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Marian litany
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Marian litany
In Christian worship, Marian litany is a form of prayer to Mary, mother of Jesus used in church services and processions, and consisting of a number of petitions.
In the Eastern Church litanies are always a part of the official liturgy, and they have at least three different forms: Synaptae (Collect), Ektenie ("intense" prayer of intercession and pardon based in part on Psalm 50) and Aitaesis (intercessory prayer for peace, pardon and protection). Marian litanies are numerous in the Eastern church and may cover a multitude of themes, some dogmatic, others of moral and patriotic character.
In the liturgy of the Western Church the word litany is derived from the Latin litania, meaning prayer of invocation or intercession. It also meant, up to the twelfth century, a procession with intercessory character, also known under the designation of rogation. There are two approved Marian litanies in the Western Church: the Litany of Loreto, and the Litany for the Coronation of Images of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which can be an appropriate substitute for the other litany on certain occasions.
The first Marian litanies must have been composed to foster private devotion, as it is not at all probable that they were written for use in public, by reason of their drawn-out and heavy style. Lengthy and involved litanies of this type do not seem to have won popularity, though it is possible to find other examples of a like kind, but the tendency is always towards brevity and simplicity. To each invocation of "Sancta Maria" it becomes customary to add only one praise, and these praises show in general a better choice or a better arrangement.
The earliest known genuine text of a Marian litany is in a 12th-century codex in the Mainz Library, with the title Letania de domina nostra Dei genitrice virgine Maria: oratio valde bona. It opens with the usual Kyrie Eleison; then follow the invocations of the Trinity, followed by invocations of the Virgin Mary in a long series of praises. This goes on for more than fifty times, always repeating the invocation "Sancta Maria", but varying the laudatory titles given. Then, after this manner of the litanies of the saints, a series of petitions occur. The litany concludes with the Agnus Dei.
Once the custom grew up of reciting Marian litanies privately, and of gradually shortening the text, it was not long until the idea occurred of employing them for public devotion, especially in cases of epidemic, as had been the practice of the Church with the litanies of the Saints, which were sung in penitential processions and during public calamities.
The earliest certain mention of a public recital of Marian Litanies is actually related to a time of pestilence, particularly in the 15th century. At Venice, in fact, these same litanies were finally adopted for liturgical use in processions for plague and mortality and asking for rain or for fair weather. Probably they began to be sung in this connection during the calamities of the 15th century; but in the following century they are prescribed, as being an ancient custom, in the ceremonials of St. Mark's.
A litany of this new form is that of a codex in the Library of St. Mark's, Venice, dating from the end of the 13th or the beginning of the 14th century. It is found, though with occasional variants, in many manuscripts. It omits the petitions, and consists of seventy-five praises joined to the usual invocation, "Sancta Maria". For example:
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Marian litany
In Christian worship, Marian litany is a form of prayer to Mary, mother of Jesus used in church services and processions, and consisting of a number of petitions.
In the Eastern Church litanies are always a part of the official liturgy, and they have at least three different forms: Synaptae (Collect), Ektenie ("intense" prayer of intercession and pardon based in part on Psalm 50) and Aitaesis (intercessory prayer for peace, pardon and protection). Marian litanies are numerous in the Eastern church and may cover a multitude of themes, some dogmatic, others of moral and patriotic character.
In the liturgy of the Western Church the word litany is derived from the Latin litania, meaning prayer of invocation or intercession. It also meant, up to the twelfth century, a procession with intercessory character, also known under the designation of rogation. There are two approved Marian litanies in the Western Church: the Litany of Loreto, and the Litany for the Coronation of Images of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which can be an appropriate substitute for the other litany on certain occasions.
The first Marian litanies must have been composed to foster private devotion, as it is not at all probable that they were written for use in public, by reason of their drawn-out and heavy style. Lengthy and involved litanies of this type do not seem to have won popularity, though it is possible to find other examples of a like kind, but the tendency is always towards brevity and simplicity. To each invocation of "Sancta Maria" it becomes customary to add only one praise, and these praises show in general a better choice or a better arrangement.
The earliest known genuine text of a Marian litany is in a 12th-century codex in the Mainz Library, with the title Letania de domina nostra Dei genitrice virgine Maria: oratio valde bona. It opens with the usual Kyrie Eleison; then follow the invocations of the Trinity, followed by invocations of the Virgin Mary in a long series of praises. This goes on for more than fifty times, always repeating the invocation "Sancta Maria", but varying the laudatory titles given. Then, after this manner of the litanies of the saints, a series of petitions occur. The litany concludes with the Agnus Dei.
Once the custom grew up of reciting Marian litanies privately, and of gradually shortening the text, it was not long until the idea occurred of employing them for public devotion, especially in cases of epidemic, as had been the practice of the Church with the litanies of the Saints, which were sung in penitential processions and during public calamities.
The earliest certain mention of a public recital of Marian Litanies is actually related to a time of pestilence, particularly in the 15th century. At Venice, in fact, these same litanies were finally adopted for liturgical use in processions for plague and mortality and asking for rain or for fair weather. Probably they began to be sung in this connection during the calamities of the 15th century; but in the following century they are prescribed, as being an ancient custom, in the ceremonials of St. Mark's.
A litany of this new form is that of a codex in the Library of St. Mark's, Venice, dating from the end of the 13th or the beginning of the 14th century. It is found, though with occasional variants, in many manuscripts. It omits the petitions, and consists of seventy-five praises joined to the usual invocation, "Sancta Maria". For example:
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