litany

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The litany ( old Gr . Λιτή litḗ , request ',' supplication ') is a form of communal prayer in which concerns or invocations are presented by a prayer leader, deacon or cantor (possibly also from a schola ) and the congregation has a constant call (for example “have mercy on us” or “pray for us”). This constant element on the one hand and the alternating chant on the other give the litany prayer a meditative character.

One distinguishes

  • Concern litanies consisting of intercession on current concerns, and
  • Invocation litanies in which God or the saints are called.

The most important litany, the All Saints Litany , combines invocations and intercessions.

history

Litany-like chants and prayers are found in many religions. The Christianity adopted this form of prayer from Judaism (an example of a litany in the Old Testament is the Psalm 136) and from the ancient cults.

In the Middle Ages litanies were very popular; Heinrich von Seckau's litany is dated to 1250 ; up to the 16th century innumerable invocation litanies emerged. In 1601 Pope Clement VIII restricted the use of litanies within the liturgy in order to counteract undesirable developments; Only the All Saints' Litany and the Lauretanian Litany were permitted . More recently, the litany of the Name of Jesus (1886), of the Heart of Jesus (1899), of Saint Joseph (1909) and of the Precious Blood (1960) have received papal approval. With the reform of the Codex Iuris Canonici 1983 this license requirement was lifted.

Litanies in worship

In the Holy Mass and the Divine Office of the Catholic Church , the Kyrie eleison is a brief litany of invocations; The liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council also gave litany-like intercessions a new status in the liturgy of the Catholic Church . Of the invocation litanies only the All Saints has a place in the liturgy: it is in front of the donation of some sacraments and sacramentals sung as the baptismal ceremony in the Easter Vigil , the liturgy of consecration , the virginal consecration and eternal solemn profession of religious, the blessing of an abbot or . an abbess and at the consecration of the church . For devotions and processions different further invocation litanies be used.

The liturgy of the Eastern Churches still contains a large number of litanies, now of the “synapte” type (τοῡ κυρίου δεηθῶμεν), now of that of the “ectene” (δεόμεθά [σου]). Especially in Slavic Christianity, both types are indiscriminately referred to as ectenias . Actually, a deacon acts as a prayer leader, in his absence a priest .

In the Protestant church , the German litany , written by Martin Luther in 1529, is still used in worship services (see Evangelical Hymnal 192; Evangelical Hymnal 138). Luther's litany, written under the impression of the advance of the Turkish armies on Vienna , is based on the All Saints' litany, from which he excluded the invocation of numerous saints .

Litaniae maiores and Litaniae minores - Rogationes

The corridor processions on April 25th ("St. Mark's Procession") and on the prayer days before the feast of the Ascension of Christ were until the Second Vatican Council as Litaniae maiores ("great litanies", April 25) and Litaniae minores ("small litanies" on the Prayer days) because they began with the chanting of the All Saints' Litany and were accompanied by pleading supplication. St. John Chrysostom ordered a petition called "litaniae" in April 399 because of persistent rainy weather. In the Gallic liturgy one spoke of rogationes (from Latin rogare "to beg, plead").

Use of the term litany in everyday language

Colloquially, the word is also used in derogatory form for an endless list or monotonous talk.

Remarks

  1. ↑ Lexicon for Theology and Church . Third edition, Vol. 6, Col. 954f.
  2. ^ Liber Usualis , Parisii, Tornaci, Romae 1954, pp. 835ff.
  3. ↑ Aimé-Georges Martimort (ed.): Handbook of liturgical science. II. The other sacraments and the sacramentals. The sanctification of time. Freiburg-Basel-Vienna 1965, p. 176 note 41.

Web links

Wiktionary: Litany  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations