As I mentioned a few days ago, President Matthew C. Harrison, president of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, has invited us all to join him in praying the Litany every day during Lent. You can read his remarks here. I'm posting the Litany here for you to use. I would also like to highly recommend that if you do not already have it, you purchase a copy of The Treasury of Daily Prayer, which contains the Litany and an entire year's worth of wonderful prayer resources. Also, if you would like to sing the Litany it is part of the recording for daily prayer titled Evening and Morning. The last track on the recording is the Litany, chanted by the Kantorei of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana. By the way, the image above is from a web page that provides the text of the Litany as printed in the Book of Common prayer from 1544. How to pray the Litany: (1) Set aside a time and a place for quiet meditation and prayer. (2) Calm yourself and prepare yourself to pray in silence before you begin. (3) If you are with others, choose one person to say the "L" parts and then all join in on the "C" parts. If you are alone say/sing each part. (4) Kneeling is a helpful posture to assume when praying. If this is not possible, use whatever posture is most helpful to you. (5) Use any, or all, of the concluding prayers, in the same manner as the Litany. THE LITANY L: O Lord,
C: have mercy.
L: O Christ,
C: have mercy.
L: O Lord,
C: have mercy.
L: O Christ,
C: hear us.
L: God the Father in heaven.
C: have mercy.
L: God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
C: have mercy.
L: God the Holy Spirit,
C: have mercy.
L: Be gracious to us.
C: Spare us, good Lord.
L: Be gracious to us.
C: Help us, good Lord.
L: From all sin, from all error, from all evil;
From the crafts and assaults of the devil; from sudden and evil death;
From pestilence and famine; from war and bloodshed; from sedition and from rebellion;
From lightning and tempest; from all calamity by fire and water, and from everlasting death:
C: Good Lord, deliver us.
L: In all time of our tribulation; in all time of our prosperity; in the hour of death; and in the day of judgment:
C: Help us, good Lord.
L: By the mystery of Your holy incarnation; by Your holy nativity; By Your baptism, fasting and temptation; by Your agony and bloody sweat; by Your cross and passion; by Your precious death and burial; By your glorious resurrection and ascension; and by the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter:
C: Help us, good Lord.
L: In all time of our tribulation; in all time of our prosperity; in the hour of death; and in the day of judgment:
C: Help us, good Lord.
L: We poor sinners implore You
C: to hear us, O Lord.
L: To rule and govern Your holy Christian Church; to preserve all pastors and ministers of Your Church in the true knowledge and understanding of Your wholesome Word and to sustain them in holy living;
To put an end to all schisms and causes of offense; to bring into the way of truth all who have erred and are deceived;
To beat down Satan under our feet; to send faithful laborers into Your harvest; and to accompany Your Word with Your grace and Spirit:
C: We implore You to hear us, good Lord.
L: To raise those who fall and to strengthen those who stand; and to comfort and help the weakhearted and the distressed:
C: We implore You to hear us, good Lord.
L: To give to all peoples concord and peace; to preserve our land from discord and strife; to give our country Your protection in every time of need;
To direct and defend our president and all in authority; to bless and protect our magistrates and all our people;
To watch over and help all who are in danger, necessity, and tribulation; to protect and guide all who travel;
To grant all women with child, and all mothers with infant children, increasing happiness in their blessings; to defend all orphans and widows and provide for them;
To strengthen and keep all sick persons and young children; to free those in bondage; and to have mercy on us all;
C: We implore You to hear us, good Lord.
L: To forgive our enemies, persecutors, and slanderers and to turn their hearts; to give and preserve for our use the kindly fruits of the earth; and graciously to hear our prayers:
C: We implore You to hear us, good Lord.
L: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,
C: we implore You to hear us.
L: Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world,
C: have mercy.
L: Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world,
C: have mercy.
L: Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world,
C: grant us Your peace.
L: O Christ,
C: hear us.
L: O Lord,
C: have mercy.
L: O Christ,
C: have mercy.
L: O Lord
C: have mercy. Amen. THE OUR FATHER
C: Our Father, who art in Heaven…. One or more of the following Litany collects may be spoken or chanted. You may use as few or as many, as your devotion suggests.
L: O Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.
C: Do not reward us according to our iniquities.
Almighty God, our heavenly Father, You desire not the death of a sinner, but rather tha we turn from our evil ways and live. Graciously spare us those punishments which we by our sins have deserved, and grant us always to serve You in holiness and pureness of living; through Jesus, Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C: Amen.
OR
L: Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name.
C: Deliver us and pure away our sins for Your name's sake.
Almighty and everlasting God, since you govern and sanctify the whole Christian Church by Your Holy Spirit, hear our prayers for all its members. Mercifully grant that, by Your grace, we may serve You in true faith; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one god, now and forever.
C: Amen.
OR
L: O Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.
C: Do not reward us according to our iniquities.
L: O God, merciful Father, You have promised to hear the prayers of all who in repentance call out to You. Graciously hear us so that all evils which beset us may be of no avail, that we, Your servants, may evermore give thanks to You in Your holy Church; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C: Amen.
OR
L: O Lord, enter not into judgment with Your servant.
C: For in Your sight shall no man living be justified.
L: Almighty God, You know we live in the midst of so many dangers that in our frailty we can not stand upright. Grant strength and protection to support us in all dangers ad carry us through all temptations; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C: Amen. OR
L: Call on Me in the day of trouble.
C: I will deliver you, and you will glorify Me.
L: Spare us, O Lord, and mercifully forgive us our sins. Though by our continual transgressions we have merited Your chastisements, be gracious to us. Grant that all these punishments which we have deserved may not come upon us, but that all things may work to our everlasting good; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C: Amen. |
