Litany (Religion)

LITANY (Religion)

A litany is a form of prayer in which the minister reads a list, and the congregation answers the same way each time with things like "Lord, hear our prayer," or, "Good Lord, deliver us."

The Episcopal Church uses a "Great Litany" that says in part:

From all blindness of heart; from pride, vainglory, and hypocrisy; from envy, hatred, and malice; and from all want of charity,

          Good Lord, deliver us.

From all inordinate and sinful affections; and from all the deceits of the world, the flesh, and the devil,

         Good Lord, deliver us.

And, later:

That it may please thee to bless and keep all thy people,

          We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.

...

That it may please thee to give us a heart to love and fear thee, and diligently to live after thy commandments,

          We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.

• Because the lists can be rather long, we sometimes speak of any long list casually as a "litany":

          Fred turned up late again with a whole litany of excuses.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)