prayer on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The 1928 BCP allowed the Litany to be used after the fixed collects of Morning or Evening Prayer, or before the Eucharist, or separately. The 1979 BCP titled the Litany “The Great Litany” (p. 148), distinguishing it from other litanies in the Prayer Book.

The Great Litany may be said or sung. The officiant and people may kneel or stand, or it may be done in procession. It may be done before the Eucharist, or after the collects of Morning or Evening Prayer, or separately. 

The Great Litany includes an invocation of the Trinity; a series of deprecations which seek deliverance from evil, spiritual harm, and natural calamities; a series of obsecrations which plead the power of Christ’s Incarnation, life, death, and resurrection for deliverance; prayers of general intercession.

The Great Litany has been used as a substantial form of intercessory prayer with a unique Anglican heritage. As the first English language rite, you could also say it has a distinct place in Reformation history, as well. Its history and provenance don’t relegate it to a dusty shelf in our liturgical heritage though. Has it ever seemed more appropriate to pray for deliverance from plague or violence or political calamity? Do we need Satan to be beaten back less today than 500 years ago? The beauty of the Great Litany is that the prayers we share today are ones we share with five centuries of Anglicans and Episcopalians—and they address the deepest human needs going back to our first utterances as creatures of prayer.

May we find it as powerful an act of defiance of the powers of sin and death today as we have from generation to generation.

Yours in Christ,

—Fr Robert